Rory approves. On his only previous visit there was snow everywhere, but he seems to recognize the condo regardless.
With apologies to my descendants for all the carbon dioxide I added to the atmosphere in getting here.
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First view of Ritter and Banner Peaks, Crowley Lake, and Mammoth Mountain, with the green church on the right.
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Past Bishop (home of Northern Inyo Hospital, where I first became a dad) and on to the Sherwin Grade. We start climbing pretty fast now. Elevation: 5,000 ft.
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Olancha to Big Pine. Lava flows, a desiccated Owens Valley, the turnoff for the ancient Bristlecone Pine forest, and the result of my dutiful sorting through Linda’s sweet tarts while she drives: purple and pink _only_; the low incidence of these in the package is clearly a conspiracy meant to frustrate her.
Meanwhile, non-sweet-tart eater me will suffer under the burden of having to eat all the oranges, blues, and greens. My spousal duty.
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Most of these photos courtesy of Linda, since I was driving.
For my Aussie followers (or those anywhere without ready access to firearms), welcome to the land of the free, where we make sure you know where hundreds of guns are available (A: closer than they appear).
Next, a wide-angle shot of my beak and the ginormous windmills outside Mojave, a super cool sedimentary formation at Red Rock Canyon, and the 17-mile (ish) straight-as-ruler section of 395 that leads north from there.
A fossilized creek bed, where a pyroclastic flow from an upstream volcano filled a sinuous channel, hardened, and had a few eons of erosion leave it sticking above the surrounding desert.
Next up: Little Lake, more vulcanism in the form of an awesome cinder cone, our traditional junk-food stop at Coso Junction, and a funky beehive building complete with dinosaur.
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Latest thing I’ve learned during this World Cup: Listening to an exciting match on the radio can be… exciting.
Driving north on the 5, Quail Lake from the 138, the wacky Southern mansion with the cannon (!) in its front yard that overlooks the lake, and the view as we continue east through the (sadly poppy-less) Antelope Valley.
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Linda takes over at the 5.
The fireworks stands in Fillmore were Out. Of. Control. There were at least 20 roadside stands in a mile or so of road; apparently it’s one of the few cities in SoCal where it’s legal to sell them?
Linda was SO excited I pulled over and we bought some snakes and ground flowers and something else I forget. Total cost was about $8.
Then we stopped at a roadside fruit stand with great selection and prices. Everyone in the place was gathered around the TV talking excitedly about Mexico having just scored near the start of the second half. Woo!
Back in the car now, heading north, listening to ESPN on XM. From the sound of it, Ochoa is withstanding an absolute barrage. Fingers crossed it can hold up. ¡Viva Mexico!
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Almost on the road. Kinda inside searching for her sunglasses. William is dubious about my picture-taking. “What are you _doing_?” Rory’s good for anything.
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