We weren’t planning to visit Yosemite from the east side, but upon looking at a map we realized it wasn’t far at all into Yosemite Valley where the views are magnificent of El Capitan, Half Dome and the Bridal Veil Falls.  So, we went.

We were in awe of how beautiful this area really is.  It’s not something that can be described in words and even really good pictures (let alone ours) cannot do it justice.  So, I’ll just say visiting this fabulous place should be on EVERYONE’s bucket list!  And, September is a great time to go, not too crowded, still warm, perfect!

Tuesday morning in Minden NV and we thought we had a day to relax and do nothing before heading south to Mono Lake on Wednesday.

Oops!  About 11:30 we realized that it was the 25th and we had to move TODAY, not tomorrow!  We got the trailer ready to pull out in about a half hour and headed south.  Luckily we keep things fairly tidy in the trailer (have to when 2 people and a dog share a small space!) so it didn’t take long to stow everything.

So now we are at Lee Vining, CA.  From the RV Park we can see part of Mono Lake.  It’s very beautiful here!

Wednesday we went to Bodie, a state park that is a gold mining boom town that was deserted in the 1930s and is now kept in a state of “arrested decay” which means the buildings are maintained for safety and to ensure they don’t fall down but with original material, and several homes, the store, schoolhouse and two churches are available to stand at a window or door and look inside at how the people lived.  Can’t go inside though!  Jeff was hoping to go into the mine buildings but they were closed off.  The cemetary was sad as so many of the headstones are for small children.

Then we went to see the unique “tufas” at Mono Lake.  Mono Lake is fed by several streams coming down from the mountains but has no outlet, so it’s very salty (2.5 times saltier than the ocean).  The minerals in the lake combine and form eruptions that very slowly build up underwater.  Mono Lake had been almost drained providing water to L.A. and other places until the 80s and now the state is trying to get the water level back to the earlier level.  There is an area on the south side where a huge assortment of tufas are now on dry land at the shoreline.  It’s very haunting to walk among them.

Below are pictures of Bodie and of Mono Lake.  Enjoy!