Day 4: The Journey To Mammoth

So it is now Thursday and we are leaving the lovely warm climate of Napa Valley to travel south to Mammoth Lakes which will be our base whilst we are in Yosemite.


However as both Laura and Fiona are employees of a certain computer company that has its base in Silicon Valley just south of San Francisco - we could hardly be this close and not visit.


And so they were delivered to "The Mothership" that is Apple Global Headquarters in Cupertino California.

So Laura and Fiona went to the front desk and got their credentials checked out and came back to us with their Apple HQ ID badges and invited us into the main offices for lunch.


All the big bosses were there and were smiling - so I take it they were happy to see us all the way from Scotland........or maybe they just smile a lot thinking about their share values.


Impressive place and as a devotee of this particular companies' products - it was interesting to see where it all begins. 


However as I have signed the Apple Official Secrets Act when I entered the building, I simply cannot say anymore......


Here are the girls with their "proof of visit" pictures for everyone back home.

So having finished at Apple we start the long 200 mile drive over the mountains towards Mammoth Lakes.


The route took us through the fruit farms growing every fruit imaginable where the temperature reached 104°F and as we started climbing up into the mountains of the High Sierras it dropped as low as 50°F - and then we came across snow!!!

These pictures are of the High Sierra mountains which were about 8,000 feet above sea level. 


Quite a contrast from the +100°F temperatures we experienced just 50 miles further west.

The girls in the back seat of our massive Chevy Suburban.

And then we climbed so high on the road over the mountains that we reached the snow line.


So in t shirts and shorts the girls went for skiing!

And after a few hours drive we eventually reach the eastern side of the High Sierras and are greeted with a fabulous view of Mono Lake which can be seen below.

On arrival at Mammoth it was simply dinner and bed after a long journey.