Well the worst has finally occurred - I got a speeding ticket. Never in my 48 years of driving have I had a moving violation of any sort until this vacation. I was so careful in every little town I went through up until today. I had pulled into a gas station and was horrified that the gas was $4.99 a gallon and didn't pay attention to the speed limit when I pulled out. Sure enough I got nailed. And it was at the end of the day as I was finally leaving the woods.
Anyway I changed my plans for the day. I have always wanted to see the Tufa at Mono Lake since I read a mystery series in which the detectives boyfriend owns a ranch near the lake. It sounded so fascinating that I figured I would see it while I was in the area. I programmed my Garmin and lo and behold I got to Glacier Point. As I was driving along I saw the sign, which I obviously missed yesterday, to Glacier Point. Well the Garmin went nuts but I went anyway. I thought that I would see a Glacier but what was actually there was the result of two glaciers moving rocks and land together until they crashed into each other. It was a very dramatic area. A graceful double waterfall is at one end of the valley, a huge rock rises above the valley and is called Half Dome and at the other end is where the mountains came together. It's all something to see. After that I calmed the Garmin down and let it get back on track to Mono Lake.
Of course I got to the Visitors Center to discover that I had to drive another 20 minutes to get to the interesting parts. Meanwhile I have been driving up and over the Sierra Nevada mountains for hours, there was still snow under the trees, that's how high I was. You didn't even get a view because of all the trees. It was very closed in and quite dark at times. As a line of cars was driving along everyone suddenly slowed down and we had to switch lanes. Standing in our lane was a coyote just watching us go by. He would turn his head as each car went by as though he were counting cars. It was very funny.
I finally got to the Lake. It was worth the trouble. The Tufa is calcium carbonate made up of calcium from some of the spring water and alkali from other water that comes into the lake. the two create the conditions for the Tufa. As the level of the lake has gone down the lake has become more saline and now only one species of brine shrimp can survive there and one alkali fly. Many birds and ducks are dependent on these two. Also as the lake level receded Tufa were stranded on what became dry land and now are almost hidden by grasses and other plants. Tufas grow like volcanos, water is pushed up through the center and material is deposited on the outside, so they grow from the lake floor.
I couldn't stand trees anymore so I made a reservation at a Comfort Inn in Sacramento. I really will head to the coast tomorrow.
Of course I got to the Visitors Center to discover that I had to drive another 20 minutes to get to the interesting parts. Meanwhile I have been driving up and over the Sierra Nevada mountains for hours, there was still snow under the trees, that's how high I was. You didn't even get a view because of all the trees. It was very closed in and quite dark at times. As a line of cars was driving along everyone suddenly slowed down and we had to switch lanes. Standing in our lane was a coyote just watching us go by. He would turn his head as each car went by as though he were counting cars. It was very funny.
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