Leaving Las Vegas...

Poppa says "If that's still copyrighted, I'm sorry Hunter!" Whatever that means.

Anyway, Nana wanted to get out of the desert. So we left Las Vegas and drove through - desert, desert, desert.

Finally, we got to California. A small cluster of last-chance casinos on the Nevada side, then desert, desert, (golf course), desert.

We drove over a mountain pass at 4,730 feet, then down into - desert, desert, desert.

Back home in Pennsylvania, we give names to our rivers and creeks. Out here they give names to ditches - no kidding:
- Bakers Inn Ditch
- Sheep Ditch
- Mesquite Ditch
- Mojave Ditch
- Case Ditch
- Tork Ditch

Not to mention "Zzyzx Road" (no kidding!)

We stopped at a rest stop at 10:30 this morning. 105 degrees (40.6 for Eva). Nana didn't look happy:




The next 2 hours went like this:

Poppa: Can I stop at the 20 Mule Team Museum?
Nana: Get me out of this desert!
...
Poppa: Can I stop at the desert tortoise habitat area?
Nana: Get me out of this desert!
...
Poppa: Can I stop at the desert wildlife viewing area?
Nana: Get me out of this desert!
...
Poppa: Can I stop at the Ellis Air Force Test Flight Museum?
Nana: Get me out of this desert.

We crossed the lower end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, above 4,000 feet. Then we dropped into a huge, wide, flat, green valley - the San Joaquin Valley, at 271 feet. If the midwest is the breadbasket of America, this is the fruit and nut basket. Strawberries, peaches, Little Cuties, almonds, apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches, pecans, walnuts, lemons, ... and grapes - the home of SunMaid Raisins, celebrating 100 years of business this year.

BTW, California might not be the friendliest state in the country. We drove through it for 6 hours and then saw a sign that said "California Welcome Center - 2 Miles". Two miles later - nothing!

All of a sudden, Poppa got excited and said "Look! A coyote crossing the road in front of us!"
Nana said "There's another one in that field!"
I don't know what the fuss was - they just look like any other dumb dogs.

One nice thing about California Route 99 - miles and miles of oleander bushes, 6 to 16 feet tall, pink, red, white - in the medial strip. Beautiful!

Nana and Poppa went to the Hoover Dam yesterday and learned a little about water rights and distribution in the southwest from the Colorado River. The farmers here have issues with water rights. It's not a big deal for carnivores like Tiggers, but people who eat fruits and vegetables might be interested in Google searches like this one about water here.

Tomorrow we're off to Sequoia National Park - really BIG scratching posts!

Posted from Nana's iPad