140 miles of beauty......

 7:58 am - Friday - April 25th - Minden, NV - 49° F, humidity 41%, wind 4 mph out of the east.....heavy cloud cover today with some rain later today, and a forecast high of 59° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were in the middle of a 12 month stretch living at Sear Rocks RV Cove on the Oregon Coast.....

.....I was working at one of my favorite jobs there....leveling a site....this one had a big hump down the middle, and was quite narrow.  I first widened it, then covered the now wider site with more gravel....

After a two day layover in Bishop, CA it was time to roll our wheels, and continue our journey back to Likely Place Golf & RV Resort.  Since Monday, when we left TWW, we had covered around 500 of the 850 miles separating us from our destination.  The drive from Bishop, CA to the Carson Valley, NV is one of the most beautiful drives in America, and we get to do it twice a year right now.  It is only 140 miles, but there are five passes/summits we must surmount, getting to 8,138 feet elevation at Conway Summit, the highest elevation point along the entire length of US-395 (San Diego, CA to the Canadian Border in Washington State).

We were in no hurry to get on the road when we got up at 7 am, but we were still on the road heading northward by 9 am.  It only took me around 10 minutes to stow our water hose, and electrical cord, plus the mat, and step for the entrance to the Newell.  While I did that the big Detroit Diesel 6v92 was warming up, and airing up the Newell.

From the Tri-County Fairgrounds it is about 11 miles to the beginning of the first climb of he day, Sherwin Grade, which is about 8 miles long, and a 6% incline all the way.  The Newell usually grinds down to 30 mph in 2nd gear, and Thursday was no different....

Nearing the top of Sherwin Grade

....after summiting the Sherwin Grade we can see Mammoth Mountain in the distance....

.....we rarely stop in Lee Vining, which sits on the shores of Mono Lake, but we decided to pull into the Mono Lake Visitor Center to take a coffee break for about 40 minutes this time through.  We both bought two pastries the other day at Schat's Bakery in Bishop, so we pulled them out, and finished our morning coffees before continuing on to the climb up to Conway Summit......

.....US-395 is a divided highway all the way from Bishop to just past Conway Summit.  From there it becomes a two way road with one lane in each direction.  There are numerous passing lanes provided from that point.  From Conway Summit we descended to the lovely town of Bridgeport where we have stopped often over the years, but decided to continue on to Walker, CA hoping Walker Burger had opened for the season.  On the way we crested the 4th summit of the day, Devils Gate which sits just over 7,500' elevation....

.....you never know exactly when Walker Burger will open for the summer season, so it can be hit and miss.  On this day we hit the jackpot....Walker Burger was open!  We quickly found a place to park across the street, and headed in to order one of the best burgers in the Eastern Sierra....it always depends on the weather.....

.....we haven't had a Walker Burger in a couple of years, so this was a special, unexpected treat.....

....from Walker it is just a short 5 mile jaunt to the Nevada Border at Topaz Lake, and from there the final summit of the day, Simee Dimeh Summit at 5,987' above sea level.... 

....we arrived at the Tahoe-Douglas Elks Lodge near Gardnerville around 2 pm after a very leisurely 5 hours drive, which included the two long, aforementioned breaks.  Within 30 minutes we were set up for two nights.  We'll continue our journey to LPG&RVR Saturday morning, weather permitting.  The weather forecast for Friday and Saturday here in Gardnerville, NV is for rain, and snow.  How bad it is will determine if we actually leave Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by!