此前在自己的网站用英文记录下了这次的旅程，如果有机会的话会慢慢翻译回中文。英语水平不高，还请大家见谅~I am a big fan of nature and museums. And America, being very famous for its abundant and well-preserved national parks and diverse art and history museums, is a perfect place for me. In this blog, I will take you with me onto a 5-day road trip journey, from Monterey to Las Vegas, along the Death Valley and Yosemite, then back to Berkeley. This trip was not expected at all and I didn't initiate it. I am very thankful that my friends were kind enough to invite me and share the joy with me.Day0 Monterey0730 am Bowles → 1000 am Monterey → 1300 pm Pigwizard → 1400 pm 17 miles Drive → 2100 pm BowlesTogether with Dylan, Honey and Sun, we set out at around 7 am from Bowles Hall. Music is indispensiable for a sucessful road trip. As of a matter of fact, we played Korean and Japanese songs to pay tributes to the football teams at World Cup. In about two and a half hours, we arrived at the world-class Monterey Aquarium (The ticket was quite expensive, at $50 per cap). But it did not let me down. Starting at the tank with sea otters, we visited "Open Sea", "Deep Sea", "Kelp Forest", "Octupus", "Pengiums" and "Touch Pond". In terms of level of amazement, Open sea and Deep sea are the best. I have never seen such magnificent school of sardine and sharks and that was my first time observing the elegant movement of omninous jellyfishes. The feeling of seeing glowing light in the darkness as the transparent creatures dancing in the water could be described as breathtaking.For visitors, feeding time for open sea is not something you want to miss. I enjoy the educational presentation that the oceanists provided, not less than observing the grand school of sardine swimming in a circle with high speed.After visiting the aquarium, we drove up north for the famous "17 mile drive". I liked the Spanish Beach very much, both for the wonderful wave and uniquely fine sand.Day1 Las Vegas0730 am Bowles → 1000 am Oakland Airport → 1200 pm Las Vagas → 1500 pm Mob Museum → 1800 pm Dinner → 1900 pm Vennitian, The Mirage, Love Show → 2200 pm HiltonWarning! Do not take uber on a public holiday, the fee is crazy!!We arrived in LV at 1130 am. As the plane touching the ground, I got a bird's eyeview of this amazing city in the middle of desert. It was said that this place flourished as a middle point for travellers from California to salt lake city. And believe it or not, it possesses easily accessible water resources!Later we took rental car shuttle to airport rental car center(the shuttle's free!). We were stuck because our drivers are either under 21 (21-25 will still be charged young driver fee) or without a physical driving license (Chinese and International both works, even without translation). Luckily this problem was solved later with the help of Jenny and her friends.We spent the rest of our day in Mob Musuem, The Mirage(The Mirage Volcano, LOVE by Cirque du Soleil) and Venetian.Mob musuem is one of its kind musuem that focuses on the history of mob and crime in the US. The content and exhibition was surprisingly engaging. It talks about the origin of mob society in the US, which is related to italian, Jewish, etc immigrants.The prohibition in 1930s gave them the first opportunity to prosper. Bottlegging becomes very profitable and mobs made their first gold. Las Vegas, as a small city also benefited greatly, expanding from just a ramshackle hub to luxurious casinos and breweries. However, endless desire propelled mob leaders to extert their power on politicians and the police (Bribery in the past was rife). Moreover, assassination and crime become common. Finally, the Chicago valentine's day massacre ignited the common people's hatred towards mobsters. However, with little evidence of crime, most leaders were not convicted as murderer but was enjailed because of tax evasion (ironic right?).Later on, we took a short walk around The Mirage and Venetian. Venetian was quite impressive as it built a "canal" inside the hotel building and even painted the ceiling as picturistic sky.Marking our LV journey with a perfect finale, we went to enjoy LOVE by Cirque du Soleil. The performance was presented as a fantastic combination of singing, dancing, acrobatics and story telling. It resembles a musical in many ways, but its unique thrilling circus show distinguishes itself clearly.Day2 Death Valley1000 am LV -> 1300 am Death Valley Junction -> 2200 pm Mammoth LakeWe set out at 10am in the morning, quite later hh, because everyone was staying up late for LV. At around 1300 pm, we arrived at the entrance to Death Valley, a huge desert national park. (Interestingly, there was a little hotel + opera house?!)I took two photos that could qualify for a action film poster haha.We stopped at Zabriskie Point both for a rest and for this tourism attraction. The dunes were breathtaking. Some people went hiking all the way up to the hill top, but we didn't do that due to physical and time constraint.Our next stop was an abandoned white gold mine. Looking at and stepping on the soil, it was not difficult to observe that there used to be a river running through, but was dried up for some reason, leaving the soil to crispy and dry.The colourful sky and hills were enjoyable to look at as well. Some of them are blue, others are green, and the majority were golden or red.This was the first of our road trip. Everyone was exciting, until the dusk fell. In winter, darkness covers the world starting at as early as 4 pm. Driving on a twisting mountain road was a very unique and stressful experience. We couldn't get any signal and there were barely any cars passing by. I felt we were left alone in ths wild with only a car and the stars. The stars were impressive. The moment I stepped out the door during a short rest, I was astonished by how many stars there are. Sadly my phone was too insensitive to record any of them. But hopefully but writing this blog, I will be able to brand that in my memory.We stopped at a small town, "Lone Pine", to buy groceries. I was so grateful, as a traveller, to find a grocery store to refill energy on a cold and dark night.At last, we made it to our destination, Mammoth Lake, at 10 pm. Here, a very suprising encounter, we MET **A BABY BEAR**!! The village we lived in was covered in snow and the cute bear climbed onto a tree because he/she was afraid of car head light. Regardless of the bear, we parked the car and finally walked in the wonderful airbnb accommodation. (First time to sleep on a coach 555)Day3 Mammoth-Crowley Lake1100 am Mammoth Lake → 1400 pm Crowley Lake → 2100 pm YosemiteOn this day, we spent most of the time on car, because unfortunately the planned road was blocked, presumably due to snow.However, it was still the day that I took my favoriate picture. This is the first time that I have seen anything like this in reality. Although mountain and lake in snow blanket is not something uncommon in documentaries and movie, the pure color of white and high mountains still gave me a brand new attachment and awe towards our mother nature.The Airbnb we reserved was just awesome. I stayed up a bit late that day to review the Argentia vs Mexico match!! Bravo!Day4 Yosemite1000 am Airbnb → 1200 am Yosemite → 2200 pm HomeYosemite is a really beautiful place. I couldn't find the suitable words to describe its beauty.It was said that mountain fire in California was quite frequent (every few years). The trees with black trunks and dead branches we saw there were the result from a [mountain fire in 2013](https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/firehistory.htm).I personally think we could spend 1 or 2 more days at Yosemite, hiking or just relaxing. One day was not possible to fully grasp the charm of Yosemite. At least, we should hike up the Half Dune and Bridal Fall. (Wear more cloth, Winter at Yosemite is really cold).ConclusionThis is a very nice experience. My first road trip turned out to be perfect. Thanks for Jenny who invited me to the trip and coordinated almost everything. Thanks Sibble and Jinhao who took up the role as drivers! Thanks all other people who helped rent the car.
