Our first trip to hot springs, Bodie State Historic Park/ghost town, and snow-going.. I mean slow-going.. in the car. January 11, 2014

We’re becoming quite the hot springs hunters now, but the first time we went is still one of my favorites. We left Placerville toward Bodie which is on the eastern border of California, just north of Mono Lake, a few hours away from home. Bodie is an abandoned mining town from a long time ago. Apparently the town is virtually untouched, other than tourists who come by. The houses are pretty well sealed off however, so the insides are pretty safe from visiting people. The long dirt road leading up to the town is a tool I think to let anticipation build as you approach. Some of the structures are weathered and falling apart pretty badly but  are still full of furniture and items that the families probably used to use (sewing machine, old newspapers, carriage, etc). There are also tools around that were used for mining like elevators, carts, machine parts and such. The town has a beautiful eerie feeling to it. When we went it was lightly snowing and freezing cold so there weren’t many others around and the quiet was overwhelming. 

Perfect for exploring.  

After we left the town we were both ready to warm up. Just down the road is Travertine Hot Springs. Travertine has three adjacent pools large enough for a whole group of people, each decreasing slightly in temperature. The water is grey and the bottom is a sort of muddy clay. We were covered in it and it felt great! If you hike a little ways over the hill that the pools are on there is another tub that was amazing. Its perfect size for two people, hot water, and has this epic view. We spent most of our time in this pool alone taking in our surroundings.

Mud Bath

The second lower pool at Travertine

Jumping around. Check out that view!

We left Travertine and headed toward Buckeye Hot Springs, maybe a half an hour away. They are on the other side of 395 outside of Bridgeport, CA. The road to get to the springs is also long and dirt but was enjoyable. When we arrived it was already dark, so it was fun trying to find the spot where the pools actually lie. Unfortunately this also means that we didn’t get any photos from this spot, but it was great! The hot spring flows down a hillside into a river, and where you sit in is in separated by the river with a row of rocks. The water falls down over you while you sit. We met some people here who were camping at a nearby campground and had also just come from Travertine. This one also had a few pools, Nate and I laid flat in a shallow one, the cool air made the warm water feel amazing. We stayed and visited for a little while and then decided to head home.

Us at Buckeye Hot Springs! Just kidding.

To get home we decided to take Hwy 89 into Meyers near South Lake Tahoe where we ran into a surprise snowstorm. We had to sneak around chain control, but we made it home in one piece. ❄ ❆

Day Trip to Yosemite November 17, 2013

Here are some pics from our day trip to Yosemite, which is about three and a half hours from home. Kate had never been so we decided to go check it out! We took our time driving through Jackson, Angels Camp and Sonora before we arrived.

Kate’s sidenote:  Stories in Stone in Angels Camp is an old firehouse that has been transformed into a big shop where a man and his wife show off many of the things they have collected throughout their life. They have tons of pictures of themselves in different locations, lots of fossils and bones (even a complete standing bear skeleton), geodes and various stones. There is a separate room dedicated to elements where the man gives lectures or tells stories. Last time we were there he told us about silicon and its uses in Silicon Valley among other things.  He has a few great periodic tables and elements in different forms (yeah, so what if I’m a science nerd?) Oh, and the room is lined with shark jaws! I could spend hours in there. Some people may say I am overenthusiastic about it (ahem, Nate), but I highly recommend it if you’re going through Angels Camp. End sidenote, back to Yosemite.

We got to the park from highway 120, off of highway 49. We parked on the side of Southside Dr., near the Bridal Veil Falls trail. The hike is very short and simple, but the trail has some great views. The trail ends at the base of the fall at some large rocks that we hopped around for a while. We went during winter, so the falls wasn't flowing very heavy but it was still great to see.

After we left the falls, we turned off the road once more to the left of Southside Dr and walked over a bridge to a big open meadow where we watched the sun start to set. 

When we left, it was pretty dark and we drove through Tioga Pass to 395. Tioga Pass at night is one of my favorite night drives ever. Its hard to tell exactly what you're looking at with the tall mountains and the deep ravines. We popped out on 395 near Mono Lake and headed back home.

♥

Fabricating the Custom Front Bumper

The Strawberry trail excursion had left enough battle scars to get Nate motivated about designing a steel plate front bumper.  I’d like to say that a lot of careful planning, measuring and designing went into the creation, but in reality, a couple of solid weekends and several six packs later the bumper was born.  A huge thanks to Chance for all of his help: tools, know-how, welding abilities and encouragement. Couldn’t have done it without him.

Zombie Crawl October 26, 2013

Here are some pics from a Zombie Crawl we went to in Reno, NV. Basically a big group of people dress up and paint themselves as zombies and then do a pub crawl. Such a blast! We went with a group of old friends and had some fun. Then ventured out on our own, met some new friends, and had some more fun with them!