We're back....

We're back from our trip up the Eastern Sierras and visiting some great places.

First stop was the famous Alabama Hills, a range of hills and rock formations to the east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine. This place is amazing. Since the 1920s, it has been used for location filming for many, many film and television projects. There is plenty of space and there are lots of scenic boondocking spots. It is BLM land, so camping is free and on a first-come, first-served basis. The wind was blowing so hard when we were there, we had to leave earlier than planned. We were afraid the wind would tip over our rig.

That's us down there!

Next was Mammoth, CA, where we stayed the night, watched some time-traveler TV from the 70s and got a good night's sleep. While there we visited Hot Creek. It was a short but steep walk to the bottom. Signs said the hot pools were closed due to dangerous conditions.

Hot Creek

Next stop was Bridgeport, CA. This is where we camped next to Buckeye Creek, not far from Buckeye Hot Springs. This is a remote area where camping is allowed. One of the most beautiful spots we've ever camped - we could have stayed here for weeks on end. Another post will be on my camping blog later about how to get to this site.

Buckeye Creek

We took a day trip to Bodie State Historic Park, a great place to visit if you're nearby and are interested in ghost towns.  It is very well preserved, its last inhabitants having left in the 1940s.

Old gas pumps in Bodie

After leaving Bridgeport we traveled down the Grant Lake to park the trailer while we visited Yosemite National Park. Beautiful place but too crowded for us.

Then we took off for the Inn at Benton Hot Springs. Now this place is awesome. There are only nine sites, but each one has its own private natural spring hot tub. Clothing optional hot tubbing under the stars! Our employers are lucky we ever came home.... Cait will post about this location on my other blog.

Benton Hot Springs

It was a terrific trip. We tried to make it a little preview of what fulltiming could be like. We did almost all of our own cooking, conserved water and propane, and spent quite a bit of time just reading, going for walks, and taking it easy. We're ready!

Heading to Yosemite National Park

Friday we're off! I can't wait.

First we will start our vacation by visiting a spot that I would like to visit when fulltiming, Alabama Hills. Then we're off to Mono Lake/Bridgeport, California. This will be our base camp for the week in the area. We had planned to kayak in June Lake, Mono Lake and maybe some in Yosemite but it looks like the water will be too cold. That's too bad because I wanted to try out my new Sea Eagle 370 Kayak.  On the way back home we will be stopping for some much needed relaxation from all the vacationing at some hot springs near Mammoth, CA.  I hear there is great boondocking in the area.

Only 2885 days until retirement!

412 Weeks....