Day 1 Eugene-Klamath Falls Tues Jan 20
Left the house at 10:20 Uneventful trip over Willamette Pass. Got to J & T about 3. Went to dinner at one of our favorite stops Wingers (good salads). Had lots of fun opening presents from Christmas. Always fun to be at their house.
Day 2 Left KFalls about 9:30. Headed down 39 which becomes 139 as it gets into Ca. Drove past Lava Beds National Monument and the site of Captain Jack’s stronghold again. Every time we pass it we say next time we are going to stop.... Well maybe next time. Had lunch alongside the road at ice covered Eagle Lake. Diesel was 2.35 at Susanville, but I wanted to wait until Reno so that we could make it to Bishop before fueling again. Well, paid 2.49 at Reno so the idea that fuel is always more expensive in California is not necessarily true. After fuel and a few groceries in Reno we continued south on 395. Lots of traffic through Carson City and the turn off for Tahoe, but it thinned down after that. However, the highway also started going up. I had not studied the map that carefully for mountain passes. I looked at the towns and noticed that they were few and far between but didn't put two and two together to realize that that may mean mountains.
There are several grades between Carson City and Bishop and Topaz Lake is on the other side of one of those grades. It would be a nice view, but it was starting to get dark by then and so we did not get to appreciate it. Devils Gate is the pass there at 7519 then down to Bridgeport. Conway Summit is next at 8143 and then to Lee Vining and Mono Lake. We have seen the lake in the daylight and it is neat. My memory will have to suffice because it was as dark as the inside of a bear’s belly when we drove past. I had read online that free overnight parking was available on the south side of the lake, but never having been there and not having daylight, we decided to move on. A young man at the Chevron station in Lee Vining told me that there was a Vons grocery store in Bishop. So we slogged up and over Deadman Pass (8039) and past Mammoth Lakes and down the Deadman Grade (a 6% grade for 8 miles which meant 2nd gear and keeping the rig at around 30-35mph during the decent). Arrived in Bishop about 8:30, found Vons, pulled over into a corner of the parking lot, had some soup and went to bed.
Day 3 Bishop to Quartzsite. As we fueled up in Bishop the attendant told me that chains were required from June Lake to Mammoth Lakes so I’m glad we kept going the night before. If we would have stayed at Mono Lake we would have been in snow. The drive south from Bishop on 395 was fun. Several quaint towns, Bishop being one of them, but also Big Pine, Lone Pine, and Independence and many campgrounds along the way. Spent on hour at Manzanar National Historic Site. It was one of the locations in the US where people of Japenese origin were sent during WWII. They were taken from their homes where ever they lived, allowed to bring only what they could carry, and brought to these places. There were about 10 of these "facilities" in the western US. Manzanar and Tule Lake were the two in California, but there were some in other states such as Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, etc. If you want some further information about what went on during those times, www.nps.gov/manz/ .
Left the house at 10:20 Uneventful trip over Willamette Pass. Got to J & T about 3. Went to dinner at one of our favorite stops Wingers (good salads). Had lots of fun opening presents from Christmas. Always fun to be at their house.
Day 2 Left KFalls about 9:30. Headed down 39 which becomes 139 as it gets into Ca. Drove past Lava Beds National Monument and the site of Captain Jack’s stronghold again. Every time we pass it we say next time we are going to stop.... Well maybe next time. Had lunch alongside the road at ice covered Eagle Lake. Diesel was 2.35 at Susanville, but I wanted to wait until Reno so that we could make it to Bishop before fueling again. Well, paid 2.49 at Reno so the idea that fuel is always more expensive in California is not necessarily true. After fuel and a few groceries in Reno we continued south on 395. Lots of traffic through Carson City and the turn off for Tahoe, but it thinned down after that. However, the highway also started going up. I had not studied the map that carefully for mountain passes. I looked at the towns and noticed that they were few and far between but didn't put two and two together to realize that that may mean mountains.
There are several grades between Carson City and Bishop and Topaz Lake is on the other side of one of those grades. It would be a nice view, but it was starting to get dark by then and so we did not get to appreciate it. Devils Gate is the pass there at 7519 then down to Bridgeport. Conway Summit is next at 8143 and then to Lee Vining and Mono Lake. We have seen the lake in the daylight and it is neat. My memory will have to suffice because it was as dark as the inside of a bear’s belly when we drove past. I had read online that free overnight parking was available on the south side of the lake, but never having been there and not having daylight, we decided to move on. A young man at the Chevron station in Lee Vining told me that there was a Vons grocery store in Bishop. So we slogged up and over Deadman Pass (8039) and past Mammoth Lakes and down the Deadman Grade (a 6% grade for 8 miles which meant 2nd gear and keeping the rig at around 30-35mph during the decent). Arrived in Bishop about 8:30, found Vons, pulled over into a corner of the parking lot, had some soup and went to bed.
Day 3 Bishop to Quartzsite. As we fueled up in Bishop the attendant told me that chains were required from June Lake to Mammoth Lakes so I’m glad we kept going the night before. If we would have stayed at Mono Lake we would have been in snow. The drive south from Bishop on 395 was fun. Several quaint towns, Bishop being one of them, but also Big Pine, Lone Pine, and Independence and many campgrounds along the way. Spent on hour at Manzanar National Historic Site. It was one of the locations in the US where people of Japenese origin were sent during WWII. They were taken from their homes where ever they lived, allowed to bring only what they could carry, and brought to these places. There were about 10 of these "facilities" in the western US. Manzanar and Tule Lake were the two in California, but there were some in other states such as Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, etc. If you want some further information about what went on during those times, www.nps.gov/manz/ .
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