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| RV Adventure |
| Wednesday, May 28, 2014 |
For long I stayed away from renting an RV inspite of the allure of convenience and comfort especially with BSK, mainly because it is difficult to manuver the huge vehicle on winding CA roads.
Last year we decided we will do it atleast once to see how we liked it. We wanted to do Sequoia NP on RV but thank god we didnt get any vehicle because the road was filled with hairpin bends, BSK threw up twice. RV would have been scarier and worse.
So this Summer (how happy I am that Summer is here!) we booked well in advance an RV, sometime in March. We only had to decide on the destination. We could go anywhere literally, no need for hotel bookings. I have heard of friends visiting Mono Lake and it was one area which seemed so untouched and least visited. Shachi's trip last year gave me more information on what to do and where to go. The only caveat was the weather. May long weekend is always dicey when it comes to the Sierras. Some years it is outstanding for a vacation, others end up being bitter cold. We took the chance and decided on Eastern Sierras. RV was booked. RV campsites were booked, a rough itenerary was planned. And we promptly forgot all about it. BSK's birthday planning among other things kept me occupied.
Work picked up close to BSK's birthday so I had absolutely no time to look at what to do. I must have spent a couple of hours planning. Again Shachi's blog helped. ;--)
It was an amazing yet typical Sierra vacation to cherish through years to come.
Day 0 -
- Very little packing done the day before.
- Morning started off by me checking online to find out Tioga pass was closed!!!! Major depression. We had checked two weeks before and they had openned. But recent snow/cold weather must have warrented a closure.
- Started off by leaving BSK in school and driving to pick A and S and driving to pick the RV. The drive was busy checking alternate options with Tioga Pass was closed. :--( Our plan was to take Tioga Road to get to Mammoth Lake and Mono Lake area. We decided worst case we will camp in 'first come first served' campsites in Yosemite. And spending a weekend in Yosemite is not a bad vacation.
- RV orientation involved knowing how to look for gas, water, generator levels, how to dispose dirty water, how to fill water, gas, how to hook up cable! at rv sites.
- A drove the vehicle to their home, loaded the vehicle while we came home and did some proper arranging things to take on the trip.
- RV came to our home around 1230 and we spent an hour loading stuff. We didnt have to pack a suitcase, we had hangers for our clothes that went in the closets. We filled the kitchen with items instead of packing them. Bed spreads, pillows, comforters went directly on the beds.
- It was a 6 person RV, with 1 queen bed and a queen bunk bed on top of the drivers seats. A dining table folded into another day bed. There was fridge, closet, lot of shelves, sink, wash basin, bath room with toilet and shower. There was a shower outside too if you wanted to bath outside which we did with the kiddos after playtime in the lake. There was storage cubbies for grill, shoes, camping chairs and misc stuff.
- It was 1:30 when we pulled out of our home, picked up lunch from Chipotle, kiddos has already eaten. And off we went!
- At first stop, I openned the fridge as is and dropped some of the items on the floor. Geez. Lot of cleaning ensued. Lesson to always open any door in the RV slowly checking for 'items that may have been shifted during the drive' :--P
- A super happy news awaited us as we got on Hwy 120. Tioga Pass had openned!!! Suddenly the trip became more fun than before.
- We reached Hodgdon Meadows by around 630-7. It was a non electic RV site. Which meant no hook ups for water, or draining sewage. We used water sparingly. We had 40gallons of good water. the dirty water capacity also 40gallons. The campsite was prettty. Yosemite never fails to amaze. It was cold. We lit fire and were sitting around it when pitter patter hail stones fell from the sky! My heart sank a little bit but it was cool too, one of the many mood swings of Yosemite.
- We slept that night without turning on the heater, it was brrr super cold. But it was superb to sleep on the bunk bed. BSK loved it too. We read books, and slept just like usual. Once kiddos slept off we sat around the campfire and chatted a little bit.
- Food wise, we had ordered from a lady we know. Rotis and curries. And we packed some rice, lentils, pasta, beans for kids. And chicken, fish, corn, asparagus etc marinated for grilling.
- Driving an RV in the cities is much tougher than driving them on winding mountain roads. Parking, backing, even turning!, stopping at lights, were challenging initially.
Day 1 -
- Too cute to watch BSK and RThambi. RThambi is 8 months younger than BSK. So she acts like a big sister to him. Sometimes too much. They fight, and they play, it is a cute dynamics that I get to watch. A cute side of my 3 year old.
- They would fight for the same things. Would want the same things. Just for the heck of it. They did drive us up the wall at times, but the cute moments more than made up for it.
- Tioga Road drive. The scenery started getting beautiful as we approached Tenaya Lake. There is so much beauty that nature bestows upon us! Just the mountains and the snow and the blue of the lake. Picture perfect.
- And the scenery was just getting better as we drove on 120 East. We stopped at Tuolumne Meadows for lunch. We picked an isolated spot by the river. Kiddos had a superb time throwing stones into the lake, so food went in with not much fuss. Touch wood the whole trip kiddos ate well. Could be because we tired them out, could be because they were in an elevated state of excitement to fuss about food ;--) They had yogurt rice with beans and potato curries.
- We searched for a hiking trail to Soda Springs there without success and kiddos were sleepy, so decided to continue driving skipping hike. Once kids slept, we reached Lake Ellery. Frozen! Beautiful. A and DH scrambled down to the lake, it was scary at first with lot of slick slippery small rocks and stones. But these guys just went down. Then I wanted to go down too! A and DH jumped on the ice on top of the lake. And broke a piece of it. Withiin minutes, the ice started receding and moving away from the shore. It was my turn to get down, scramble down. my little adventure. The adrenaline rush at pulling myself up to the top again was awesome.
- More snowy peaks, 10000ft elevation, beautiful frozen lakes. We wanted to hike the Gaylor Lakes but apparently the trail was snowed in.
- We reached Mammoth Lakes RV park by 5pm. The others except me decided to go to the indoor swimming pool. The site was humongous and spacious which we would appreciate the next day. There was a small park with swings and bars. There were rocks and trees which kept the kiddos occupied. A simple game of touching a certain tree and running back to me kept them occupied for minutes together, tiring them out too.
- Corn, chicken were grilled. So were smores. Kiddos had dosas for dinner.
- This site had all hook ups. So water was filled. Dirty water were emptied. We sparingly bathes the previous day since we did not have water. This day we bathed to hearts content. :--P And used water liberally. There was even cable available.
Day 2 -
- We got ready pretty late. There was a request to put in all hikes for mornings, since apparently hiking after eating is tough. :--P But turns out hiking before/without eating is also tough :--P We left at 10:30 to hike Rainbow Falls and Devils Postpiles. Simple agenda. Only we didnt know we had to take the shuttle to the trailheads. We drove to the Main Lodge, parked our RV, and packed our bags with kiddos' lunch, none for us, which was a mistake, and little snacks. No one was interested in hiking. Ugh. It was 12 noon by the time we started the hike to rainbow falls. 1:00 we were at tha Falls. Beautiful it was. But the trails was so so, with most of the trail trees destroyed by a fire in 1995.
- Kiddos had fish and paruppu sadham. While we had carrots and an apple each.
- We wanted to hike directly back to Devils postpile. But hunger got the better of us, so we decided to go to Stop 10 where they was fooooood. A rather tired group of adults walked back. Little talking. Kiddos were active, they had eaten. BSK saw so many doggies. She would stop to pet them. She has become heavier to be carried. So decided to make her walk as much as possible. She must have definitely walked more than a mile. I would make her catch me and run in front of her, she would run to catch me. Fun and walking and no carrying. Still DH ended up carrying her quite a bit. I had the backpack with the food and water.
- Amazing veggie burgers waited for us at the end of the trail head. It was 4pm when we had our lunch.
- We took the bus to the Devils Postpile. Another short .5mi walk. Not impressive. Got back in time to take the shuttle back to the town.
- We drove to Mono Lake campground. Reached around 730. The site was a disappointment, looked like a bus stand with barely enough space for each site.
- Grilled more chicken and fish. DH put BSK to sleep this day while A and I caught up with some work chat.
Day 3 -
- Mono Lake, Lee Vining was much warmer. We had heater on. So much better sleep. BSK has a big bump on her hand, a mosquito bite or insect bite. Most of her hand was swollen. She kept asking me to pamper her hand.
- This day we decided to do the June Lake Loop.
- I drove a little bit. Driving on the straight 395 was not bad at all.
- June Lake was very pretty. We decided to stop at the Lake and let the kiddos play in the water. The sun was scorching hot. I lay down on the sand, it was almost like a tropical vacation :--P
- A family was fishing trout. The loop is famous for trout fishing. The lady hooked so many! Apaprently it was for their lunch. Kiddos enjoyed playing with the live fishes in the bucket.
- It was a precious sight to watch them play in the water.
- We had our lunch too at the lake. Kiddos had pasta with alfredo sauce.
- Kiddos slept off promptly after the lake time and a nice bath. Gull Lake, Grant Lake, Silver Lake passed by quickly. Grant Lake was almost empty. True drought could be seen.
- Stopped on the road side to decide what to do next. I had only one item on the agenda. South Tufas for Sunset. Sunset was a good 4-5 hours away. A bit of discussion later decided to stop at the Mono Lake visitor center.
- Got some ideas on what to do, but then we lost some time too. I cooked black beans and quinoa for kiddos. Had a nice coffee. The sun had taken a toll on us. I was sun burnt. Watched the movie on mono Lake. Mono Lake was not impressive so far. It was huge but seemed rather ugly. Not pristine like the other alpine lakes we had seen. we got our answer to this, no outlet for mono lake, so high mineral concentration.
- Drove to South Tufa area around 5. Now this place was awesome!
- Clicked the camera one shot after the other. The place was becoming more beautiful as the sun came down. We had plenty of time.
- BSK and R had such a ball playing in the water again. Water and rocks/stones can keep them busy forever.
- Mono Lake has been receding, losing water, so the internal structure of limestone deposits are showing out of the water. So basically we were walking amidst what technically should have been under the water! Surreal it was.
- Met a friend from work, what were the odds!!!!
- BSK had become quite the expert in peeing out in the open. She had done that quite a few times now. We are outside in communion with nature. :--p so it was not a problem at all.
- We walked back to the RV as the darkness descended on us.
- We had veggie burgers which had mushrooms in it. Ugh. I had a bad stomach ache, so retired early for the night, even before BSK fell asleep. I also developed cold, sleeping in the RV out in the cold.
Day 4 -
- Next day after debating on whether to take 108 or drive on Tioga again, we decided on Tioga, the beauty demanded to be seen again.
- Quick ascent to the top. Lake Ellery had completely defrost! Couldnt see the layer of ice! Lake Tioga was quickly thawing. It was getting pretty warm.
- Biriyani was running on TV, kiddos were happily playing a little bit and slowly settled in to sleep off. A and I were in the front, we chatted quite a bit on enterpreneurship, start ups, resources, business, technical, interesting.
- Stopped for lunch. More burgers and fish. Spotted deers. I drove on the winding 120. Stopped over if i had many folks trudging behind me. Good experience.
- Kiddos danced. What I loved about the trip was how much fun BSK had. I would ask her "Are we in a car or in a house" She would alternate her answers.
- We reached home by 6PM and when I told her we are home, she said "this is our home" Pretty much summed up the entire trip for us, and how much fun she had.
- Was a good trip for such less planning.
House is a mess. From birthday to packing for the trip to now. This weekend will do some organizing. Lot of work. A bit sleepless, and restless. A little sick with cold too. But wanted to jot down the trip here so it is recorded for posterity.If you read until the end, kudos to you and Thank you!
Been dreaming of hiking more in Yosemite. It is sooooo bad that we havent made use of having a hiker's heaven in our backyard. Sierras, hope to see you again soon! I love you!
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posted by SK @ 11:08 PM  |
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| 6 Comments: |
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Sun and sand, and frozen lakes.. all in one weekend, only in CA :-) This is a good guide for other who might plan a RV trip. Glad you had fun :)
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Wow it is a dream land ...will save your blog in my favorites...Awesome !!
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Wow...we've been thinking of an RV for a while too. Should try it sometime....
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Megs :--) yes!
Lopa make a trip sometime!
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Saumya , yes it is very much doable.
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Sun and sand, and frozen lakes.. all in one weekend, only in CA :-) This is a good guide for other who might plan a RV trip. Glad you had fun :)