It was not our intention to take our maiden voyage with the tent trailer on a long road trip, but alas, with summer in full swing and last minute reservations, Mammoth Lakes had openings for camping reservations. We packed everything at the last minute as well. Not our intention but it came to be that we were up until 1am the prior night and headed out 4 hours later to our destination, which took us about 8 hours to finally reach.
P did very well on the ride over. We stopped at Manzanar, which is now a national historic site, for a sobering step back into time on how the Japanese were treated in America.
After a late lunch and some time at a park in Bishop, we were back on the road to our campsite at Mammoth Lakes. The ride over was beautiful. The Eastern Sierra mountains are so massive and steep! After being on the coast for some time and not spending too much time in the mountains, it was an impressive site. The wind was strong, the air hot and dry.
P had a great time just digging and swimming in the dirt. With no available showers, it was tricky to get her to stay clean. The bears were active around the campsite, and we nearly missed a cub and her mama by a half hour one evening. Even after miles and miles of driving, we still met up with folks we knew, by coincidental chance. The one friend, Fred, is actually a friend of our friends, the Mayotts. He stopped by our campsite, introduced himself, and had a nice chat with us and let us know if we needed anything or had questions, to give him a buzz!
Then RT thinks he sees a Cuesta College van pull up. Sure enough! It's his geology professor colleague/friend, Jeff. He was there with a group of 8 students on a summer field course. They had just come from Yosemite, stopped at Mammoth, and were headed to Devil's Postpile the following day (incidentally, we were, too!). He said we could join the class and hop in the van--the entire family, carseat, dog, and all!
We went to Devil's Postpile, and RT ended up giving a biology talk to the students. It was an even trade for letting us hitch a ride with them. The students loved having P and Jannu.
It was very hot that day. We were all tired, hot, dehydrated, and a little wiped out from the elevation as well. So, we cheated and had lunch on the town as well as some Ben & Jerry's icecream. Who could resist that, right?
Mammoth has incredible bike paths and not to mention the lifts that take the mountain bikers up so they can ride down. We didn't do that, and feel that you should have to earn your way down by riding up rather than taking a lift. We had just got the child's bike seat, so P had never ridden in it before. She loved it! She was so quiet and eventually it was our lifesaver when we had to pack up and get everything together.
We left later than we originally intended. P fell asleep quickly, and we were on the road nonstop for about five hours. By 6pm, we pulled into Tehachapi and decided we needed to call it a night. We chose a specific hotel because a pet website said it was "pet-friendly", and we wanted a pool. Well, when we checked in, there were NO PETS ALLOWED signs. So, we had to sneak Jannu in.
It felt soooooo good to have a hot shower and feel squeaky clean. What a nice way to end a camping trip in my opinion! Even though you can do that at home, it always feels like a vacation to me when you're in a hotel!
All in all, we had a fun time and a worry-free car ride with a very busy toddler.
We're looking forward to the next tent trailer adventure!
Sure was quiet in the back seat for a while...
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