6-11-12
Our 11th day since we left OKC and we’re just showering for the 2nd time. This RV park offers $2.50 tokens for showers, each token lasting 5 minutes of hot water. So we both bought 2 tokens. I start work tomorrow and I know I’ll get plenty dirty, but just thought I should start off fresh. The road trip to the Eastern Sierra was very eventful - we stopped at an REI in Albuquerque and felt like kids at a toy store. The next day we stopped in Flagstaff for dinner and a stroll through downtown. It’s a very cute little town! Surrounded by National Forest, I could see myself living there. We camped just outside of town on Forest Service land, which is usually free. The drive through the desert was beautiful, and our next campsite was in Joshua Tree Nat’l Park. After spending so much time in the desert, we decided to head to the coast hoping to get a spot by the beach. Turns out it was a cloudy day anyway, and all the beach sites were full. So we stopped at the Channel Islands visitor center and got some info on making a reservation to go camp and hike on the islands! That’s one of our many weekend plans for this summer for sure. On our way back east we ended up driving through a lot of huge farms, which doesn’t sound much different from the midwest, except that this is where all of our produce is grown! So different from seeing fields of wheat, corn, or cows. Vast fields of lettuce, cabbage, strawberries, avocados, lemons, and many other colorful fields of food. Such a beautiful climate and landscape just off the coast around Ventura. So that night we ended up camping pretty much at the top of Mt. Pinos, in a nice pine forest. It was a beautiful view, being up there with the clouds. We were by ourselves too, which added to the peacefulness. We woke up to make breakfast and decided it was way too windy up there to cook, so we drove down the mountain to look for a picnic spot. I love California, you don’t have to drive too far to get to public land to picnic, hike, or camp for free. That day we finally made it to the Eastern Sierra! Our first stop was to have lunch at this cafe in Lone Pine, then we explored the Alabama Hills. Such an incredible place - it seems like you’re on another planet! Even though Lone Pine is such a tiny town, you could never get bored because of the vast natural landscapes that surround it. We decided it would be nice to chill and take a shower so we got a motel room in Bishop (I know, I felt like we were cheating or something! ha). The next morning I dropped off some extra bulk food we had at the office of my employer in Bishop, because I knew we were headed for bear country that day. We explored a little bit of Mammoth (another cute town I could definitely see myself living in), and set up camp for a few days outside of town. This town is also surrounded by forest - the Inyo National Forest, which is the forest I am working in all summer, but closer to Lee Vining (where we are now, the town just outside of Yosemite). We stayed at that campsite for a few days and explored the area, mostly hiking through the pines and aspens, checking out the gorgeous blue-green lakes and incredible vistas, and soaked in the natural hot springs around sunset, then to watch the stars appear. I wonder if OKC just has that much light pollution or if it’s because we’re so much higher in elevation that we can see so many more stars, and make out the milky way so clearly! I know all the towns in this area have light pollution laws, which I think is awesome. Now we have another campsite just outside of Lee Vining, since I will meet my crew in town at the coffee shop (practically the only place to get wifi, or contact the outside world at all because I don’t get phone service around here). It’s a beautiful area, being in the Mono basin and at “the gateway to Yosemite”! Today we will probably go on a short hike and chill out since I have to start work early in the morn. Next weekend we are driving to Berkley because Mariee Sioux is playing a free show!! Super excited. Then SOON we get to backpack through Yosemite with Jessica & Dillon… excited for them to come out!! Love you all. Message me your mailing address so I can send you goodies! :)
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hightimesinthewoods posted this
