Act 4
22
August 2008 – 25 August 2008
22/08/08
We said farewell to the Hotel Charlotte and Groveland this morning and
headed on our way toward the Grand Canyon.
I broke this part of the trip up into 3 one night stays. Our first night will be at
Bishop.
As
we got underway today we headed back into Yosemite to drive the Tioga Pass
Road. Everything I had read said it
was magnificent and the views fantastic and it was all correct.
Reg
says it is the most magnificent scenery he has seen and words cannot describe
how beautiful it is. From the pine
forests to rocky granite out crops and the huge granite mountains that tower
above you, the lakes, streams and of course the road is brilliant for motorcycle
riders. All of this is at an
altitude which is higher than our Mt Kosciusko. At one point we were 9,945 feet above
sea level.
Oh
and Reg was ecstatic when he actually found that there was still a little snow
around. Not a lot but there was
some.
Once
through the park we were at Lee Vining and we detoured a short way down to Mono
Lake to see the Tufa Towers.
Although not as close as we would have liked to be we did have a bit of a
view of them.
What
we did notice was that as we left Yosemite Park area the scenery changed quite
dramatically from the pine forest and granite mountains to a drier, dustier and
more desert type vegetation.
From
there we went back to find Whoa Nellie’s Deli a place that is suggested we stop
by posters on trip advisor and even the Hotel Charlotte mentions it on their
website. Ok so not ones not to do
what everyone else does we stopped for a quick snack.
The
place attached to a Mobil Service Station and it carries not only souvenirs,
mini market stuff, wine and then the deli section. Well what can I say it looked good and
was very busy (always a good sign) but we were not that hungry so we chose an
American Hot Dog (our first one).
Well we didn’t enjoy them at all even adding ketchup and mustard did not
really help. Reg didn’t eat his as
the meat was much too salty for him and I wasn’t going to waste the $US4 it cost
for one.
Ah
well a lesson learnt no more hot dogs. Maybe we will just try one of the “dirty
water hot dogs in New York City”.
We
continued on to Bishop and our motel for the night. We arrived a little after 2pm. I had picked a Motel 6 for the night and
truthfully was not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. The room is very large with a large
queen bed, a table and chairs so we certainly aren’t complaining. After checking in we headed out to Kmart
as Reg wanted to look for another camera as our old Kodak does not take very
good night time pics. He found one
which he thought would do the trick. A Kodak M863 with 8.2 megapixels
capacity.
From
here we headed off to the casino.
First time we have seen one here so wanted to check it out. Well we had a good bit of fun for our
$US20 we played for ages and it was actually fun. The machines have definitely moved up in
the world since I was here last. We
saw a lot like those that are at home.
It was all a little bit of fun.
There
is a Denny’s over the road, from the motel and Reg got us take out for dinner
which was good enough to eat and reasonably priced.
Hopefully
I will get lots updated to night with our photos while the internet connection
is good. Till next time adios
amigos.
PS I have updated the pics of signs in Act 3.
23/08/08
We both woke early this morning and decided on an early start to the
day. Packing up the car again we
headed across the road to Denny’s for breakfast before heading out of town to
Death Valley and Stovepipe Wells Village where we will be staying
tonight.
As
we left Bishop we detoured to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest for a look
see. Again what can we say but
magnificent. These trees are
thousands of years old and we were at a height of 10,000 feet or 3km above sea
level. These trees were used to
recalibrate the radiocarbon dating system.
We
actually drove up about 6000 ft as Bishop and the plain it is on is 4000 feet
above sea level. Gosh do the ears
keep popping as you go up and come down.
From
there we stopped for a light lunch at a little diner in Big Pine sharing a Club
Sandwich and a piece of peach pie.
Both were good but the peach pie was yummie – we got it for half price
cause it was only a small slice.
Now I would have to see their normal slice.
Off
we go again and head toward Highway 136 and the entry toward Death Valley. We stopped at the visitor centre at the
start of the highway and purchased a map and I also got some souvenirs –
magnets, key ring that sort of thing.
As
we drive down the road we pass through areas which incorporate both volcanic
rock, basalt and desert landscape in truly beautiful and amazing scene. Wow ‘Mother Nature’ certainly knew what
she was doing. Unfortunately the
photos do not do the scenery justice.
There
has been a continual haze from Mono Lake and into Death Valley which is caused
in part from the smog in LA plus the altitude, dust particles, vehicles etc in
the area itself. A real pity as it
is so amazing and beautiful.
Although the haze was present in Yosemite it was not nearly as bad as
here.
On
our way here we actually drove down 2000ft and then after crossing a desert area
we then had to drive to around 4900 ft then down again to sea level. Yes Stovepipe Wells is exactly at sea
level. Except for a small problem
with the brakes overheating the car did very well. We did turn the A/C off for
awhile which helped as far as the engine not overheating.
We
arrived at Stovepipe Wells and settled into our room. The temperature is around 110 – 115
degrees (43-46 C) and believe me it is hot. There is also a very hot wind
blowing. This temp is nothing to
Reg as he gets this all the time in summer when he is at work. I can really understand now why he comes
home so bushed.
Our
room is large and comfortable nothing flash but one cannot expect 5 star
accommodation in the middle of the desert.
The view from our room is also something else.
Reg has had fun with the new camera - it even takes panorama views.
24/08/08 Waking early this morning we decided to get on the road while it was a little cooler and get some breakfast down the road a little way. After paying our fees to drive through the park we headed off stopping at Furnace Creek for breakfast.
I don’t think we can say much more about Death Valley except the scenery is so magnificent. We hope that some of the pictures that we will post will give you some indication of its amazing beauty. We reached our lowest point in our trip today.
This
has evolved over millions of years and once had lakes and forests and now is
really a desolate place. There is
little rainfall and when it occurs there is often flash flooding. After the snows melt in the mountains
the spring flowers are beautiful from what we have read.
Once
clear of the valley we headed out of the National Park and toward Baker and then
onto the Interstate. We had
originally intended to head to Needles and to Route 66 but it was such a long
way that we changed and headed straight to Kingman and our motel for the
night.
We
are staying at the Days Inn in Kingman and it is quite ok. Large room, king bed and seems quite
clean. It has been a long day we were on the road from 7.30am and arrived here
at 4pm. Neither of us wants to go
out looking for somewhere to eat tonight so we ‘moseyed’ over the road to a
supermarket and got us some supplies.
It will be ham, avocado, cheese and tomato sandwiches tonight with
strawberries and blackberries for desert.
Mmmmm sounds nearly healthy. Lol.
Tomorrow
we head to the Grand Canyon and we will be driving as much as we can of the
Historic Route 66.
Till next time enjoy and have fun as we are having an absolute ball.
25/08/08
Today we left Kingman for the Grand Canyon but not before a detour
through the Route 66 Museum and the Powerhouse in Kingman. I will have to admit we did not find
this by design but by accident.
When we left the motel we turned right instead of left. The Museum was excellent and very
interesting.
Finally
on the road and heading in the right direction we followed Route 66 to
Seligman. It was an enjoyable drive
with some great scenery. We got
back onto the I40 at Seligman to complete the rest of our journey to the
Williams and the turn off to the Grand Canyon.
As
we approached the National Park Toll Booth area it started to rain and it
continued for a short time.
Arriving at El Tovar at around 3pm we unloaded the car and while Reg went
to find a carpark I dragged the cases inside – no sign of anyone to help. I was thinking I would get the check in
all completed but alas we were a little early and our room was not ready. There was a porter (Tom) at the
reception area and he took our cases to the room for us. Tom was very helpful and
friendly.
So
far this had not gone well as I wasn’t overly impressed with lugging the cases
(4 of) up stairs and then through the lobby to reception.
Reg
had a lot of trouble finding a car park but it is a national park and we
understand that it is difficult to get parking. There is no actual guest parking areas.
After
Reg rejoined me we waited little till around 3.50pm then I went to see
if we could check in. This time
everything was ok. Now that formality was over we headed down to our room and it
was quite nice. Bed looked good and
it was clean and quite roomy.
So
we headed out to have a look around but before we went outside we decided to
book in for dinner in the dining room.
Well we went over to the desk in front of the dining room and was greeted
with a stare no smile, hello, welcome or how are you. Mmmm a little out of the norm from what
we had experienced so far still we booked for 6pm and then headed
outside.
When
you walk out the front door and within a dozen or more steps you are at the
canyon rim. It was amazing and very
beautiful. Reg and I looked and
admired and grabbed a couple of pics then wandered into one of the curio shops
not far away and had a browse.
There
was a bit of a breeze blowing and it was a little chilly so we headed back
inside and Reg went and grabbed the pc’s as the WiFi only worked in the foyer or
on the mezzanine floor. No big deal really as I only wanted to type
something up and post it and check our emails. We were finally able to hook in, the
connection was having some difficulties, after Reg mentioned to the Concierge
that it would not connect to the internet, about 15 minutes later, it
mysteriously connected, we then did what we needed to then packed up and it was
time for dinner.
Arriving
at the dining room the same lady who took our booking greeted us with another
stare and said ‘Name’ while talking on the phone to someone else. Then after finishing her conversation
she asked us again for the name.
Mmmmm this is just not the service that we have been getting throughout
our trip.
We
were shown to our table and our server Rick was very chatty and friendly and
welcomed us to El Tovar. Now this
was a good sign. He recommended the
French Onion Soup which I had and he was spot it as it was delicious. The rest of our meal was good although
not probably as hot as it could have been but these things do happen in a busy
kitchen.
Dinner
over and both of us were tired from the long drive so we headed down to watch a
little TV and early to bed.
It is a new day tomorrow and we were looking forward to a day of sightseeing around the Canyon. We have ordered breakfast in our room in the morning so that will start us off well for the day.
