200 to go....

 7:47 am - Tuesday - April 9th - Minden, NV - 32° F, humidity 63%, wind 2 mph out of the south by southeast....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were visiting Horseshoe Bend outside of Page, AZ....had to get pretty close to the edge to take this picture.....TLE did not like that at all.....

.....the view this morning....Tahoe-Douglas Elks Lodge near Minden, NV.....

The overnight low in Bishop was around 32° F, and it got quite cold in the Newell interior (we sleep without the heaters running), so we didn't even think about leaving the warm, comfortable confines of our heated electric blanket bed until the sun had been on the passenger side of the Newell for about 30 minutes, which made it around 7:30 am.  On these extra cold mornings TLE relies upon me to get up, make a mad dash for each electric heater thermostat, turn them on, then make a hasty retreat to the bed.  It takes about 10 minutes for the heaters to make the interior hospitable enough for TLE to emerge from her electric blanket cocoon....lol.

The outside temps would not get over 40° F until after 10 am, but we didn't want to wait that long to leave, so we set our sites on 9:30 am for departure.  The only two things we deploy on an overnight stop are the Winegard satellite dish, and the Starlink.  All I have to do to stow the Winegard is push a button, but I do have to go outside and disconnect the Starlink dishy from the cable, coil up the cable, then the 50 amp electric cord, and we're ready to move.  I did all that around 9:15 am, and by 9:26 am our wheels were rolling.

For those of you who have been reading my blog for more than a year, you know about all the passes and summits one must traverse between Bishop, CA and Minden, NV on US-395.  For those who do not remember, or haven't been reading long enough to remember, there are 5 major summits/grades one must climb, plus numerous shorter ones, before one reaches Minden, NV.  They are Sherwin Summit, Dead Man Summit, Conway Summit, Devil's Gate Pass, and Simee Dimeh Pass, the highest of which is Conway Summit sitting at 8,143' above sea level, and the highest point on the entire length of US-395.

A view of the White Mountains to the east as we begin the climb up Sherwin Grade to Sherwin Summit

Sherwin Summit

Crowley Lake.....last year it was still frozen, and snow covered the entire valley

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area....looks like some wonderful Spring Skiing is to be had there this year

↕Mono Lake↕

Mono Lake from the vista point near the top of Conway Summit...the snow you can see to the right, and in the background is normal for this time of year when there is no drought.  Last year was the snowpocolypse, and everything in the foreground was white with snow, and Mono Lake was still frozen.

If you think diesel prices in your area are high, check out Bridgeport, CA!

.....in all we covered around 156 miles between 9:30 am and 1 pm Monday....not a lot of distance, but a lot of climbing!  We spent a lot of time in 2nd gear running around 29 mph up many of the grades.  Of course, we go down the back side of these grades in the same gear we climbed them to keep our speed down.  You don't want to lose control of 39,000 pounds (19.5 tons) of steel.  We took frequent stops to enjoy the views, and just take a break.  As we do every time we near the top of Conway Summit we stopped at the vista point to take a picture.....this tradition began with my family when I was about 5 years old, and continues to this day.  Traffic was not too bad Monday, but by the time we parked the Newell at the Tahoe-Douglas Elks Lodge, and shut down the big Detroit Diesel 6v92 we were tired.

We've just 200 miles to LPG&RVR, and another summer spent with good friends, and playing golf.

Thanks for stopping by!