The Unplanned Road Trip Begins - Thought we'd End with Death Valley

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After a semi-restful night, Sweetie and AHole were awakened by the friendly Camp Curry Skunk. Not sure what angered him under our tent but he got us on the move before 7am!!! How Bill and Chandler slept through it is a mystery of science - ha! ha! Got up, got packed, had breakfast at Curry Village and then picked up Brantley and her friend Tess. The plan - head over the Tioga Pass to Bishop where Sweetie and AHole could take 395 through Death Valley on their way to the Grand Canyon.

Boys in one car, girls in another and off we go! B knows the roads well but took it easy today. Where to begin??? The scenery is absolutely amazing. By days' end, we will have travelled as high as 9,945 feet above sea level when we left Yosemite to 190 feet below sea level at the floor of Death Valley. We experienced Tioga Pass and all of it's glory including Tuolumne Meadows, Mammouth, Mono Lake and the White Mountains. The words that were used "vastness", "expansive", "breathtaking", just to name a few. The pictures do not do it justice but we fully understand how a beach girl like B has fallen in love with this part of the world and the people.

We ended our journey with Brantley, Bill, Chandler, Tess, Zach and Jeff in Bishop at a really good Chinese place - Imperial Garden. Standard Chinese offerings (Chow Mein, Lo Mein, Sesame Chicken, etc.) but really good and in a cool, Western Town. Zach surprised Chandler with a Halloween Mask - check out the pictures for a good laugh. We unloaded Bill and Chan's gear, hopped back in the car and headed to the Valley - Death Valley, that is!

The scenery changed dramatically! Still huge mountain ranges but definitely desert. Thank God we stopped for some gas in Bishop. In Death Valley, near Panamint Springs (a scary little spot on the map), gas was $5.62/gallon and in Furnance Creek, when we started getting nervous about whether or not we had gotten enough gas... $6.42/gallon. A short stop at another scary place - the Historic Amaragosa Hotel and Opera House, we got our bearings and headed to Pahrump and $3.75/gallon gas. Filling up quickly, now it's time to figure out where to stay.

Neither of us our Vegas people and after a couple of camping nights - we went All American Hampton Inn in Henderson, Nevada. Thank you Hilton Points!!! A long shower to scrub off the ASP (Ass, Skunk and Pit) Smells and all was right with the world again.

Tomorrow is the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon (and hopefully, for Sweetie, the sweet smells of nature vs. animal and people).

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Photos

Deer in Yosemite
Chandler took Sweetie on a great walk through the Meadow