Blogs from Mammoth Lakes, California, United States, North America - page 2

Although really day two of the trip, or is it three? the whole date line thing is a bit like breaching the time space continuum, anyway that aside, today feels a little like the start of the holiday. The jet lag may have something to say about it later but five am seems like an almost reasonable time to be getting up. it is minus 5 outside, there is snow on the ground and not a cloud in the sky. Today will be one for the bluebirds. Naturally everyone else is asleep, all of them chemically assisted no doubt. I had a little assistance from acouple of glasses of Mammoth Paranoid Pale Ale which seemed apposite, went to bed at about 9 pm and had a dream that involved work. I wonder if more or less ... read more

The cost of our stay included a 'continental breakfast', which i was looking forward to. I was sad to see that their version of a continental breakfast is a pastry and a carton of juice. (Despite this, I recommend the hotel highly). Their friendly Lab Snowy made us feel really welcome. We bought lunch supplies from the local supermarket and medicine for Zoe (who is really poorly) and set off for Mammoth Lakes, which was a 2.5 hour drive from Tahoe. We drove along Highway 395, through Eastern SierraBNevada, which was beautiful. It was a contrast of snow capped mountain peaks and flat, barren plains and then past stunning Topaz Lake and Mono Lake. We reached Motel 6 in Mammoth Lakes at about 3pm. The temperature has dropped about 20 degrees from San Fran and there ... read more

Devil’s Postpile is the first National Monument or Park I have visited which required visitors to park outside and take a shuttle bus in. Apparently they’ve done this here since 1980 but this is the first time I had ever experienced it at any National Park. The requirement applies to day visitors only, not overnighters, nor of course handicapped visitors. There are a few other reasonable exceptions. The shuttles run every half hour and the trip from Mammoth Mountain Ski Area parking lot takes about 20 minutes. Tickets are $7 and they cover entry into the park as well as shuttle in and shuttle out. The shuttle requirement lasts from June to September. Check the park website for more detailed information. It was absolutely no imposition. Yes, it added a few logistics details to my day, ... read more

After leaving the Trinity Alps, I decide to head towards L.A. Not sure why. Down around Bakersfield I cross over the coastal ranges into the expensive coastal area of Southern California. In Santa Maria, I hit a local Chinese restaurant, which is not very good. I stay in this town for the night. The next morning I head a few miles down the road to Solvang, a faux-Danish town, complete with Danish style architecture and Danish bakeries. This place is obviously a tourist trap, but I enjoy it thoroughly. I walk around and explore to town. I gorge myself on pastries from two different bakeries visited back to back. Out of guilt, I run around the entire town a couple of times to work off the gluttony of the day. That night, I eat pea soup ... read more

Well it took about five years but I've finally overcome my fear of the mountains and speeding down them when they're snow covered on a snowboard. I used to ski but we all know that stopped when i took the tumble down the top of Aspen Mountain. It's been hard to get back up there but I figured I may as well get over it at some point because playing in the snow is fun. And living in LA, we only get to look at the snow on the top of the mountains around LA unless you like snow sports and take the 2-3 hour drive up there to play in it. I went snowboarding three times this year. The first time was at Big Bear/Snow Summit which is supposedly a 2-2.5 hour drive from LA. ... read more