Day 44 - (09/15) Lone Pine, CA

We woke early with one thought in mind.  Let's go beat on some pans outside the tents of our 2am noisemakers!  Wisdom prevailed ... we went to breakfast in Lake Isabella.

This place caught our eye

We didn't know it, but breakfast was going to be
GREAT!

We said our goodbyes, wished Cheryl a safe drive home, and returned to the campground for check-out.

The name was a stretch

Our 108 mile trip followed CA-178E over Walker Pass to CA-14, north on CA-14 to US-395, and north on US-395 passed China Lake Naval Air Weapons Center to Lone Pine.  

The route scenes were rugged and barren.  Just like you'd expect of the west.

Joshua trees

Mountains & deserts

Owens Dry Lake

Some scenes look like painted backdrops

Lone Pine doesn't look like much, but ... it's located at the base of Mt. Whitney (the highest point in the contiguous U.S.), it's home to the Lone Pine Film Festival (100s of films were shot here), and it's the Gateway to Death Valley (the hottest and lowest point in the world).  We're camped at Boulder Creek RV Resort.  It's very nice.

We went to the visitor center to plan for our trip to Death Valley tomorrow.  The return trip gave us a fun encounter.  This is for Karen Diaz of Indianola Presbyterian Church.