Highway 395 - Along the Eastern Sierras
It took us more than two weeks to travel just 200 miles along our favorite California highway.
We just completed our favorite California route: Highway 395 - headed north, following the amazing Eastern Sierras from Ridgecrest to Lee Vining.
Had it been later in the year, we might have crossed over from there into Yosemite National Park but that part of our adventure will have to wait. Tioga Pass is not open yet and, with an exceptional snowpack this year, is not expected to be open until mid June. But that's okay. We knew that in advance. Besides, we had more important matters to attend to. From Lee Vining, we headed east to Las Vegas to spend a long weekend out of the RV, in a hotel room - not very frugal but the kids were picking up the tab because we were the babysitters. It was our long-awaited mid-trip reunion with kids and grandson!
Here are a few pics from the past couple of weeks:
All our boondocking campsites along this route had an amazing Sierra Mountains view - almost unavoidable.
Spring time means gorgeous warm temperatures below while the mountains are still snow-covered.
What is more beautiful than a high mountain lake surrounded by granite cliffs?
The icy, clear, blue lakes welcomed fishermen and boaters.
We did some strenuous hiking. A rest stop is well deserved upon reaching snow level on a long uphill trek.
Highway 395 has many unmarked, free hot springs along the route. We took full advantage of them.
A long soak after a hiking day.
The snow-capped mountain scenery just enhances the hot spring experience!
The amazing tufa formations at Mono Lake.
We reached Nevada a few days early and took time to visit Valley of Fire State Park, just east of Las Vegas. No, the colors in the photos have not been punched up.
At Valley of Fire, we came upon a whole herd of big horn sheep.
Amazing animals.
After all of those wonders, the most amazing part of the last two weeks was, of course, our time with our grandson, Pieter. Our adult kids had no trouble leaving us on our own for the entire four days to show him the sites.
So, what does Las Vegas look like through the eyes of a 19-month old?
Piet's favorite parts? All the fountains, and the giant aquariums were great but, the best fun of all - pushing the button on the ice dispensing machine outside our hotel room!
Days On The Road At Time Of Writing: 83
Camping Costs To Date: $94.00
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