On the 15th day of our trip, we leave Yosemite National Park and head towards Las Vegas. We covered the 838km route in 2 stages as I wanted to take a small detour. Thanks, honey! :-)
We cross the Sierra Nevada via Tioga Pass and reach its highest point at an elevation of 3,000 meters above sea level before descending towards Death Valley.
Along the way, we come across clear mountain lakes and a beautiful mountain landscape.
Shortly after halfway, we finally arrive at our stop for the day. In Bishop, a small town of 4,000 inhabitants in the middle of the desert, we check into our hotel and immediately jump into the hotel pool to escape the scorching heat. But the most important thing of the day was, of course, my wonderful wife's 30th birthday! Happy birthday again, darling!!! But how do you celebrate in a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere? There wasn't much choice, but we enjoyed a nice evening with hearty American cuisine and live country music. Michelle wanted to cheat a little... who can spot the mistake? :-) Freshly rested and still full from last night's dinner (a whole rack of spare ribs was probably a bit too much...), we continued the drive towards Las Vegas. Instead of taking the route suggested by the GPS in the south, we took a slightly longer route in the north through the desolate Death Valley. The reason for this detour was that we wanted to pass by the legendary Area 51. The over 5-hour drive through the deserts of California and Nevada was very monotonous, and the endlessly long, straight roads seemed to never end. The landscape itself is truly impressive, and at times, we were completely alone on the road for a long time. The stretch of road near Area 51 is appropriately called Extraterrestrial Highway because apparently, there have been many UFO sightings here. The only settlement along the entire route of several hours is a small village called Rachel, with only 60 inhabitants. It doesn't have much to offer... except for a world-famous snack bar called A'Le'Inn. In the truly bizarre but iconic rest stop, we enjoy a small snack before continuing our search for little green men. On the way, we pass the famous Black Mailbox, an ominous mailbox in the middle of the desert. Here, all alien hunters leave some kind of memento or letter, which is regularly collected by someone unknown to this day. Area 51 itself is well hidden behind a mountain range and cannot be seen. The entire area is not fenced off; the boundary of the restricted zone is only marked by orange posts, which are placed several meters apart. However, everything in between is free. Thanks to various sensors in the ground and other surveillance systems, the military knows very early on when someone approaches the invisible border. So don't be surprised if white pick-up trucks with soldiers suddenly appear in the distance, watching or even following you. But since we didn't venture too close to the restricted zone, we were spared that experience. And then, we finally made it and found our way back to civilization. :-) Now, we're enjoying a few days in crazy Las Vegas!
