The trip

After almost a year of deliberation we finally made a decision about our 10 year anniversary trip. Yes folks, one year, and the winner was...drum roll please...NO DECISION. Yes the two most indecisive people in the world given over 12 months to mull it over could not decide on a vacation destination and thus left it up to chance as we drove out the driveway and hit the open road. Our little camry, full of gas and optimism set out south. In truth, we didn't care where we were going. A sereies of unfortunate events in the family left us emotionally ready for an escape and some time alone, away from details and expectations. And so as we cruised down 99 the road became our candy store. No destination so we werent running late. No reservations to adhere too. And that became the attitude of the trip. Pull over here at this "Joshua Tree" she would say. And so my wife the shutterbug and myself...well...the guy married to the shutterbug set about in our carefree exploration of experiences not yet shared...it was like we were dating for the first time and I began to see all of the reasons not only that we got married but why we stayed that way.
Over the Tehachape and onto the 15 the car just sort of stirred its way into the desert and that Oasis we call Vegas baby. We booked a room at New York New York and set out on the strip to see the lights. We must have hiked 5 miles and a couple of margaritas later we decided to call it a night. Oh yea I lost 400 dollars that night. That carefree attitude began to turn into something uglier as visions of Oceans 11 danced in my head. After a phenomenal nights sleep I awoke early and headed down to the gym to do my work out. While there I booked a massage and pedicure for Wendy and spent the rest of the morning in a Sauna and a steam bath. Clear headed and ready to leave I headed downstairs in order to wait for Wendy and wouldn't you know it...I had 100 more dollars that used to belong to me but the casino had other ideas. Wait not so fast...Luck being the lady she is decided to pay me back: half an hour at the black jack table and I was back even $500. I walked upstairs and packed our stuff and told Wendy lets leave before they get it back!
It was off to Hoover Dam after the breakfast buffet. Now for lack of a better term I would say that my wife and I are dorks. Nothing would please us more than to tour things like the Hoover Dam or Yosemite or the Grand Canyon all day. We don't mind the miles and we both feel connected to the idea that the beauty of this country and it's achievements lie only a cars ride from our front door. Besides, as incredicle an accomplishment as Vegas is (and it is remarkable), We both could not help to see that it represents the very best of human achievement, and the very worst of our depravity. It ended up being wonderful to visit, fun to play, but rated low on our priority list for a second trip. Hoover dam was amazing and we spent the better part of the day there. What an incredible site, we highly recommend the underground tour. As we drove out of lake mead we realized that our plan to reach the grand canyon was a little ambitous. A few clicks of the i-phone and we were booked at the Monte Carlo. Night two in Las Vegas found us eating appetizers at "Brand Steakhouse" and incredible french desserts. By the next morning we were both Vegased out and decided to head North (?). A riveting car ride of... well desert. It became obvious to us that we might have chosen the least scenic route in America and so seemingly in the middle of nowhere we turned left and headed back to California through Parhump. LOL I know I just said hump. A few twists and turns aside and we ended up driving through death valley. You would think that this could not have been a significant improvement from our previous course but you would be mistaken. Death Valley is gorgeous, scenic, huge, remote, incredible...and we have the pictures to prove it. Deep canyons of rock, open scorched sand fields, dunes, imbedded with the deepest and richest of histories. It was at this time that i realized once again that we didn't need to know where we were going, and that where we were was amazing and significant, and we didn't even mean to be there. We exited death valley and scantered up the back side of the Sierras towards Bishop, a beautiful green vellay nestled up against the grand side of a huge mountain range. It was as if the mountains stopped at Owens Valley abruptly. All the way to Mammoth.
I had heard of Mammoth for years but I never actually visited. It was more beautiful than I had imagined. As the fresh scent of pine and mountain air began to seep in, a change in my entire being began to take place and I felt like I do when I get to the cabin in Tahoe. My wife looked at me across the table at a very nice restaurant and said..."you seem so happy." As we cruised back to our one bedroom apartment at the base of the mountain, I couldn't help to feel that perhaps this is where we belonged the whole time. No regrets just content to be there and wishing we did not have to leave.
The next day we left Mammoth and over Tioga pass into the Yosemite valley, truly breathtaking. at about 1:00 my entire mood changed as I listened to Brett Farves ridiculous pass to win over my niners in the final seconds of that game. I was in a mood for the rest of the day. Oh well, 1250 miles in 4 days and I could not help but to think that we proboably could have been gone for more. Thanks to my mom for taking care of the clan, It was nice to see the kids. As far as we drove I'm ready for the next trip, Wyoming/Yellowstone??? As a quick side note- the camry went almost 1200 miles on 2 tanks of gas.