A collection of random and unorganized thoughts from a roadtrip...though they seemed organized when I was alone with them.
I've been up and down Hwy 395 many times, but never had the chance to drive it alone. There's the man-made dry lake and biohazard that is Owen's Valley. I didn't realize that there was some effort in progress to reduce the environmental impact, though I'm sure many LA residents will continue to water their streets and driveways. I wonder what would be the net effect if people here treated water as a scarce resource.
Stopped at the Mono Lake overlook, which has a kiosk which explains some of the history of how it, too, was almost drained dry by LA's thirst. The water was so low that some islands which used to be havens for birds were connected to the mainland and so were devoured by predators (coyotes, mostly I imagine). The water level is now back up higher than it has been in a long time, but still low enough to expose interesting formations that were originally under water.
When driving with anybody, nobody ever seems to want to stop at Manzanar, so I took the opportunity to stop there myself. Standing in the middle of the cemetary (see the picture in the link), you can tell that alot of people have been there (e.g. there were alot of strung together oragami on the fence), but being the only one there, standing in what seems like the middle of nowhere, the solitude is overwhelming. The rest of the site consists of foundations where buildings used to be, and signs indicating what those buildings were. There's currently a Visitor Center being built, and some of the buildings will be rebuilt. I wonder how that will affect the solitude of the place... It would be beyond tasteless if they sold t-shirts that said "I survived Manzanar", yet I couldn't help that the thought entered my head :-) ... On the way out, a couple of young japanese guys were driving in; somehow I'm glad I had the place all to myself and didn't disturb anyone else's visit. Hmm, just realized I'm just assuming those guys were japanese...
On a lighter note, stopped at Schat's Bakkery for more beer bread (even though I think my beer bread is better :).
Some day, I'll have to make detours to Bodie, The Bristlecone Pines, and Death Valley, though maybe not all in the same trip :)
At the south end of 395, there's Adelanto, the city of unlimited possibilities, and seeing the sign, there, in the middle of the Mojave desert, you can't help but laugh a little (well, I couldn't, anyway). With apologies to any Adelanto residents out there :) They'll probably have the last laugh anyway, as people live farther and farther away from LA in search of cheap housing, so they can commute 3 hours each way. Someday, housing prices will probably soar out there also.
