Gnomadic

The next stop along our journey was the famous Yosemite National Park. We chose to enter from the east, driving over the 9945 ft (3031 m) high Tioga Pass.

Next we stopped at Tuolumne Meadows, where we refueled and observed the local wildlife.

Several scenic lakes lie along Tioga Road, including the scenic Tenaya Lake.

Further on, Olmsted Point offers a magnificent view of the northern side of Half Dome.

Tioga Road is only open during the summer, and I highly recommend visiting then to experience this wonderful drive.

We spent the night in the beautiful town of Lone Pine, then proceeded north to Mono Lake.

This lake contains very unusual formations called Tufa, which almost make it seem like you’re on another planet.

After recovering from my experiences in Las Vegas, we proceeded west to Death Valley, the lowest and (occasionally) hottest place in the United States.

First, we visited the lowest spot in the park, Badwater Basin. The floor of this basin is 282 feet (85.5 meters) below sea level.

Proceeding northwest through the park, I was intrigued by the different varieties of terrain found throughout the park.

However, we couldn’t stay too long. After all, it was the middle of summer, and quite a bit warm out there!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…Wh..Where am I?

Oh goodness. How did I get up here?

I think that massive pounding in my head might be a clue. Guess it’s true what they say — what happens here stays here, ’cause you can’t remember a thing!

I appear to have ended up at the top of the Stratosphere Tower at the opposite end of the strip. Guess I’ll do some sightseeing while I’m here.

Sin City! It’s every bit as crowded, noisy, and brightly lit as I imagined.

We stayed at the Excalibur hotel, which was nice, but not as extravagant as some of the other resort hotels. Luckily, we got a very good deal on our room.

Well that’s enough talk – it’s time to party! See you later!

After visiting the Grand Canyon, we headed towards Las Vegas, stopping at the impressively massive Hoover Dam.

It’s depressing to see how far the water levels have fallen here, a symptom of the ongoing drought in the Southwest.

Note the light colored banding on the rocks indicating where the waterline used to be.

There’s also a new highway bridge under construction downstream. This bridge will be used to route traffic away from the dam, to reduce travel times and increase security.

After visiting Winslow, we decided to reverse direction and head west to Williams, Arizona. There we boarded a train to journey to one of the greatest natural wonders in the world – the Grand Canyon!

My traveling companion upgraded us to seats in the observation car for a better view along the way.

The locals were very curious about me and my travels.

One of these days I should take a rafting trip through the canyon. That would be amazing!

And finally, I’d like to wrap up this entry with a very important rule:

The next stop along the journey brought us to the city of Winslow, Arizona. This town sits along the Historic Route 66, and was a major stop for rail passengers in the golden days of rail travel. We traveled here to visit the La Posada hotel, a recently restored Harvey House which served rail passengers as they waited for the trains to be refueled.

Here I am at the main entrance (facing the highway).

I attempted to talk to this gentleman about other local attractions, but he wasn’t very friendly.

Some views from the gardens (facing the tracks).

Some views of the wonderful courtyard.

I thought it a bit strange when my traveling companion wanted to visit a big hole in the ground. It turns out that this “hole” is the best preserved meteor impact crater in the world, and was used for Apollo astronaut training.

It’s amazing to see how large this crater is compared to the tour group on the right side of the photo:

The next stop on our road trip was the scenic Oak Creek Canyon. We actually drove through the canyon from Sedona to reach this overlook, and you can see the road in the canyon below.

Hmm. Looks like there are some active birds of prey in this area. I’d better keep an eye on them.

I continue to be amazed at the variety and beauty of desert plants. Just look at this colorful cactus flower!

What’s that noise…?  HELP!

Goodness! That was a close call! I’d better get out of here before I end up as somebody’s dinner.