made the walks nicer because as in Yosemite we were often the only people
mad enough to be outside, so we had the trails to ourselves. The woods and
beaches were thus very quiet, allowing us to get close - sometimes almost too
close - to nature.
We spent a couple of drizzly days in this area, and then moved inland on our
way across the state to Death Valley. Away from the coast we found drier
weather. However we travelled into higher and colder climes as well. The two
nights that we spent on the journey east to Death Valley were so cold that we
had to have the heater on several times during the evening and early morning
- even when bundled up like hibernating bears. We also woke one morning to
find an icicle running between our water hose and the ground. Despite this we
still made it outside to have a campfire and melt marshmallows!
The cold was not the only evidence that yes, it was winter. There was
snow too. We did not see any snow falling during these few days en route to
Death Valley, but we definitely felt its impact.
Between the west coast of California and Death Valley National Park
are the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We only needed to travel through a small
part of this range, as the route across did not really require driving too far up
into the mountains, however we decided in our wisdom to take a detour.
Every now and then Emma and I make bad decisions, real Dime Bar
moments. Personally I blame Emma, ever the headstrong one while I cower in
the background. For example in Disneyworld in Orlando on a previous holiday
we (i.e. Emma) decided to walk back to our hotel from one of the theme parks
because it did not look that far and she did not want to wait for a bus. It was