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!
Tuesday was moving day: we left Lee Vining, and our destination was Bishop. Of course that doesn’t mean we go directly to Bishop — we couldn’t check in to our hotel until 3:00 PM anyway, but there are also places to visit between the two towns.
Dan always has good ideas about where to go for a sunrise, so we went to one of “his” spots. I had stupidly forgotten to bring my really long lens, so while he used his in this area, I shot different things. I prefer shooting a different direction than Dan in any case: once he aims at something I tend to turn around and do something in the opposite direction! No point doing something that the master photographer is doing, at least much of the time.
Then it was more driving, more exploring …
And yes, those trees in the last image were leaning.
When it was past 3:00 we went to check in to our glamorous (not really) motel in Bishop. Hm. Our room wasn’t ready. But we could still check in, get charged an addition $10 for a “reserve fee” whatever that is, and get our keys. The unavailability of the room wasn’t really a problem, since Dan had said we’d do a “reconnoissance drive” to see where we’d want to be for the next day. So back out we went.
And yes, I really DID take a selfie!
While at the above spot some friends we planned on meeting up with the next day drove past. What a fun surprise to meet up with Charlotte and Gary as we were standing on the side of the road making photos. We chatted a while, agreed where we’d meet for brunch, and said our goodbyes as they went one direction and we went the other.
Yes, we did find color!
We went back, got into our now clean room, and then went to dinner. Another early morning wake-up call meant it was time to hit the hay. But what a lovely day.
