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So after the disappointment of not being able to stay in Yosemite once we had seen how amazing it was then having to drive for hours with nothing around but trees and road, we were both feeling a bit deflated and contemplated bringing our flight to Hawaii forward (so defeatist).
The drive that night was scary as we were running out of fuel and there was just absolutely nothing for miles and miles! We turned down one road that had a sign for a hostel and we were greeted by a rickety old bridge that had a sign saying 'weight limit - one car on the bridge at a time' and underneath the bridge was a ridiculous drop. Needless to say, we decided to take our chances and drive on. A few miles on and we passed another hostel - no vacancies! It was another 10 miles with nothing but road before we got to a little town called Mariposa where they had a motel with an available room! We were so relieved that we just ignored the $140 price tag and went straight to bed. We discussed just forgetting about Yosemite and death valley and going straight to Vegas as we knew that the rooms were cheap there.
After a good night's sleep we both had clearer heads and we managed to plan a route which took us back through Yosemite and took us to a town called Bishop where accommodation was cheaper and it was only an hour's drive the other side of the national park. It turned out that the hotel was actually really nice, clean and had a lovely pool, which is where I planned our day and George sunbathed and spoke to James for about an hour!
We were both really pleased that we could spend the day in Yosemite and we've decided that one day we'll go back and camp there properly. We had an amazing day; climbing up rocks to waterfalls, swimming in the lake, laying on the beach and eating lunch sat on a log overlooking the park. It was most definitely the best meal time view either of us have ever had.
It was getting late so we decided to head towards our next destination - Thunderbird motel, Bishop. The drive was simple and the motel was easy to find but there wasn't a lot around so we got a MacDonald 's and some beers and wine and watched American tv.
The next morning we used the free WiFi to find a route to death valley and a motel nearby. We got up and ready early and headed off on the 4 hour drive through the desert. The radio was playing nothing but country music and George worked out how to use cruise control. The temperature gauge was going up and up and all you could see for miles was road and desert. It turns out I'm a brilliant map reader/navigator (although when you're on one road for 85 miles it's not too tricky!)
We stopped off at a Vista point overlooking death valley and got out of the car to get a better look. It was 119 degrees (Fahrenheit). The minute we stepped out of the car we were wet with sweat! It was unbelievable! We lasted about 15 minutes before we rushed to get back to the air conditioned car. We continued driving towards the village in death valley - furnace creek. We then saw a sign that advised turning off air con for the next 10 miles to avoid the car overheating. That was fun! We arrived at furnace creek, watched a film about death valley, looked around the museum then had lunch. When we initially planned this trip, we thought about camping in death valley! You'd have to be mental (Helen and Pete ;) )! After a little walk around we decided that it was definitely time to leave! It was just too hot to explore any further. It was only 3pm so we decided to find WiFi, cancel our nearby motel and drive the 1 1/2 hours to Vegas instead. We drove for a while and passed the motel we had booked, it looked awful - like a ghost town. We drove about 45 minutes until we got to a MacDonald 's. We parked outside and used their WiFi. It turned out that if we cancelled we'd still have to pay. So we headed back to the ghost town feeling pretty pissed off. Back we went. It wasn't until we were nearly there that I realised that when we'd had WiFi we got an email through saying that Armargosa hotel (ghostville) had overbooked and booking.com had put us somewhere else instead. We passed a park where there was a group of people who gave us directions to the new hotel. Again, the petrol was running low and we started to panick.
The new hotel (longstreet inn and casino) was really easy to find and an absolute blessing! It was cheaper than ghostville and much much better! It was huge and looked relatively new. Our room was the best we'd stayed in so far and the grounds were beautiful. We couldn't believe our luck. We dumped our bags and went straight to the pool. We had a swim then went to get dinner (crisps and beer!) Then sat by the pool watched the sunset over the desert and played cards.
Next stop - Vegas!!
We arrived at our hotel in Vegas (Hooters-classy!) at about 3pm yesterday. There's no WiFi in the hotel so we've had to pay $20 to access Vegas WiFi for the next three days. We were looking forward to being in one place for 4 days and as we've been here before, planned to just lay by the pool! Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas and a storm broke out. We decided to get dressed up n go for drinks instead. George took me to a place called dueling pianos. He's been banging on about how fun it was when he went there with Matt. I think he was disappointed as it wasn't as busy and definitely not as fun as when he'd been there before. We then ran out of money! So we walked back to the hotel and went to bed :( not what you'd expect for a first night in Vegas! The weather's looking better this morning so I'm hoping for a day by the pool and lots of drinks tonight! Once we sort out our funds of course! Fingers crossed the rain stays away!
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dad Put $10 on red for me ! Dad
Ann Hey. What adventures you are having!!! Rickety bridges, running out of fuel, scorching temperatures, and crisps!!!! I am so proud you can navigate Kelly and well done George with all that driving. Loving this blog. Love you two! Xxxx