Last day in Lone Pine

Yesterday was a beautiful day!  Jim, Della, Ted and I took off in the morning for breakfast at the Alabama Cafe.  We had eaten there when we were here last year and they really have good food.  I had cinnamon roll French toast that was delicious.  They actually use one of their home made cinnamon rolls cut in half to make the toast...very good!

From there we headed up Whitney Portal to show Della the view.  When we were there the day before the snow did not make it down the mountain to where they close the road but yesterday it was at our level!  In fact, Della tossed a snow ball to me!

There was quite a bit of snow on Mt. Whitney.  When we got here there wasn't a lot but on Monday night that all changed.  We were there on Monday and then again on Tuesday and there was a big difference in the amount of snow.  On Monday we couldn't even see the top of the mountain!

After we left Mt. Whitney we drove the "Movie Road".  100's of movies and shows were made in the Alabama Hills of Lone Pine.  Fatty Arbuckle in a silent movie was one of the first cowboy films to be made in the area.  Movies such as Gunga Din, Bad Day at Black Rock, Sierra Madre, Around the World in 80 Days and so many more.  There were cowboys such as Gene Autry, Tom Mix, The Lone Ranger, Hop Along Cassidy, John Wayne, Gary Cooper and more.  There were also such actors as Kirk Douglas, Spencer Tracy and Errol Flynn.  More recent movie credits include:  Tremors, Gladiator, Star Trek Generation and Iron Man.  This list of movies and actors is quite impressive!  When you drive around, there are only the rocky areas to be seen, there is nothing left of the sets.

After we left the area we went to the Movie Museum.  They have tons of posters, costumes, saddles, cars and other miscellaneous props from the movies to see.  There were a costume designer called "Nudie" who has his big convertible Cadillac on display there.  It is decked out with guns, steer horns and more!  If you check out the museum web site: http://www.lonepinefilmhistorymuseum.org it is quite interesting.  They have a listing of the movies/actors that were made here in Lone Pine.

It's a fun museum to visit!

Also while in town we visited the local hardware store.  I have never been in one that has everything imaginable as this store.  Every square inch of space is used up including the ceiling!  And the best part, the man knows exactly where everything is you need!  It is overwhelming!

Tomorrow we leave this beautiful area and head over to Death Valley to meet some friends.  We will be there from March 1st departing March 7th!  We have not had cell service in the past so may not have any postings for a week!  From there we are going over to Las Vegas for a couple of weeks so will get caught up on blogging!

Enjoying the local color..."Ain't Life Grand!"