I woke up to a basement full of water on Monday; there was a water main break. Of course that would happen on the day we needed to do laundry for our trip! Mom and Dave were super sweet and went to the laundromat for us.
I took everyone to the aviary, which was a huge hit. I honestly think my dad liked it better than Yosemite Falls! 😂 I will never understand him. We had lunch at Sweet Lake Biscuits and Limeade, which was also a hit with my dad because of the fresh limeade. And we met Debra there, so that was fun for everyone, too.
On Tuesday, we set off in separate cars for Lee Vining, CA. Mom and I got kind of a late start by the time we got doughnuts and coffee and Diet Coke. But a few hours later, when Dad texted to see where we were, we discovered that he and Dave had taken a totally different route! We cut diagonally across Nevada, and they took 80. In case anyone was wondering, our way was about 90 minutes faster. ☺
I could not believe how scenic this drive was! Nonstop gorgeous. I saw several mountain ranges within a few hours of SLC that were still covered in snow. I will totally be back to explore those. And then, 70 miles east of Tonopah, we saw a sign that said, "Lunar Crater- 9 Miles." How could we NOT explore that! We did not see a single person on this whole side trip, and we were quite intrigued by this huge, random crater
Turns out, the astronauts used this area for training in their moon rovers!
We also passed this super creepy motel, which we would never ever ever want to stay at.
We entered California on Route 120, which was full of dips and bends. Mom was literally giggling with delight while I was trying not to throw up. I was so happy to arrive in Lee Vining. I spent a lot of time in Tuolumne Meadows a few years ago, and every few days I would drive out to the Mobil Station there to get some pizza and wifi. (I realize this sounds ridiculous, but it is a happening spot in the summer.) Unfortunately, it was not a happening spot this week; Tioga Pass is still closed for the winter. They originally thought it wouldn't open till August! They pushed that up to end of June, but that did not help us. I was pretty upset. I mean, not only would I not get to see Tuolumne Meadows, one of my very favorite places, but that meant we'd gone waaaaayyy out of the way and now had a six hour drive to Yosemite Valley.
Everyone else went out to dinner, and I stayed in the room, trying to come up with a Plan B. Finally, I walked over to the Epic Cafe and treated myself. The peaceful environment helped me calm down and just enjoy this place!
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