Mono Lake

Today was an interesting day. I slept a little bit better but I still woke up early. It was 2:30 in the morning and I couldn't go back to sleep. So I did what any normal person would do in the situation that I was in. I got dressed and got my camera equipment out of the van and walked about a quarter of mile and set my camera on highway 395 and aimed it at the moon. I was going to get a shot of the moon going behind the mountains. Unfortunately, the moon was pretty high up and it wasn't until 4:30 that the moon went behind the mountains. It's funny, while watching the moon go ever so slowly towards the mountain, I noticed the big dipper behind me. I suddenly realized that as the moon was going over the .mountain the big dipper was getting closer to my location . I suddenly realized that the moon isn't moving but rather the earth is. This is stuff that I learned in grammar school, but that was eons ago. I took some shots but I'm not sure how good they are and I'm not really sure if it was worth the 2 hour wait. I went back to my van and I did manage to get about a half hour more sleep which was what I needed, because I felt great afterwards.

Today I visited Mammoth Mountain, which is a ski resort. There wasn't really anything impressive other than the outdoor chapel. There were a couple lakes that I took pictures but nothing to spectacular. I did like the outdoor chapel.

Leaving Mammoth I noticed clouds forming towards the north. I decided to drive north and visit Mono lake and hopefully get some clouds in the pictures. I wasn't disappointed the clouds were coming in and some finally reach Mono which allowed for some good pictures. I also took shots of the tufa formations against a sky with clouds. It was extremely windy. The wind gusts were roughly 40 miles per hour. It was a chore to keep my camera secured on the tripod. But overall, I got some good shots.

Tomorrow I go to Death Valley. I'm not sure if they have any wifi there so I may not be able to transmit until I get out. So stay tuned and, as I can, I will transmit.

To date I have put on more than 800 miles on my van since Monday and have taken more than 600 photos. Again, the pictures on my blog today, are from Shimaine's camera.

Also, tonight I am spending the night at the Vagabond Inn. First of all, my sincere apologies for all the guests in the Inn. I took a shower that lasted almost an hour, it felt so good and I'm sure I probably used up a lot of the hot water. Do you remember that scene in Shawshank Redemption were the convicts were sitting down on top of the roof and drinking beer. That's how I felt except replace the beer with VO and seven-up, I gulped down 3 drinks in no time flat. I also bought a pesto pizza and that tasted fantastic. I just hope I will still want to continue my trip tomorrow.