Day 22

After checking out, we had one last taste of Vegas for breakfast. No, not a margarita - Lynne had a curry and Matthew had a Philly cheese steak! Lovely start to the day. Following that, Matthew finally gave in to Lynne’s retail cravings and drove to the outlet shopping center. 2 hours later, he appeared with a handful of shopping bags while Lynne only ended up with one little jumper. We are beginning to switch roles in our relationship!
Such a busy morning meant that we now had to drive through Death Valley - one of the hottest places on earth (and, incidentally, the lowest point in North America at 86m below sea level) - in the heat of the afternoon. Very sensible! Pulling up at the information kiosk to purchase park permits, only to find it manned by an automatic ticket machine, we toyed with the idea of not paying but, terrified of the wrath of the desert Gods, dutifully fed $20 into the slot. Luckily we made it through in one piece and were privileged to once again see some incredible scenery en route - sand dunes, unearthly rock formations and a breathtaking view of the valley behind us as we climbed out of it up a twisty, somewhat hair-raising mountain road. What’s more is that our late departure enabled us to witness a beautiful sunset over the Sierra Nevada as we pulled into Lone Pine - our stop for the night.
We had originally planned to press on to Bishop, about an hour further north, but it was dark and Lone Pine looked lovely. And so it turned out to be - one of the most unexpected pleasures of the trip so far! We found a quaint, charming beauty of a motel - the Dow Villa - where, it turns out, John Wayne was a regular guest when filming in the nearby Alabama Hills. Our room was like something from an old people’s home - antique furniture, a separate living area, and a kitchen complete with cooker from the stone age. We headed straight out for food and had a lovely steak by lantern-light on an outside terrace, the warm evening air a perfect antidote to the stifling heat of Vegas. This is one of the many things we looked forward to on this trip - rolling up spontaneously at an unplanned location - and Lone Pine has proven to be everything that Roanoke wasn’t!
N.B. Photos to appear shortly - Blogger's playing up again.