No early rising today meant we didn’t get up until after 7:00. I rather enjoyed no alarm going off, but that didn’t mean I didn’t wake up sometime around 5:00.
We packed, dropped off our key, and aimed the car home.
Well, in reality we first aimed it toward Latte Da!
After coffee and a breakfast sandwich we then aimed the car home. This time we went through Yosemite We didn’t do a ton of stopping, but there were a few stops so I could take some photos. (Obviously some are from the car.)
We stopped once to fill the tank (ouch!), and once for coffee, and then we were home.
As I type this laundry is being washed. I’ve already unpacked and put the bags away. I’ve updated our Quicken account. I’ve showered.
And I’m tired!
It was a fun trip. Looking at my Fuji photos I can’t say anything excites me, but often I have to step away from photos for a while and when I return I’m not as disappointed. We shall see!
Now we have a few weeks that include my teaching, two operas to attend, along with one symphony concert. Meanwhile I look to the next adventure!
We began our day, after rising at 5:40 AM, driving to Mono Lake. I’d only been once before, and that was with at least one of our kids — possibly all three. (I can’t remember so I guess I should see if one or more of them do.)
We sat in the car for a short time since it was still a bit early. But soon it was time to head out. It was COLD. I had layers on, but neglected to bring gloves and by the time we reached the lake my hands were not exactly happy, but it wasn’t bad. It gets worse, though, when one holds an icy cold camera. The sun had yet to make an appearance and we hung out a bit, although I did take a few photos with my iPhone. (The iPhone never really shows things as they are: it brightens the image if it seems too dark. I could fix that, but I’m too lazy!)
I borrowed another long lens of Dan’s, so once I started shooting I used that. I plan on moving entirely to Fuji and I will dump (“dump = offer to our kids if anyone is interested) my Canon and any gear that is mine once I get set up. My hands just don’t appreciate the heavier Canon.
I shot a bit, hands got colder, and I eventually said I would go back to the car. As is typical, Dan is just much more patient!
As I walked back the light was rather nice on the plants, so I didn’t go back directly. I might not be patient, but am easily distracted! (FYI, I only show a bit here: the majority of images are on the Fuji.)
Eventually Dan appeared and we went toward the June Lake loop. We didn’t go all the way to June Lake, but turned around at Silver Lake. Dan is good about figuring out lighting and knows these areas so well, so I just go wherever it is the car and Dan take me. I’m happy with that. We stopped a number of times: the aspen color was quite nice in the area — better than other places we’ve been on this trip, I think.
Sometimes I just enjoy quiet time in the car as Dan does more work. Especially when we aren’t in a sunny spot!
We stopped again at Grant Lake, but only for a very short time. There was a nice picnic table and I thought maybe we’d have our breakfast there, not realizing our food was still in our motel room. So never mind that!
Driving on, we went on to a gravel road we’d been on in the past, but I’m always happy to be on these more isolated roads.
We stopped by a grove of aspens. Getting out we did some shooting close by. Later I walked up the road some more. I was happy to be warm!
Then back to our hotel we went for our granola, banana, and coffee. It’s nice to have a room with a table and two chairs. Ah, luxury!
After our meal we had a good amount of time to kill, which we did by reading and resting. One thing about a photography trip: midday often means no photography due to the light and all.
Finally we got ready to go out and have a very early dinner. Off to the Mobile station we went: yes, a gas station! That’s where the Whoa Nellie Deli is. Tasty food. I had the “famous fish tacos” and Dan had the taquitos. Seeing the evidence of bears was not at all frightening.
From there we went to Lundy Canyon. This was most likely our final destination for photography on this trip, although perhaps going home we’ll end up stopping. (Oh who am I kidding?! When have we ever managed to drive straight home?)
I love visiting Lundy. I expect to see the tilting trees as well as the beavers’ habitat. I wasn’t disappointed, even while the trees are losing color.
We dropped by the little store to get some wine with which to celebrate our trip.
Getting up at 5:45 AM was easy: I was already awake! I just had to wait for Dan’s noisy alarm to go off and I got up and ready pretty quickly.
Our plan this morning, after Dan had the motel decaf coffee, was to head south for a bit. So off we went. Into the wind.
And boy was it windy! Enough that I could feel it blowing the car around and opening my door when we stopped was harder than usual.
We stopped in a few places before turning around in Independence. I didn’t bother with the Fuji, but I did use the iPhone. Gotta get what I call my record shots!
When we arrived back at the motel Dan brought our food container upstairs and we had breakfast in our room: granola with bananas in milk, and coffee from his aeropress. Now normally we like to set out camp chairs in some remote spot and enjoy breakfast out in nature, but the wind nixed that idea. The room sufficed. We also had time for showers before checkout, which was handy.
Following checkout we drove north, taking detours here and there. We went to Convict Lake, thinking it might be a spot for lunch, but the lack of picnic tables, along with the chill, sent us on our way.
Eventually we ended up in Mammoth, and we did have lunch right by the car. Then I took a few photos of the view.
Next up, as far as photos are concerned, was June Lake. There we’d find more aspen color, along with some cigar smoking fishermen.
At that point we went to our motel to check in.
Hello, Lee Vining!
Our room and the view from our room:
After a very short stop in our room we headed to Conway Summit. Oops! Too early. We sat for a while and finally the light was right. Dan suggested I use his long lens on my Fuji just to try it out. I hope to see I get a few usable things once we get home and I see them on my computer screen. Silly me, though, neglected the iPhone for a while. Ah, well … I did finally remember I should take some shots. After the light went … but the iPhone sort of adjusts for that a bit.
Dan, being more patient, did more shooting after I ran out of steam. Once he finished off we went, back to Lee Vining. We dropped things off at our motel and walked to a nearby place where we’d eaten in the past. Hmm. While the lodge was still open, the restaurant was closed. There was only one other option in town if we wanted to walk, so we had no choice but to eat at Nicely’s. Now that spot is sort of an old fashioned restaurant, serving too much food that is edible but not remarkable. Whatever. It was dinner and we were happy to have a place near the motel. (It was, in fact, directly across the street!) I ordered the turkey roast which began with a salad. It was … um … satisfactory. But no complaints from me. (And no, I couldn’t finish it all, nor should I have!)
Back in our room we turned on the space heater — there is no built in heater and Lee Vining gets pretty darn cold. The heater works quite well and I’m grateful for it.
Tomorrow is another day. (You can quote me on that.) Time will tell where we go and what we see. You’ll know sometime tomorrow night!
We woke far too early for my taste, but not as early as sometimes for Mr. Photographer, so I will attempt to be grateful. Normally, at home, my watch buzzes me awake at 6:45 (unless I tell the darn thing to snooze), but this morning it was 5:30. After a restless sleep (I think I was awake five times if not more) I actually woke rather easily, so I will attempt to not complain.
Dan had the exciting motel decaf coffee and I started this blog after getting packed for the day and dressing warmly.
After leaving the motel, Dan graciously did the Starbucks drive-through, so his wife could have some better coffee. Notice I didn’t say the best coffee! But Starbucks is definitely better than motel coffee.
Then we drove up to a spot where we went off the main road, through a neighborhood with some rather nice looking homes, and Dan had to get out to open gates a couple of times to get us through. It looks like the neighborhood has added these gates to slow people down, which I totally understand. The last thing they probably like are all the hotshots driving through very fast.
We reached our destination of the moment, Dan got out his tripod and camera and all, and I got out my iPhone and my little Fuji, He patiently waited outside for the sunrise, and I patiently sat in the car for a bit to stay warm. It wasn’t tremendously cold out, but it was cold enough. A bit different than down in Bishop, where it was not quite so chilly.
Eventually, I did get out, and took photos with both the iPhone and the Fuji. Lo and behold, we were near Mount Emerson so of course I had no choice but to shoot that. It’s so interesting to see the difference in color as the sun rises.
After returning to sit back in the car a bit longer to get warmed up, I looked outside and the mountains had a lot more light on them. It was incredibly beautiful with the clouds. Just constantly changing.
Dan continued his patient waiting for some trees to get some light on them. He did come back to the car at one point for gloves, which meant I could tease him about not dressing warmly. Because I’m nice that way.
As I was working on this blog, sitting in the almost warm car, I heard a tap on the window. Dan pointed the opposite direction of “my” mountain, and wow! Such a beautiful sight.
I did a bit more photography of flora with my Fuji, and then got back into the car to wait for Dan.
I did hop out once, just to show the difference in the mountains after the sun had risen.
My mountain and me. (It’s to my left, the viewer’s right, and clouds are taking it over.)
We continued on the dirt road for a bit, stopping maybe twice.
Next up was South Fork for a bit to see the aspens. Dan pointed out places where there had been a lot of color just last week but was gone now. When we stopped at a usual spot we go to any time we are here we saw another photographer who greeted Dan: apparently they met in Yosemite a few months back. Small world.
While the color wasn’t as it has been in the past, it was lovely and we shot for a bit. I also used Dan’s better macro lens for a few images and I hope to find, once we are home, that I managed to get something good from that.
The sign with worms included cracks me up. Below that there was a sign that said something about it being the best tackle shop in the canyon. Thing is, it’s the only one there. Heh.
Then it was on to North Lake. I had to look to my left to avoid seeing the drop off at a few points. Funny, though — when I take a photo of it (see below) it doesn’t seem so bad.
The color in the area was nearly all gone, but there were still some things to shoot and not every bit of color had fallen. Besides, I just love being out in this part of the world so color or not I find it beautiful.
Following North Lake it was time for breakfast, so we headed to Cardinal Village, and enjoyed a whole lot of food. No lunch today!
We spent a good amount of time at our table, but eventually got back in the car and went to a spot where Dan knew he’d get a good enough signal, and we sat for a bit, and restless me got out and took a few shots just because.
Then we opted to go back to the motel, allowing Dan to get his new photos on to his iPad and I could then write more on this blog and get photos loaded. (It appears that during the day, when most people are away, the photos load quicker. Well, most of the time, anyway. I did run into some glitches.)
I may or may not have taken a nap.
When we decided to go back out we went back up to the road to South Lake. There were a few stops as we drove. Dan shot more than I did, but I did a bit with the camera and iPhone. The latter you see here, of course. All of the below is on our way to South Lake. (But no, I didn’t take a photo of the lake itself.)
Then, to keep with tradition, we drove to Lake Sabrina. I only took one record shot.
We ended up talking with a young woman for a short time: she was on her own, driving what looked to me like a very nice van, and seemed happy to get to chat a bit.
Then it was down to get gas (over $100 to fill the tank. Yikes!), back to the motel to unload gear, and off to the Mexican restaurant we wanted to revisit.
Ah, Astorga’s! We have fond memories of the place, but tonight was a comedy of errors. The young waiter, shy and mumbling, took our drink order. Later he came to take our food orders. Then he had to return to ask Dan what kind of beans he wanted. Then he came back to ask if I wanted the enchlidas suizas on their own or with beans and rice. Finally, he came back to ask what our drink order was! Poor guy … surely he must be new? Our drink order arrived, and shortly after so did my meal. BUT a bit after that a different server came out. First she talked to another couple and I heard her apologizing: they had brought the woman’s mean to me! (We had ordered the same thing.) Then she came to our table to explain that Dan’s meal would be a bit later because of the mistake in giving me someone else’s order. Well, we were fine with it, but I do have a feeling we might skip Astorga’s if we return. Time will tell. The food was just fine, so I can’t complain about that. They just seem to have rough edges.
Back to our motel we went, where the parking lot was nearly full. This looks to be a popular place.
Tomorrow is moving day, but odds are we will first wake up at some non-patty time for a bit of photography before we pack up and leave Bishop.
We are on a short trip to see the colors in the Eastern Sierra. Today was mainly getting to our current location, although we stopped a couple of times. The drive was sort of uneventful, but there were a few bad drivers out there and I was glad I wasn’t driving! (So bad we could have had a serious problem … good thing Dan was quick to respond!)
I was also happy not to be the one to drive over Sonora Pass, but I wish I could have sat in the back behind Dan so I could avoid seeing the drop to my right! Yes, typical me — I did a bit of my little whimpering noises I make when I’m scared. I can’t seem to help myself!
The wind was rather incredible … one time nearly pushing our huge 4Runner to the side of the road! I took a few shots on our drive since I do like to have a record of the drive. Note the gas prices (if you can see that second photo well enough) in Bridgeport!
We took one side trip before getting to the motel, ending at a place we had parked some years back to start a backpack trip. Ah, memories! (The last photo above is from the parking lot there.)
And then there we were in our little motel in Bishop, California. Nothing fancy, and nothing costly either. BUT hey, there’s a (not very good) canvas photo on our wall and Dan knew the image immediately: it’s of Mount Emerson! How ‘bout that. Seems like this room should be free for me, you know? (If you don’t know why I write that … well, my birth name was Emerson.)
After getting situated we walked to find dinner. Bishop isn’t exactly full of fine dining restaurants (hint: there is no “fine dining), but we really didn’t want or need to spend a ton of money. (Knowing we have an upcoming Big Trip I am hoping to keep this trip rather inexpensive.) We walked past a number of places, and finally stopped at the sushi place we’d been at in the past that was surprisingly good. Well … never mind them for tonight or tomorrow: they are closed on Sunday and Monday. So back we walked.
I had read about some place at a bowling alley and spotted that. Really? A bowling alley? Well, yes. The dining room isn’t in the room with the lanes, nor is it in the room with pool tables. We were walked toward the end of the building and there we were. Time to eat.
While sitting there we ended up chatting with a nice couple right near us from Southern California, and a little bit with a Canadian couple behind us as well. You just never know when you might run in to friendly people! Seems to be common all over the world — or at least the parts of the world where we’ve been so far.
We ordered burgers (Dan a “real” burger, and I had a veggie one.) Now this will come as a great shock to anyone reading … unless you’ve read my posts in the past, that is.
I ATE TOO MUCH!
I guess I will never learn. But honestly, I only ordered the veggie burger and it came with fries. It was just far too much food for me. (I think I will skip weighing myself for a week or so after this little adventure of ours.)
Oh … and no food photos. Use your imaginations. 😉
Tomorrow is an early rising day. Not my favorite thing to do, but I will survive. My photographer husband knows the best time to head out!
While I slept horribly (my watch nearly reprimands me) yet again, we did not have to wake early. We eventually did rise, and had the breakfast our hotel (Red Roof in Bridgeport — a pretty nice place for the price). Both of us caught up with various things online while we ate, and even after that.
Then it was time to pack the car and make our way home.
We drove briefly into Red Rock Canyon. I was hoping to find the mallow we saw growing all along the highway, but nope, not there. The mountains had a lot of bright yellow flowers, though.
Gas stop was in Tehachapi, where the temperature was twenty degrees lower than Ridgecrest. Yours truly does window washing duty while Dan fills the car. (Too bad I never have the inclination to do that on our house windows!)
I always enjoy the hills by Tehachapi. Today there was a lot of fog and I thought it was lovely. We didn’t stop, though, so no pictures. But the hills were green and the fog made it look a bit magical.
Eventually we stopped in the Central Valley for a bird visit. We didn’t stay long since we still had a bit of a drive, but I snapped a few photos.
And then we were home. Now it’s back to work for me, but my music career is quickly drawing to a close!
Well gee, let’s wake up even 15 minutes earlier, shall we? Yep … 4:15. Painful for this girl, but so it goes.
We got ready, packed up, and Dan loaded the car. Then off we went. Bye bye Beatty.
First stop: Mesquite Dunes. I was surprised to see tons of brown eyed primrose, and another flower I think is another sort of primrose. It’s always amazing to see what can grow in the dunes. I took some shots of the big picture but even more of flowers with my macro lens.
I tend to run out of steam before Dan, and today was no exception: I headed back to the car long before he did. I got a good amount of reading done.
Once Dan returned we went up a gravel road and set up breakfast. Fighter jets roared above us … so much for a quiet breakfast! I shot a few more photos because why not?!
We went to Stovepipe Wells to see if they had a DEVA wildflower book but found nothing. Books must not be popular for tourists.
Then it was goodbye Death Valley.
We decided to go out a different way. The brittlebush was plentiful.
We made our way to Father Crowley Point, where fighter jets practice above what is called Star Wars Canyon.
I walked around to see if I could find flowers. A higher elevation meant fewer flowers, but I did find some. When I went back to Dan he was chatting with a guy. As we stood the younger man pointed … a jet. It flew right past us! The noise was deafening. Dan may have gotten some good shots. Sadly I was just frozen due to the surprise … really shock! … of it all.
We stuck around a good long time but didn’t get another low flying jet.
Driving on Dan opted to take a dirt road detour on the way to Saline Valley.
There were a lot of Joshua trees, and this one was the first we saw.
More dirt road, another tree, among many …
Back to the main road, highway 190. Soon the Sierra Nevada came in to view.
We drove past Owen’s Lake a the tiny town of Olanche, and started looking for a spot to set up lunch. it wasn’t a tremendously scenic spot, and we opted not to get out our chairs and table, but food was eaten.
Next up was a rather ho-hum under one hour drive to our lodging for the night. Hello Ridgecrest.
But OH! A king-size bed is quite welcome, as was a hot shower and change of clothes. I’m a clean machine.
Then it was feet up (clean feet!) and get this blog entry going.
Finally, it was time for dinner. We had a couple of ideas in mind. The first place we were planning on checking out was a French restaurant called Mon Reve. We got there, walked in to see if there was a menu posted, and … well … never mind! We were seated and that was that. Forget the other choice! The server was also, I’m sure, the owner. He did the serving, and his wife, I believe did the cooking. It was just a lovely spot and we really enjoyed a relaxing, end-of-trip meal. (My meal is pictured: salmon and scalloped potatoes.)
Back to our hotel we went, for some reading and rest.
Tomorrow we are homeward bound, although you never know how many detours we might take.
Today began even earlier. Our alarm went off at 4:30 AM. Too early, but up we rose and we were on the road by about 5 o’clock, this time with cups of bad hotel coffee for our enjoyment.
As we were driving, we were talking about staying in Beatty. There’s the advantage of saving quite a bit of money. I think it was nearly $1000 less, which is nuts. But the added drive almost makes that savings not worth it. Plus sometimes I’ve been able to get better deals at places in Death Valley.
Our first destination was Lake Manly. Dan had some ideas of where he wanted to shoot for the sunrise, so we pulled over, he got out his equipment, and I got out my phone and did a bit of walking while he shot. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood to pull out the camera. Besides, lots of the flowers were not quite open yet… I think they slept in more than we were allowed.
Of course, eventually I did have to get out of the car. I just can’t resist the flowers, even if they are looking sleepy. And then I found some that I hadn’t seen yesterday so that required the camera for sure!
After shooting those, I wandered a bit more and found other flowers— things I’d already shot yesterday, but why not try some more? I primarily use the macro lens, but did remember to snap a few on the iPhone. Including one that showed the terrain. If one was to look from the road, you might not even notice the flowers.
Later I walked to where Dan was shooting , warning him to watch for sneaker waves. (Yes, I’m really good with jokes. Or not.)
Then we drove a bit to find a nice breakfast spot.
From there we went to Devils Golf Course. (They leave the apostrophe off, so I will too.) Last time we were there I neglected to take a photo, so that was remedied.
Artist Drive & Artist’s Palette was next on the agenda.
We had seen a large bike group heading up the grueling climb. They cheered when all had reached what seemed like the top — Artist’s Palette (I wonder if they knew there would be more climbing, though not nearly what they’d done.
Natural Bridge was a surprise … tons of desert five-spot flowers. I took a lot of photos of those and other flowers with my macro lens.
We didn’t do the entire walk, but we did go past the natural bridge.
Lunch was at Texas Spring, on a rather astounding table and benches.
After checking messages where we had a signal Dan drove toward Ubehebe crater. We stopped briefly at a place prior to that.
Then the crater. I walked as closely to the edge as this wimpy girl could, but had to back away. I did manage a few iPhone photos of the crater and other views, though.
Another drive and it was dinner at Stovepipe Wells. (No photos.) Finally it was the final drive back to Beatty: tomorrow we are elsewhere.
Today began at 4:45 AM. Too early! But so it goes. It also began with putting air in a tire that appeared to be low. Maybe.
Then to Death Valley Dan drove. Without even getting coffee. Horrors!
We first went back to Salt Creek, hoping for a good sunrise. I noticed there were almost no pupfish to be seen. Hmmm do the hide in the mud at night? Guess I’ll have to research. I did a small amount of photography. Dan did more.
Back to the car. Driving and stopping on occasion. I can’t name all the spots where we stopped, but breakfast was enjoyed at Ashford Mill Ruins.
While there I finally found the desert five-spot flower. I had to make a number of photos. It was my brother-in-law’s favorite desert flower. I do get teary-eyed, thinking of him, as well as my dear sister-in-law who has suffered such a deep loss.
We drove on, finding a lot more desert gold, sand verbena, phacelia, brown-eyed primrose, and evening primrose. Plus fields of flowers.
And a bit of fun.
Lunch was at a pull at some pass. Yes, I’ve forgotten the name. Dan said he’d have just one cookie. (Look closely!)
We headed back down and eventually parked so we could read and nap.
Eventually I got tired of sitting, so I went out to shoot somewhere more flowers right by the car. Dan soon joined in the fun. At one point, while Dan was a distance away, I managed to lose my balance fall over, roll around a bit, and actually have absolutely no injuries. My watch however did ask if I had taken a fall and if it should send out an SOS. No thanks! I must have looked hysterically funny. And yes, my camera was fine!
Then back to field of flowers.
The sun was rapidly setting, so we packed up and headed to dinner.
But wait! As we drove Dan spotted friend and wonderful photographer Franka Gabler. We stopped, chatted, and decided to have dinner together.
It was a great way to end our day … although we then had a long drive to our fancy Motel 6.
I didn’t write yesterday … there was really no time (as you’ll read later). But we made it home safely.
We rose at 5:30, hoping to get out of the area in time to avoid flooding. Packed and in the car and checking out at 6:20, we were then on the road. It was just barely sprinkling when we began. We were grateful.
But then rain did get heavier. Not killer “we can’t drive in this” heavy, but still, we knew it meant watching out for flooding on the road. Getting to the top of the spot between Death Valley and Panamint Valley there were rock slides. No boulders to speak of, but very large rocks that Dan had to avoid, driving in whichever lane was clearest.
As we headed down to Panimint Valley we could see water at the edges of the road that were headed down. Near the bottom, we saw the start of that flow and it was clear that it would land at the bottom and pool. I hadn’t really understood just how roads got so quickly flooded. Now I do.
Videos don’t really do it justice, but I’ll still post a few …
Dan then had to be careful for the drive for quite some time. Reaching parts of the road that were flooded (shallow, mind you … not something he couldn’t get through), Dan would slow and carefully drive through. As he mentioned later, you don’t know what’s under the water as you can’t see that.
Driving through Trona a whole lot of the road was flooded. That was a bit of a surprise … they must just accept the flooding and not work on guiding water elsewhere.
For this trip we went through Ridgecrest so we could get breakfast. That city, too, was quite flooded already. But we made our way to Starbucks (have I mentioned that these kinds of trips are the only time we enter Starbucks? And never in Europe. Nope. Isn’t gonna happen!)
Next up was getting to Tehachapi, where we’d fill the tank.
Except.
The freeway — if it’s called a freeway up there? — we were to take to there was closed! In our day of phones with maps and guidance systems we could fortunately find another route somewhat easily. Waze and Google maps gave the same directions while Apple maps gave different ones. It was two to one — Waze and Google won. It wasn’t a direct route … we had to go a distance and eventually ended up on the Grapevine. But we made it.
The Grapevine was slow moving, but at least it was moving. (I later read that the day before it was a total mess due to accidents.)
From there it was “easy” (as in Dan knows what to do) and eventually rain diminished. We did take a Buttonwillow bathroom break. And there we saw something … um … words can’t desscribe, really. (Excuse the blur.)
Finally, we even saw blue sky and the green was lovely to see … what I think of as “Spring green” was right there in December!
And we saw a rainbow.
So the rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, but what a LONG day. We arrived home at 4:00, and had a Christmas Eve dinner reservation at 5:00, so we had just enough time to unpack the car and get changed.
