On the road again

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The car trouble ended up being a small pebble, which was caught between the brake and the wheel. After the mechanics took the wheel off to release the rock, drove it around the block, and changed us $70, we were on our way. God Bless America!

Due to the loss of a day we bypassed San Francisco and drove directly to Yosemite. The drive to Yosemite was beautiful going through olive groves, and cattle farms. By the time we reached the wineries we were to set on making it to Yosemite with light, that we didn’t stop.

We got to Yosemite as the sun was about to set, so we went to work on putting up the tent and cooking up dinner. We ate under the stars hoping no bear would be interested in Spinach salad and Tofu burgers.

It truly is amazing, all the bear propaganda at Yosemite.

The next morning we got up early and hit the trails. We went to Tuolumne meadows, I was hoping to see bears,Vince wasn’t. What we did see were a number of hawks, and little prairie dogs type animals. At soda springs, a spring the produces carbonated water, we met a park volunteer that told us to go to Dog Lake and Larmey Dome for a beautiful hike.

So off we went up the side of Larmey Dome to an alpine lake at 9240 feet above sea level. The water was unbelievable cold but refreshing after the hike in the warm weather. The view from the dome was spectacular. After our hike we had an early dinner and headed out to Olstead point to watch the sun set.

Back on the road early in the morning we headed to Death Valley. Vince and my experience of Death Valley are a little different. My experience was that it was hot, and way to big. At sea level where we stop to get a cold drink the temperature was 120 degrees. It was like being in a sauna. The views were beautiful, and it was amazing to see areas that clearly had water at one point but now are just salt flats. It seemed like it took forever to get through the park, with no air conditioning and leather seats. The road to Las Vegas from the park was also torture.

I’ve never been so happy to see a hotel pool in my life. Covered in dust and unshowered for two days Vince and I plunged into the pool at our Las Vegas hotel while our laundry was going. It was amazing!

We walked around the strip in awe of the lights and the amount of people. What I liked about Las Vegas was the diversity of people and families. I kind of liked the cheesiness of all the different casinos and hotels too. The tackiness was at an all time high. What we didn’t like, was the lack of vegetarian food and loosing money.

This morning we are off to Zion National Park and Grand Canyon.

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