Road Trip - USA

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6th July
That marks the end of Yosemite. We have a long drive ahead to get to Las Vegas. Of course we still stopped along the way out to take pics.

Looking back at where we came from.

Long dead tree, bleached by the sun.

Yet another lake. Seems to take forever to drive out of Yosemite.

Final look at Yosemite.

 

[knoxknocks]

beautiful travel series! thanks for sharing :thumbsup:

 

[Qazwer]

Just love the national park. :thumbsup:

 

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Thanks knoxknocks, haven't seen you in a while man!

Thanks Qazwer. It's really a beautiful place there

 

[Qazwer]

Thanks knoxknocks, haven't seen you in a while man!

Thanks Qazwer. It's really a beautiful place there

Thanks for sharing. I would really like to visit these places especially Yellowstones National Park and Yosemite National Park. And not forgetting the Grand Canyon. :thumbsup:

 

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We decided to go thru Death Valley to take a look since it's along the way. This turns out to be a disaster!

Erm, as usual I dunno what this is called. Looks cute though.

So we were driving off road on the gravel tracks when IT HAPPENED!!

Our car skidded off the gravel and ended up in a depression. Well the good news is we are all alive. The bad news is the car is stuck and even if we got it out, the radiator is smashed and we can't continue driving anyway.

Pic taken by my friend. I kinda lost the mood to shoot for a while.

There wasn't any reception and by the looks of it, no one will pass by. So were we attempted to walk to the nearest civilisation (like 30 miles away) in the scorching sun. After walking abt 5km, we managed to get the emergency only reception my friend's mobile. We managed to call international SOS and get help. To cut the story short, we were rescued and brought to the nearest town (it's really small, with just a motel, a convenience store and a gas station).

While waiting for help, I got a little bored. (They took 5 hours to get to us)

So now with no car, we could only wait for help in the motel. The staff there were real nice and gave us special rates!

7th July
Still stuck in the desert. It's even hot at night so we kept to our rooms most of the time.

8th July
Managed to get a tow truck to come down to pick me up and tow the car to their shop. It cost a bomb! (~ 2.1k USD)

9th July
Lady Luck shines! A dude who was passing thru decided to give us a ride to Las Vegas since it was on the way. He came all the way here to train for a desert marathon of 135 miles. I believe it's called Bad Waters Marathon. Some people are just crazy... Anyway we were really lucky to run into him and so we were back on track. Grand Canyon has got to be cancelled since we have no car though

 

[tan131]

goodness, how did u guys skidded till like tat? but thank god all is fine. love the way how u document ur trip like a travelogue..

 

[ob1canob]

Glad no-one was hurt but this should teach you a lesson; never ever drive off the road especially in desert areas. But you are lucky to be able to get help. One of a "no-no" is to walk away from your vehicle when you are not sure where is the nearest civilisation. Imagine getting lost out there and having to spend the night out in the desert. Imagine there could also be rattle-snakes around....

 

[Triton]

GOSH!! the accident must have been a scary moment for u all. Hope u guys purchased LDW coverage from the car rental company. I wonder if LDW will also cover the towage.
Nice pictures... been to many of the places you visited. Was in Yosemite in Dec last year.
Check out my pics here:
http://www.terrinet.com/RoadTripUSA2005/index.htm?28

 

[Triton]

One of a "no-no" is to walk away from your vehicle when you are not sure where is the nearest civilisation. ..

Yes I do agree that one should stay with the car. It is always better to have a shelter over your heads. I also make it a point to carry dry food on such road trips.. beefy jerky or trail mix are good energy food.

 

[Leinaj]

wah .. that was the "accident" that u were tell ing me about, ... quite a scare isnt it :.. luckily all of u are ok. girls must have screamed your heads off

 

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tan131, I'm glad my lousy English didn't put you off :bsmilie: I guess we did not have experience driving on gravel road with really lousy traction.

ob1canob, we were contemplating staying in the vehicle, but it may have meant a lower chance of survival since we couldn't contact anyone. It's a really lonely place and the chances of anyone coming by is really low. We did have enough water and confirmed directions moving deciding to hike out. There were cases of rattlesnakes though :sweat:

Triton, wow the weather looks good last year! Great pics We did purchase insurance with the car rental, but.....there's a tiny statement that states they do not cover off road driving :cry: We did not even expect the road conditions to be that bad since it was actually marked as a proper road on our maps. Oh well, at least we did not get hurt.

Leinaj, it wasn't all that bad coz we were driving only at about 50km/h. The gals did scream though, haha.

Although **** happens, all in all I think it's quite an unique experience :bsmilie:

 

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Yay! So we arrived in Vegas, Sin City.

I must say Vegas is pretty boring in the day, and it's really hot too.

Treasure Island - Pirates theme Casino / hotel

Shopping mall - Roman theme

Heavy traffic in Vegas - The overhead bridges are all fenced up. We figured it's to prevent people from suiciding after going bankrupt.

Big Money! The Bellagio's massive casino hall.

Faux Eiffel tower

 

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10th July
We went for a little shopping therapy to ease our trauma. Played a little in the casinos and soon it was dark again. (Actually coz we woke up late too)

More Casinos

Even more Casinos.

The Venetian - one of the most expensive casino around.

The Frontier - This is where we stayed. One of the cheapest places on the strip. And they have dirty girls! We didn't managed to see that since the show days are only on Tues and Weds.

Shopping mall with hip architecture.

I think Vegas isn't a place where anyone is likely to stay for long. The whole feels like a show and nothing seems to be real. Oh well, maybe it's just me.

 

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11th July
Long drive back to LA.

Visited Sunset Boulevard and tried to catch some stars.

The most famous of them all.

12th July
Domestic Flight to Washington DC

Having no car means some serious backache since we were carrying all our luggage with us on subways and buses.

The subway stations looks more like a bomb shelter.

13th July
Went to tour around the famous sites in Washington DC. I think the weather here seriously sucks! Dull and moody all the way.

America's favourite person's home.

Federal Reserve

 

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Smartest guy ever on earth.

The National Monument.

Lincoln Memorial - This guy is huge!

These guys are really proud of their flags. You see them everywhere! Taken at the National Monument during sunset.

Another one.

 

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US Capitol building

One more pic of the "bomb shelter"

 

[G-`FerRo]

.. waah... sorry about the accident ... btw .. very nice thread u got here ... just wondering .. how many GB did u use for all those pix .. n what lens did u bring along....?

.. I can see so lotsa beautiful and scenic places .. if it was me.. I can easily fill up 50GB ... hehe

 

[zaxh81]

Nice pics,great narrations.
My guess would be you used around 24gb? a rough estimation from me.

 

[zha]

Awesome series... hard to decide which is the best of the lot.

Makes me wanna pack up for a month long drving trip too!! :sweat: