Barstow, Boulder City, and...... he's back!

 We've driven through Barstow, CA a few times before and never had any reason to stop.    This time, however, I found a couple nearby places that I wanted to check out so....that's what we did.

lovely, old Joshua Tree

Once again, we packed lunch and set off into the desert.   Our destination was Rainbow Basin Natural Area.    Driving through miles and miles of nothingness led us to a beautiful, one-way dirt road into an area filled with fantastic rock formations.

It wasn't a long road, or a particularly difficult one, but wild colors and shapes greeted us at every turn.

do you see the Jeep?

The other spot I wanted to explore was just a few miles from our site at the Calico/Barstow KOA.     Calico is an interesting ghost town (on Ghost Town Rd) that we'll visit next time.    We drove past it a few miles and turned off on Doran trail, a dirt track into the desert.  We were looking for Kramer Arch.   I saw pictures of a Jeep driving through it and I wanted Rocky to have that experience.....

The scenery at the beginning of this trail was really interesting and colorful.   The hills above made me think of melting ice cream scoops.... milk chocolate, butterscotch, raspberry and pistachio.

The path turned away and into more narrow and rounded formations.   I don't think it was really made for Jeeps though because there were extremely narrow sections where Dave had to get out and make a decision whether to continue or not.

After a couple of really tight, tire pinchers we decided to turn around.   I really didn't know if the Kramer Arch was ahead, or if we'd taken a wrong turn and neither of us wanted to get Rocky stuck in between two steep walls of stone.

It's a great thing we did turn around....a really great thing, because on our way out we discovered the Doran Double Arches hidden in the melting ice cream scoops!

Driving through them was probably more for side by sides, or dirt bikes, but Dave carefully guided Rocky through!

Satisfied with our quick Barstow stay, we set off for the last stop before getting home - Boulder City, NV.

Well, it didn't turn out to be our last stop.    We had a big surprise that necessitated a few more days drives.

Our first stop there is always (whenever possible) dinner at the delicious China Bistro.    It never disappoints.      On our way back to Beluga, John gave us a little driving tour of some very decorated neighborhoods.

If this guy didn't scare me enough as he looked in through the Jeep's window, the next guy really did!     We got out and walked past the huge display and as we approached him, he turned his head slowly and looked down, right at me!   Oh my....

The next day, Pam and John took us out to lunch at the Goodsprings Ghost town's Pioneer Saloon.

 Cool old building with pressed tin walls and ceilings and a mixture of interesting patrons.   

Dave douses his Sloppy Weiner with pepper.....at least he didn't order the Slap your A ss Burger....

John and I had to have one of their artistic milkshakes for dessert, of course.

Once full, we drove around the streets of Goodsprings, taking pictures of some of the neat old rusty cars in almost every yard.

To complete our quirky desert tour, we stopped at Ugo Rondinone's huge art installation called Seven Magic Mountains.  

  These colorful stacked boulders rise almost 25 feet above the flat desert.  They almost seem to glow in the sunlight.

count seven?

Friday morning Dave and I set out on the exciting and final adventure of this year's trip.     We left Beluga in Boulder City and drove the Jeep west about 280 miles to Valencia, California.     

inside were four puppies and....guess who?

We went to Valencia to meet the Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy truck which was bringing our sweet Taos back to us!  

Taos had passed all his tests and requirements to be a Guide Dog, with "flying colors" they said, but he just couldn't settle there.    That's all I know right now but I'm trying to find out what "couldn't settle" means exactly.     No matter, we're all so very excited to see each other again!  

I tried to add the video I took of him getting off the truck and seeing Dave again, but....it won't load.    Sigh.     Needless to say, he recognized him, wiggled and squirmed in joy.      He jumped right into the Jeep and went to sleep, just like no time had passed.

We spent the night at a hotel in nearby Santa Clarita and then headed back to Boulder City.

 

 We've raised a lot of dogs to be Guides, and not all of them make it through.    We know that, it's a hard and very serious job.   A rock forms in my stomach each time we hand a beloved dog back to the Guide Dog school.    It finally dissolves when the dog is either placed with their new, visually impaired person - or they come back home.     Empty stomach today!!!!!!!

  

Bishop 2 and Lone Pine

Taking the June Lake Loop is always a joy.    The clear skies at that elevation are stunning and the fall colors never disappoint.     Even the snow we encountered didn't phase us.   It actually innervated Dave....oh my.

June Lake

Oh Dave

Even when the leaves were no longer on the aspen, the effect was beautiful.

The lakes seemed to be quite full this year, always a happy discovery here in the west.  

Grant Lake

this was taken in the same spot on Grant Lake, the last time we were here

OK, no more water pictures.    I did say we drove around the June LAKE loop, right?

A drive up into the Ancient Bristlecone Forest is always something we look forward to.     One day we packed lunch and headed out, even though there was snow on the ground at the elevation in which these giants live.

lunch view

Dave always humors me and checks the road ahead...

The Inyo National Forest has lots of spots to drive off the main road and camp, or explore, or eat lunch.    We always take advantage of these dirt tracks, they're most often private and quiet and have interesting things to look at, if your driver positions the Jeep correctly.

The higher we went, the snowier (is that a word?) it got.   The visitor's center was closed and that's as far as people were driving but.....the road kept going so we kept going.

shade patterns

here he goes again.....

The snow and mud got deeper at 10,500 feet and we still had 12ish miles to go if we were to connect with Silver Canyon and the rest of the loop road I'd identified so....we turned around and went back home, the way we came.   Maybe we'll find a car wash along the route.

So, that's the end of our Bishop adventures for this visit.    Last Tuesday we packed up and drove about 60 miles south (still on 395) to another of our favorite spots....Lone Pine.

We're in a great end spot (#54) at Boulder Creek RV a few miles south of Lone Pine proper.    

We've been busy while here.    The first day we explored Owen's Lake, such as it is.     There are miles of dirt roads throughout the reclamation project, and by dirt, I mean damp, cement like dusty surfaces.    The City of LosAngeles has used up the actual lake and they have now been forced to try and mitigate the toxic dust clouds that have blown across the empty lakebed and also to bring back the important wetlands, part of the Pacific Flyway migration route for so many birds and waterfowl.   

Parts of the lakebed have been covered with some sort of cloth and then topped with gravel.    From a distance it looks like snow.    

Some areas have been planted with acres of "managed vegetation".    Shallow flooding, and other methods, have attracted numerous bird species and they were what we were looking for.  

We were happy to see lots of waterfowl in and around the water.    Unfortunately, they were very flighty. Whenever we approached, no matter how quietly or slowly, they took flight and landed further away, so no pictures for you.    We saw huge flocks of American Avocets, Widgeons, Great Blue Heron, Bufflehead, Mergansers, Ring Neck Ducks, Shovelers, etc., etc. 

 Owens Valley seems to be a racetrack for jet jockeys.      We love our end site here because we often get a free airshow at second cup or happy hour.    These thunderous "birds" playing overhead, resulted in slowing our forward progress frequently and causing Dave to jump out and search the skies.   Oh Dave...

 

Mt. Whitney is directly across from our park so, of course, we had to drive up to the portal.

    A beautiful drive takes you up from the dry desert below to the high pine forest.

I won't bore you with too many pictures of this area, we've been there before and I'm sure you've seen lots of photos then.

We had some daylight left so we drove around and through the otherworldly Alabama Hills on our way home.

I couldn't talk Dave into going up and stand below this huge boulder (probably 6-8 feet across) stuck between two others.      You know, for perspective.   Nope, wouldn't do it but he did humor me later, when I asked him to do something else - for perspective.

Death Valley is just over there.....so close that we couldn't NOT drive over for an afternoon.    

We thought we could drive up and over the mountains, into the National Park, and along the Old Toll rd (think unimproved road) to Darwin Falls trailhead.    Best laid plans.

We located the turn off, thought we saw a few road signs (maybe Road Closed?) lying face down in the wash but decided to go anyway.    We can always turn around, right?           After a few miles of picking our way back and forth across the very rocky and rough wash looking for the Old Toll rd, we came upon it.     I guess those upside-down signs really did say Road Closed.....  Ah well, back we went!

We did a bit more exploring on our way back to Beluga that day.   Pam has talked about an interesting ghost town called Cerro Gordo.    We've passed the road that leads up into the mountains before but this time we turned.   It was a well-maintained and graded dirt road through the most fantastic rock formations we've seen in a long time.   

back down

 The sun angle wasn't good for pictures, but it was so interesting at every turn.    We followed the road for 3 or 4 miles but when it made a sharp upward turn onto what looked like a shelf road, I chickened out and Dave graciously turned around.     The enticing history of this ghost town and the lure of a refurbished and newly opened hotel way up there will make this a definite trip for another time.

That wraps it up our 395 travels.     Today we're staying in, doing some needed housekeeping, cooking, blogging and NASCAR watching.      Beluga pulls out in the morning, and after two more quick stops, we'll be home next weekend.   It's been a wonderful 6-month trip.

Here's Annie!