ON THE ROAD TO PLEASURE
AND A PROPOSITION OF LOVE CATâS STORY PART 3
As Cat and I continued up Hwy. 395 we passed the turn off for the city of Mammoth Lakes and also for the Devils Post Pile, which led to Catâs comment,
âSomeday when we have more time, I would like to come back up here and check out the Devils Post Pile, ever been there?â
I answered Catâs question by replying,
âYes sweetheart a few times. It is pretty cool, as it is the only volcanic basalt deposit in the world like it. No feature in the Mammoth area better demonstrates the work of fire and ice than Devils Postpile. The columns of basalt were formed approximately 100,000 years ago when a lava flow slowed and began to cool and crack. Temperatures deep within the lava bed were uniform enough to produce six-sided columnal joints. A short trail leads to the top of the columns, where the distinct hexagonal pattern of the Postpile is clearly visible, polished to a shine by later glacial action. It looks as if you are standing on a hexagonal tile floor.â
Cat excitedly responded,
âWOW! That sounds really cool. Ya, we must come back sometimeâ.
Not too much further up the highway was something that always gave me a good laugh, so I decided to play a little trick on Cat using it. The intersection of highway 395 and highway 120, which was the turn off to Mono craters. The Mono craters looked like the surface of the moon, I had even heard that NASA had trained the Astronauts for the moon landing there. At this intersection was a pile of rocks resembling a grave, with a wooden cross at one end and a pair of boots sticking out the other end. I told Cat I needed a break from driving and would pull over at the next safe spot, knowing all the while that would be the location of the would be gravesite. âOK baby this looks like a good spotâ
I said as I pulled off the road just after crossing the intersection. Cat pointing a finger out her window said,
âBurt look at that, is that a grave?â
I replied, âI donât know sweetheart, letâs take a lookâ
As we walked from the truck over to the pile of rocks I had to stifle my laughs knowing I could sell Cat that it was real.
â Hey, look at that, it says something on the crossâ
Cat remarked, as we grew closer to the object of her building curiosity.
âI know sweetheart, I wonder what it says? Probably the persons name, birth date and date of deathâ I said.
Cat then leaned over and read,
âTHE GRAVE OF THE UNKNOWN ALCOHOLICâ
Then commented,
âBurt is this a joke?â
âI donât think so baby, look there are even artificial flowers by the crossâ
I replied as I held back my laughter.
Cat then questioned me further,
âHoney, why are his boots sticking out of the rocks then?â
âWell sweetheart look around, there are not many rocks around here. Maybe this is all they could find and were in a hurry?â
I said trying not to grin.
âYa right, they couldnât do that, and you would have to bury a person deeper than thatâ
Said Cat sarcastically.
âWell baby the ground looks pretty hard here, maybe they didnât have a shovel? Maybe they didnât care because he was just some drunk who got hit by a car as he tried to cross the highway?â
I said grinning, as I could no longer hide them from cat.
âBurt! Whatâs so funny, this isnât real. Youâre just pulling my legâ
Exclaimed Cat.
âNo baby, itâs not real it has been here for as long as I can remember thoughâ
I said, now laughing out loud.
âI thought so, nobody would leave his feet sticking outâ
Cat said, slapping me teasingly on the back as we both walked back to the truck, both laughing.
We soon began the ascent up the steep grade that would take us out of the Owens valley. Looking back into the valley below we were treated to a breath taking view of Mono Lake, with all of its very strange looking Tufa deposits rising up from its blue waters hauntingly. This Tufa is the result of deposits left by under water springs and then exposed as the brine water of the lake receded over the years. They kind of looked like stalagmites rising up out of the lakes waters like strange silent sentries, guarding its shores from unknown invaders. Out in the middle of the lake was Paocha Island, which was made entirely of black volcanic rock. With this black island and the stalagmites rising up out of the lakes blue waters, combined with Mono craters just beyond the lake, it really did look like a landscape from another planet.
After many hours more of driving through northern Californiaâs beautiful forest we finally made it to the Oregon border. At that point I woke Cat up, as she had been taking a nap as I drove. I softly nudged her and whispered,
âSweetheart, wake up, baby you awake? Weâre in Oregon now, we just crossed the borderâ With this gentle prodding Cat wiped the sleep from her eyes, yawned and then looked over at me still sleepily and said,
â Honey? Did you say we are in Oregon? How long was I asleep?â