Three weeks

We've been on the road for three weeks today. As you know, we had a change of plans and are in Bishop today rather than Death Valley. The Creekside is bright, comfy and has a great buffet breakfast. Well, maybe not up to the over-the-top Buffet at the Wynn, but it's got everything I need.

This is not the Wynn, June 2012

Did I mention it's cool?

I think it's going to be a slow day today, taking advantage of having gotten here a day early to recharge a bit. But anything we do want to do is a drive away, so we will be spending time in the car today. We passed 3,000 miles yesterday. That is slightly further than driving from our home in NJ to San Francisco. Our valiant chariot (AKA the Lunch Wagon) is performing well - the seats are comfortable, the A/C held up to the worst of Death Valley while the heater was great in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, it holds our ridiculous quantity of luggage and supplies, and even plays our tunes thru the stereo when we want.


Anyway, being in Bishop, we went to see two of my favorite spots. The first is the Alabama Hills, some foothills strategically located in the Owens Valley below the Sierra Nevadas. This is where many of the "red rock" Hollywood westerns were filmed, and it's a wonderful jumble of rocks and boulders. The iconic image is of Mt. Whitney (highest peak in the lower 48) as seen through a 17' natural arch at sunrise. It's pretty awesome that it just lines up, with the arch - a great image on it's own - neatly framing the peak.

Mt. Whitney behind an Arch, June 2012

We didn't get there at sunrise; it's about 1:15 from the hotel and sunrise is 5:30 am these days, and I wasn't getting up at 3:45 am. So you'll have to deal with Mt. Whitney being a a bit washed out. Also, in case you think getting the shot framed is a piece of cake, check out this shot of my tripod: the photographer was similarly wedged in between the two rocks, and it was pretty windy. The things one must do for their art ...

Balancing act, June 2012

After a tasty lunch in the Lunch Wagon, we proceeded to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. There you find these most amazingly shaped trees, many of them sculpted by literally thousands of years of wind and weather. In fact, the oldest of them in this grove at 9,500' is estimated to be about 4,500 years old. That would mean the tree was over 1,000 years old when Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt!

Old friend, June 2012

Here are two - the first is an old friend my my visit here last fall, and the second making a heroic pose against the sky while flanked by his attendants. Note that the tree in the middle is very much alive. There's a trunk coming up to the left (hard to pick out in this view) which is in full bloom.

Proud, June 2011

And the best news of the day - another pizza shop which is garlic-safe! Pizza and a bottle of wine for dinner. A perfect end to a great day.