USA Road trip Part 5

List of wildlife seen to date. Yellow headed blackbird (m & f) Brewer's blackbird (m & f) golden eagle, turkey vulture American coot American robin black chinned hummingbird white breasted nuthatch & fledgling red breasted nuthatch pino jay Steller's jay American goldfinch pronghorn mule deer golden ground squirrel western pipistrelle bat black admiral yellow swallowtail heron white throated swift red winged blackbird (m & f) white crowned sparrow clarke's nutcracker red tailed hawk canyon wren rock wren mountain grouse wild turkey cicadas (heard) crickets (heard) western bluebird song sparrow toad yellow warbler black headed grosbeak house wren chipping sparrow mourning dove. ............................... 20th June - Another long drive, arriving at The Bellagio Las Vegas at 5pm, after another clock change for time zone difference. Room was on 24th floor, spacious and impressive, view from back of hotel across rooftops etc. The Bellagio itself is huge, they said 10,000 rooms, and the lobby had a huge flower festival display. Check in was smooth and not much of a wait. It's quite a hike from check in desk to the guest elevators for the Spa Tower, and people everywhere. Got changed and tidied up, and went down to take photos. Standing waiting for M & K I was asked several times to take photos of other people on their cameras. We walked through the casinos past tables and the bandit machines, lots of people playing them and betting, and some odd extremes of dress. Learned later that there were people being approached by hookers in the lobby and casino, we did have some people hand out business cards with girls on but threw them in a bin. M got grumpy as he couldn't hear what we were asking him with all the casino and people noise, and when i said I did not want to walk round aimlessly all evening he got crosser. We did go out with the aim of trying to find the open top bus tour but never found it. Went past Caesar's palace and some other sights, and along part of the strip. Incredibly crowded, hot and even though it was desert, it was humid too. I found the crowds and heat hard to stand, and Kirsty was getting a bit flustered because of the crowds and her claustrophobia. Walked on for about an hour, and then I told M I wanted a cold drink and some food. Ended up at the Harley Davidson cafe at Kirsty's suggestion (M suggested a cheap looking Tex Mex diner in a shopping mall). Really nice meal but very expensive. Headed back to the hotel to see the fountains display outside which has different shows to different pieces of music - was very impressive and despite the heat and crowds we watched four different shows. Left Mark taking photos in lobby and outside, K bought a t shirt from the hotel souvenir shop and after showing the security man on the lift (!) our key card, we went back to the room and all tried to sleep ready for a very long day tomorrow. ................ 21st June. Up and off at 6am, seeing dawn come up over the city. There were still people on the gambling tables when we left. Stocked up with cold drinks and filled cool box with ice, then set off to Death Valley. We came in a different way than the last time Mark and I did the trip, driving past Furnace Inn which was closed and apparently being refurbished. We turned left and drove to Badwater, it was already 98 at 10.30 am. Badwater viewpoint has been improved, pit toilets (!) and a walkway out on to the salt pan and by the water pool. Information boards useful. Drove back the way we'd come and continued on to Furnace Creek itself. Kirsty was impressed by the incongruous sight of the green lawned bits and the golf course in the middle of the salt pans and desert. Plenty of lizards and some crows around the car park. Went round the gift shop, and I posted a postcard. Temperature was 113 by the time we left and still rising. Drove on and on, and on...out of Death Valley and on to Bishop where we stopped for cold drinks and a rest and to stretch legs. Finally reached the entrance to Yosemite at Tioga pass after a few photo stops on the way up. Some patches of snow on the mountains but none at the pass or the park entrance, the website said snowfall was 43% of normal average last winter. The drive down into the Park, across the valley floor and up again was hard, very tiring for Mark after winding roads and sun flashing through trees; we did stop from time to time and let him rest but he wouldn't let me drive - apparently he hadn't added me on the insurance! Found way out of the Park up to Fish Camp, and just beyond that to the hotel. A big lodge resort hotel, the room was not what we'd expected for a luxury hotel but we were too tired to do more than have a bite to eat and go to bed. 14 hours on the road to get from Las Vegas to Tenaya Lodge Yosemite. ............... 22nd June. We had a bit of a sleep in this morning, not that late, but not pushing to get going early. Did some laundry in hotel washing machines. Left hotel around lunchtime and drove to Mariposa Grove to see the giant sequoias. The loos were horrible. Kirsty opened door to one, almost retched and decided not to go. Stench was disgusting and there were marks all over the wall and no paper or light. Did tram tour which was quite interested and a good way to see most of the grove area without lots of walking. Kirsty almost got hit on the head by a sugar pine cone - about 9 inches long - which fell unexpectedly and landed just behind her. Tram tour was $26 and a bit expensive. You can only walk up to and touch a few of the trees, most of them are in protective fencing. Sequoias have shallow root systems and it's damaging for the trees to have people keep walking up and round the roots. We drove on to Yosemite village, which was very busy. Went round visitor centre and walked round some of the viewing areas. M & K busy taking lots of photos. Had a pizza at the Lodge cafe and drove back up, stopping for many photos on way back. Bed after 11pm. ................. 23rd June Today's plan was to drive to Mono Lake - across the park and then back over Tioga, stopping for the photos we didn't have time or chance to take on the way in. Despite getting going before 9.30am there was a big queue of cars just to get to the park entrance, took almost an hour to get in. Changed plans a little, briefly stopping at Mariposa again to buy a snow globe and t shirt we'd seen before, then after getting into the park we drove up to Washburn Point/Taft Point overlook. Wasn't too busy there and the view was magnificent. After driving on up to Glacier Point, we wished we'd stayed at Washburn for picnic lunch, cars queuing down into Glacier Point car park, and it was packed. The loos were pit toilet unisex, like those at Mariposa Grove, and in the heat the smell is nauseatingly disgusting. Took some photos and went in gift shop but it was really too crowded to enjoy the spectacle and scenery. Saw a coyote in a layby, people throwing it food despite all the instructions not to do so. Drove back down into the valley to Yosemite village, cars queuing to park and around the one way system they have. Eventually parked at Curry Village and had meal at the all you can eat buffet, wasnt bad value but food was not that hot and we didn't really eat that much. After some argument, we drove back up to Glacier Point to join a Stars Over Yosemite ranger talk. Excitement on the way as we actually saw a bear - stopped to take photos and film of it eating and just wandering about 10 feet away from the car. Kirsty was cross when we got to the Glacier Point amphitheatre because she thought it was going to be generally about Yosemite at night, i.e. wildlife etc, but they had telescopes and a local astronomy club there so you could do star gazing. It was chilly when we started, and Kirsty hadn't got enough thick clothes so I gave her my sweatshirt jacket too. The Star talk turned out to be a magical experience, with no light pollution you could see so many stars, the Milky Way, you could see the camp fire of someone camping on one of the mountains opposite, and even lamps from people camping half way up Half Dome. The ranger gave an interesting talk about constellations and their names, and why they were called that. She had a laser pointer thing but it was hard to see what she was pointing out, so I was just happy to look at the stars. We saw satellites going over and even the International Space Station. Despite being cold, it was a memorable experience. We had to follow another couple of people who had torches to find our way back to the main path. M went back to the astronomy telescopes for a bit, K & I went back to the car but we weren't going to attempt the stinky pit toilets in the dark, so we had to hide and go behind the car. .......................... 24th June. Up and out by 8am - another drive across the park and out via the Tioga entrance. Got to Mono Lake after having to stop and get drinks and snacks in Lee Vining town.Also looking for fuel, it was very expensive both inside and just outside the park entrance. At Mono Lake it was very hot and very windy, and dusty. Went round visitor centre and saw some of the information films about Mono Lake and Yosemite. Kirsty showed her film of the bear at Yosemite to one of the rangers as we were not sure of the type of bear - Yosemite wildlife book only showed black bear but the one we saw was brown. The ranger was very impressed with her video & called two others over to look at it - apparently the Yosemite black bears are mostly brown and cinnamon coloured! Thankful to know it wasn't a grizzly! Took the walk trail down to Mono Lake edge, tufa towers interesting, lots of brine flies and gulls feeding on them. There are osprey nests on some of the tufa towers further out in the lake, some have youngester & Kirsty got a few shots of one of the adults. had to have scarf wrapped round head because of dust and wind blowing. Drove back up into Yosemite, stopping for half an hour at one of the lake viewpoints near the pass as M was tired and wanted to stop. When we finally arrived back at the hotel about 8.30 Mark had a drink and went straight to bed, Kirsty and I ate in the hotel grill diner again. ..................