August 18, 2025 - Mammoth Lakes, NV

August 18, 2025 - Mammoth Lakes, NV

This morning was one of our coldest mornings at 47.  We were at 7900 feet.  They have no a\c which is understandable. I layered up and felt like the kid on Christmas Story and the Pillsbury Dough boy but was warm once I got on the bike.  Sun was out  and beautiful but brutal to the drivers since we were heading east.

By the time we got down to 5000 feet, one hour later, it was 72.

This field went on forever and there were, I am sure, over 1000 cows.  Beautiful colors.

Driving down the road, we see a very bright light.  All were speculating on what it was.  The conclusion was that it was an alien tower, talking to the mother ship.  Pretty boring today, needed to talk about something.  LOL

Few  hills....

But most of the day was like this and 90+ degrees.

We kept seeing this sign "Grand Army of the Republic".

Fun Fact:

Yes still flat....ugh

Yeah a little zig / zag...

...then there was an over size load in front of us. We were going down an 8% grade at about 40 mph.  We would not  want to be this guy.

There is one more national park we wanted to go to on this trip: Great Basin.  This is in Nevada. We walked into the visitor center and mentioned to  the ranger that "this park is in the middle of nowhere".  He mentioned "we are in the middle of everywhere".  Great comment!!!

Kind of hard to show in a pic of the vastness of the desert.

We are up over 10,000 feet. You can see the tree line.

The park was only 15 miles long.  At the end was supposed to be a beautiful lake which you had to hike 4 miles to get there.  At 75 degrees and in boots, that was not an option.

Back on the road.  We come to a bump in the middle of the desert.  It was a nice little twisty.  It broke up the monotony.    

Did I mention it was flat today!!!

Before we  stop, it looks like some kind of salt flat.  Pretty wild as it was all white.

It was a long day but needed to get across the desert.

Destination: Scipio UT

Temps: 47-98

Miles: 527

Route: 395, Benton crossing rd, St Rt 120, 6,6/50, 50, I-15/50

August 17, 2025 - Petaluma, CA to Mammoth Lake, CA

August 17, 2025 - Petaluma, CA to Mammoth Lake, CA

Today was a little cool and foggy.  Plan was to go over Golden Gate Bridge and then head east.

As we were heading into San Francisco, we saw lots of sunny skies.  BUT.... by the time we got to the bridge, it was foggy again.  Bummer!!

Here is the Golden Gate Bridge as we cross the Oakland Bay Bridge. (It is the one fogged in)

We went thru San Francisco a bit before we got on I-80.  If you have ever been to SF,  there are always streets that go straight up. I am not holding the camera sideways.

This is the first time I have seen a driverless car.  It happened to be an Uber.  This is a Jaguar.  Lots of money here.  Kind of scary, no driver.

Then thru China town...

Finally out of town.  We are on I-80... where is all the traffic.  Oh yeah, it is Sunday.

Now on a state route. We see miles and miles of orchard of ???  Peaches, apples, berries....  We found out they were almonds.  Pretty wild the number of  miles we went with them on both sides.

Fun Fact:

To harvest them, you have to shake the branches.

We meet up with Frank.  Another RFTW family member.  He lives about 30 minutes from Yosemite.  He is taking us to a place for lunch that is the oldest Saloon in California.

Frank is a road guard on the RFTW.  

Back up a mountain to Yosemite.  Jacket on or off???  Layer???

The ceiling is covered with dollar bills.

 

We had a great time connecting with Frank.  On the Run you sometimes do not get to know people. Frank was a very interesting person.  He grew up in this area and knows it like the back of his hand.  He was a fireman and has fought many fires on the mountains.  The biggest covered 300,000 acres in 2013. 

He was telling us that 90% of the fires are started with lightning and the other 10% are people.  Sometimes the spark from a mower blade hitting a rock can start it.  Or a person driving down the road and has a trailer chain dragging can start it.

He worked for about 5-6 months in Yosemite clearing the roads after a flood.  

He could fall a tree that was 5-6 feet in diameter. That is huge.

He was a "hot shot".  This is where you drop a crew in the middle of a fire.  He also became a captain of one of the crews.  This guy, like all the other fireman and policeman risk their lives for us.

THANKS Frank for your service!!!!  

Any time you see a policeman or fireman, please "Thank" them for their service.  They protect us just like our service men and women.

Boys and their toys.  A Honda between 2 Indians.

Larry, Ron, Frank

Let's roll.

We are now in Yosemite National Park.

Check these pics out.  We are not in the Park yet.  Looks like a painting.

This is the Half Dome View.

Glad we had sun for the day.  The colors are spectacular.

Bridalveil Falls.

 We were about 8000 feet elevation in the park as we head out of the park.

Outside the park, we reached 10,000 feet.  It was pretty cold.  I think Larry told me 64.

This is all rock, not snow.

I am sure this lake is really cold.  We did see people swimming in it.  Brrrrr!!!

Cool reflection in this little pond

Mono Lake.

Riding into this at the end of the day.  What a great way to end.

This was hanging on a fence at a gas station where we filled up for tomorrow.  We all got a good laugh on this one.

Destination: Mammoth Lake, CA

Temps: 54-80 

Miles: 342

Route: I-80, I-580, I-205, St Rt 120, St Rt 395