We just got back from a whirlwind trip to California. It was so much more outstanding than I imagined. We knew we wanted to start by exploring San Francisco and seeing Devo at the Mosswood Meltdown music fest. From there I wanted to get as far away from civilization as we could in a week. It was a push but worth it to be in the high desert of the Eastern Sierra Nevadas with nothing but sky and views that had no business being that magical.
Big city San Francisco:
We stayed in China Town and Bowie loved the bakeries and dim sum. We also went to the Japan Mall, the Presidio for great views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf to see the sea lions and of course Oakland for Mosswood Meltdown where we ran into Jimi and Alison!
Then we went through Sacramento to Truckee, CA. Truckee was adorable. We planned to spend time at Lake Tahoe but honestly it was way too crowded to fully enjoy. We were able to hike around Emerald Bay and swim in a little waterfall, but other than that we preferred to swim in Donner Lake. Fun fact: Donner Lake has public docks all around it so you can easily park and have a picnic dock and mountain swim for free!
Here’s where I think things got really good. We next went to Bridgeport and stayed in a strange little cabin. We went to Buckeye Hotsprings and the ghost town of Bodie. Buckeye Hotsprings is next to a river and the thermal water drips over a rock formation to form little caves. We loved hopping back and forth between the hot and cold water. Thanks to my friend Liese for telling us about it because it was so special.
From Bridgeport we drove further south to stay at Benton Hot Springs. It was the sweetest bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere (Benton population is 13.5- we never learned how there is a half). The hot springs at Benton are pumped into all the plumbing and man made pools across the property. On the way we stopped at Mono Lake to see tufas. I had never heard of a tufa. Mono Lake has 4 times the salt content of the ocean and tufas are calcium deposits formations along the shore. Bowie got a cup from the park ranger to fish brine shrimp from the lake. Josh was fascinated by the alkaline flies which attract all sorts of migratory birds to the area.
From Benton we day tripped to Mammoth Lakes in the mountains and stopped at Wild Willy’s Hotsprings on the way. This was the best hot springs I’ve ever been to. We had the place to ourselves and had 360 views of the mountains. Outstanding.
