YUCCA VALLEY TO PALM SPRINGS VIA JOSHUA NP

We stayed in Yucca the night before we drove into Joshua NP. The idea was to drive through the park from north to south on the park road only to find that the south exit was closed so of course that meant re-tracking our steps.
The park was easy to get around with well marked side roads and walking tracks but many were for 4x4 vehicles only.We did a few of the shorter walks including Hidden Valley and the skull walk. A really fascinating drive was to view the San Andreas fault line...at a marked point at the lookout it said in 100 years that the marked spot would move 10 feet....the view to the valley below included Palm Springs our next stop. We saw the same fault line in NZ in 2000...it is remarkable and demonstrates the vulnerability of those countries on the Pacific Rim.
All in all it was yet another fascinating NP. We think that's it except for the biggest park of all Disneyland....looking forward to that.
We reached Palm Springs about 3pm
NOW! this is where the pics stop for 3 days
Those who know us well will guess why...but for extra curious.....google" The Terra Cotta Inn "
We might have a few pics from the 'aerial tramway' which will take us to 8500 feet from 2600 feet.
For the Aussies Palm Springs is very much like Noosa without the beach....very good restaurants, and hotels, no real high rise buildings,but the homes ooze money, its been and still is the holiday escape destination for the rich and famous. Marilyn Monroe stayed where we are in the mid 50/60 ..it's said that JFK would meet up with her here....in those days it didn't serve the same guests!! There are 100 golf courses in this area.
After leaving here we are heading for San Diego.
Its getting close to home time and bloody car has started flashing ' OIL CHANGE" this is the one we hoped to avoid,so we need to find another quick lube station

PICS..."JOSHUA NATIONAL PARK SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

YOSEMITE NP.....long drive in and longer drive out!!

We left Yosemite View Lodge quite early, we had a room right next to the river and the cascading of the water kept us awake fairly regularly throughout the night... but it was a lovely sight. The previous evening we took a drive up to see the Bridal Veil Falls and got some pics in the late arvo sunlight, which was a good move, as when we headed off the crowd wasn't too bad but by the time we left the park the crowds were getting too much.    The park is famous for its giant granite monoliths and its waterfalls which are apparently much much bigger in the early Spring as the snow melts, and of course the animals, bears ( which we have not seen), mountain lions and squirrels, deer etc. We didn't do some of the extended drives that we could have, but we saw the main areas, and the pics show a lovely peaceful and inspiring  place. Tonight we are staying at a place called Delamo getting horribly close to LA so we will be doing a bit of a skirt around it and possibly heading down to the San Diego area before we have to get back to Anaheim in 10 days time, ready for the flight home and of course Disneyland.

PICS OF YOSEMITE NP,......WATERFALLS,GRANITE MONOLITHS AND MORE

FROM DESERT TO SNOW STORMS...WHAT A DAY

We left BISHOP at 9am, it was cool and fine on the plains,but  it wasn't long before we started to climb into the 'Sierra  Nevada Mountains' Our goal is to get to Yosemite NP BUT we knew there had been snow storms and most of the mountain passes were closed, meaning we had to make a rather large detour north before going west across the mountains on Hwy 50. As we approached Lake Tahoe the weather became bleaker with heavy snow and sleet . Our concern was that they would close the pass and we would be stuck for a day or two, so we pressed on.We have never driven in conditions like this before, heavy falling snow with slush all over the road. While we were hesitant in the conditions ,locals and other just sped past.About 30 min after  Tahoe  the weather cleared.As it getting late we started searching
for a motel..we found one at Pollock Pines, better still was discovering the local steak house....we had a great meal , a liter of red and its time for bed.

PICS...BISHOP TO POLLOCK PINES ACROSS THE 'SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS'

LAS VEGAS TO YOSEMITE NP (OR RATHER" BISHOP" )

We left LV early to avoid city congestion,but we still had to travel half way up the strip before turning towards the northern hwy.   Luckily it was all fairly simple and without to much traffic.
As the day progressed the weather got worse and we found ourselves in heavy rain for several hours plus the inconvenience of a half hour hold up because of road works.
After a 7 hour drive we reached 'Bishop' an entry town to the national park.The only trouble is that the weather has been very bad across the mountains for the last 24 hours and all the Eastern roads into the park are closed for at least 36 hours..... not sure what we will do about this ,we will sleep on it.