June 6th, 2016
Zero Day in Lone Pine, CA
Last nights sleep was awful at the Dow Villa Hotel. If I wanted to sweat and have warm air blowing on my face all night I could have done it for free in the desert.
Carolyn actually called the front office at 1 AM and complained about the temperature. The whole hotel has “central air” and apparently right before bed a patron complained that it was actually too cold so they turned the water off. This led to hot air from outside just blasting into the building and into our room. It felt like a gigantic basset hound was breathing on my face the whole night. It was just awful.
In the morning we complained about the conditions and the manager didn’t really seem to care. We were planning on staying another night but found a different place to Stay, the Portal Motel.
This new place is the same price and has its own air conditioning unit, which I promptly turned to the lowest temperature and highest fan setting upon arrival. The temperature now feels suitable enough for polar bear habitation and it is awesome.
We stopped in at the Lone Pine Film Museum per Peter’s suggestion, and it was really neat. Lone Pine and the surrounding natural landscapes were where a large portion of old western films were shot in whole or in part. Big names like Hopalong Cassiday and the Lone Ranger called this place home, along with many other movies such as Tremors, parts of Ironman and even bits of Star Wars. The beauty and close proximity to Hollywood made it an ideal location for big blockbusters and B Westerns alike.
We met Peter at the museum and he showed us a very rare technicolor camera that he had donated, one of only 28 manufactured. He also showed us some of the shots he took of the Milky Way last night and they were absolutely breathtaking. If you would like to look at some of his beautiful photography his website is www.petermason.com.
All in all a good and restful day. We secured a ride with a guy named Juan for tommorrow at 7 AM as it may be an almost impossible hitch back up to Horseshoe Meadows. I’m excited to get into the heart of the Sierra and continue on.
