Ok,

So it's more than a day later, but I guess that's how it goes. I can't believe it's already Thursday practically. So Ill sum the trip up from the start...

Friday morning, I got my Starbucks and headed for school to hop on our charter bus to take us to Owens Valley. Here is the bus...



The way up was fairly uneventful. Our first noteworthy stop was in some old small mining town. Later we stopped at one of the more memorable stops called fossil falls. You can google it for some images of the place, but nothing does it justice as being there climbing through the dried up canyon. It was definitely the funnest stop just climbing around and squeezing through crevices and holes.

Upon leaving Fossil Falls our bus was having some trouble making the tight corners and drops in the dirt road. Offroading + Charter bus do not mix well and the bus left with some damage to both sides.



Meet the beautiful Arielle:



Arielle is my lab partner and was my "buddy" on the trip. Somehow time after time, throughout the trip we were always the last on the bus, lol.

Friday night we ate in lone pine at The Pizza Factory. Arielle and I started talking to Matt and Katie who were our "tent neighbors." Turns out they live right around the corner from me and they are great fun so they are a great addition to my arsenal of incredible friends.

Here they are in the morning after graciously sharing some morning brew with me :)


Saturday was a long day with a lot of stops. We went through the Alabama Hills where there is some really cool looking granite rocks. I took some time to start climbing again, but did not get a chance to get too far before Arielle and I had to turn around and head back for the bus, once again we were last on the bus.

After that we headed in towards Whitney portal. I could have stayed here and shot pictures all day. With the stormy clouds coming over the mountains it wasn't too long before we started getting some winds and some sprinkles and we were back on the bus. Here are a few shots before we left



Here is a shot of the fellow campers. Can you find me?


Sometimes as a photographer you mess up (I do this quite frequently :oP ). Maybe you miss focus, overexpose/underexpose, or any other multitude of things that may go wrong. However sometimes those shots mysteriously turn out way cooler than they are supposed to. This is one of those shots, and I really like it...


Saturday night we were in Bishop and I finally (after years of wanting to go) got to step into the Mountain Light Gallery. The work on display is truly amazing and it just left me breathless walking through... After that Arielle, Pat (the Prof), Kierstin (the T.A.) and I headed into a Japanese Restaurant. Arielle and I had some sushi. Arielle hasn't perfected her technique of using chopsticks yet, so it was pretty entertaining to watch.

After that we headed to the Starbucks where believe it or not, I did not order coffee! I know, CRAZY! Anyways, the four of us all got hot chocolate. Starbucks has some new flavors so I ordered the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate (I reccomend it), and Arielle ordered the Hazelnut(also not a bad choice). After trying each others H.C., we decided we would drink them 1/2 way and then swap. In total I think I ended up drinking like 1/3 of both combined while Arielle finished the other 2/3, lol. Anyway, wouldn't ya know it we were once again on the bus last again... Not to fear though, we got our Starbucks!


Sunday, we had to get up early and pack up. I was awoke early by chatty neighbors once again in the opposite direction from Arielle's and Matt & Katie's tent. (I guess it was ok though since my alarm did not go off on either day). Anyone that knows me very well knows that I am not a morning person. I like it quiet in the morning, I don't like to talk and if I can sit, munch on some food and drink my coffee in peace and quiet all is good in my world. Anyways, we wound up back on the bus to begin our way back home. Our first stop was at an old lava flow


After that we stopped by an old mining town. Which was tiny. We walked into a gift shop and it reeked of cigarette smoke so bad that within a minute I was feeling ill. After that Arielle and I had burgers finished off by a blueberry shake that hit the spot.

On the way back the bus watched Fools Gold with Matt McConaughey and Kate Hudson (sigh*). I watched it while listening to my Ipod and getting some mini power naps in.


To end this entry, an image of Arielle busting a move on top of some lithofied lava. LOL Good times.....