National Park Tour - Bishop - Saturday 5/26/07

I got up and immediately went down the hill for some desperately needed ice and milk. Doh! Store’s closed. So I continued on to the local gas station.

Once I was back I packed up, said goodbye to Michael, and went down to the Laundromat/shower to rinse yesterday’s stink off. Ahh, showers are so nice, even if only for 5 minutes.

I was moving back and forth from my car to the showers for various reasons; do the hair, brush the teeth, change the shirt after the moisturizer exploded all over it… Anyway, as I did this I listened to an older gentleman, who would obviously rather be anywhere in this beautiful country other than sitting outside a Laundromat waiting for his clothes, entertain himself by teasing the passerby.

As I crammed the last of my stuff back into my car, he decided it was my turn to be teased and told me I needed to upgrade to a truck. I smiled at him and brightly agreed which took him aback for a second. It obviously was not the response he expected (there are few things in this world that give me greater pleasure than this).

“Really?” was all he could come up with.

“Yep! A little white one with a camper shell. Maybe I’ll have it in a year.” I said thoughtfully.

“That’ll work!” he said.

Though I hated to leave one of my favorite spots in the Sierras while the weather was so perfect, I also couldn’t wait to see Zion again so I drove on.

I stopped in Bishop to get the fabulous jerky and bacon from Mahogany Smoked Meats and of course bread from Schat’s Bakery. I also stopped and bought a pink Life is Good t-shirt since the exploding moisturizer had interfered with my laundry plan. The town was a zoo. I couldn’t figure out what the deal was at first, then I remembered. Mule Days. Luckily the big parade was over by the time I got there.

I managed to find a spot at the park to park my car. My plan to enjoy a peaceful lunch in the shade while feeding the ducks would have to be modified a bit. I wasn’t completely pessimistic about the ducks, however, so I brought my old bread just in case.

I found a somewhat peaceful and shady spot on a stump on the back side of the pond and put my bread away as I watched kids on the other side of the pond progress from tossing pieces of bread, to hurling slices of bread, to dumping loaves of bread into the water—totally ignored by the overstuffed ducks which were huddled together in the middle of the pond, as far from the melee as possible, quacking satiatedly.

From Bishop I went strait to Death Valley, stopping only to snap a picture of the pet elk on 395. From there I drove directly up Wildrose Canyon. My little car chugged up the road to the Charcoal Kilns, which was crappier than I remembered. Then I pushed the poor car up to Thorndike, palms sweating because at times I wondered if it would make it.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I arrived at the campground only to find it completely full!! Inconceivable!! So much for the idea that I would be the only one crazy enough to camp there! I knew from experience that if Thorndike was full, there was not point in trying Mahogany Flat so I rattled my way all the way back down the hill to tree-less Wildrose with my tail between my legs, my plan foiled.

On the bright side, at least Wildrose has running water. I set up my lawn chair under the shade of a scrub brush and waited for the sun to set. It was a gorgeous evening. I cooked beef stroganoff in my dutch oven and slept out under the stars.