Big Truck Across America - day 5

Day 5 started off just like anyone would want to start a day - by emptying the septic, Cousin Eddie-style "Sh*tter was full!".  We were on the road by 7am local time, high-tailing it to Yosemite to meet the Sugs and hopefully hike to Cloud's Rest.

After making our way across Nevada, we took UT56 to UT375, also known as the Extraterrestrial Highway.

Normally this road would be devoid of any traffic, and it starts out rather X-Filesish with a company called Alien Research Technologies, shortly followed by an official government sign warning of "Low Flying Aircraft Ahead".  What cluttered up the scenery was a caravan of Geocaching nerds participating in some sort of scavenger hunt/race.  Once we got past them, however, this is what we saw.


After a few hours of this, the only real question was if and when we would hit a cow.  We nearly got our answer, after watching Bessie and her sisters sprinting toward the road, we came to a full stop to let these four complete their journey so they could not drink anything in a different spot for the day.

Continuing our bargaining with a road-weary 3 year old, we promised a playground, but this time we had something special in mind.  Nearly 3 years ago, we took Jordan to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite for her 1st birthday.  At the time we stopped at a little county park at Mono Lake and let her play, so we took her back to the same place.  Here's the result.

We had also seen what we believed to be some sort of antelope crossing the road.  These are not to be confused with their cousins, the jackalopes or the ever elusive Basselope.

When we were just about to enter Yosemite, we discovered that gas in California (Lee Vining, to be exact) was just a shade under $5 (thanks Governator) and Jordan was bursting with excitement to be able to meet Mommy and Daddy's friends.  When we finally arrived at Toulumne Meadows campground, we were greeted by Sug's Tuskan Raider bark of "BEUTE!!!!"

At that point we set up shop at the campsite, greeted old friends and made new ones, and allowed Jordan's need for social interaction to drive 5 levels of "Why?" to everyone around the campfire.

Day 6 - I hike Cloud's Rest, Jordan and Kimberly have a day of girl time.  Updates to follow...