Into the Furnace

Furnace Creek Campground, Death Valley National Park

Loved waking up this morning, taking an early morning run, and then jumping in the hot tub at our campsite. If you look into the distance you can get a glimpse of Gary and Ned soaking in the early morning.

 

 

Gary and Linda also had a hot tub at their campsite. Here's Gary soaking away...after soaking with us. I think Gary likes these hot springs.

I loved the quaintness of Benton Hot Springs.

 

 

 

Our first stop of the day was Bishop, at Schat's Bakery. Didn't buy anything, but I did my fair share of sampling.

In Lone Pine, we decided to visit the Museum of Film History. Hundreds of movies have been filmed in Lone Pine. Everything from Westerns to Space and Alien Movies. We had a blast watching the movie and touring the exhibits.

 

 

 

Here's Linda singing along with the Gene Autrey.

 

 

Death Valley was our next destination. Poor Winnie overheated going up one of the grades, but we used the opportunity to have an imprompu late lunch, picnic style, on the side of the road. After a half an hour, all was good and we tootled-along once again.

 

 

 

We've been to Death Valley on several trips, but its beauty never ceases to amaze me.

 

 

 

 

 

We finally made it to the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center and Campground. It was 104 degrees!

Death Valley is the hottest spot in North America and has kept the world record of 134 degrees. It's also the driest and lowest place in North America.

 

We're camped at Furnace Creek Campground.

 

 

 

It's hot, but nothing a little cold beer can't cure.

Ned's grilled up chicken for dinner along with corn on the cob and salad.

 

After dinner it hit a balmy 95, so we decided to do a bike ride to the Borax Works.

We poked around the Borax Works for awhile enjoying the evening sun turning the mountains brilliant shades of orange.

 

 

One of the cool things about camping at Furnace Creek in Death Valley is that for $5 you can swim in the resort pool and take advantage of the showers! Wahoo. At 8:30 we headed to the pool and swam until around 10. It felt amazing! By the time we left the temperature was down to about 88. We hung our bathing suits on our bike handles. Bet you by the time we wake up tomorrow morning there are going to be bone dry. Ha! What an awesome day with Gary and Linda.

 

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Experiencing the Eastern Sierras

Benton Hot Springs, CA

The Eastern Sierras were in top form today. We didn't take for granted the spectacular weather with the snowy mountain tops against the blue skies. This is one of my favorite photos of our drive over Monitor Pass and down highway 395.

 

 

We stopped in Bridgeport for a picnic lunch. The highlight was watching about 100 school kids playing jump rope and other assorted organized games. Made me want to jump in.

Love this view of Mono Lake from the vista point. It was so still and the lake was like a mirror.

 

 

Ned and I did the boardwalk around the northern shore of Mono Lake. Loved seeing the tufas. We even heard the underground springs gurgling underneath one of the tufa formations.

Another view of the boardwalk on the North Side of Mono Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linda and Gary met up with us at Lee Vining. It was So fun to see their rig coming up the hill and knowing we have two weeks of adventures together.

We had a scrumptious meal at Whoa Nelli Deli, yes a gourmet restaurant in a gas station. Draft beers on tap, wild buffalo meatloaf for the boys and fish tacos and Asian salad for Linda and me. Yum!

 

 

 

 

We decided to take a early evening hike around the southern area of Mono Lake. You can really get close to the water's edge and walk through huge tufa formations.

 

 

It was so fun to experience the light this time of the day.

 

 

 

Here's Linda and I, along the hike - "tu-fa the price of one." yuk, yuk.

As we drove into the dessert and over another mountain pass the light was amazing! Loved the cloud formations.

 

 

 

 

 

Our campsite tonight is at Benton Hot Springs. Every campsite, there are only ten of them, has its own hot tub! They each have spectacular views of the dessert. Gonna sign off now so we can spend the evening soaking in the tub with some adult libations.

 

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And We're Off...

Location: Grover Hot Springs, Markleeville, CA

Our typical pattern is to begin our road trips in a zen fashion - heading into the deserts of Nevada or down the Eastern Sierras enjoying the tranquility of the remote landscape. Not this year! It has been a whirlwind couple of days filled with celebrations, family get togethers and lots of adult libations.

Saturday started off with celebrating my sister-in-law, Linda's, 60th Birthday! What a great time. I visited with a lot of people that I haven't seen in over 30 years. I really enjoyed re-connecting with Derek and Beth. Derek took me on my private plane ride and even let me co-pilot. It was one of the highlights of my life. Derek said he still remembers that I was his most enthusiastic passenger. Imagine that!

 

 

Here's Josh and Marlina being held hostage by some old guy showing photos on his cell phone. It was great fun to meet Marlina and embarrass Josh with stories about him as a kid. Thanks Marlina (and Josh) for being good sports.

The highlight of the evening was Linda getting a surprise ride on a fire truck that was specially ordered to carry the birthday girl.

 

 

The food was pretty awesome too! Loved the big bowls of freshly roasted veggies, and because it's Linda, bowls and bowls of chocolate goodies were everywhere. There was also yummy chocolate ice cream out of their own soft-serve machine.

We partied until the wee hours of the morning and spent the night in Winnie in their driveway. Mother's Day morning we were honored with a big brunch...because it was so long since I ate...

Next on the agenda was driving to San Francisco to meet Molly's boyfriend's parents from Sicily. We had a great time getting to know them, despite the language barrier. Ned's and my Italian was about equal to their English. Thank heavens for hand gestures and Molly and Angelo translating. Josh and Marlina joined us for a spectacular Italian feast.

Pistachio pasta, cheeses, salami, olives, good vino and limoncello shots. Oh and let's not forget the pastries that just kept on coming. d

Day two and I've already eaten more than I usually do in a week. Good start to a vacation!

 

 

 

 

 

We spent the night at Megan's house and enjoyed playing with her new puppy, Lucy.

We were woken up to coffee in bed along with Lucy jumping in with us. Such joy, and energy, in the morning! Kevin fixed breakfast. Thanks Kev!

 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to miss the walks with Megan and Lucy, but alas the road calls.

We trekked back into the Sierras making Grover Hot Springs our destination for the evening. We're camped near a stunning Alpine meadow.

 

 

Here's Ned thoroughly enjoying a good long soak in the warm afternoon. Who would have guessed it was in the high 70's. A mere 48 hrs. ago it was snowing here.

We spent a leisurely afternoon going back and forth between the 104 degree pool and the "cool" 82 degree pool. It felt so good to swim some laps and stretch out.

Our first official campsite of the 8 week trip. Yeah!! Grilled veggies and wine for dinner.

Looking forward to connecting with Linda and Gary tomorrow for the beginning of a two week jaunt with them thru the National Parks of the West.

Thanks everyone for joining us on another one of our adventures. So fun to have my family and friends along.

 

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Homeward Bound

Location: Home Sweet Home, Nevada City

What a fantastic trip! We called this trip "The Greatest Hits" revisiting a lot of our favorite places and throwing in some outrageous excursions like Dominican Republic and Disneyworld. We were blessed with good health, great weather and no car troubles. We traveled 9963 miles, were on the road 52 days, visited 21 States and 2 countries. We rode about 250 bike miles, swam day and night and did a fair amount of hiking. A personal goal for me was to run a 5k by the time I returned home. Using an app to coach me, I ran 6 days a week for 8 weeks. The plan was to run 5k by running 35 straight minutes. Alas I only made it to 30 min running and 5 min. walking. Fritzi, my running buddy, get me over the top now that I'm home!

On our way home we swung by Eugene, OR and picked up a couple of bags of cocoa beans, Peru and Ghana.

 

My plan is to hit the Yuba River on our return, looks like Ned will be making chocolate...(just kidding! I think he'll wait for a bit cooler weather).

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for traveling on this journey with us. Below are our list of "best ofs:"

Best View: Zion National Park

 

Best Bike Ride: Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas.

What a surprise to ride thru the desert and then all of a sudden come upon the Rio Grande.Good thing we did this in the morning and not at night!

 

Loudest Night of Natural Sounds: Lake Fausse, LA

The sounds of the insects, alligators, frogs, and God knows what else was deafening.

 

 

 

Best Spontaneous out of the way meal: Muffuletta in New Orleans.

What's a couple of hundred mile detour when you really really want it?

Most Overloaded Bike Ride: Grayton Beach, FL

Just how much stuff can one person carry? towel, bamboo mat, water bottles, umbrella, snorkel gear and lunch.

p.s. Ned had the same, plus a boogie board!

 

 

 

Best Boogie Board Ride:

Ned at Grayton Beach

 

 

Debi at St. George, Island

 

 

 

 

Favorite Manatee: Ned with Martha, don't ask.

Most Over-hyped State Park.

Camp in a parking lot, snorkel boat ride too long, no great swimming area. fuhgetaboutit.

 

 

 

Best Snorkeling: Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys

 

Silliest Dress-Code Incident:

Ned wearing borrowed bowling shoes in DR resort restaurant to comply with "closed toed shoe" requirement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Traveling Buddies: Linda and Gary. What troopers! They not only met us in the DR, but also accompanied us to a cocoa farm. Gary also saved the day by loaning out his camera memory chip to me. Yeah...I forgot to put ours back in the camera.

Hey Linda & Gary can't wait til our next trip!

 

Best Enchanted Moment: Getting glittered on Main Street in Disneyworld.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Belly Laugh: Careening around the Disney Speedway with Debi driving.

Best double-fisted drinking: Monster Mango Margaritas at the Mexican Pavilliion in Epcot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Meal: Low Country Boil, Tybee Island

This is a two time winner.

Best Hush Puppies: Hog Heaven, South Carolina

Best and Longest leisurely lake soak: Lake Strom Thurmond, South Carolinaa

Best Historic Fort: Fort Donelson National Battlefield, TN. We loved watching the huge barges go by on the Cumberland River.

The visitor's center was really well done. They had a great film about the shift in the Civil War and how this battle put Ulysees S. Grant in the spot light.

Best forests, streams and mills goes to the "Show Me State" of Missouri. We are definitely planning on spending more time here next year.

Honorable Mention Bike Ride goes to the Katy Trail in Missouri. Only reason we didn't give it #1 was cause there was no surprise element. However, the Lewis & Clark campspots, tunnel, Missouri River and wildlife on this trail almost made up for it!

Best Presidential LIbrary - hats off to "Give 'em Hell" Harry Truman Library. We've visited the Clinton Library and the Hoover Library, this one is the best! Really engaging and makes your think.

Best Citizen Award: Goes to Liz in Mound City, Missouri. She went above and beyond to help us locate any information on the Russell Family. Thanks Liz!!

Best Family History Sleuthing. Finding the water tower photo of 1928 from Granger, Wyoming.

Best nature wildlife sighting: Dog catching a rabbit, while tending sheep. Whaaat?!

Best State Capitol Building: Salt Lake City, Utah. Kinda puts Sacramento to shame. Cheyenne and Boise were beautiful, but dang does SLC know how to wow'em.

Most fun getting in trouble: Riding the slide at Willard Bay. We didn't know you had to pay to rent it out. Oopps. After a good half hour taking lots and lots of rides, we were yelled at to get off. Ahh, brings back summer memories of my childhood...haha.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Waterfalls: Shoshone Falls in Idaho.

 

Best Tour: Underground Tour of Pendleton, OR

Hottest Camping Site: Yakima Sportsman State Park.

It was 108, in the shade, with no place to swim. Yes, this man is still smiling, which is why I love him so much. Best ever traveling buddy. Me, I was having a melt-down...(for the record I still ran that day!)

 

Best Cup of Coffee: in Washington, of course! The Lodge at Snoqualmie Falls.

Whipped cream, regular cream, dark and white chocolate shavings and raw sugar crystals. It wasn't so much coffee as dessert.

 

 

 

Best Traveling Team: US!

Love you sweetie, when can we go again???

 

 

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