Baby's New "Shoes"

I really wanted to start our trip south to Mammoth at 9 am Friday just as I did on my last trip, but the baby must have new shoes, and that necessitated leaving in the afternoon.....during the height of traffic congestion in South Lake Tahoe.  TLE and I busied ourselves with getting ourselves packed up and ready to go, and then I drove the Beetle over to Ken's Tire Center just before Noon to get the new "shoes" installed.

As I expected, the truck delivering my tires had not yet arrived at Noon when I arrived, but I was prepared to wait it out with my Kindle.  The service manager had the wheels removed from the VW in preparation for the arrival of the "late" delivery truck, so when the truck arrived just short of 1 pm all they had to do was mount the new tires on the rims, and then put them back on the car.

As they finished up I sent a text to TLE letting her know I would be home shortly, and she replied she was "ready".  I was home by 1:35, and we were on our way by 1:45.  It is only about 26 miles to Gardnerville from SLT, but it took us over an hour to drive that distance due to the heavy traffic, which I had feared would be the case, and the on going construction on HWY 207 over Kingsbury Grade.  

Once south of Gardnerville it was smooth sailing, and we were in Walker, CA by 3:30 where we stopped at Walker Burger for a very late lunch.  I've driven by Walker Burger a dozen times over the years, but have never been inclined to stop, but this time hunger made it a necessity.  Yelp gives Walker Burger a solid 4 stars on 65 reviews, and we would both have to agree.  They have a nice outdoor dining area covered by shade trees, and the operation is well run from top to bottom.  I had, of course, the Walker Burger with cheese, and TLE ordered a large portion of fries....we both had shakes (vanilla for TLE, and chocolate for moi).

Waiting for our order

We ate a leisurely lunch and were back on the road by 4 with about 80 miles to go.....the rest of the drive was uneventful, and I really began to appreciate the new "shoes" the Beetle was wearing......a little higher profile than the old "shoes", and a noticeably smoother ride, plus I think a little better mpg than previously.  We arrived in Mammoth Lakes just around 5:15 at the condo we rented for the weekend with our good friends from SoCal.....Paul, Mark, and Brenda.  Our other friend, Richie, is staying with his wife, Gloria, and their year old child down at the Shilo Inn, and will join us for our ride on Saturday.

When we arrived Paul and Mark had gone fishing, so TLE, Brenda and I drove over to the Charthouse Restaurant for apps and drinks.....we were both still full from our late lunch.  By the time we returned Paul and Mark had returned from fishing and were heading out for a late dinner.....Brenda decided to join them.  They were going to eat at the new Mammoth Brewing Company (located in the old Whiskey Creek Restaurant), but found out upon arriving at just before 8 pm that they #1 did not serve food, and #2 had just announced "last call".....who has a last call at 8 pm in a resort town on a Friday night?  Anyway, they decided to head just up the street to Toomey's for dinner, but experienced the worst service imaginable.  Yelp gives Toomey's a solid 4 stars, but I noticed a review posted just a little earlier than our friend's visit describing the same bad service, however, on 389 reviews they get a solid 4 stars.  Maybe it was just one night, but first impressions are everything.....I don't think they will be back for "seconds".

Paul, Mark and Brenda arrived back home as TLE and I were watching a movie on Netflix starring Jason Statham called "Redemption"....it was not a memorable movie, and soon we were all talking about this and that while the movie played in the background.

We were in bed shortly after 10 pm dreaming about about our mountain bike adventures to come......thanks for stopping by!