So, time to say goodbye to Las Vegas and to Lisa. We rented a car the next day, last minute of course, and at about 1pm we set off. We went to the Death Valley National Park, we got there in the afternoon and after chatting to a few people who were staying on the campgrounds we came to the conclusion that sleeping in the car instead of paying for the night (even though we didn't even have a tent) was very wise and not frowned upon by our fellow campers who did pay. But first, we did drive around a bit and watched sunset, and then went to the hotel next door for a free shower (as advised by the fellow campers) and dinner (we did pay for dinner). The night in the car was good, it wasn't cold at all so it was fine. Our only problem was that our rental car (a PT Cruiser, AKA Kit) had a life of his own, and liked to beep, leave lights on, do all sorts of attention seeking stuff which wasn't very discrete; very inconvenient when we were trying to get in unnoticed.
The next day we woke up at sunrise and quickly drove off. We first went to the salt plains- beautiful and neverending. We then drove to some colourful mountains (Artist's palette) and to the Golden Canyon (the walk to the cathedral was not worth it...). We kept looking at stuff on our way out, we were driving towards Yosemite National Park, but due to the time of the year most of the passes were closed, so we had to drive up north a lot to get to a pass that was open. We stayed the night in a small town on the way... can't even recall the name now.
The next day we decided to head up north a bit more and see Lake Tahoe, since we were already so close to it. Lake Tahoe was absolutely beautiful- what a perfect setting for a ski field, with the mountains surrounding the lake, awesome views. We walked around a bit, and went to the Marina area, with expensive looking houses and the Marina water all frozen. We stayed a few hours there and then drove on to Yosemite National Park. The prices for accommodation in the NP were ridiculously expensive (they wanted $95 for an unheated tent!! Plus tax of course), so we drove to El Portal, a town just outside the NP and stayed there for almost the same price (and at a huge hotel room which was big enough to make 3 normal sized rooms in there).
The next day we explored Yosemite. It's huge, lots of stuff to do, but because of the time of the year some parts were closed off due to the snow. We saw the famous waterfall (repeatedly, from every possible angle), some other waterfalls, the Captain (a rock), the half dome (another rock), did some short hikes, went to the museum, the cemetery, the amphiteatre. We left in the afternoon and drove about 1 or 2 hours only, to stay the night in a very "happening" town we had seen on the drive on the way there. We stayed in this cute little hotel, with every room decorated to the detail, EVERYTHING was matching in the room, it was so funny!! It had an old style phone, a jacuzzi, and lots of red things (the phone, the coffee maker, the hair dryer, towels, sheets, curtains, soap, shampoo, deodorizer, EVERYTHING!). We had some dinner in a nice restaurant and then went for a night out to the "oldest continuously running saloon in California"... yes, what a claim to fame! We had a fun night chatting and dancing with the locals and we met a nice Canadian girl as well.
LLego la hora de despedirnos de Lisa y de Las Vegas. Alquilamos un auto al dia siguiente, a ultimo minuto obviamente, y nos fuimos tipo 1pm. Fuimos al Parque Nacional Death Valley (Valle de la Muerte), llegamos a la tarde y despues de hablar con alguna gente que se estaba quedando en el camping llegamos a la conclusion de que dormir en el auto en vez de pagar por acampar (aunque no teniamos ni carpa en verdad) era una decision inteligente y aceptada por la gente que acampaba y si pagaba por la noche. Pero antes, dimos algunas vueltas con el auto y miramos el atardecer, y despues fuimos al hotel de al lado para una ducha gratis (consejo de los acampantes) y a cenar (pagamos por la cena al menos). La noche durmiendo en el auto estuvo bien, no hacia frio asi que dormimos bien. Nuestro unico problema era que nuestro auto alquilado (un PT Cruiser, al que bautizamos Kit, por el auto fantastico) tenia vida propia, y le gustaba hacer ruidos, alarmas, prender luces, y hacer todo tipo de cosas para llamar la atencion y no era muy discreto, un gran inconveniente ya que intentabamos pasar desapercibidas.
Al otro dia nos despertamos al amanecer y rapidamente nos fuimos. Primero fuimos a las planicies de sal- hermosas e interminables. Despues manejamos a unas montanias coloridas (la paleta del artista) y al Canion Dorado (la caminata a La Catedral no valio la pena...). Seguimos mirando cosas en el camino saliendo, manejando hacia el Parque Nacional Yosemite, pero por al epoca del anio la mayoria de los pasos para llegar estaban cerrados, asi que tuvimos que desviarnos bastante hacia el norte para poder cruzar. Pasamos la noche en un pueblito en el camino... ni me acuerdo el nombre.
Al dia siguiente decidimos seguir aun mas hacia el norte para ir al Lago Tahoe, ya que estabamos cerca. Tahoe totalmente divino- un lugar perfecto para hacer ski, con montanias rodeando el lago, una vista espectacular! Caminamos dando vueltas y fuimos al area de la marina, con casas caras y el agua de la marina toda congelada. Nos quedamos unas horas ahi y depsues manejamos hasta el Parque Nacional Yosemite. Los precios para dormir en el parque nacional eran ridiculamente caros (querian $95 por una carpa sin calefaccion, mas impuestos obviamente!), asi que manejamos hasta El Portal, un pueblo justo afuera del parque nacional y nos quedamos ahi por casi el mismo precio (en un cuarto de hotel enorme, lo suficientemente grande como para hacer 3 cuartos de hotel en ese mismo espacio).
Al dia siguiente fuimos a recorrer Yosemite. Es enorme, hay muchisimo que hacer, pero por la epoca del anio habia varias partes cerradas por la nieve. Vimos la famosa catarata ( repetidas veces, desde todos loa angulos posibles), otras cataratas mas, El Capitan (una roca), la Media Doma (otra roca), hicimos unas caminatas cortas, fuimos al museo, el cementerio, el amfiteatro. Nos fuimos a la tarde y manejamos solo 1 o 2 horas para quedarnos en un pueblo "con vida" que habiamos pasado en el camino de ida. Nos quedamos en un hotel chiquito divino, con cada habitacion decorada minuciosamente, TODO hacia juego en el cuarto, muy gracioso! Tenia un telefono antiguo, un jacuzzi, y un monton de cosas rojas (telefono, cafetera, secador de pelo, toallas, sabanas, cortinas, jabon, shampoo, desodorizador de ambientes, TODO). Cenamos en un lindo restaurant y despues salimos al "bar continuamente funcionando mas viejo de California"... si, si, que importante! La pasamos muy bien, charlando y bailando con los locales, y tambien conocimos a una mina de Canada divina.
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