Days 15 & 16: Phoenix to Yosemite

Scottsdale, Arizona—Las Vegas, Nevada—Death Valley—Yosemite, California

This is a double day because we decided to drive at night and actually the drive turned out to be a lot longer than I expected, lasting all day Saturday as well. We woke up about 11:30 A.M. today (Fitz almost missed Dynasty). Fitz watched his shows and then we went out to the pool where I updated the journal and Andy and Fitz sat in the heated pool. It was hot out, the temperature was supposed to go up to 107 today. Went to Two Pesos again for lunch with Rod, their other roommate (I didn't spill my drink this time). Fitz wanted to play more "May I" on their porch even though it was hot out (at least I was hot). They were going to party tonight so Andy and I decided to leave because we really weren't up for that. Fitz tried to convince us otherwise but we had made up our minds.

We left around 9 P.M. as they were beginning to party at their place. We left the way we came in but pulled into this auto parts store to investigate why the car's fan wasn't working. None of the fuses had blown so it remains a mystery. We left there after about 45 minutes of fiddling around.

We were traveling up Scottsdale Road when the van in front of us drove right into the oncoming traffic. This is a three lane road each way and luckily, the van was about 40 feet in front of us because it drove head-on into a car and flipped into the air, landing upside down behind the car where three other cars rammed into it. After the cars hit, Andy said, "That person can't be alive..." and he was right. This is the first time in my life I'd ever actually seen someone die. Andy went over to the accident scene to see if anything could be done, joining a large crowd who were just peering into the van, realizing there was nothing they could do. I asked this lady in a crowd outside this Mexican restaurant if the police had been called. The cops were there in minutes and closed the street. We were in a group of witnesses and gave our testimony to the cops. They asked us to wait for the investigators to show so we could tell the story to them as well. There was a small group of us comparing our view of the accident and what we saw. One of the other witnesses told us that she came very close to hitting us since she had to veer out into our lanes to avoid the van, which was in mid-air when she passed it.

While we were waiting for the investigators to show up, one of those fierce ants that one finds in the southwest bit Andy on the toe, he was wearing sandals. It was eerie sitting there thinking about the fact that it could have been me in that car, or that we could have easily been hit by one of the cars trying to avoid the accident. The point being; it could all be over in seconds and thinking about the number of people who lose their lives and loved-ones this way every day (112 people per day) really made me nervous when I faced the fact that I would have to get in the car again tonight. Since we had to go a long way tonight, the cops made sure Andy and I, or "the guys from Pennsylvania" as they called us, were first so we could be on our way as soon as possible.

It was a hot night and there was a storm approaching so they wanted to finish clearing the accident and wrapping up the entire affair. Because there was a fatality, we were told that there may be a chance that we would have to come back for a trial if the case went to court. The investigators were very nice, we talked about the trip and everything, but it was odd in a way. This was a very solemn start to the journey before us but we pressed on. We thought about going back to Fitz's but we both decided not to.

It was about 11:30 P.M. before we got away from the scene and we wanted to keep the conversation going in order to keep our minds off the accident. We traveled out of the city the same way we entered it, driving very slow and as far away from oncoming traffic as the road would allow. Took Bell Road through northern Phoenix and Sun City until we hit US 60, turning northwest. At Wickenburg we turned on US 93 in the same direction. This was a 100 mile stretch of nothingness. There is only one town on this stretch, Wikieup, which wasn't much of anything, not that it mattered, it was pretty dark on this stretch of road. This was principally a truckin' road. It looked as though we were in a desert, however, there were a few mountain regions here and there, it certainly was not flat. There were also a lot of Joshua Trees around.

We eventually picked up I-40 west for a few miles and got off at Kingman, AZ and US 93 to Las Vegas. I was wishing it was light out so I could see our surroundings, they looked interesting. It was a 71 mile straight shot up to the Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam creates Lake Mead and we passed through the Lake Mead Recreational Area, although we did not see much. I didn't even know we would be passing over the dam. The road approaching and following the dam was very curvy and slow-going behind all the trucks. The architecture of the dam looked very interesting and I wished we could have seen it in the light of day. Two towers on each side of the dam had large clocks on them, one displaying Arizona time and the other Nevada time.

By now it was about 5 A.M. and we wanted to see the lights of Vegas before it started getting light out. We got a brief taste of what was coming in Boulder City and Henderson, NV. Both towns had gambling and stopped at nothing to advertise this fact. There is a ridge of mountains outside Las Vegas and once on top of this ridge, we could see the city below. I wasn't sure it was the city but Andy, looking at the map, confirmed this. Plus, in addition to all the never-ending lights, there were literally two strips of lights that traced the path of "The Strip." This was a remarkable sight from our high vantage point above the city; two bright strips of light traversing through the city, not straight, but tracing out the famous strip, home of the most luxurious Las Vegas resorts, old and new. We really had to hurry if we wanted to see the strip all lit up, dawn was growing.

We made our way into the city, which was very much alive at six in the morning on a Saturday. Spotted many people walking the streets possibly going home after a long night of gambling. We did make it in time to see the lights of the strip but it was no longer dark out. We stopped for a break and went into the California Casino and played a few quarter slots. Inside, there was much activity. Primarily, old, cigarette-smokin', blue-haired women strategically playing three or four slots, also, a of couple card tables where cheering and screaming could occasionally be heard. We made little with the quarter machines and Andy switched to nickel machines. He made quite a bit on these, enough that he did not want to carry it around and continued to play in the hopes that he could get rid of some of the change. I finally convinced him to leave with what he had (a handful of change) and we were on our way out when I lost him. I looked back and he was staring into another kind of nickel slot machine. He played for a bit and the machine paid off generously. After a few tries, jackpot. Three 7s, which pays out 300 nickels. We got one of the cups sitting around for change, filled it with our $15 in nickels, and left. This would be our emergency, last-resort funds. We didn't even bother to cash it in for bills.

We left the casino to press on toward California. Continued out The Strip passing the biggies, The Sands, Circus Circus, MGM, Stardust, and Caesar's Palace. Started to drive out of the city but we were both disoriented and, it turns out, heading south. We knew something was wrong when we passed by the McCarran International Airport, one of the landmarks in the atlas. We got gas and directions and got out of this town. By the way, every little business here has slot machines in it. The gas station had slots and people were playin' them. Every motel has gambling, you could be out in the middle of nowhere and there are bright lights and flashing arrows pointing to the grandiose doors of these places and the gambling inside. Unbelievable!

We finally found our way out of town on US 95. This road passes mountains that look as though they have been worn by erosion. They have very gradual slopes and many alluvial fans at their base. There are only two towns that we would pass through in Nevada after Las Vegas. One, Indian Springs, is about 40 miles to the northwest, and the other, Amargosa Valley, which is another 45 miles. It is very dry and mountainous out here. We turned on NV 373 south and passed through the Amargosa Desert and the Funeral Mountains. At this point we were in California on CA 127. At the town of Death Valley Jct. we headed west on CA 190 into Death Valley National Monument (now a National Park).

It was a hot, crystal clear morning. Andy was sleeping pretty hard by now. There were no rangers working. All the visitor centers were closed. We passed by many interesting things here. There were a few fellow tourists but not many. We traveled on roads that passed through salt flats, roads that overlooked valleys of salt deposits, sand dunes, and signs warning: TURN OFF A/C NEXT 20 MILES TO AVOID OVERHEATING. Also there was a resort complete with golf course and pools at 106 feet below sea level. Is this absurd? Who would want to play golf in the heat of Death Valley? This park has a wide range of elevation from Telescope Peak at 11,329 feet to the lowest point in North America of 282 feet below sea level. This region only gets two inches of rain a year and there's no McDonalds to get a coke either.

CA 190 took us below the -200 feet level and up to 5,000 feet plus elevations. There is very little vegetation in the park and sometimes no ground cover at all. A lot of desert pavement, sand that blows away leaving a rocky surface. We ascended out of the valley up thousands of feet over many miles. Along the route was radiator water every couple miles. Luckily, we did not need it. The car took the hills slowly, they were long. Finally, we were over the Cottonwood Mountains, out of the park, and into the Panamint Valley. Sounds plush, right? It was a tad better than Death Valley, but not by much.

Soon we came to CA 136 which we took around Owens Lake. Things were looking greener now. Because there's no crossing over the Sierra Nevada Mountains near here, our options were to go south and then north to Sequoia National Park or to go north and cross in Yosemite National Park. We chose door number two. We took CA 136 to US 395 north. This area is the site of many movie locations. Lone Pine, the first town we passed through, has been the host of so many movies, every year they have a film festival, running some of the movies shot here as well as giving guided tours of all the local movie sets. This road goes through Owens Valley and has the Inyo National Forests on both sides. Passed through other towns like Independence, Big Pine, Bishop, Toms Place, and Lee Vining, where Mono Lake is (I slept through most of these). We got gas at the turnoff into the park ($1.59 a gallon!) and took a rest.

By now it was about 2 or 3 P.M. and I was getting anxious to get somewhere to settle down. We made our way into Yosemite and through the Cathedral Range with peaks over 10,000 feet. Some of these peaks had snow on their summits, the first snow I'd seen on this trip. Drove on Tioga Road and through the Tioga Pass which is at an elevation of 9,945 feet. We stopped at the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center to see about the camping options. We found out that we had none in the park tonight. This part of the park is just spread out wilderness. There are lakes, huge summits of rock, canyons, valleys, rivers; and everywhere else - green meadows. No more arid desert or orange sandstone. Now there's mountains of gray granite, pine trees, wildflowers, moss, and yes, water. This park is filled with trails, including the Pacific version of the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, stretching from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. This part of the park is closed in winter which I would imagine is most of the year.

Turned on Big Oak Flat Road which goes into the Yosemite Valley, the treasure of the park. We weren't especially interested in sightseeing now, we would do that tomorrow. We just wanted to find a place to sleep. We found Wawona (means big tree) Road, which would lead us out of the park at the South Entrance. Hopefully, we will find a campground for the night close to the park. This road was very curvy and descended in elevation out of the high Sierras. One RV and you're finished on these roads. It was a long trip out of the park but we finally made it, over two hours after entering it. Just outside the south end of the park is the town of Fish Camp on CA 41. This was a tiny town which probably flourished solely on tourists. I didn't see any evidence that would point to the meaning of the name. I wouldn't want to live in a place called Fish Camp, I can tell ya.

Anyway, we continued down the road behind the Winnebagos and busses to a place called Bass Lake arriving around 5:30 P.M. This is all in the Sierra National Forest and we stayed at a campground that overlooked Bass Lake, where boats, fishing, and swimming are the main attraction. The lake is at 3,400 feet and it is still nice and cool, it doesn't get too hot up here. Talked to Lois who said she had one space left for us. We didn't care about the looks of the site too much at this point, we got the last site in the campground and were happy to have gotten it. It could have been next to a dumpster and we still would have taken it. Luckily, it wasn't.

We set up the tent and all that jazz and were contemplating eating out but decided to just cook our own food. There was a family next to us with young kids; make that young, whiny kids. We cooked dinner, did the dishes, and went to bed. I think we even went to bed before it was dark! It had been a long, long, long drive (11:30 P.M. to 5:30 P.M. the next day), but I think it was worth it.