Day 35 Mammoth Lakes to Las Vegas

Sun 1 July 4061 steps
We got up earlier, packed up and headed off to town to repeat the process of breakfast at Toomeys, me chilling and David going back to the bike park to cycle. He was keen to do a ride from the top, which he had been unsure of previously.
When he returned from a triumphant morning at about 12, he was on a high. He quickly showered and we got ready for a 501 mile long drive. We headed back down US395 to Big Pine. As per RV hire company rules, we were not allowed to go through a National Park called Death Valley after June 15, as it apparently gets so hot, the tires can melt! Really? However, we still had to cut through the mountains to get to Las Vegas. We turned onto the CA 168E, a 40mile stretch which was a hair-raising experience. At one point through a cutting in the mountains the road narrows so that it is only wide enough for 1 vehicle and there is no way of knowing if there is an on-coming car. This goes on for about 1 mile.
The area is a national forest. I have to wonder if there are no trees in the forest, is it still a forest? Someone was looking out for us and we got through without any hassles.

Once through the mountains, you are back in the desert, which is edged with beautiful mountains. In some of the mountains, the different coloured layers are clearly visible. Occasionally there is a patch of green where there is water.

As you enter Nevada the quality of the road improves dramatically. There was a small pink cabin that had an aeroplane outside. The word “brothel” caught David’s eye. We were later by a tour guide that it is indeed a brothel run by a guy who is standing for governor. (Prostitution is legal in some counties of Nevada).
There is also a sand dune that apparently sings when the wind blows through the fine sand and a correctional centre. Very clever, I think, to put a prison in the middle of the desert, because if anyone escapes, there is nowhere they can hide. Maybe we should look at moving all prisoners in SA to somewhere in the Kalahari. Also along this highway is Area 51, America’s top secret military base, although it is not much of a secret as everyone knows it is there. Rumors abound about what goes on there, from the stripping of the alien spaceship that crashed in Roswell to the filming of the so-called moon landing. We didn’t see anything, but for the conspiracy theory junkie in me, it was nice to have passed it.

In the middle of this expanse of nothingness, there was a sign showing a cow. Surely, we thought, it is not possible to farm cattle in the desert, so there must be one lone mad cow that we had to look out for. As hard as we looked, we could not find it. After many miles and many repeats of “been through a desert, hmm, hmm, hmm..”, we finally found the lone cow who had apparently found some friends. We also found 2 mad cyclists. Having succeeded with the cow, we given the challenge to find the lone donkey.

As you approach LA, the bridges are decorated. It is impressive and vast. Our RV park was on the other side of town, but next to a casino and opposite a Walmarts. Oh my word, it is ridiculously hot. As I stepped out of our cool RV to go and register, it felt like 10 hairdryers were blowing in my face.