Day Thirteen

Late post today. When we arrived at my brother's house in CA last night around 9:15, it seemed like bad form to start blogging before saying hello!

Stats so far:
Thirteen days
4,647 miles
125 gallons
37.5 mpg (average--assisted by Pete putting the cruise control on 100 mph in Nevada. This I heard about later...is it any wonder I don't sleep much in the car??)
Countless memories and only a few little flareups!

We knew we wanted to get to my brother's house in Coursegold, CA (near Fresno) today, so would have to do some traveling; however, we took our time leaving the hotel in Elko and even stopped to pick up some new boots for Peter and a hat to help me keep the sun off as we drive through the desert.

We noticed readership was down a little, so to spice things up, here's a gratuitous shot of Peter's new footwear. Here you go ladies...ha ha!! (sorry Earlene!)

There wasn't much to see in Nevada, but we stopped to eat at The Pig (purely because of its name) where we had good BBQ.

Then it was just hot, fast, dull driving for hours. We did run across the Hawthorne Army Depot Main Base in Hawthorne, NV, where they make and test ammunition. The base piqued my interest for obvious reasons. Miles of desolate, dry desert, packed with barracks and tents--I wonder how similar it could be to Gordon's setup at Fort Benning. I'm hoping he has a few trees at least!

We did see the "Penitentiary Zone, Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers" signs that Pam told me about. Not that we would try anyway, but we don't really have the space! The scenery was so unchanging that when we saw Walker Lake we got very excited. It was massive...too big to get a good shot of as we drove by, so here's a bad one : ).

As you enter the park (don't mind the dead bugs and dirt on the windshield...)

At last, we reached Yosemite. What a relief! We probably went through this national treasure faster than it's ever been done, but the Tioga Pass was amazing, and we hit the highlights just before the sun went down: Half Dome, El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls...truly impressive. Being there gives you a good idea how massive these things are--as well as how small we are!

Proof that we were here--our expressions are a little weird, but that's what happens when strangers are taking your picture!

Can you imagine traveling on this sleeper bus? Wo wants the top bunk? Not me!!!

I didn't know the park had so many tunnels...

If you've been looking for it, here it is...the light at the end.

The sun was setting as we drove out of Yosemite, so we kept stopping to try to capture it. At one point, I went running into the woods to get a shot with fewer trees in it and stopped short in front of this deer--who didn't care much about us! She was soon joined by another and they both ran off.

More visiting with my brother, sister-in-law and two nephews, the we head in the general direction of the Grand Canyon. Have a good day!