Canada Day California style

Canada Day California Style

We got an early start on our Sierra roadtrip on Canada Day, heading away from Avery by 7:30 - almost on time! As we drove out of town, I serenaded everyone with our national anthem - hey, someone had to do it!

The plan was to head up the mountains and stop for breakfast near Mosquito Lake. To the dismay of our coffee-deprived brains, the restaurant was closed, so after a few photo opportunities we continued on our way. After a VERY winding, fast (I thought!) trip up Highway 4 towards Ebbetts Pass (8700+ feet!!) Pat and I decided that it was probably just as well that all of our stomachs were empty. I’ve never had quite as much of a white-knuckle journey as that one. I can only imagine what it’s like in the middle of winter. When David pointed out the wreckage of a Cadillac at the bottom of the cliff at “Cadillac Curve”, I had visions of us slipping off the edges of the same cliff - not the way I’d intended this holiday to end!!

But all ended well, of course. We all stopped gratefully for breakfast at Minden and enjoyed sitting out on the patio at Ali’s Café.

The next stop was the Grover Hot Springs State Park, a quaint older hot springs in the middle of the valley. It seemed an unlikely day to hop into the 102 degree pool, being almost 38 degrees outside, but we enjoyed it all the same, jumping between the hot and the cool pools regularly. The boys would have liked a diving board and a lot more space, but I think they really relished being in the water no matter what.

From Grover Hot Springs, we headed over the Nevada border for lunch at a really funky Basque-style restaurant in Gardnerville. Who knew there were so many Basque sheep-herders in that part of the U.S.? not me, that was for sure. We enjoyed a family-style meal with way too much delicious food for a lunch meal - salad, soup, bread, fries, vegetables, lamb, dessert and coffee - and that did it for all of us for food for the rest of the day. Amazing food, great atmosphere and good company. Evan pronounced the fries the 2^nd best he’d ever had, no small praise.

Once we had settled up, Pat and I took a quick spin on the 25c slots in the restaurant (of course, it’s Nevada!) and we left Gardnerville for the high desert of Bridgeport, California. We’re in the East Sierra and the countryside reminds us a bit of Kamloops country, although the high mountains are more reminiscent of the Rocky Mountain foothills. By the looks of all the guiding outfitter stores and fishing boats that pass by on trailers, we’re in outdoor lovers country. Tomorrow we head up to the ghost town of Bodie, #6 on the Youtube list of abandoned towns, according to Evan. From Bodie we’ll head down the valley again towards Yosemite. Big day ahead!