Bishop, California

Fall weather is changeable.    We know that and we watch the forecast carefully when our path will take us up into the mountains.     McCloud was to be a few days stop for us but, when we saw that a nasty sounding winter storm was approaching the Sierras and would hit just as we were trying to drive through the area, we changed our plans.   Driving Beluga in 40+ mph winds and through accumulations of up to a foot of snow isn't ever going to happen.    We stopped for one night in Susanville and then moved on through the high elevations of Lee Vining and June Lake while the sun was still shining.     The happy result of that pivot was that we'd have a few more days in Bishop!  

 

 

Our Plan B worked beautifully.   We arrived in sunny cool weather, and it will be that way for our whole visit, we leave here on Tuesday. 

Here comes the weather, sneaking over the mountains.....

 When we woke the next morning, the mountains we had driven through just the day before were beautiful and snow covered.     We made the right choice.

 

Bishop and its surrounding areas are one of our favorite places.    Craggy mountains, lakes, streams, shimmering Aspen trees, the Owens River, plenty of off roading adventures, spectacular scenery and lots of rose bushes to accommodate the Rose Robbers favorite pastime.    And....Erick Schat's Bakkery is in Bishop.

Dave preparing to eat Santa

oh Dave....

Schat's Bakery serves fresh roast turkey sandwiches on an array of freshly baked breads.   It also offers a large number of German style cookies (think...the sorts of cookies Foof baked for us growing up) pastries, coffee cakes, candies, etc.   Dave's sandwich choice is always the "Santa".   It's basically a huge turkey club sandwich with cranberry sauce on sourdough bread.  The fact that the bakery building is surrounded by rose bushes seals the deal for Dave.

So, I mentioned off road explorations.   One day we took lunch, pointed Rocky east and headed up Silver Canyon, just to see what we could see.   It was a scenic, fairly easy, but rocky road with 10 water crossings (as far as we went at least....) that would eventually take us up to 10,500 feet and into the Ancient Bristlecone Forest.

We turned around well before that, however.     The Bristlecones would wait for another day, another and easier route. 

Silver Canyon

very bad picture of a flock of Chukar trying to lead us somewhere

back down to the valley floor

Another day we decided to explore the nearby Volcanic Tablelands.   They rise abruptly about 300 feet from the valley floor and were formed by a cataclysmic volcanic eruption 750,000 years ago.   I've borrowed a photo to show you since we were ON them instead of looking at them from a distance.

 There are interesting petroglyph panels scattered around this area and we were on a mission to find some.       

Not another soul around, absolute silence.....just us and the drawings made by Piute Shoshone hands, some as long ago as 3000 years ago....

Private pilots beware says Dave....wave clouds

I won't bore you with the rest of the pictures, needless to say we were on overload.

Ok, just one more.

 On our way back, we took a few sidetracks and found ourselves in a beautiful, narrow red rock canyon.   We didn't follow it all the way through, it was obvious that there had been a decent flood of water there recently.   Better safe than sorry, especially near the end of the day.

  I think I'll end this post right here.    I'll show you our drive around the June Lake Loop and another day's exploration in the snow at over 10,000 feet in the next post. 

Here's Annie!

  

 

Ashland to McCloud

 We enjoyed our last couple of days in Ashland.   Laurel recommended a couple of their favorite restaurants, and we found just enough time to try two.  We had a delicious breakfast/lunch (brunch?) at Morning Glory Cafe.    Once again, Dave ordered a huge burrito, saying that he'd never be able to eat the whole thing.....yeah, right Dave.....

 To work off all that food, we headed off into the mountains for an auto hike I'd read about.

  

pretty mud patterns!

After crossing a small, flooded section of road, we pulled off and got out to watch for birds that always seem to always gather at any available water.    Again, no pictures but we did have a good time feeding some very nosy Clark's Nutcrackers who flew down to see what we were doing.    We carry a bag of almonds in the car and they thought them a real delicacy!   

on top of Mt. Ashland

We aborted the track after a few hours because the "road" was becoming very rough and washed out, it was getting late in the afternoon, and it appeared we still had almost 30 more miles to go!    An out and back route is just as much fun as a loop, right?

On our last day we were finally able to sit outside for second cup.   The sun was shining, and the temperature was just right.     We were entertained by a large group of Mergansers obviously practicing for a synchronized swimming event......  They were too far away for a good photo, but we laughed and laughed at their antics.

After a little housekeeping and a tiny nap, we had dinner at Larks, the lovely dining room in the historic Ashland Springs Hotel.

It was one of the best meals we've had in a very very long time.    A young Jesse would have proclaimed it a "slap your chest and fall back in your chair" meal.  That has been our benchmark for excellence ever since.      Our waitress was delightful and helped with a couple choices I was wrestling with.    Old standbys surprised us with their over-the-top flavors and combinations.      Perfect ending to another great stop in Oregon.

Yesterday we made the short 85-mile drive to McCloud, California.   The wind was howling, and we were trying to stay behind the black sky and heavy rain that was forming ahead of us.    We stopped for a leisurely lunch, trying to waste some time.    Didn't work....the front slowed down, and we ended up driving the rest of the way in wind driven rain.      Once again, Dave praised the steering stabilizer system he installed on Beluga last year.

 We've been here before and always feel like the massive peak of Mt. Shasta is watching over us.      We'll be in McCloud for a few days until we continue our southerly trek.    

Next a quick stop in Susanville.  

     

Eugene to Ashland, Oregon

Jesse received his Master of Architecture Degree at the University of Oregon in Eugene in 2013, and we spent a fair amount of time there as a result.    

Jesse and sweet old Ruby

We've always enjoyed our time there and this was no exception.    We stayed at the same place we always do, Armitage County Park.   The weather was sort of yucky, rainy, misty, yucky so we didn't get out and about much.   Mostly we refilled Beluga's coffers, ate at familiar restaurants, etc. (and by etc., I mean, just ate out).  My mother used to say that we traveled around for our stomachs, and I guess she was right.    

 Dave found a part for one of Beluga's baggage doors at REV in Coburg, right down the street.    He doesn't know if it will work, but you know he'll make it work!

The campground was fairly empty this time, even on the weekends.  It was quiet and bird filled most of the time.   We usually like to walk down to the river but because of the damp weather, we stayed away.     Below are two interesting things we saw at the campground.       

someone did a beautiful job

autumn crocus

On one of our last days the heavy, grey clouds lifted, and the sun showed itself for a little while.

We took the opportunity to drive down to King Estates and do a little wine tasting.  It's a beautiful place; we've enjoyed its offerings many times in the past.  

 

The grounds and buildings are beautiful, the wines very good, and the kitchen produces delicious food to complement its wine tastings.  Jesse says that he once had "life changing bacon" there for brunch!    Oh Jesse.....

This time, however, they informed us that the kitchen was turning all its attention to feeding their workers during the harvest and that we could, perhaps, have some almonds or crackers with our wine tasting, mea culpa.    Sigh.

On our way home we were surprised by this enormous display of Halloween enthusiasm looming high over the columnar yews lining the street.

  That's about it for Eugene this time.     On Saturday we drove about 180 miles south to our next stop at Emigrant Lake County Park, another familiar place.   The last time we were here was in 2016 and it's still as nice as before.    

  The lake is very low, as usual for this time of year, but we don't mind.   We aren't fishing or swimming, just looking down at it and enjoying the peace and quiet.

The only problem is, as it was in 2016, the ground that isn't covered with grass is plastered with nasty, thorny, stickers.    I'm glad we don't have a dog here....ouch!

Today, our first day, we went out into the countryside and had a delightful wine tasting with Agnieszka Paschal at her Paschal Winery.   We were the first ones there when she opened at 2, and the tasting room and outdoor areas filled up quickly.   I saw someone setting up music under the arbor beside the pond, so it must be the place to spend a Sunday afternoon!

see Dave outside?

one of two swans.....

this one was very noisy!

Dave took this last night...is there anything he can't do?

As I sit here tonight, a huge owl is "shopping" the ground next to us.   She lands in the stunted tree outside my window, looks around, then drops silently to the ground to pick up her dinner.    Repeat again and again, how cool is that!

Ok, that's all I have for now.  We'll be here until Thursday morning when we'll continue our trek south.    Next stop, McCloud, California.      

 Here's Annie!