Saturday morning I woke up feeling worse than the night before. Try as I might, I couldn't get out of bed. Nick went to the shops while I stayed in bed wrapped up like a burrito. He re-appeared a while later with all sorts of goodies. I felt like there was a very real chance I might puke, and when Nick whipped out a stinky chorizo and egg burrito I was tempted to top myself. He meant well but it was almost enough to finish me off. I had a coffee and a little pastry but that was as good as it got.

We really wanted to go to the museum. For a while I wasn't sure I'd make it. Nick said it didn't matter and we didn't have to go but he was really looking forward to it. We both were. How could we come all this way and miss the museum? When I eventually got up I flung on a dress, put a scarf on my head to avoid doing my hair, put my sunnies on to avoid doing my make up, and I shuffled off down the street. It wasn't far but it took ages because I had to keep stopping to cough, then catch my breath. When we finally got there we were told it was free to enter but you HAD to make a contribution of $5 each. What's that about? It's not free then is it? There's no getting away from it, the people are a special kind of stupid here.

The museum was filled with all sorts of movie memorabilia from 100's of westerns. John Wayne and such like. I'm sure it was really interesting but I felt like I was about to faint for the most part and I hadn't heard of many of the films. The only reason we went was for the 'Tremors' bit. It was so worth it! They had a couple of little 'screechers' plus a huge 'Graboid'. It was brilliant. Nick was really excited and for the briefest time I forgot how ill I felt.

We came out of there after 1000 photos and stumbled into Maccy D's. I had a massive drink of strawberry fizzy stuff. It was like a bucket but it was delicious. Nick ordered himself a drink. And a cheeseburger! He said he wanted to see if it was any different to the ones we get at home. Now don't get me wrong, lots of the stuff out here is different, but how different can they make a cheeseburger?? He ate it, concluded that it was in fact the same as ours and then had the cheek to look surprised about it.

We went back to our room, changed into our swimmers and vowed to spend the rest of the day by the pool. We got ourselves comfy on lovely rattan loungers. Me wheezing my head off and silently sweating. It dawned on me then that aside from the cough, I think I'd had too much sun the day before while we were driving through Death Valley. That would explain the shivers, the raging thirst and feeling sick. As nice as it was in the sun we decided to err on the side of caution and move into the shade. We were the only ones round the pool so all that faffing didn't make a blind bit of difference to anyone else. When we finally got settled and it was fabulous. Nick played on his phone and read his book and I just read my kindle for hours. It was perfect. The pool was freezing so we both gave that a miss but we made the most of the hot tub. It was sensational. The water warming our bodies, the sun warming our faces, as we sat, speechless, and gazed at the mountains for the longest time.

After much uming and ahing we decided to go out for dinner. I felt a bit better having done nothing all day. BBQ smoke house was Nicks choice. Until we got there and it was empty. We made it as far as the door before he changed his mind. Next stop the Pizza shop. In we went, sat down, studied the menu, made our choice and THEN Nick decides it was too busy! I s*** you not, we got up and left. I wanted to crawl up my own arse! Third, and I'm pleased to say, final stop, was The Grill. It was definitely the best choice. The food was good and I got to have Crème Brulee, my all time favourite. I hadn't eaten all day so I certainly made up for it.

Despite the fact we had such a lot of driving to do yesterday we had quite a leisurely start. Just as well. Don't think I could hurry if my life depended on it. As we drove out of Lone Pine the shops and buildings gradually gave way leaving nothing but the exposed mountains. We stopped to take yet more pictures and we weren't even out of town.

Our first real stop was Mammoth Lake. I know don't know why it's called that because it doesn't have a lake. Very Strange. It's a ski resort during the winter. It was beautiful. We parked in a pay and display car park, I went and got the ticket and stumbled upon a sign that said 'Please don't feed the bears' Oh well, if you insist! How many bears do they get in the car park? And how many maniacs think it's a good idea to feed them? I almost ran back to the car with the ticket.

The main street had shops, cafés and hotels that looked like ski lodges. It was bright and sunny but freezing. It had majestic pine trees adorned with chunky pine cones and the crispy air had an alpine scent to it. I've never been skiing but it's what I imagine it to be. We went to the bagel shop for lunch. We waited a month of Sundays and it actually wasn't that nice. I had some manky soup and it was revolting. Dad says you can't go wrong with a nice drop of soup. Wanna bet? We popped in the gift shop a couple of door down to get some water and sweets for the car. The woman on the check-out was a funny old thing. We spent $12 so Nick gave her $22 so she could give him $10 back. She couldn't get her brain round why he'd given her 2 extra dollars. When, on the umpteenth time of explaining it, the penny finally dropped she said she was impressed that Nick knew so much about their money! Haha. Now I'm no Carol Vorderman but I think 12 out of 22 leaves 10 regardless of the country you're in at the time. Made me chuckle for ages. Despite the warning not to feed the bears, we didn't actually see any. Nick said he wanted us to because he knows I 'like that sort of s***'.

We went over Tioga Pass this time. It was the best drive we've had. It was phenomenal. Phenomenal and freezing! Literally. We stopped at a lake to take pictures and its was 30 degrees which is freezing or just below. I looked like the village idiot. It was scorching when we left Lone pine so I wore shorts and flip flops. It was windy and bitterly cold. It's clear to see why the road is shut all winter. It was a biting wind and there wasn't yet snow. I leapt out of the car, hurriedly took my pics and hopped back in, quick. It remained my cosy little haven for a short while before Nick decided the scenery would be much better with the roof down and the heating on. The park rangers on the toll booth thought it was hilarious and before we even spoke, asked if we were English. They must think we're mental. There were snow warnings and park closure signs. They had their winter, wet weather gear on and we're sailing along in a convertible. It was worth it though. It wasn't cold the whole time. It was dependant on where we were and how high up we went. People said Tioga pass was pretty and they weren't wrong. We drove for ages through the park before we found a patch of forest that has been on fire. I can't put into words how sad it I think that is. A, the trees have been growing for decades, and B, all the poor little creatures lost their homes. The trees are so close to each other it's easy to see how quickly and easily the fire spreads. The poor, black, charcoal stumps looked strangely familiar. Initially I thought they looked like burnt match sticks but then I changed my mind and said they looked like the spines from sea urchins. Just poking out in all directions, bald and brittle. Bloody tragic.

I'm never normally one to be stuck for words but it's really hard to articulate what the scenery is like. I told Nick I wanted to touch it, or better still swallow it. Or be swallowed BY it. The drive to Oakhurst took the entire day but was well worth every single minute. By the time we got to the hotel I was really ill again. Freezing to death and coughing my guts up. I got in bed for a bit but nick was gaging for a beer. I could hardly moan could I when he'd spent the whole day driving. God knows what I must have looked like at the bar. We sat in the 1970s style lounge bar and Nick got his much longed for beer. I was clearly much thirstier than I realised and I drank 3 pints of coke and followed them with a coffee to try and warm me up. I honestly wanted to lay on the floor and cry. We went into the restaurant for dinner by which time I didn't know if I was coming or going. We ordered and by the time the gormless waitress bought it, I couldn't even eat it. Nick took one for the team and ate his and mine. I couldn't get out of there quick enough. I don't know how I did it without crying. Got straight in bed, exhausted and had the crappiest sleep.