Day 2 - Vegas to Oakhurst

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So leave at 6am and after a quick stop off for water and coke it was off, an hour later and I'm in the middle of nowhere with just mountains in front and behind and nothing on either side, the other weird thing is that you could drive 20 miles and not see another car, first couple of pictures show nothing.

First stop in Death Valley was a place called Dante's View which looks down into Death Valley itself, and some view it is, I was the only one in the car park and to be honest looked like I was the only one for a hundred miles, but to say I was alone would be wrong, as there were several buzzing things dive bombing me at regular intervals, now those who know me know that I have the backbone of a bowl of jelly when it comes to anything that buzz's and this was no different. So there I am several thousand feet up in the air, with a once in a lifetime view laid out beneath me, and what am I doing, well I'm running around a car park waving a baseball cap in the air like a mad man, did however get enough peace to take a few snaps.

Next stop was Zabrieske Point, basically another viewing point lower down into the valley, this was memorable due to the English couple I bumped into there who were on their way to Vegas for the Hatton fight. Not that they themselves were especially memorable, but the large amount of green stuff dangling from the nose of the totally unawares guy - was. So here I am again, stood in a natural wonder of the world, fantastic views everywhere, and I can't take my eyes off the snot hanging from this guys nose - ah well.

Next it was Badwater (lowest place in the USA) and Artists Palette before setting off for Yosemite, a brief stop in Panamint Springs from petrol, was weird in that the place consisted of the petrol station, a bar, and 3 caravans and that was Panamint Springs, petrol station smelt a little weird inside, probably just the rotting corpse of the last one traveller to go through those parts, never mind.

Journey to Yosemite relatively uneventful, although it was nice to see the gradual change from rock and sand to grass and trees, Oh and did you know that you can get 1/3 Pounders at McDonalds - ace.

Yosemite National Park (or the little I have seen so far) - WOW, not a great deal else other than WOW, the place is georgeous, the major problem was stopping every 1/2 mile to get out of the car and look at something else, took me almost as long to drive through Yosemite as it took me to get there (not quite - but you get the idea). Back in Yosemite tomorrow, so a bit more on it then.

Stayed in Oakhurst which is about an hour outside of the park, anyone who hears it's only 20min, then that is to the park entrance, it is another 40 to the Valley and the sights and possibly another 11/2 hours before you get deep into the park.

Nice meal had, but highlight of the evening had to be the two guys playing with their organs in the restaurant bar, a Phoenix Nights booking if ever I saw one, it did however get the half dozen or so dead people in the bar up and dancing, which was another sight in a day full of them.

Tomorrow for San Francisco

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Photos

Beaver Shot
At least I think it's a Beaver

Comments

[NewbieNomads]

Lovely pictures!
Great pictures. I'll be interested to see how your view of the western US and mine will differ. We will end up hitting a lot of the same sites. Keep the photos coming!