Difficult Beginnings

Well - day 1 is in the books.  And let me tell you - it wasn't the kind of day that I imagined that we would have.

Our plan for today was going to be to spend a few hours in Yosemite National Park, then head south and end up in Vegas for the night.  It was going to be a long day, but worth it in terms of distance and sights.  When I tell you that we got a late start it's an understatement.  Last night was a hell of a lot of fun, but Jim and I were both paying for it today.  Not only were we hungover, but we had to do a bunch of last minute packing/moving/spending $400 to ship boxes that wouldn't fit in the pod before we left.  We ended up pulling out of Sunnyvale around 1pm.  Luckily we hit no traffic, and the going was smooth.  We made one stop at an O'Riley's Auto because I wanted to pick up a back support cushion.  For the record, I did NOT buy an ass pillow, as Jim so lovingly declared on facebook.

We made it to Yosemite in good time considering our late start, but it was too late.  The sun was already going down and the scenery had dramatically changed.

PRO TIP:  National parks, although serene and beautiful, are incredibly creepy by night.  Certainly no one would be around to hear you scream.  The sky, however, is spectacular.  I have never seen so many stars so clearly and brilliantly.  We could see the haze of the outer galaxy too.  Breath-taking beauty.  Even saw a shooting star!

The picture really doesn't do it justice

Jim really wants to see Yosemite, and I do too.  To get here at night and end up just driving through would be a waste.  So we decided to spend the night here.  The room we're staying in is one half the cabin from The Great Outdoors and one half the cabin from Evil Dead.  I know it's national park accommodations and it's supposed to be outdoors-y, but it's kind of disturbing.  It's alright - we won't argue about a warm room and a bed to sleep in.  We'll sleep tonight, and set out tomorrow to see the sights, and then power down to the Grand Canyon.  We're likely skipping Vegas all together, which considering our affinities for both the consumption of alcoholic beverages and for getting distracted by fun noises and pretty lights is probably a good idea.

Either way, tomorrow will end at the Grand Canyon.  That's gonna put us a little behind on our schedule, but it's not a solid schedule in the first place.  You can't rush the road trip.

Stats so far:

Gas - 1 fill up before leaving Sunnyvale.  No MPG report yet
Distance - around 175 miles - moderately disappointing
Food/Drink of note - We went to the lodge's food court.  It looked exactly like every ski resort food court I've ever been to.  I had a teriyaki turkey burger - it was tasty.  Jim had a grilled chicken sandwich.  He didn't complain, so I think he liked it.  We took a short stroll over to the lounge to see if they had any local libations.  I had a Mammoth IPA (2.75/5 - it was good but not great).  Jim had a Mammoth Nut Brown (1/5 - a hell of a  lot of nutty and syrupy badness) that was so bad he couldn't finish it.

Picture of the Day:

I've been loopy for panoramic shots lately.  The landscape is beautiful.  Yes, that's snow on the ground.

Well, that about does it for today.  I'd call it day 1 in the books, but it was more like day 0.5 since we didn't get that much done, and we didn't even make it out of California yet.

More to come!  Stay tuned!