USA : San Francisco to Las Vegas

DAY 1 : arriving in San Francisco

Arrived in San Francisco at 12:30, the flight was quite bearable flying in premium economy, that’s something between economy and business, definitely lots more room for the legs which is absolutely perfect for us. After standing in line for ages at customs, and after that another line at the Hertz car rental, we finally got going. I wanted a big ugly car, we got exactly that. Some Dodge, but lucky for us the tyre pressure was low, as I mentioned it they immediately gave us a replacement, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, much nicer ! And it happens to be Jürgs favourite SUV. After a little detour upon entering San Francisco we somehow ended up doing a sightseeing tour of the town, which was quite interesting, and we did make it onto the Golden Gate Bridge. Which isn’t as easy as it sounds, at one point the sigh only said g.g.bridge, and rather small too, but we found it and got onto it.

The insider tip to go up the hill once we pass the bridge is not an insider tip anymore. It had almost as much traffic as the town had at rush hour. We passed the first two viewpoints and went straighht for the top. It was beautiful. We are very lucky, the weather is perfect, blue skies and not a cloud in sight, lovely light on the bridge, this is a good start ! We slowly make our way down, and I find a,not quite official, parking spot for our huge car at the lowest viewpoint, a short walk and we are close to the foot of the bridge, good to see it from another perspective.

From there to our B&B, the Gables Inn in Sausalito. I can only recommend the place, a warm welcome, nice room, and lucky again: wine and cheese every afternoon from 17:00-19:00. We dump the bags in the room and go have a drink, with all the cheese we eat we decide to skip dinner, just go for a beer at a cool place on the marina called Bocce. In bed by 20:30 which, with the time change, for us is 9 hours later, so sort of the middle of the night.

 

DAY 2 : Sightseeing in San Francisco with Dirk

After a lousy nights sleep and a good breakfast we take the 11:35 ferry to town, to PIER 41 to be exact. Takes us 30 minutes and is a great way of approaching the city, the light is not in the perfect position to take skyline photos but we do a few anyway, will do more on the way back with the sun on the city and not in front of us. Dirk is there to meet us and we head for pier 39, the tourist place, to first go have a coffee. That turns out harder than expected since it is around lunchtime and all the places are just for eating, the one coffee place has no seating and the temperatures are rising, we are already at 30C, and still rising, we really don’t want a take away coffee and sit in the sun. We do find something at last, the coffee is great and the shade too. They sell clam chowder soup there, a local speciality, soup in a hollow round bread. It looks kind of interesting but we are not hungry yet.

From there to the cablecar station at Bay & Taylor street. A little less famous than the Powell-Hyde line bit also a much shorter queue. As good tourists we do all the tourist things, and we are told riding a cable car is the number 1 thing to do, so here we go. And believe me, it is so cool ! We had to wait in line maybe 20 minutes or so, now board please. We are in the front, there are places to sit on a wooden bench. As I stand up to take a photo I am told to either sit or stand. What does that matter ? All is clear once more people enter at the various stops along the way. Either you sit or you stand and then, hold on well. Everytime we cross another cable car we are told to move in and be careful, we pass by so close we can touch the people on the other cable car. As we rise in one of the steeper streets we get great views down, looking at the ocean which is flanked by all the high buildings, the ride ends much too soon.

We walk down Market Street, by now desperate for a cold beer. Dirk somehow ends up in a cosmetic shop called OROGOLD, the lovely young lady probably lured him in….so we get a demonstration, peeling, cream, anti wrinkle cream, one for mornings one for evenings, and a shower cream all with real gold in it, and it really works ! The only down side is the price, about U$ 150 a piece. Dirk somehow gets charmed into buying and ends up with 5 products, thank god he didn’t try the gold mask….. but he saved U$ 500, so in the end it was really a bargain. I believe the slogan is if you buy more you save more. I do hope his wife will love him for this, and hope we will recognise him when we get home in three weeks. Am seriously afraid he will look 10 years younger….

We ended up having a drink in the bar at his hotel, after which he had to leave for the airport and we went on to Chinatown. Which was quite good fun, very colorful and exotic, but honest, how can people buy so much cheap shitty plastic stuff…..made in China ! They had an autumn celebration of some kind, lots of decorations and even more people, it was very special to watch and be part of this chaos. From there to the Coit Tower, very steep uphill but after a lot of puffing and panting we made it. Decided the view was good enough from up here so we didn’t go up the tower. Maybe also because we had to catch the 17:40 ferry back to Sausalito and Jürg is getting a little slower ( but his broken foot is doing miraculously well). The ferry ride back was a pleasure ride, the ferry almost empty and a lovely sunset mood. Dinner at Scoma’s after we had our glas of wine and cheese back at the Gables. What a wonderful day.

DAY 3 : San Francisco to June Lake (via Yosemite)- 278 miles

We left Sausalito and San Francisco at 9:00 or so. It was nice here, I am very glad we didn’t stay in the city, this was much more to our liking, the city is cool but it has too many people. Boy driving wasn’t easy, lots of traffic, 4 or 6 lanes, overtaking left and right, we were really glad when from Manteca on it was only one lane per direction and much quieter. I don’t mind the driving but was so afraid we would miss a turnoff and end up in the middle of the city once again and would take ages to find our way back onto the right route.

After 140 miles I had my first “hillbilly” sighting, honest, an elderly cowboy in those farmer style jeans and a cowboy hat on ! We are out in the country now ! We passed settlements, you can’t really call it towns, like Chinese Camp with population 50 and Buck Meadows with even less. We had lunch at probably the hottest spot we were in today, a viewpoint at Moccasin Lake. The car thermometer said 104 Fahrenheit which is close to 40 celsius. As you can imagine Jürg wasn’t too happy about it, but we did find a spot in the shade. Yosemite entry will cost you U$ 30 per car, valid for a week. What I will remember most about Yosemite is trees and rocks, loads and loads of them.

A winding road took us to Tioga Pass at 9945 Ft (3513m), it’s like driving up a pass at home in Switzerland, the only difference is the trees stop at 1800m back home, here they don’t, there’s trees to 3000m or so. We did two photostops: one at Olmsted point, lots of rocks, some funny shaped trees (very photogenic) and unfortunately a lot of tourists, but we managed to get a few shots. Next stop at Tenaya Lake, very scenic too, some brave people even went for a swim.

From the Tioga pass a nice race track down to Lee Vining, still at 7000 ft high, but now it’s flat and the huge white Mono Lake stretches out in front of us. We make it to the information center with 5 min to spare (closes at 17:00) and got the map and information where to go. The south tufa’s are just 5 miles south of town. After a little confusion, because we thought we’d missed the turnoff, we did find it. It’s just past the first turnoff to the June Lake Loop. Now only 5 more miles on the Hwy 120 one more left turn and at last we are there. This is so cool ! Walk a few hundred metres from the parking lot and there’ s tons of photo motives. Tufas, strange white spires and knobs of different sizes, are limestone deposits created when fresh water springs containing calcium bubbles up through the lakes carbonate rich water. Hell they are just so cool, no matter what they are made off. Still enough time, but we have to find a good spot to set up our tripods for the sunset, Jürg on a “hill”, me down by the waterside. Lets hope this turns out right, but it’s fun anyway.

By 19:30 we got to June Lake, our next B&B, no a motel his time, called June Lake Villager. We can’t see much of the town since it is pretty dark by now, but are told to go have dinner at the Tiger Bar right across the street, or the the other one with the blinking lights a little further on. We are tired so take the first best. This is fun, as set back in time, and old wooden building, a big bar, wooden tables and chairs, a pooltable, a jukebox, old photos on the walls. They sell their own Tiger Bar t-shirts, half the town probably has one. The waitress knows most of the customers and their favourite food and drinks. I have quesidillas and Jürg spicy chicken wings, a beer each and we are happy and fed again. Back in the room I write and Jürg downloads all the photos, we are way behind, this is his first go at downloading, and I only have some on the IPAD. After that it’s off to bed, we have to rise early tomorrow, sunrise is at 06:40, then set everything up, find a good spot, we’ll have to leave at 05:30. Who cares we are up early from the jetlag anyway.

DAY 4 : Mono Lake, June Lake, Bodie, and more Mono Lake – 157 miles

It’s hard being a photographer, especially when the alarm goes off at 05:30. I was awake since 03:30 anyway, bloody jetlag… It is a 20 min drive from June Lake to the south tufa’s at Mono Lake, plus a 10 min hike from the parking lot to the lakeshore. Sunrise is at 06:40, first light about 20 min before that, so our timing is perfect. Shit it’s cold only 15C/54F, okay it’s 06:15 and we are at 7000 ft, what did I expect ! It is the first time I’m cold here, so far the weather has been amazing.We try different spots, I get some nice shots in the pre dawn light and in the end we do a beautiful sunrise with tufa silhouettes. A short stop at the Navy Beach which is actually just beside it, you look at the same tufa’s from a little more eastward and further away, not really worth the detour. Time for coffee now ! In Lee Vining is the perfect little coffee shop at the El Mono Motel, they have great breakfast sandwiches too, and at a reasonable price. We get some juice and fruits in the market then head back to June Lake.

We decide to do it the long way and take the June Lake Loop, it goes by several lakes. The first is Grant Lake which has very little water, making for some nice shots. Then past Silver and Gull Lake to the beach at our own June Lake. The water is amazingly blue, we sit at the beach, enjoy the view and eat an apple for lunch, from there back to our room to catch up on the downloading and writing.

At 14:00 we leave for Bodie Ghosttown, about and hours drive north from here. It was an okay outing and we got some nice pics but the ghosttown is so well restored that it is almost too good for a ghosttown. All the houses are the same wood, and same style, making the whole thing look rather well organised and unspectacular. We do our best to find a few houses that are almost falling apart with broken in roofs and preferably leaning sideways, to make it look more authentic. And yes, there are a few if you look well, and those are our favourite motives.

I drive back to Mono Lake, of which we get a nice overview from the viewpoint on the mountain when driving down, we were at 8000 ft again whilst driving to Bodie ! We do a short stop at the site just north of the Visitor Center called Old Marina. Unfortunately the setting sun is hiding behind the mountains which are very close to the lake at this site, so we almost have to run to get there before the mountains shadow does. There are just a heap of small rounded tufa’s in the water, no big spectacular ones, so we move on to our beloved south tufa’s once again. This morning we had a clear cloudless sky, but there are some clouds now, so we will give it another go. It turns out to be a good decision. Jürg sets up at the “cove” where the other guys were yesterday, I try my luck a little further on. Bad luck though, there are lots of people around, standing in the most “unwanted” places, for us that is, luckily in the end they do move so we get a few shots without tourists, but it is such a bother I decide to move right to the waterside, no one in front of me there ! I am getting better with the manual setting but I believe Christian will have a lot to teach me ! We stay till well after sunset when the sky and clouds turn red then pinkish, ISO up and it is still good to get a nice photo and by now all the non photographing tourists at least are gone.

Back home we decide to go to the other restaurant, the blinking lights one, called Sierra Inn, it’s a steakhouse and they should have pizza there. Yes they do, and they are very good and very big, even the medium ones, so we have our lunch for tomorrow as well. The bottle of Black Rock Merlot we share is really nice too, and after that it’s off to bed. I am so tired.

DAY 5 : via Mammoth Lakes to Bishop and the Bristlecomb Forest – 150 miles

This is the first night I slept rather well, am slowly getting over the jetlag. Breakfast at the Tiger Bar, it is our only option….but it was quite allright. Jürg had blueberry pancakes, the small stack, which was totally sufficient, I had the three egg omlette which was fine too. At around 10:00 we left June Lake.

First stop was to get petrol, 20 gallons for about 80U$ after 460 miles, this car isn’t as economically perfect as I thought it was…. Second stop at Mammoth Lakes, which is about 15 miles down the road, one right turn on Hwy 203, a few miles more on Lake Mary Road, and you’re there. Believe me, it is gorgeous. The first little lake we see is already worth stopping for, it turns out to be the first of the twin lakes. We do the twin lake scenic loop, then on to Horsheshoe Lake where there are supposed to be photogenic dead trees, they are dead as a result of extreme carbondioxide levels there, but all around it is green forest, looks weird. The lake has very litlle water, about 15 m below where the first trees start is a little lake, around it sand, dust and cracked earth. On the way back we stop at the twin lake overlook, a scenic overlook over the two lakes we just passed. We scamble down the hill and get even better views from beside the waterfall. Boy we are high up again, the top lake is at almost 9000 ft. This was really a great detour, can only recommend it. It must also be great for hiking and biking, the have lots of very well planned paved bike tracks and lots of hiking routes, and the scenery is superb just about anywhere you go.

After about 75 miles we reach Bishop, a town spread out on both sides of the Hwy 395. We are staying at the Vagabond Inn right at the north side of town. Boy it is hot again, at the lakes we had comfortable 25C, down here at only 40000 ft it’s closer to 40C once again! This motel turns out be be a very good choice, very friendly staff at reception, good room, lots of places to go and eat, and lots of supermarkets and shops. And the best thing: a Starbucks right around the corner. We even have a microwave in the room so we can have our quarter pizza warm, it’s not as good as yesterday, but still okay. After we refill our water supply we head down south to the Ancient Bristlecomb Pine Forest. It’s about 15 miles south of Bishop, there a left turn onto Hwy 168 east which we follow for another 10 miles, another left on the White Mountain road. Only about 37 miles but it takes almost an hour ! I was very happy I was driving, the 168 not only has very many turns, it is also like riding a boat in a storm, so wavy you go up and down like crazy in addition to all the turns. The White Mountain Road has even more turns but at least it’s more or less even. Mr. Heeb, this recommendation better be good ! And it was !

From the Schulman Grove visitor centre, at over 10’000 feet altitude, there are 3 hikes, the Methusala trail of 4,5, the Bristlecone trail of 2 and the Discovery trail of 1 mile. Since Jürg’s foot is not in optimal condition, and it was quite late to do the big loop to the 4500 year old Methusalem, we followed the rangers advice. She said the Discovery Trail was the best for photographers, some nice single trees with totally twisted stems, plus the light is on that side, so we do the Discovery loop. Takes about 45 min for the averagely fit person… we took 2 hours ! This can only mean we are not fit and Jürg was extremely slow, which he wasn’t, or the rangers was right and it was an   awesome hike with lots of photo opportunities, which it was !!! Unbelievable fact is that it has turned out that not the mammoth trees of the rainforest, or the giant sequoias, but these pine trees, which grow at altitudes of 9000 ft and higher are the oldest living things on earth. Especially the last two trees, on a south facing slope, in by now absolutely gorgeous light, are the most spectacular. From there we head down, still a long and winding drive ahead of us. I try to beat the given time, luckily Jürg doesn’t get car sick that easy, I get us home in 50 min. We are so busy downloading photo’s we decide we are not hungry and have a beer and some crisps in the room.

DAY 6 : Bishop to Lone Pine – 120 miles

I am getting better at sleeping, 6 hours at a stretch ! Breakfast is included here, but it looked so horrible we decided to pack and go and drop by the Erik Schat Bakery. This turned out to be a bakkerij, a dutch bakery, must be good ! It was, Jürg was in cookie heaven, could hardly decide which to take, plus we bought bread, salami and cheese, and each had a half sandwich ( which was huge ) and really good cappuchino. The stop at the photo gallery was our lucky stroke, the gallery showed beautiful photos but better still, the lady told us to go up to the lakes for the fall colours. That turned out to be a splendid idea and it was well worth the 20 min ( one way) detour. We first went to the smaller North Lake, it was absolutely beautiful ! A small lake with trees in blazing colours of yellow, green and orange around it, mountains in the background, this is so pretty ! It is somehow just the other way round as in Switzerland, down in the valley at 4000 ft it is all arid and dry, the higher you go the better it gets, trees, bushes, flowers. At home it’s just the other way round, high in the mountains it’s just rocks and stones, and hardly any vegetation. From there to Lake Sabrina which was a little bigger but had little water, because of that some rock piles stood out from the water which also looked good, but North Lake was our favourite.

Back on Hwy 395 south to Lone Pine, west of it we already see the reddish rocks of the Alabama Hills. Our motel here is the Comfort Inn located at the south side of town, just before the visitor centre. It is also quite okay for a 2 star motel. We put our stuff in the room and go for the hills. They are only about 3 miles west of the town, turn on Hwy 168 west at the only traffic lights in town, can’t miss it. After about 3 miles you turn right on Movie Road, so called because many western movies were shot there. Even before we reach it we stop to take some photos, this reminds me of Damaraland in Namibia, very scenic !

We leave the main road and drive around between the red boulders which differ enormously in colour, shape and size and the whole landscape is full of them. We somehow miss the parking spot for the Morbius Arch and hike around between loose gravel, boulders and shrubs in direction of some arch-like thing we saw. Turned out to be one of the two arches on the loop trail, upon which we stumbled a little while later. Turns out we passed the parking spot for the loop trail by 100m, we did see a “bigger” parking spot but there is no sign, it is exactly where it is on the map though. The second arch we were looking for was the Morbius Arch and we set up for some sensatinal sunset photos. Turned out to be rather hard since it looks better and it is much bigger from the other side. We will have to come back for a sunrise shot tomorrow. After the light is gone we go back to our motel and have dinner at the poolside tables. We share a bottle of wine, and eat the very nice bread we bought in Bishop, with cheese and salami, we should have bought more !

DAY 7 : Lone Pine to Death Valley – 221miles

The alarm goes at 05:45, not too bad, almost like going to work back home. We are at the arch in about 20 min, half the time is driving, the other half hiking. It is very cloudy and we get some nice shots but the brilliant reddish colour as seen in other photos doesn’t really come out, and after that the light is too bright. We try to find the other arch called Patriarch Arch but have to give up after a whole lot of hiking and looking. Back in town we have sandwiches at Subways and a good coffee from the shop next door to it. By 09:00 we are back at the motel, shower, change and lets get to the Death Valley. It is about a 200 mile drive from here, easy ! As we get lower and lower it gets hotter and hotter, the scenery is absolutely amazing ! It is so wide and big and open, I don’t even try to take a photo, it will never do justice to the grandeur of this scenery. We do a short stop at Stovepipe Wells to have a drink before we start our first hike, it is just west of here and called Mosaic Canyon. It is by now 13:00 and 110 F/40C and at the canyons entrance is a big sign saying – no hiking after 10 am – sorry guys but this is the best time to do a canyon, no shadows or as little of them as possible ! So we hike and sweat, boy it is hot, hot, hot ! We get some nice shots but after about 10 min decide to go back, we got enough and it is unbearably hot. The rangers recommend a gallon of water, per person per day, and believe me, you do need it ! We check onto our Motel the Ranch at Furnace Creek, furnace….yes that’s just what it feels like, we are at 115 F/46C by now.

The afternoon we first head south, I read the salt flats at Badlands look totally disgusting, and they do. Something like a plowed field in about that colour, not the beautiful flat white circles, just messy, brown and grey. This spot is the lowest I’ve ever been: 282 ft or 85.5m below sea level ! It looks gruesome anyway, let’s go. We do a short stop at the Devils Golfcourse, which is better to photograph, nice mountain background and also a very ploughed through earth, which is stone hard, but here it is supposed to be like that.

As it is on the way we decide to do the Artists Drive, now that was a good decision ! The mountains and rocks show so many different colours here we hardly know where to look first, amazing ! It is a 9 mile one way drive, we won’t get anywhere if we keep this pace up, stopping every half mile or so. The Artists Palette is the best part, here the colours are so bright and there are so many colours on a relative small part, it is truly breathtaking.

We have a tip for alternative salt flats (on a small scale), so we go and check this spot out too, it is not too far away. All this takes time so we now have to hurry to get to the Mesquite Dunes for our sunset sand dune shoot. Turns out our timing was pretty lousy, I speed but as we get to the dunes most of them are in the shadows already, the really big, good ones are way in the back, that will take ages to get there and it is still so bloody hot. We drag our backpack, water, tripod as far into the dunes as we are able to, looking for a cool dune but not really finding one. Maybe I am a little spoiled but after Namibias sand dunes these are only half as good. Besides all the sand is a mess from the loads of people walking here every day and most of the dunes are rounded, not so many sharp ridges which throw the nice shadows. Oh, hell, we’ll just sit in the sand and watch a beautiful sunset, in the meantime almost being blown away and getting a free sand peeling…. The tripods legs are so full of sand you can hardly turn the wheels to set it’s hight anymore. I’ve had it with all this heat and sand and wind, let’s pack up and go. But in our quest to find a cool spot we did wander far, so now all the way back, we’re running out of water, it is dark now but still 114 F.

Almost back at the parking lot we meet two “photographers”, the tell us they want to do stars and startrails… Ha ha, it is a full moon night with a whole lot of clouds, they are pointed in the wrong direction, have a light on a little bush in front of them ( which will add much too much the light if they expose for 30 sec or more), but best of all he was shooting in P mode….good luck guys, that will never work. In Stovepipe Wells we go to same saloon we were this afternoon. Not our lucky day, the kitchen is out of order, only salads and spaghetti on the menu. No way, I want my hamburger ! So after a beer to quench our thirst we leave for Furnace Creek, the “photographers” are still there as we pass…. We have dinner in the restaurant at Furnace Creek. We both decide to have fish and chips, the fish was allright but the chips was sort of soft and limping…. Food here is really not recommendable, not just here, it’s terrible everywhere we go.

DAY 8 : in Death Valley – 76 miles

The alarm goes at 05:45 once again, no problem for us we are used to it by now, and it is only 93F, a lot cooler than yesterday evening ! We drive to Zabinsky Point, a mere 4 miles or so. Park the car and up the hill to the view point. Soon I decide to climb over it and head a little further forward. Not quite to my liking yet, I see an elderly gentleman with a tripod and big camera even more to the right, go over and ask him. He says this is the spot where all the photographers always stand, better viewing, more contrast whatever. So I move over. Bad luck again, there are lots of clouds blocking the rising sun, we get some nice shots in in the morning twilight, when the sun does rise at last, after passing a lot of clouds it is already to bright and harsh. I am not totally happy with the results of this morning, but we’ll have another go at sunset. This time we will make sure we are on time, not like yesterday at the dunes. Time to go home and have breakfast.

Photographers are such dumbasses, we leave at 11:00 to do one canyon that’s still on the list, the Golden Canyon, and it was golden ! It is ofcourse incredibly hot, but what else had you expected…great time for a hike, all the other tourists are somewhere inside or in the shade, hardly any people there, but the photographers are out. This is again an easy access one at about 2-3 miles from Furnace Creek. At the entrance is the same sign as yesterday, don’t hike after 10 am. They are probably right, we went 1 mile up the canyon, plus 1 mile back, that took us 1 hour and 2 liters of water. Honest, in the end we said, oh it’s just rocks, it’s too damned hot, let’s go back, go home and have a cold beer. This canyon is really nice, a lot bigger and wider than yesterdays Mosaic Canyon, but great rockformations around every corner.

Back at the motel we went to the pool for a swim, that was really nice. Lunch back in our room because as soon as you were dry the heat was unbearable again. Couldn’t stay in the water forever, we were already totally wrinkled…. So we do our laundry, at these temeperatures it dries faster than ever ! We download photos, have lunch and at 17:00 we head for Zabinsky Point once again. Let’s see if it’s good with light from the other side, the clouds have gone so nothing should get in our way this time. But it wasn’t half as good as the morning, so we took a few pics but not really all that many. At least is’s not quite as hot today, only 106 F. We drive 23 miles to Stovepipe to finally get our hamburger, and it is good, but sort of crazy to drive that far just for a hamburger…

DAY 9: Death Valley to Las Vegas -140 miles

At 06:00 I leave for the “alternative salt flat site “, you have a small line of salt mostly on the right side of the road driving south about 2 miles down on West Side Road, a dirt road which turns off the Badlands road after about 6 miles. Jürg is not coming so I can speed down there without him complaining. Get there in 15 min and walk along the side of the salt flats till I am quite a bit in ( don’t want the road in the picture ), and set up. This is a special feeling, me all alone in the middle of Death Valley, not a soul to be seen, not a car for miles around, it is dead quiet, the only thing I hear is my own breathing. At least these look a little like the salt flats I’ve seen in pictures, I get a few nice morning twilight shots, do a few with the self timer and race forward to get myself in position, feels kind of stupid ! When you walk across the salt and touch a rim of the salt crust it sounds like breaking glass so I take care not to hit one. On the way back I drive by Zabinsky Point but as I had expected all the photographers are coming downhill, I am way too late. So back to our little cabin, wake Jürg up and after breakfast we head east towards Las Vegas.

This drive is not as spectacular as two days ago driving into the Death Valley, very barren and empty. We get to Las Vegas by 13:00, I leave Jürg in the car and go check in….as I enter I stop dead in my tracks, this is incredible, a hall the size of 2-3 soccer fields filled with slot machines, poker and blackjack tables, gigantic screens on the walls, restaurants and bars all around and a noise….it’s peeping, hooting, ringing at a rather high noise level. I take quite a while till I find the registration desk, have to make my way at least half way through the noisy hall. We have room nr. 19116, they have 4000 rooms here, and at least as many people !

From there we drive a few blocks north to return the car at the Cosmopolitan Hotel (which looks quite cool too) and walk back along Las Vegas Boulevard, better known as the strip. This is fun, there are photo motives everywhere and it is not so hot anymore! I don’t think we’ll be hot again this trip after our Death Valley experience. Back at the hotel we go check if Frank is in his room, we meet for dinner at the Steakhouse, which is totally delicious. At 20:00 we meet Christian and Regula and the other photographers in the lobby bar, after drinks and a chat Frank, Jürg and me go out to do some night photography, this is fun ! The plan to be in bed by 22:00 is quickly abandoned, there is so much so see, it’s midnight till we get back. I really look forward to the start of our photo tour tomorrow.

Total miles we did on the trip : 1157 miles

copyright photo and text : Astrid Bluemel for www.bluemelphoto.ch