Hello From Day 9!

Checking out of the Excalibur at 7am, we made our way too Death Valley for the morning, about a two hour drive from Las Vegas (we had a few stops food & fuel) so made it there around 10am. It was hot here but amazing! its hard to describe the shapes and sizes and the way the mountains and desert looked so I hope you enjoy our photo’s. We stopped at the visitors center and learnt many interesting things about Death Valley which is 282 feet (86 m) below sea level,(How crazy is that!) It also has the lowest rain fall recordings on the continent and holds the record for the hottest place in the world with a temperature of 56.7 degrees Celsius! Its the dryness out here that is the danger, feels like being in a giant oven as though all the moisture is being sucked out of the air. Upon leaving the temperature was just hitting 42 degrees at 10.45am. A great place to visit and learn about many strange happenings as well as enjoying learning about the mining history.

Next stop mammoth lakes, driving about 3 ½ hours more we enjoyed watching the dry desert scenery turn green and lush with pine trees and grass! The temperature started to drop and we made our way into a dark stormy sky, stopping at a view point, to have a look, take some pictures and stretch our legs, we really noticed how much the temperature had dropped, I was almost ready to grab my jumper! Getting to our hotel Juniper Springs we had to wait 45 minutes as our room was not ready, the staff we’re very accommodating and friendly, allowing us access to the pool and spa, games or just chilling out and using the wifi in the lobby (this is what we chose as it was looking like rain outside) we didn’t mind waiting 45 minutes as it was nothing compared to the 2 hours we waited in line in vegas!(I don’t think ill ever get used to waiting as long as Americans are willing too, I am just to impatient!) our room was amazing! With a full kitchen set up Fridge, oven, stove top, microwave, toaster, coffee maker and even a dish washer! The room was so homey and the bed and couch so comfortable! We both decided it was our favourite of the hotels so far and wished we could take it everywhere we go for the rest of our trip, such a shame to only stay one night.

We lucked out that there was a super moon event on tonight at the top of mammoth mountain almost 11,009 feet! (3,232 meters) what a altitude difference to make in one day! Getting ourselves to the main lodge where we had to catch a Gondola to the top I soon realized that my cardigan was not going to cut it (estimated temperature up there of 8 degrees Celsius and a wind chill factor of minus 6 degrees Celsius!) so I got myself a Mammoth mountain souvenir jumper with a nice fleecy inside! Not much to choose from unfortunately, so its not what I would normally choose it also cost us $55! I was so thankful to have it after sitting up at the summit to watch the sunset and moon rise with Greg, it was so cold I hid behind a bush from the wind and wore both jumper and cardigan! It was like the wind was just blowing through you, but everything looked so beautiful and Greg took some fantastic photo’s, finally heading inside after we couldn’t take the cold anymore we looked at eating at the cafe there, the line was almost out the door, so we opted to head back down to the town to find something. The Gondola ride was so fun on the way up and down, with us having a great conversation with two American couples on the way down. One couple had just gotten back from a trip to Paris 3 day’s earlier and reside in mammoth lakes they are ski guides in the winter. The other couple were up visiting from San Diego and gave us some great tips for when we visit, so nice to meet nice people.

We stopped at a connivance store for milk, deciding to have cereal for breakfast cause we could keep milk (yay for fridges in hotel rooms!) We also picked Greg up a liter and a half of coke for 99c! Deciding on Subway for dinner as it was next door, had one person in line and both of us were craving a sandwich and some kind of salad (that’s pretty weird for Greg) What a feast we enjoyed when we got back to our comfortable home away from home at 10pm, lazing around in comfy robes and watching some TV whilst eating our delicious subway sandwiches (We have totally broken my – I don’t want to eat anywhere accessible to us in Australia rule but I don’t care, and the menu’s are very different anyway)

Thanks for reading

N&G

Enjoy the photo’s

P.s Sorry they are a bit out of order