FUEL RANGE: 0 MI

Full of enthusiasm we started! Here we go! So we typed Benton Hot Springs (about 1.5h East of Yosemite NP), where we wanted to spend the first night, into our GPS. We were a little bit in a hurry so we did not overthink our choice not to fill up on gas right now (we still had a fuel range of about 80 miles and in the US there are gas stations everywhere, right?) and drove right into Stanislaus National Forest. 

After about 1 mile into the forest cell phone reception was gone (thank you AT&T) but our mood was still great, what a beautiful scenic drive! After about 50 miles nervous comments about the gas level (mainly Nadine) and desperately reassuring comments that the next station must be near (mainly Checo) started to dominate the conversation. Useful to know: we had at that point reached 9000 ft altitude and it seemed like we were the only people that had decided to cross Stanislaus National Forest today. 

When it said fuel range 10 miles we saw a ranger station with a gas sign. Short enthusiasm followed by desperation when we saw the note "no gas" written on the fuel dispenser. 

In silence we drove on through forest and mountains. hoping after every hill that we might see a few houses in the distance but seeing only forest for miles and miles. Then we saw a pickup truck parked by the road. We stopped and asked the driver – an american with a white beard – if he knew where the next gas station was. The man looked at us for a few seconds: our white Chevy crammed full of luggage and camping equipment, our sunglasses and we were both absolutely sure he was thinking "naive, stupid tourists!" – and who could blame him for that. He smiled and asked "how low?" we responded "basically empty"... he looked at us half worried half amused and then told us "your best guess is the marines academy down the hill, ask there".
We drove through the forest for another 15 minutes then we reached a plane with the marines academy. On the side of the road there were big signs saying: No stopping at any time. 
This together with the rather unfriendly appearance of the place convinced us not to stop but instead to try to reach the next gas station which we assumed would be in Bridgeport. We turned off the AC, the music and in silence we rolled down the hill. 
At this point we should have been out of gas already 30 miles ago but thanks to the fact that it was a downhill drive we somehow managed to roll into Bridgeport. Never before have we been so happy to see a gas station. :) 

Gas station in Bridgeport