Wind Drove Us Off the Road

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Location: Browns, Big Pine, CA, sites 29 and 31. $17 per night. W, E, S. Dust Bowl. Emergency camping only. Too windy to go on. Better than alternative Baker Campground.

After a late breakfast Saturday morning, we finally got around and pulled out of the Goose Lake State Recreation Area about 12:30 pm. Making the right turn out onto US395, we crossed the state line into California. We had really enjoyed our stay there, but would have to really think about going again. It was one of a few bright spots heading south on 395.

The California Ag Inspection only asked about firewood, avocados and mangos, so no problem getting through. There wasn’t a whole lot to see as we went down through Alturas and almost into Susanville, CA and continued on towards Reno, NV. Yes, we took the long way around to get to Reno, but that was not our destination, and we had wanted to travel 395.

As we closed in on Reno, we began getting a few spits of rain, but only light showers off and on. We checked out a campground just before getting to Carson City, NV, but were not impressed. It was very crowded. So we went on to Carson City and just Wally-docked (WalMart parking lot) for the night. We got quite a bit of rain during the night.

Sunday morning we again headed south on 395 toward Bridgeport, Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes, and Bishop, CA, passing signs for several places that brought back memories, such as the Marine Corps Training Center, and the ghost town of Bodie. As we got close to Mono Lake, we stopped at an overlook high above the lake. It was a small parking area, and the guard rail there was plastered with stickers of all kinds. We could not resist, and dug around until we found something to add. Now we have gotten into vandalism on our trips!

We picked up a stamp for our passport books at the Mono Lake VC, and a couple more at the Mammoth Lakes VC. After stopping at the VC at Mono Lake, we drove out to see the tufas along the south shore, and enjoyed a picnic lunch while there. The tufas are formations in the lake. The lake is 2.5 times saltier than the ocean, and 100 times as alkaline.  Mono Lakes water is much denser than fresh water or the ocean, meaning objects float higher than normal. Gulls seem to have a difficult time keeping their feet in the water when they paddle. That would be funny to see! 

We had thought about staying overnight at a campground in the June Lake loop, but decided to go on. After Mammoth Lakes, we dropped about 3000 feet in elevation on an 8 mile downhill run and went on through Bishop. But the wind had picked up severely as we descended, and by the time we got to Big Pine we had had enough and pulled into this RV park that we would normally snub. Guess we should have stayed on top and battled the cold and thunder storms coming in. Oh well, we are here now!  Hopefully the wind will let up a lot in the early morning and we can get on down to see Pebbles.

We will not post every day while helping Pebbles, but will try to keep you updated.