So today was a LONG driving day, to the Hoover Dam, across Death Valley, up the east side of the Sierra’s, and then into Yosemite

Best Laid Plans

For Day 2 (June 10, 2010) the plan was this:

A long day of desert driving is on the menu for today. We’ll be stopping in the morning at the Hoover Dam, a modern engineering marvel that provides the electricity for the bright lights of Vegas, along with parts of Arizona and much of Southern California. Then, we’ll travel just north of the Mojave Desert, through the middle of Death Valley, and then along the eastern foothills of the Sierras, until we turn west into Yosemite National Park. There, we will stay a couple of nights in the Wawona Campground.

What Actually Transpired

Things went according to plan, though about 3 hours longer (with multiple stops along the way, and some construction in Nevada & California.  The most important thing, though, was that the Air Conditioning worked!  We went from Death Valley (105 degrees) to the snow-covered Tioga pass in Yosemite (really cold!) in the span of a few hours.  The tent was also pretty chilly that night.

Odometer Start Reading: 36050

Odometer End Reading: 36568

Total Miles = 518 miles

Funny/Deep/Odd/Profound Observations

“I thought I was mistaken, but I was wrong” – Chris (spoken about the elevation of Death Valley)

“Hey, you guys wouldn’t happen to have any marijuana, would you?” – the guys in the camp next to where we parked at Yosemite

Pictures

Here’s a link to the day’s photo album and its slide show.