La Condition Humaine: Life - Not On The Road

The plan was for me to arrive in Mather on Friday 22^nd. My DiL – Jessica – was going to fly to New York with the youngest – Kinsley – to visit her parents for two weeks.

I was to be the designated caretaker of the three boys for the first week as Jeremiah still had to work.

But the problem with the Hard Krome exhaust pipes preempted all the plans to ride the California national parks, so I arrived a week early to deal with that problem.

And I also bought the new caravan – the Casita – to deal with the problem of the Aliner not being suitable for frequent travel.

The plan was to spend the days surrounding the 4^th of July in the Sierra’s at a campground near Bridgeport CA.

That part of the plan occurred as planned – WOW! Something that actually went as it should without any unusual drama.

First night in the campground – with 2^nd grandson, Garrett. This lounging chair position was a favorite each afternoon and evening when the campfire was lit.

3^rd grandson, Colton, with the Rainbow Trout that he and his dad caught.

Panorama of the valley that Bridgeport is in. Our campsite is beyond the far right of the pic.

Kids – old and young – playing in the creek.

Sunset **

Brilliant Sunset **

We went to Bodie – a mining ghost town to the SE of Bridgeport. About Bodie.

Panorama from near the remaining stamp mill

Window artifacts

Tattered curtains

Iris flowers

A nice ride to the cemetery

Not much left of this car - but it had a six cylinder engine

General store

Weathered siding

House

Panorama - looking SE

Panaorama of the high dry mountains near Bodie - ~7000 feet elevation

The next day we traveled south to Lee Vining - http://goo.gl/maps/zS8J - for a gas fill up in the son’s SUV – 40¢ difference in the 25 miles between Bridgeport and Lee Vining. $4.60 is still expensive – but $5.00 a gallon is robbery when in the flat lands of Sacramento gas is $3.55 at CostCo.

Mono Lake at Lee Vining.

Panorama - Mono Lake

Anyway, we went up Lundy Lake Road into Lundy canyon. Quite lovely.

Panorama - Beaver Pond

Small waterfall

Aspen burl - there were lots of these!

Then we went up to Virginia Lakes – 9770’ elevation! More than lovely – the area is absolutely gorgeous as you can see.

360º panorama - Upper Virginia Lake

Upper Virginia Lake

Wood swirls

Then we went into Bridgeport for their 4^th of July parade. There were other activities in the afternoon but the grands were being idiots and not worthy of these extra activities. But we went back to a spot outside town to watch the fireworks. Impressive for such a small town!