Desert oasis? I think not.

When the morning dawned, the previous evening’s genial mood towards the current dirty state of my person had faded. ARGH! I was so GROSS!! *distastefully eyeing my reflection in the car window* Luckily, Matt had a bandana I could borrow to hide the monstrosity that my hair had transformed itself into. It was rather like slapping a bandaid over an injury requiring major reconstructive work but it was the best that I could do at that moment in time. *visions of showers dancing in my head* Moving on quickly before I break down and cry…

We had a quick breakfast, packed up our car and made our way towards Glacier Point (our final stop before leaving the park). It was a little bit of a drive but the view was incredible. On our way back down to the main road, we made a little detour and hiked down into Mono Meadow. It was a bit muddy but it was still pretty. We grabbed a snack of grapes and granola bars when we arrived back at the car and then we were off. There was a minor panic on my part at that point, much to the bewildered amusement of Matt, when I realized that sunblock had not been applied prior to the excursion out of doors and therefore there was a good chance that I had gotten TAN LINES! *gasp!* (I know, I am ridiculous sometimes.)

We saw snow as we were leaving! The Sierra Nevada mountain range was breathtaking. Occasionally, there would be a lake at the base of a mountain and the Sound of Music theme song would come to mind. *laughs* As we were making our way through Bishop, we stopped at Looney Coffee! Honestly, how could you pass it up with a name like that? Since we had been cruising with the A/C on, Matt casually asked “Hey, what’s the temperature?” as he started opening his door. I glanced at the temperature gauge on my dash and was dumbstruck (absolutely speechless) to find that it was NINETY DEGREES!! *faints*

So Matt got an iced coffee and I got a strawberry smoothie that Matt immediately dubbed “the best damn smoothie” he had ever had in his entire life. *laughs* We considered stopping for groceries at that point but we noted that there were a couple of large towns (cities?) coming up and so we put it off for later when we needed to get gas. The map was terribly misleading. Independence looked as if it would be a big place but it was TINY. But I guess the important thing was, we got what we needed. Although we practically wilted in the heat whenever we left the car. It was HOT! But it was going to get even hotter where we were going: Death Valley.

We pulled over on some cliffs just as we were entering the valley. The winds were so strong they whipped the doors right out of our hands. It buffeted us around and it was hard to maintain good footing. Death Valley stretched before us in a vast expanse of nothing. There were few shrubs but mostly dirt and rock and a scattering of sand dunes. The only thing we could see for miles was the road in front of us. The emptiness was startling and bleak but starkly beautiful in its own way. And so we continued on into the heart of the Valley. (Where, by the way, gas was $4.39!!! *agog and aghast all at the same time*)

The heat was insane. Shirts were discarded and the windows were opened to their fullest to maximize the wind since A/C use was discouraged. (Something about it potentially overheating the car…?) It ripped into the car in a deafening rush and tried to tear loose everything that wasn’t battened down. Angry that all it could do was mess up my hair that was already wretched to begin with, it did its best to push the car off the road like a thwarted bully. Matt did a good job keeping us on the road. *laughs* It was FUN!!

We made a quick stop at Stovepipe Wells where the elevation was at a lofty 5 feet and the temperature peaked at ONE HUNDRED AND NINE! *sweating like crazy* We continued onward past the Devil’s Cornfield and passed by the lowest point on the California Highway System, 242 feet below sea level. Even though Death Valley seemed a monochromatic visual wasteland when we first arrived, it began to take on more life as we drove through. From vivid red dirt to tired green shrubs along with mustard colored rock formations, there was something about Death Valley that was captivating.

When we finally emerged, we were STARVING! *stomachs growling ominously* Although we had generally agreed that we wouldn’t be eating fast food on this trip but the sun was already starting to set and we didn’t really have the time or a place to stop to make anything. The two options offered in Pahrump (which was the town we were in) was either casino buffets or a variety of fast food. We were hungry but we weren’t THAT hungry so Sonic it was! *drool* And there was a fantastic sunset as well. Then we were motoring on down the road into Las Vegas.

For a while I was wondering why the sun hadn’t completely set since it was getting well into nighttime when Matt said the glow off the hills were actually the lights of Vegas. *agog* We hadn’t planned on making a stop there because we were more interested in getting to the Grand Canyon. But I had never been to Las Vegas before so since we were already there, we decided to cruise down the strip a couple times so I could see all the fabulous hotels. To my dismay, my camera had difficulty capturing the night lights so I don’t have any pictures. *cries*

(I stole this picture off someone's website... *GUILT!!)

It was getting ridiculously late by that time so we decided to stay the night at a nearby Marriott Courtyard hotel. It had been a long day but we had seen a lot of cool things. And we should be at the Grand Canyon by tomorrow afternoon which is super exciting!

Mileage: 476