Getting Started - Road Trip 2019

After literally months of planning and making reservations – yes reservations are a fact of RV travel these days - we knew the Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park in July, would be popular destinations.  For those parks, reservations were made the day they were available online.

We are travelers and will see what we can – when we can.  When we can arrange a house sitter … we travel!

For the first time we are leaving San Diego on a Sunday morning and it sure made a difference in traffic!

It was an easy drive north on 395 to our usual first night at Fossil Falls.  We stopped in Ridgecrest for gas and a few supplies at Walmart.  BTW – Walmart offers overnight parking if that is needed, but always check ahead! 

Oops when leaving the Walmart lot I whacked the steps on the curb.  They do still go up into the travel position but not all the way down.  I’ll not do anything about it until there is time when we return home.

 
First night is usually Fossil Falls.  It’s on the northbound side of 395 and about the right distance from San Diego at ~200 miles.  The night sky makes for excellent star gazing and it has excellent cell service.

The red rock gravel crew maintain Cinder Road, wish they’d come into the campground, that road is in terrible condition.  Although fresh gravel has been placed on the access to the day use area, the campground itself is pretty bad!

Our spot tucked in, and again the campground is empty.  There is a $6/3 fee to use the campground, but there are also a few boondocking sites beyond the campground toward the Little Lake Overlook.  I’ve been stopping here for decades and even with the fee I’ll stop here, or in one of the boondocking spots.

Looking down over the falls.

I have blogged this area before, as has Gaelyn, the geogypsy HERE.  She covered the site much better than I have.  Well she is a ranger with an inquisitive mind.

The Happy Hour Flag is up.  Stop by for a glass of wine. The flag was a gift from our son and DIL – it’s a wine theme spinnaker.  

Erik Schat's has taken over the building next door to the bakery turning it into a wine and cheese shop. Nice idea – bread, wine and cheese all in one stop shop.  Tastings were not being offered when we stopped by.

But we still go for the world’s best turkey sandwich and enjoy lunch in the park

The baby ducks provide a bit of cuteness to the lunch break.

There’s a big rodeo event going on in Bishop, so we do not spend much time here.  We climb up to the Inyo National Forest where there is still a lot snow in the Sierra

We found a quiet spot in the Inyo National Forest with better than expected cell service!  The high was 82 but a chilly 44 overnight.

An additional testing of my knee on a short 3 mi hike, Fran had time to take a few practice swings.
From here we’ll head over the mountains to Lake Tahoe for a visit.

Certainly we’ve had No Bad Days as we begin our trip, trust your days were great too!

July 2014–To WA, the scenic route - Part 1

CALIFORNIA
I like to leave after work the day before the first day of vacation, then wake up already vacationing.  Going north this usually means 395 with an overnight at Fossil Falls.  And this trip is no different, but the traffic is!  Reduced lanes on Cajon Pass had traffic doing the ‘Cajon Crawl’ it was backed up miles, then  construction on 395 held speeds down to 35.  UGH – added a couple hours to the evening adventure, but woke up ON VACATION!


The night sky is usually quite clear.  The campground is far enough away from 395 and lights it’s a great place to relax under the stars, although the moon was a bit bright this trip.  Michael and I did have some heavy winds on one stop and another time I had snow!  But only a couple times in 20 years of stopping here was there ever another camper in the campground.
It’s a short morning hike to Fossil Falls


Take time on the hike, there’s no reason to arrive in Bishop before Erick Schat’s opens the Deli 10.  Best turkey sandwich on the planet! and home of the Sheepherders Bread.


The climb up from Bishop is awe inspiring.  Many of memories made along the trails, lakes, hot springs and campgrounds of this diverse land.  As John Muir said:


A nice tour with a bike ride thru Mammoth Lakes on to Mono Lake and it was time to get going.  More road construction and a detour off 395 near Bridgeport and it was time to starting looking for a spot for the night. Why not Dayton, NV?

A most excellent choice …