the trek home: day 6 lake mead

so i wake up to rain once again. its not bad, just a slight drizzle, but enough to make the tent nice and wet. i pack up and get going for the day. i head towards kings canyon and sequoia national park. i start hitting snow not to far along on my way up. i am gonna make it to sequoia national forest, even though there is one set of tracks through the snow and my car isnt exactly winterized. so i keep following these tracks...but i get to a place where they turn off and do not continue going. by now i am about 8-9000 feet up with a thicker snow. i turn off and go to the lodge and wait for a bit. i clean the car, eat breakfast and go and check, and there are still no tracks, so i go back and talk to someone at the lodge (for it is now open) and they say that you need a 4-wheel drive with snow tires or snow chains, neither of which i have. she also tells me that the fine would be hefty if i got stuck or pulled over. so i head back to where i came from and end up going a little north to at least see what a sequoia looks like.

i continue heading south after getting out of the national park. i head south on these wonderful roads...reminiscent of highway 1 north of san fran, sept there wasnt any ocean in the middle of cali. no speed limit, but the car could only handle about 35-40 on some of these switchbacks.

i finally get out into straight road country (for the most part) and head south to bakersfield and on up to las vegas.

ok time for creepy story...well, it was creepy to me at the time.
advert your eyes if you must

so i stop at a rest stop in cali on my way to vegas. i get out and it is fairly busy and so i go to the restroom and i nod to some dude sitting on one of the benches outside. who knows what he was waiting for...but anyways...so much for being polite. i head into the restroom and i do my duty standing up. well, this same dude comes in (and i only notice this from my peripheral vision because i didnt want to acknowledge him). so he comes in and stands next to me...not doing much, but i think he checks me out (or tries to anyways). i make sure to finish up quickly, zip, and turn the way he was not facing and i left without lingering...almost a beeline to my car...i dont care if people were around, not something i really care to wait on.

ugh...with slight shivers

anyways, i head out and call the lake mead area a couple of times and try and get a free spot, and i do on the second time. i stop to get a map of the area at a visitor center, and then head into las vegas.

wow.

i just drove the strip, and saw all of it from my car, but it was still an interesting place. i dont know that i would call it my annual vacation spot, but some of the illusionists and other shows might be pretty sweet to see...about a weekend's worth is all i would care to visit. but regardless, it seemed like an interesting place.

after crusin the strip for about an hour (cause it was the beginning of the weekend and about rush hour) and then i head towards lake mead.

i managed to get there in time to see a little and pick a spot. i picked one, and then went to another. so i set up my tent, let it air out, and then set it up for sure...on a nice rocky surface.

stars were nice during the night