We left Washoe Lake State Park, with Paul and Nina in the lead to scout out ahead of us some options they hadn’t been to before for our next stop down Highway 395.
We got a text message from them along the way that simply said ‘How about a sunset hot spring soak?’
Like, who’s going to say no to that?!?
Glass Creek Campground – Mammoth Lakes, CA
The WheelingIt crew directed us to meet them at Glass Creek Campground, a free National Forest Campground right off Highway 395 with excellent LTE signals. When we pulled in, they had a spot waiting for us in a group camping site.
I packed up some snacks, and off we went to Wild Willy’s Hotsprings about 10 miles down the road. It’s a rather popular dipping hole, and when we arrived there we already a handful of folks enjoying a soak. We all piled right in, and soaked off the aches and pains of our incredibly long driving day of about a 130 miles.
Such a beautiful setting nestled in a valley between two mountain ranges.
We decided to stay two nights at Glass Creek – Chris and I still had some projects to catch up on. And they had some exploring and friends they wanted to meet up with. Nina wrote up about their time exploring Mammoth Lakes (and has some pics of us soaking).
Meanwhile, I bungee corded Chris to his chair so he’d focus on finishing his post about our new solar installation.
Speaking of solar, staying in a forest isn’t exactly the most ideal location. We only managed a few hours of sunlight a day when it peaked through the trees, which just wasn’t enough to maintain workday usage. We each ended up running our generators on our last morning – us mainly to plug in the block heater so we could get the bus started on a very chilly morning. It had dipped into the upper 20s overnight.
Brrrr. Definitely time to head south!
Glass Creek was a decent enough stop – conveniently located, great cell signal and the price was certainly right. But we were craving expansive views and lots of open sun.
Volcanic Tablelands Summit
For our next stop, Nina gave us a list of options in the Bishop, CA area. Her favorite she warned would take a little effort to get our motorhomes to – but would be worth it. We parked our beasts below, and took off by car to scout it out together.
The moment we saw the spot, we didn’t care what effort it would take.
So off Zephyr climbed the BLM road up the Volcanic Tablelands, and then down a very washboarded dirt road for about 1.5 miles to our awesome overlook. The spots are all designated as allowing free camping for up to 14 days.
No sooner had we gotten both our rigs settled in with amazing views – Nina announced that Glenn of ToSimplify.net was also in the area, and we all eagerly invited him to join our encampment.
Nina & Paul had camped with Glenn last year and we had corresponded on and off over the years ourselves.
What an epic summit of RVing bloggers in one gorgeous location! We spent several nights hanging out, getting to know each other and talking about subjects all over the map. And of course, our view was complimented with the amazing sounds of live sax courtesy of Glenn.
During our time overlooking Bishop, we did take a couple trips into town to check it out. What a cute little town it is, and some surprisingly yummy food to be had. Our favorite was probably the Burger Barn – an eclectic little setup serving all homemade and local ingredients, including likely the best gluten free bun I’ve ever had.
The rest of the time… we soaked up the view and the companionship. Which, I’ll let the pictures tell that story.
Awe-mazing!
Time to leave 🙁The Volcanic Tablelands will rank as one of our more gorgeous stops, and even lovelier to share it with good friends!
Glenn’s Post about our Summit
Nina’s Post about Volcanic Tablelands.. And Then There Were 2 1/4 — Bishop, CA/
Lone Pine – if you haven’t blown through already, the Alabama Cafe, center of “town” on west side of main street. They bake their own breads and pastries, and make the best breakfast for 100 miles. Also stop and look through the lobby of the Dow Villa, where all the ioldtime Western stars would stay, and of course, the movie museum. And the Hills. This is a magical place, hope you get a chance to enjoy. See you on the Road, Michele
I’m grounded on the east coast to help with family stuff. Your pictures and tales make me homesick for my life on the road and meet-ups with awesome people!
I understand that all too well.. as we just went through that ourselves. It’s good to get back on the road and out exploring again, but we also don’t regret a moment of spending the time we needed with family. In the meantime, we hope some tales and pictures can help.
the bungee cord is a hoot…it worked though! Always fun to see our travels through someone else’s lens and words.
Nina
The things I do to keep that boy focused 😀
great photos…looks like a wonderful spot to add to my list for when we drive this highway this coming spring…
You’re gonna love the drive! So glad we joined the WheelingIt crew on the adventure, and we’ll definitely be making the drive in the future too.
To a fella from the Deep South it sorta looks like an episode of “Bonanza”!! Did you see any cowboys?
Great article and amazing pictures like always, Cherie! We are heading south for the winter right after Thanksgiving, coming from the now-frozen tundra of North Dakota. Can’t wait to escape this weather, and these pictures give me inspiration.
I think there’s a typo on the video chat times – I think you meant to put 7:30pm EST, not PST.
Thanks for the typo correction.. my fingers were probably too frozen last night 🙂 Time to head more south and get to warmer climates ourselves.
Awesome shots! How wonderful you got to see snow on the mountains…though at the expense of cool, cool mornings!
Looking forward to health care talk…
The snow is gorgeous, indeed. And we got a nice light dusting one morning to look at (thankfully, not to experience). Been a bit chilly however, so south we continue heading! Maybe see you guys soon 😉