Driving through movie scenes

Whatta day.

Whatta day.

Whatta day.

A great day...but whatta day!!

Woke up to a beautiful new view...I just love our windows, it's like a panoramic view (when we don't put the shades in the front and last night we didn't)...Wow, it's just beautiful up here!

[caption id="attachment_1215" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Out the back window[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1216" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Out my side window, laying in bed[/caption]

When we opened the door to let Savannah go potty, it was a little chilly out and since I was going to be walking around...guess what I got to wear? My booo-ooooots!!

[caption id="attachment_1217" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Happy Camper[/caption]

We were finally able to see where we parked last night and whoa, did we pick a great spot. I walked Savannah, went and took some pictures and we started talking about the day.

[caption id="attachment_1218" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hellooo over there...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1219" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Great spot![/caption]

It was on the early side of the morning, so after discussing it we thought it would be best to go see what the town is all about and get our bearings and maybe even find an internet signal! Like, I said it was early and chilly so we decided against the "creek washdown" and drove into town.

[caption id="attachment_1220" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Whatta Drive[/caption]

After driving through town and seeing the gas prices (whoa), we started stalking the cell phone tower toward Lake Isabella. We had great reception there when we drove in yesterday so that's where we went. Although we drove the opposite way we came yesterday...you never know what's around the next corner...er, mountain.

We found some public land, B.L.M. land ...a recreation site. We had never seen an actual sign that stated the rules of camping on this land, for free, so I thought it was pretty cool!

[caption id="attachment_1222" align="aligncenter" width="300"] !!![/caption]

We pulled down to the rocks and sand and drove for a little bit before settling at a nice spot where we could feel the breeze but also see the water. It was neat here, something different for sure. You could see the fire-pit remains of campers that had been here before, it was cool. We had some turkey sammies for lunch, watched Savannah 'on her jetski', and climbed a big rock/gravel hill that turned into beach!

[caption id="attachment_1224" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Climbin' to the top![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1223" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Baby on the beach[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1225" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Panaromic View (almost)[/caption]

I almost felt like I was in a different country or another world. It was beautiful but after our 'breezy'...er, windy as hell climb and walk we thought best if we left and tried a new place. We zoned in on Pahrump, NV; it would only take us 4 hours, we would be driving away from the road we came in on and the weather (on the internet) looked like it was what we were looking for...so we drove.

[caption id="attachment_1226" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Turn right at the "Dead-End"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1227" align="aligncenter" width="300"] "Bug loves the view[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1228" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Keeps getting better[/caption]

Every turn we made was a surprise, the scenery changed quite a bit. I thought that was awesome because the mountains had different colors and shapes but in the same mountain range...up and down, up and down. I took pictures like it was nobody's business so excuse me if I get carried away.

[caption id="attachment_1230" align="aligncenter" width="300"] WHAT? $5.48!!!???[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1231" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Long & Lonesome Road ♫[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1232" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Tie-Dye Mountain Tops[/caption]

Oh my gosh, then the coolest thing happened. We were driving and looking at the scenery and all of a sudden I see... Sand Dunes! How freakin' cool is that!? I was super excited, so we pulled over to the viewing area. I have always wanted to see real Sand Dunes, you always see them in the movies (the one that comes to mind is Space Balls, haha). It was pretty awesome, we walked in the sand barefoot to take closer pictures!

[caption id="attachment_1238" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Right out of a movie scene![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1239" align="aligncenter" width="300"] We were there[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1240" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Savannah was there[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1242" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Joon was there.[/caption]

It was great!

As we got back on the road, the sun started to sink behind the mountains making everything look entirely different then the wonderment we had during the day. We even ran into some construction, very random in the middle of Death Vally but I guess someone's gotta do it...poor guys, but they have choices too!

[caption id="attachment_1244" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Is it just me or does it look like we're driving in a cartoon?[/caption]

We drove through the sunset into the darkness for about another hour or so and finally we saw city lights... it was a cool sight to see since we never drive into the city at night. We were only 23 miles away from Destination: Pahrump, NV ... come on you know you want to do it... Pahrump-pum-pum-pum! haha

We drove straight into town and to the Wal-mart parking lot, no need to mess around with anything else when we're tired and we know we can stay here. We will find a camp spot in the morning, but it's bed time right now. It's been a long day enjoying Earth's beauty one mile at a time...(snickering).

I hope you were able to enjoy some beautiful views yourself today along with saving some money on gas!

[caption id="attachment_1245" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Crazy that this makes us happy![/caption]

PEACE

Boots, 'bella, & B.L.M. baby

I'll spare you all of the exciting details of our day yesterday, but we did get the van washed, laundry done...8 full loads whoa, which only cost exactly $16.00 and I was able to get me a pair of GAP Jeans...only $65.00 less! I'm a sucker for the thrift stores! Oh and for those of you wondering how it was sleeping in extreme hot temperatures... Oh. My. Gosh...the first night in Fresno was pretty bad but last night I actually thought I was having a slight heart attack. My chest hurt, my insides hurt, my organs felt like they were contracting and cramping. I had never felt pain like that, I could barely breathe. It was really scary that I was actually crying but I got up and put the driver side window down and hung my head out, I didn't care where I was or who was walking by. I was just glad when I could finally calm down enough to lay down again. Crazy what the heat can do to the body!! And guess what we did? We repacked the van! haha I know you're not surprised. Really all we did was take clothes out of our big bags and put them into smaller backpacks to create more room in the cabin of the van...so far it's working out perfectly!

[caption id="attachment_1191" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Less IS more[/caption]

We tied up some more loose ends in Fresno; closed our postal box, stopped in the thrift store again to check out some things for J' (I had thee best laugh of my life this morning as he was trying stuff on for me!) and we stopped by JC Penny to look at their boot selection, due to us having a gift card we've been saving for just the right thing. Guess what happened??? I finally got me a pair of boots, (thanks mom) if you're a little late in reading some of my posts I have been looking for boots (and wanting boots) since we left because I'm such a genius and left mine at 'home' in storage! Hooray for me...and J', so he doesn't have to hear about it anymore! Now I can't wait to wear them!

[caption id="attachment_1192" align="aligncenter" width="300"] BOOTS!!![/caption]

 After shopping, we sat in the mall parking lot and scoped out some places to drive to today due to the extreme heat...don't think we can take one more night! We were told a great place by J & J and thought we would check it out so we started driving.

[caption id="attachment_1194" align="aligncenter" width="300"] On the road again[/caption]

 And we drove and drove. It wasn't a bad drive, it was a nice relaxing drive actually...until we got up into the mountains. My whole life I've done fine with not being car sick or having motion sickness but just within the past year, when we get on these curvy mountain roads, if I'm not 'following' the road, the rest of my day is shot, having nausea and a headache. Weird. I was hoping and praying when we got to our destination that we would not have to come back on this road, it was way worse than the road going into Shaver Lake....but it sure was beautiful!

[caption id="attachment_1201" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Wow.[/caption]

We drove through hills, rocks, trees, and even a small community. We arrived at our destination about two and a half - three hours later. Destination: Lake Isabella

As we were driving over one set of mountain roads down to the sea level we started seeing glimpses of Lake Isabella.

Looks pretty beautiful and it's always fun to see new scenery!

[caption id="attachment_1199" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Are we in Hawaii?![/caption]

We stopped at a turn-off and took in what we could before the sun fully set. A beautiful site, it almost felt like we were in a different country. We drove through a small town called Kernville and kept driving to find a spot to camp for the night. We drove down the main road up into the mountains and there was a creek/river running alongside it...can't wait to see it in the morning. As we drove, we noticed there were campgrounds that were closed and then "public land" (I think it's called) or B.L.M. land spotted in between. We kept driving a little ways down until we finally pulled off to read the posts on these signs. I didn't read anything on fees so we figured this was where we were driving to...B.L.M land!! Woo Hoo!! It's very beautiful out here, yet we will have the morning to discover more and see if we want to stay here or move somewhere else. We are testing the antennae to see if we get anything out here, it's only about 7:30 p.m. so it would be nice just to veg out before bed. Hope you have a great night ya'll!

[caption id="attachment_1200" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Finding our sleep spot[/caption]

PEACE