On the Road (Not the Jack Kerouac Version) Part 1

There I was, about to begin my first real adventure. I mean, I had been on adventures before when I was little, exploring the inside of the juniper bush that was twice as tall as I was and spanned the entire border between me and my next door neighbors house. But this was a real one. I was going on the road with a small amount of clothes, food, a companion, maps, and a route planned to see some of the things I had never seen before. I was going on a road trip armed with my trusty Canon PowerShot SD1100 and by gosh and by golly, I was going to have fun and take some amazing pictures. Luckily, I was not disappointed.

First stop: Yosemite.

It was unbelievable that I had lived in Northern California as long as I had and never made it to a place as epic as Yosemite. And there she was...it was as though you couldn't take a bad picture. Actually, you could, but then you just didn't know what you were doing. Our first night was at a base camp, tents and all in the park, but the next morning we began climbing half-dome. We camped out before going up the peak.

First lesson learned: Wear shoes with traction. There is nothing scarier than climbing up a cliff that sheer with shoes that you can literally slide down the cliff. If it weren't for those ropes I don't know what I'd have done and my upper body was none too happy with pulling myself up for the rest of it.

Second Stop: Telescope Peak

Too bad we got distracted and stopped along the way. Not that the stops were a bad thing. We made a quick stop at Lake Tahoe for lunch before continuing on to Mono Lake (with the most impressive structures in it!) and then to Lone Pine to do a short hike on the Mt. Whitney Trail. Before scurrying off back into a car to try to get to Telescope Peak before it got too dark to set up camp.

Third Stop: Death Valley and then Vegas or Bust!

Death Valley sure knows how to treat you. I mean, we did a 2 mile hike and were done and dying by the end of it. Oh, and by hike, I mean a pretty level stroll in the middle of the Golden Canyon in the middle of the day. "Muy Caliente!" as the tourists we ran across commented.

There were many other things to see though from the salt formations, the lake that somehow existed, and the Devil's Golf Course because "only the devil would dare play golf there."  I believe it.  I also discovered the art of wearing my cheap sunglasses and how that distorted my vision of the pictures I was taking.  Soon the glasses became my lens filter covering the camera lens.  Awesome effect that I highly recommend!

There I was, never having been to Vegas, staying in the Excalibur, surrounded by bright lights and empty people. It's like people go to Vegas to fill the void of themselves with the lights and the gambling. My trip was halfway over: five days down and five more to go.