Traditions.....

7:12 am - Thursday - October 13th - Bishop, CA - 43° F, 39% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the northwesst.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today in Bishop, CA at the Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fairgrounds.  On this date in 2019 my son, Chris, and I were installing our new Winegard automatic HD dish at Ramona Oaks RV Resort.......↴ 

 

The drive south from Gardnerville, NV to Bishop, CA is only 156 miles, but packed into that 156 miles is some of the most beautiful scenery in the U.S.  Even though there are a lot of high elevation summits, and passes we must traverse as we wend our way southward, I look forward to it each time we do it.  However, I get ahead of myself.

The last time we filled our 180 gallon diesel tank to the full mark was on April 12, 2022....exactly six months ago.  The best price in town, according to Gas Buddy, was at the local 7/11 mini market at $4.99/gallon.  That is about .48 cents more per gallon than we paid six months ago.  At any rate we had only driven 408 miles since April 12th (round trip to Likely Place and back to Gardnerville) so I figured we would take on about 60 gallons.  We arrived at the 7/11 around 9:30 am, and by 10 am we had poured 64 gallons of fresh diesel into the tank to top it off costing us around $324.  I was able to get the first 20 gallons at the discounted Gas Buddy price of $4.92, but you can only pump $100 of fuel per day using the Gas Buddy card, so the final 44 gallons cost the $4.99/gallon I mentioned earlier.  Ulimately the $100 was reduced to $98.60.

We were back on US-395 a tad after 10 am and heading for our first summit of the day.....

....Simee Dimeh Summit sits at 5,797', and would be the lowest summit all day.....

....once over the summit we descent to Topaz Lake......

....and a short time later we re-entered California where we will be for the next 6 months at Glamis North.....

.....next up was the uphill climb along the Walker River.....

.....up to Devil's Gate Summit sitting at 7,519' before descending once again to Bridgeport, CA.....

....the first thing you see as you enter Bridgeport from the north is the Valero fuel station sporting some of the highest gas and diesel prices we have seen in 10.5 years of our nomadic life.....

....we took a 40 minute break in Bridgeport walking from one end of town to the other and back before continuing our journey to the next summit, and highest point on US-395.....

....if you hit this stretch of US-395 at the right time of year you will see rivers of gold in the form of quaking aspens flowing down the mountain valleys, and gorges......

....of course, no trip north or south on this stretch of US-395 will ever be complete without stopping at the vista point just south of the summit....the Mono Lake Vista point.  I believe it is against the law for a Hockwald to pass this vista point without stopping and taking a few pictures......I remember my parents stopping here each summer as we made our way to Lake Tahoe for a few weeks every year, and TLE and I have kept the tradition alive for the 51 years of our marriage.....

TLE took a short video of our descent from Conway Summit to Mono Lake

.....after passing through Lee Vining we continued south past Mammoth Lakes, coming eventually to Crawley Lake, where we do stop occasionally to take a break, and we did so this year.....

....we arrived safely, and without incident at the Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fairgournds around 2 pm, and within minutes had paid for a site for one night....site #188 in the middle of the field....

.....we'll continue on our way to SoCal Thursday morning, and should be at the Elks Lodge in Fontana by mid afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by!

A no summit day.....

6:54 am - Saturday - October 23rd - Lone Pine, CA - 48° F, 46% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the east.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 70° F here in Lone Pine, but we roll our wheels in about 90 minutes for SoCal. Our view this morning.....↴

.....on this date in 2020 TLE and I were on a long weekend down in Bandon, OR having a late lunch at Tony's Crab Shack where I enjoyed my favorite fish tacos of all time...↴

Since we only planned to cover 65 miles south to Lone Pine, CA Friday we walked over to Schat's Bakery for some pastries and coffee before hauling anchor.  The walk from the Fairgrounds is about 5 blocks, and takes just 10 minutes.  You can tell the summer season has passed because we walked right into the bakery and placed our order.  Normally you might wait 15 minutes during the summer just to get inside, and another 20 minutes to place your order.  We easily acquired an alfresco table on the patio.....

....in addition to the bakery which has been here since 1905 (there is one in Mammoth Lakes also).  The Schat family also owns the wine bar next door.....

....and Schat's Roadhouse a couple of blocks away.....

.....by 11 am we were putting Bishop, CA in our rear view mirror once again, and heading for Lone Pine.  It is about an hour's drive from Bishop to Lone Pine, and there are two small towns in between....Big Pine and Independence.  We have passed through these towns a dozens of times over the years, and we never get tired of them.  US-395 south of Bishop is pretty flat with no summits, or passes to overcome.....it's just a matter of setting cruise control, hanging on to the steering wheel, and enjoying the view....

....we almost always stay overnight at Boulder Creek RV Resort just south of Lone Pine when going north, or south on US-395....it's just one of our traditions.  Over the years we have never made a reservation, and Friday was no exception.  We have always been able to snag a pull through site in the past, but, ironically, the Ontario Elks Lodge is holding a rally here this weekend, so we when we arrived around 12:30 pm we had to settle for a long back in site with a great view of Mt. Whitney, and the eastern Sierras.

We were treated to a beautiful after sunset alpenglow which went on for about 20 minutes....

.....time to roll our wheels!  Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Summit day.....

7:58 am - Friday - October 22nd - Bishop, CA - 39° F,  48% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the northwest.....clear skies today with a forecast high of 75° F.  Our view this morning.....↴

The Eastern Sierra Nevadas as viewed from 

Bishop Tri-Counties Fairgrounds

....on this date in 2017 TLE and I were hiking in Bryce Canyon NP........↴

All trails lead to TLE

Two days was really not enough time in Carson City, but it will have to do this time around.  We would have loved to drive up over Spooner Summit to see Lake Tahoe once again, have lunch at the Bridgetender in Tahoe City, and visit friends in South Lake Tahoe, but it was not to be.  We need to be in SoCal by this weekend to move our stuff out of my son's warehouse.

We were on US-395 heading southbound to Minden, NV just before 9 am.  Our first stop of the day would be the Maverick fuel station there where we would take on 139 gallons of #2 diesel at $3.54/gallon for a total cost of $493....ouch!  Fortunately we will not to 'pay the rent' again until sometime in December.

Standing between us and Bishop, CA was 160 miles of mountainous terrain, amazing, breathtaking, adjective defying scenery, and many high altitude passes.....the first one of the day being Simee Dimeh Summit at 5,987' above sea level just south of Minden, NV......

Topaz Lake

.....we re-entered California just past Topaz Lake, and continued on through Topaz, Coleville, and Walker toward Devil's Gate Summit......

.....standing at 7,519' above seal level.....a lot of grinding along in 2nd gear at 33 mph.....right at red line (2,100 RPM's)......

......after Devil's Gate Summit we took a long break in Bridgeport, CA before heading out of town to tackle Conway Summit, the highest elevation point of the entire length of US-395 at 8,131' feet above sea level.....

Bridgeport, CA.....City Hall

Looking north....

....and looking south

.....and it was another grinder.....8 miles to the summit before the Mono Lake Vista Point.....

.....we took another long break before continuing southward down to Mono Lake, and the small town of Lee Vining, CA.....

Still snow on the ground at the Mono Lake Vista Point from the latest snowfall

.....we always stop at this vista point whether going north, or south, to take a picture.  My parents did this when we were small kids, and TLE and I have continued the tradition.  The sky was amazing.......

....there were only two more summits to crawl over before we began our long 14 mile descent into Bishop, CA......the first.....Deadman Summit at 8,036' feet above sea level.....

June Mountain Ski Resort in the distance

Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort

.....and finally we passed the Sherwin Summit sign at exactly 7,000' above sea level.....

.....from there it was a slow slide downhill in 2nd gear for 8 miles at 6% grade, and another 6 to the Bishop, CA city limits.......

.....we arrived at the Bishop Tri-Counties Fairgrounds just before 2 pm, and opted for a site out in the field with 30 amp and water.  We've stayed here numerous times over the years....it is right downtown within walking distance of restaurants and services, and it is pretty quiet at night....

....and the view is not too shabby either.

We were going to go out to dinner, but TLE enticed me with the promise of a BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato) sandwich for dinner....an offer I dare not refuse.....lol!  Only 200+ miles until we reach SoCal, and our home for the next 5 weeks!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!