California Road Trip 2019 - Mono Lake and Topaz Lake (Nevada)

Friday, October 4, 2019
Lee Vining to Topaz Lake, CA
Topaz Lake RV Park
Site #26
Distance: 93 miles
Duration: 2
Cost: $28 per night
Weather: Sunny and mild

Beautiful morning at Mono Vista RV Park.

Mono Lake

View from the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitors Center.

The following morning wasn't quite as cold, but we still had to use the portable propane heater. We packed up and drove to the Mono Lake Visitor Center, which is very impressive with lots of great interactive displays. From there we drove back through town and out to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake, which lies west of Lee Vining.

Pretty awesome rig!

Tufa is limestone formations in the lake and it was so cool to see them on such a beautiful day. I've seen some photographs of the lake at sunrise and wish we were both early risers. It felt like we were on another planet as we walked around the lake. 

Tufa

After our self-guided tour, we realized that we were starving and drove back to Lee Vining to have lunch at Whoa Nellie Deli which, of all things, is a part of a Mobil gas station. I don't remember where I heard about this spot, but it's another winner! Who knew you could get such great food at a gas station. Well... it's really a restaurant and gift store with a gas station attached, but I never would have thought to stop and enjoy such a delicious meal. I had tacos (of course!) and Rod had the largest steak sandwich either of us has ever seen. They were both amazing, as were Rod's french fries. Needless to say, neither of us was hungry for dinner that night!

One of many classic cars parked at the gas station.

Yum!

One pork and one fish.

After our delicious meal, we had another easy drive up Hwy. 395 to Topaz Lake, which is on the border of California and Nevada. The RV park was getting ready to close down for the season, and was pretty deserted, which meant we had a quiet stay. We saw some pretty fall colors near Walker and there were a few oaks in the campground that were beginning to turn, too. 

Our back-in site was level with full hook-ups and a picnic table, but no fire ring. We had some shade from the large trees and the WiFi was decent, as was the cell signal for Verizon. The showers took quarters and weren't nearly as nice as some of the others we've had to pay for. Overall, I'm not sure we'd return to this campground There's no privacy between sites (which wasn't a problem this time) and the lake is pretty barren. I'm sure it's a great spot if you have a boat for fishing, water skiing or tubing. For us, it was a decent spot to spend a night while waiting to move on to our next location.

Lovely sunset!

Cute husband.

Pretty moon.

California Road Trip 2019 - Lee Vining and Mono Lake

Thursday, October 3, 2019
Lee Vining, CA

We woke up to super cold temps (27 degrees!) and the furnace would not ignite, so we got our Mr. Heater Buddy going and that took the chill off, but it doesn't really get the RV as warm as the furnace. I had a relaxing morning while Rod looked at a few YouTube videos to see if he could fix the furnace, but sadly, no luck. Could be an altitude issue, so we'll wait and see if we have the same problem when we're at a lower altitude.

I walked into town (such as it is) and passed a cute coffee place (Latte Da), but had already had enough caffeine for the day, so I wandered over to the Mono Lake Committee Information Center and Bookstore, which carries some lovely jewelry, pottery and artwork, as well as a nice selection of books.

Mono Lake

We had a relaxing evening with drinks outside before it got cold. The wind was very gusty, but thankfully it didn't keep us awake.

California Road Trip 2019 - June Lake and Lee Vining

Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Bishop to Lee Vining, California
Mono Vista RV Park
Site #23
Distance: 75 miles
Duration: 2 nights
Cost: $37 per night
Weather: Cold mornings

We had a pretty (albeit short) drive north after a quick stop at Vons for some groceries. The trip was very easy and uneventful; the most exciting part was reaching Deadman's Summit, which is 8,047 miles above sea level. Since we had less than a hundred miles to travel, we decided to take a short detour and go into June Lake for lunch. After a drive around the lake, we made our way to June Lake Brewing where we found Ohana's (a bright orange food truck) in the neighboring parking lot. I first heard about these two venues while researching places to visit along Highway 395. Laurel, of Raven and Chickadee, said Ohana's (Hawaiian soul food) has the best chicken, fish, and pork tacos on the planet, so of course we had to go! I mean, tacos! Oh, my goodness. She wasn't kidding! Not only were the tacos insanely good, but the Honolulu fried noodles were incredible. I can see why Laurel and Eric ate there twice when they were in June Lake. After placing our order at the food truck, we wandered over to the brewery and got a couple of beers. Our meal was delivered to our table within a few minutes and we enjoyed sitting in the sun, savoring each bite and sip, stuffing ourselves silly. 

Delicious!!

Hawaiian Fried Noodles and Chicken Tacos

Drums & Guitar Porter (mine) and Beyond the Pale Ale (Rod's)

Great sign!

After our amazing lunch, it was time to make our way to our next RV park. Mono Vista RV Park is a quaint little campground with lots of trees & grass and within walking distance of Lee Vining and a short drive to Mono Lake. Our site was fairly level (gravel pad) with full hook-ups, a picnic table (no fire ring), but the sites are fairly close together and we could hear young children in a tent camper a few sites away. We had fair Verizon coverage and free WiFi, but no Sprint service. 

Mono Lake

Sadly, we were a week or so too early for any magnificent fall colors, so we'll just have to plan to go back another time. Fall colors, fried noodles and fish tacos, yes please!