Fail to plan, plan to fail

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This is especially true when traveling during the "off-season". While the lack of crowds means you don't have to worry about making reservations, getting stuck in traffic or waiting in line there are also reduced operating hours for many attractions and roads, parks and campgrounds can be closed. One could safely assume that after the adventures my mom and I had in Italy these lessons would be well known by now but you know what happens when you assume...

First, the road to Bodie State Historical Site was closed. This was no surprise though as that tends to happen after snowfalls so I had planned for this contingency and continued on to Devil's Postpile National Monument as an alternative stop on the scenic byway that is route 395.

This I did not anticipate. No matter though, the main activity for the day (besides driving and looking for Bigfoot at Mono Lake, more on that later) was visiting Manzanar National Historic Site. Manzanar, known as a War Relocation Center is where more than 10,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. It is a place that encourages you to think and remember that this happened. In light of recent NYPD surveillance of Muslim Americans I think it is an especially important place to see and talk about.

If I were a photographer or artist I'd call this "Shadow of Racism". It's the small cemetery at Manzanar. The monument's inscription says "Soul Consoling Tower".

Now, because the other sites were closed I thought I'd have a great chance at making it to Death Valley and setting up camp before night fall...and I did. I made it to Stovepipe Wells and the campground was full! You see California is a crazy place. In one day's drive you go to places that are closed because of winter weather conditions and places that are packed with crowds because of the 80 degree days of cloudless sunshine. March is not the off-season at Death Valley. So I decided to continue on to Furnace Creek, which was, of course, closed.

Apparently this campground was closed last month

Luckily, there are two other campgrounds within a mile so I finally settled in for the night and enjoyed the night sky on a moonless night! Today the lessons of yesterday were not well remembered. I had a great morning in Death Valley, enjoyed the drive to Arizona and then tried to squeeze in some national park action before sundown. Unfortunately, when Walnut Canyon says they are open 9am - 5pm they mean it. It's not just the Visitor's Center that closes but the whole park!

The road into Walnut Canyon National Monument

Tonight I am at a KOA campground off the highway in Flagstaff carefully planning every detail of tomorrow's adventure. God willing in less than 48 hours I will be able to update you on how it all went. Finally, I promised nothing more than a photo of the day during this trip so don't be surprised if this is the last time I ramble at length. Thanks for reading! See you further on up the road!