Nevada

Viva Las Vegas! We had no desire to stop in Las Vegas, but we decided to drive The Strip, just to be nosey.

Welcome to FABULOUS Las Vegas Nevada

Shiny, shiny money.

Hey, New York!

The MGM Grand

We don't know what this was, but it looks cool.

And you thought the Eiffel Tower was in France...

Don't worry Mom and Dad, we didn't get married at Denny's.

By the time we arrived in Valley of Fire State Park it was quite dark. Imagine our surprise when we woke to find we were surrounded by wind-carved red cliffs, blazing in the morning sun.

Evidence of things that scuttle in the night.

Petroglyphs on a nearby cliff.

Delicate wind carvings.

A whiptail.

A fence lizard?

Death Valley

What better place to vacation than a valley called Death Valley! The second hottest temperature on the planet was recorded in Death Valley (57°C), and even in October the average daily temperature is 33°C.

The drive into Death Valley National Park was spectacular.

We saw Joshua Trees, which are actually large yuccas.

This Tarantula was just leisurely crossing the road.

Apparently the males go looking for hot ladies this time of year.

It's easier to see the rocks without all that vegetation getting in the way.

This is the the Panamint Valley, west of Death Valley.

One of our first views in Death Valley - massive sand dunes.

We arrived at the campground in the early evening and set up camp. The night was hot, windy and dusty. It felt like a hot summer night when you can’t get to sleep and every time the wind gusted, it blew dust under the fly of the tent and covered us. There were times in the night when we had to breath into our pillows because it was so dusty! Needless to say the next morning we were gritty and our eyes were crusty, but we still got up early to see the sunrise over the valley.

We got some great photos and then went for a hike in the Golden Canyon before it got too hot.

We also visited a broken up salt flat known as The Devil’s Golf Course, went to a natural arch, and visited Artist’s Drive, so-called because of the multi-coloured rocks.

By mid-morning it was uncomfortably hot and by the time we made it to Badwater, the lowest point in the western hemisphere, it was well into the mid-30s (Celsius). After a short walk on the salt flats we went back to Furnace Creek to find an ice cream and a cold beverage. We saw a roadrunner while we were eating lunch and then (sweaty, gritty and feeling hung-over) we made for higher ground and cooler temperatures.

Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra

Yosemite National Park is one of the most popular National Parks in the world, with over 4 million visitors a year. Up to now we have been some of the only people still tenting in most of campgrounds we stay at, and since it was October and some parts of Yosemite already had snow, we didn’t think we would have a problem finding a campsite in the park. Well, we were wrong and after an entire afternoon of trying to find one of the hundreds of campsites in the park with no luck, we left the park to camp in the nearby National Forest. Oh well, next time we will know to reserve a site!

We got to see the main attractions, including El Capitan and Half Dome, but we wanted to do some hiking so we headed up the “mist” trail to Bridal Veil Falls. We would of hated to visit in the summer because even though most services in the park were closing for the season the following day, the trails were jammed packed with people!

The falls were nice but apparently they can only be fully appreciated during the spring run off.

We did get to see a praying mantis that was using the fire pit in our campsite as a place to feed.

The next day we left for the more remote northern end of the park so that we could cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains before an incoming snowstorm. The northern end of the park was colder and less populated and we made it over the pass just before they closed it due to snow. We also did a short hike up the side of a granite dome but couldn’t make it to the top because we would have needed ropes for the last little bit.

Once we crossed the Sierra Nevadas, we ended up in a desert like environment and stopped in Mono Lake, which is an extremely salty lake, with calcium pillars that form where springs flow up into the alkaline waters of the lake. There were lots of volcanic rocks in the area, as well as the great smell of abundant sagebrush in the surrounding desert.

The area we were hoping to camp at was expecting torrential rain/snow and there was a flash flood warning because the Eastern Sierras are essentially a desert and rarely get rain. To escape the worst of the rain, we drove south as far as possible but still ended up with some very strong winds. The area also had warning signs that the local rodents could be carrying THE PLAGUE!!!! It also happened to be Canadian Thanksgiving, so we braved the wind (and plague) and made a meal on our one burner stove that resembled a festive feast. It is best summed up in a photo...

Fremont Peak State Park and the Central Valley of California

Monterey was the farthest south we were going on the California coast so we headed inland, past Salinas (of Bobby McGee fame), to find a place to camp for the night. We ended up driving up a fairly tall mountain and stayed at Fremont Peak State Park. Twice during the night we awoke to coyotes howling as a pack.

Because it had been dark when we drove inland, the next morning we were very surprised by the change in environment. We had only driven about an hour or two from the coast and had landed in a dry, savannah looking oak forest. The campground was teeming with birds in the morning, including scrub jays, acorn woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches and California quail.

We went for a hike on a dry, grassy slope up to the top of Fremont Peak. Saw lots and lots of Southern Alligator Lizards, mostly juveniles, and another species of lizard we couldn’t ID. At the top of Fremont Peak we learned that it was the first place the American flag was raised on California soil, however the wind blew the flag down so they took it as a sign to retreat and leave the peak to the Spanish for a little longer.

Later in the day we drove across the Central Valley of California to Yosemite. The valley was entirely agriculture, mostly cotton, fruit and nut trees, but almost nowhere to actually buy produce! Guess they export it all...

Nice cones...

Manzanita tree

Scott, surveying the hills

Spot the Alligator Lizard

Dry, grassy hillside with the valleys in fog

Santa Cruz & Monterey

We landed in Santa Cruz late at night and went to a vegetarian junk-food diner called the Saturn Café... it was exactly what we needed. We spent our night outside Santa Cruz in an oak forest... the trees were dropping acorns all night and sounded like nocturnal animals. Still, it was beautiful.

In the morning we went to the Santa Cruz waterfront. There were loads of sea lions sleeping under the wharf, as well as pelicans. Even though it was chilly there were bikini-clad folks playing beach volleyball near the boardwalk. We tried to get a look at the surfers in Steamer Lane but it was a little far away.

In the afternoon we went to Monterey and sampled some fish tacos at a restaurant on the wharf. Basically it’s groundfish in corn tortillas with lettuce, onions, and a chipotle mayo. The ones made with fried fish were tastier than those with grilled fish, probably because fat=flavour. It was a bit of a tourist trap but we got to watch pelicans fishing right outside our window.

After lunch we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. WOW. Photos and videos tell it best. We were most fond of the seahorses and the jellies, the kelp forest, and the circular sardine tank where they swim over your head. After 5 hours we were still rushing to see everything before they closed. It was a good way to end our stretch of coastal driving before heading inland across California.

Purple Striped Jellies

3-Story Kelp Forest

A sleepy Black-Necked Stilt

Bioluminescent Comb Jellies

Purple Striped Jellies

Weedy Sea Dragon

Zoom-Zoom!

Leafy Sea Dragon - ouch my eyeballs!

Shrimp? Prawn? Sweet dance moves!

Feeding Seahorses

Kelp forest in action

Tropical coral reef

Nemo!

Stylish eel

Anchovies and Sardines