Southwest, Nat'l Parks, and Bakersfield...

(I apologize for the LONG time without updating however I have not been within phone reception OR internet access for quite some time now...)

We left Austin-- car in good condition and headed towards New Mexico for the night. We drove all through Texas (it took the entire day) and got into our site in NM around 10ish at nite. It had started pouring down rain, was dark, and our site happened to be at the TOP of a mountain. Needless to say, it was only the beginning of our adventure as we trudged our way up the steep, one-lane mountain road in the dark and the pouring rain. We finally what got to what appeared to be a camping area, parked our car, and slept in it. Around 2am, we awoke with the smell of gas intruding our noses, and very ill at this point- hopped outta the car and set up our tent rather hastily-- in order to avoid death by gas leak!!

The next morning we awoke to the ranger telling us we were in the gravel parking lot for the campsite and we packed up and headed on towards Arizona. All day in the HOT desert- stopping frequently as to avoid overheating-- and finally made it to a random campsite in AZ, also up on top of a mountain. We had directions to a National BLM land in AZ that we could camp at for free, however, those directions led us elsewhere and we found a random site on top of another mountain..

After leaving AZ on the 18th, we headed toward the HooverDam. It was rather unimpressive for everything I have heard about it. The place is essentially a tourist trap for those who come through, charging a whopping $13 just to see the Visitor Center!! (that is $13 that I could spend on food, OR the Titanic exhibit which also was a rather hefty price and I did not see either!) Anywho, the HD looked just like a factory on top of some water-- pretty water-- but water all the same. I don't even know if I have ever seen a Dam before, but I guess I just worked up the HD in my mind so that when we finally passed on thru it wasn't amazing.

The night of the 18th we stayed in Sequoia Nat'l Park... we had decided to stay in the $12/night campsite instead of the $20/night... of course we had no idea what was in store for us!! Our campsite, called "Cold Springs" was not in the main part of the park, nor was it developed. We turned onto Mineral King road, thinking "It shouldn't be TOO far" until it took 2 hours driving up a one lane mountain road that did not have guardrails (or any protection from the morbid depths beneath!) I was VERY VERY scared, and extremely grateful that FaithFetzer drove the entire thing as to keep me from having a heart attack!! We had to stay safe from bears, and were rather paranoid about what we should put in those bear boxes... Also, not having had showers since we left Matt's in Austin we were REALLY wanting some showers by now-- EXCEPT our site was very undeveloped and only had vault toilets!

The next day (19th) we decided we would take a hike... we hadn't received any maps or info on the park since we didn't enter in the main park entrance, so we decided we would just start hiking on a trailhead to see where it went... BIG MISTAKE!! 10 miles and 8 hours later after we had hiked up and down 3 (maybe 4) mountains... I was utterly exhausted and all the trail took us to was a "Mosquito Lake"!!! And MAN were there mosquitos... My legs are STILL hurting after the unexpected almost-half-marathon up the mountains of Sequoia. We went to bed at 8pm that night. whew.

Then we had to leave Sequoia, deal with that CRAZY road again, and make our way to Yosemite. We saw the Sherman tree- the world's largest and oldest living thing on earth!! It's 2300 years old and real humongous. (It really hurt to walk the half mile to the thing considering how I could hardly move)

The 20th, we arrived in Yosemite... praying for showers and there were none! :( We stayed at Wawona about 45 miles from the valley. I was utterly exhausted at this point so I could not really bike or hike without severe pain.

We hiked a mile to BridalVeil fall (it hurt) and it was nice.

We hiked a mile to Lower Yosemite falls and at the base there were millions of rocks that you could climb to get a closer look. I had been here when I was 16 and climbed all the way up to the top-- thinking I could do this again, I started the adventure. The very first rock I attempted, my accident prone self slipped and bruised my tailbone! I decided then that I would sit on a park bench with all the older folk and look at the nice view...

We drove up to Glacier point where you can see all of Yosemite.. It was pretty and there were rails protecting us from the depths below so I was not scared of the height.

The 22nd, FaithFetzer went for a run and I laid out by the stream on the sandy beach. I did not realize how long it had been and burnt my entire backside to a crisp waiting for her. So, now my legs are fine BUT my entire body is burnt... (I can't get a break).

On the 23rd, we left for LA. On the 5 about an hour and a half outside LA our car caught on fire!!! (we are the most unlucky travelers to have broken down twice already!) Flashes went through my mind of our car blowing up and us dying-- but thankfully that did not happen. Spanish men stopped to help us, but I could not understand a word they said. A California Highway Patrolman stopped and gave us a lift to a nearby Jack-in-the-box so we could be safely off the road. We called AAA and Roger (our tow truck driver and savior) came to rescue us. The car went to the Toyota dealership in Bakersfield, CA and we went to the motel 6. (SO excited that we finally had a shower!!!) Debating what we would do, we lounged around and read HarryPotter 4 and drank 40s.

The car was beyond repair-- there had been an electrical fire with the alternator and everything was burned badly. We decided to rent a Chevy Malibu and proceed on our journey.. both sets of parents eagerly encouraging us to trek on.

It is now the 25th and after giving the car over to the dealership and nervously climbing into our new rental car we left Bakersfield and have arrived at out LA/Fullerton hostel for the evening.