Let me start by saying that John is NOT Ranger Boy. Ranger Boy is that young Ranger who really didn't think I should be hiking Natural Bridges.
Let the record show I was up by 4:40 this morning and got John up. Really! I just kept my watch in the previous time zone. We were only a few miles away from the change from Central time to Mountain time. That helped. It was pretty cold in the tent - in the 40's. John was fine in his mummy bag; me not so much in my light sleeping bag and comforter, but it wasn't bad either.
We packed up and headed out pretty early. On the way out of the park, we saw a momma turkey and her little ... chicks? 3 of them. They were so cute!
We traveled the loneliest highway in the US... Highway 50. At least that is what the sign and t-shirts said. I believe it. It looks pretty desolate and there is nothing for miles around. BUT the speed limit is about 70 for most of it.
Let's talk efficiency. John and I have it down to a science. I pack up and get out the air mattresses while he handles the tent. He grills the meat and washes the lettuce while I make the salad. We have fallen into a natural rhythm with set roles. Our tuhbs are packed so that the one nearest the door is the one we need the most, etc. It's pretty cool. We did buy a propane grill for this trip that has served us well. It's a coleman and it's pretty compact.
There were tons of butterflies, moths, flies and other flying creatures at Great Basin. As we came down to about 6000 feet or so we ran into a "rainstorm" of tiny little bugs that hit the windshield. Bleh. We saw what I would call a salt flat for quite some time. People had used black rocks or coal or something to "write" their names in it.
John started counting down the miles about 10 miles out. We were tired of being in the car. Finally, Reno! First job was to find a Best Buy to find a new battery camera, new laptop battery, and new DC charger splitter. Best Buy had one of the items. Next we went to Radio Shack. They had one of them. Batteries Plus had the third. Luckily they were all within a mile of each other.
We arrived at our hotel, the Atlantis, about 2:00. After we checked in, we explored a bit, gambled a bit, then John had some business to do, so I posted a bunch of pictures to the blog. Yay! Then we went to the buffet, had prime rib and cheesecake, then gambled again. We should have quit about an hour before we did, but we didn't lose our shirts. It was really fun!
We just got the news via email that we were selected in the lottery for permits for Half Dome on Wednesday. We are doing it. I am both excited and scared.
John says up at 3 tomorrow. He's a crazy man. He can't let the air out of my mattress on my bed in the hotel. Ha!
Tomorrow, Yosemite!
