Lazy day at Mammoth 7.8.08

We went back to Mammoth today as we've changed our plans & are going to leave camp tomorrow morning & find a campsite at Bridalveil Campground in Yosemite. We have learned that there are sites available & hope one will be available tomorrow morning!!

So we had a nice, lazy day today. We drove up to Mammoth again (I love this place!) and took a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain - some 11,000 feet! The gondola ride was great - very smooth - and was at one time, the longest in California. It took us a whole 7 1/2 minutes to reach the top. The view was spectacular! Tickets up the gondola were $18 a piece but there was a ride-n-lunch special for $21 each that included a sandwich & soda at the summit. It was the cheapest lunch on the trip and was very good!! We saw a full 360 degree view of mountain ranges, & valleys all around us. There was still snow in some places & it was a bit chilly - 55 degrees with 20-30mph winds. As long as you stayed out of the wind, it was perfect. We checked out the summit, took some photos, found a geocache (yep, even at the top of Mammoth mountain there's one!!), & then took the gondola 1/2 way down the mountain called McCoy Station. At McCoy Station, we searched for another geocache, then travelled the remaining way down the mountain. There were lots of mountain bikers zooming all over the trails, which looked like so much fun!! Next time... Michael was having some asthma trouble today - felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest, so we got down the mountain as soon as we could.

We went into the town of Mammoth & drove around to check it out, visited the Mammoth Museum & chatted with the Ranger there, found a couple more geocaches in the area, then headed back to camp. In Lee Vining, there have been several write-ups about a Mobil station with a deli inside - called the Whoa Nellie Deli - that have said how fantastic the food is. So we stopped for dinner there. A pitcher of mango margaritas & a fabulous dinner later we made it to camp. Yummm.....mango margaritas. They remind us so much of Catalina Island with some wonderful friends. mmmm.... haha.

Tomorrow....Yosemite again!!

Rene