7.12.2015

Mammoth Lakes to Napa Valley


Saying goodbye to these mountains, we took CA 108, the Sonora Pass elevation 9600 feet.  What what a drive!  There were easier ways to get there via interstate for example but then we would have missed out on a truly scenic route.  

But before we left the mountains we stopped at a few sites along the way, one being Mono Lake, a body of water saltier than the ocean.

And a real earthquake fault, literally a crack in the earth from an earthquake.

And finally we took a detour to Bodie Historic Site, a mining town for the 1800's that is abandoned and in a state of arrested decay. 
 Everything is exactly how the town residents left it when they left.  
The grounds are littered with treasures that are soooo hard to resist.  Purple and blue weathered glass, shards of plates with intricate China patterns, rusty bits of nails and such.  I so wanted to pocket just a few trinkets to make a little found object collection but it is a state historic site and therefore illegal.  Then in the museum I read a binder full of letters for folks who returned the bits and prices they pilfered after a sting of bad luck. Turns out there is a thing called the Bodie Curse and if you take anything from the site you are cursed with bad luck.

I resisted, but walking though the super creepy cemetary maya insisted on plucking just one little flower.  I begged her not to.....

We will see if our luck somehow changes if she took so much as a flower petal.  Loved this place!
And that mountain pass, wow what a drive!  Reminded me of the bus rides in Peru.

6 comments:

  1. Hopefully that flower wasn't a problem! Probably not since it is a natural thing that will grow back. ;-)
    I'm reading all your blogs nowand following the trip. You are seeing a lot more green and water than we did on our June trip to Utah, that's for sure!
    Enjoy!

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    1. I can't even bring myself to ask her if she took anything ....

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  2. Replies
    1. The landscapes are truly majestic and in the absence of interesting culture the views have proved to be a highlight.

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  3. They have similar letters at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, Probably a campaign to keep the site intact. Still fun though.

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    1. Glad you told me that! So I guess maya was right that it's just a superstition and coincidence!

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