Nomad Life - Day 88

With a long drive ahead of me, I was up early (0600) without alarm.  I did my normal reading, puzzles and Duolingo before getting ready and packing up the car.  Like yesterday, I got some "breakfast" (pastries and sparkling water) - today, though, the owner engaged me in a conversation about how his Motel had been regularly used for filming movies and TV series.  In fact, a production crew had apparently been working on episodes of a AppleTV series called "Lucky" in my room about a week before!  He added that many big movies, including "Back to the Future", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Ford vs. Ferrari" (among others) had been filmed near (or even at) his Motel (he even gave me a list!).  By 0740, I was ready to depart the Sierra Pelona Motel and headed east on the Sierra Highway.  Road conditions were mostly dry but there was evidence of the impacts of heavy rain everywhere.  Before long, I got on CA-14 and continued east to Palmdale.  The weather was partly cloudy with temps in the 40s.  I got off the Freeway in Palmdale and encountered several signs for roads closed due to flooding - I couldn't follow Google Maps!  I managed to reach the SR-71 static display at the Joe Davies Heritage Air Park (at the entrance to Air Force Production Flight Test Installation) at 0810 - that was so cool!  Next, I used surface streets to make my way to Lancaster.  Along the way, I saw signs for the Sierra Highway again and others for "Historic Route 6".  [I searched online later and learned that "a portion of Sierra Highway is an old alignment of US-6. The term 'Sierra Highway' or 'El Camino Sierra' refers to a historic route from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe, parts of which are now modern State Route 14, U.S. Route 395, and State Route 89. The section that was originally US-6 is a part of this historic route in Southern California, from Los Angeles to Mojave, which is now signed as 'Sierra Highway'"].  As I continued north and west, I noticed that a lot of homeless people were camping and others were searching trash piles in flat fields.  Sad... One of my goals for the morning was to attended Mass and I was able to locate a church nearby - I arrived at Sacred Heart Parish in Lancaster by 0820, just after the service had started.  The building was packed (standing room only, initially) and I appreciated how they used a multimedia system on the walls to help people follow along.  Around me, about half the parishioners were speaking Spanish.  The Music was also amazing!  Mass was over by 0900 and I drove a short distance so I could pick up some breakfast at McDonalds (0905).  Food in hand, I departed towards the north on CA-14.  Near Mojave, I switched to CA-58 and drove west to Keene.  By this point, temps were climbing but intermittent rain had begun.  I reached my second target, the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, by 1005 and spent about 30 minutes exploring the museum, learning about the Latino Civil Rights Leader and walked the grounds.  The visit was more poignant because I'd just been in Ventura County, driving fields where Chavez and many other farm workers have struggled for years. Along the way, I found the burial plot for Mr. Chavez and his wife (I sent a photo to Gerard).  With help from a park ranger, I got information about my next destination, The Tehachapi Loop, an amazing engineering wonder that trains use to climb the mountains - it was located nearby.  After about 10 minutes of driving east on a narrow road, I found the Tehachapi Loop Viewpoint at 1040.  On the platform there, I met a couple from Europe and also talked with a mom with her little son and daughter - they each had little binoculars.  While there, we got to see a train starting to make its way into the Loop.  The kids were very excited and I was able (with the help of Google Maps) to find a diagram of the Loop and gave us all some situational awareness of what was happening.  Everyone commented that I was very good luck - I guess they'd been waiting for a while to witness the spectacle.  Once the train exited the Loop (eastbound), I continued back towards Mojave (1100).  Only five minutes later, I noticed a second train (opposite direction) in the canyon below the street I was following (Woodford Tehachapi Road).  At Tehachapi, I visited Walmart (to try to get rid of cans & bottles but no luck) and then drove through the historic section - I got to see the Old Train Depot.  Next, I got back on CA-58 and returned to Mojave.  After exiting on to CA-14, I made my way north until I reached the town of Indian Wells.  This same road (four lane) eventually became US-395.  Ultimately, I drove deep into the the Owens Valley, which took me north along the high peaks (eastern side) of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  During the entire drive, I listened to an audiobook.  I passed through Red Rocks State Park (very pretty striations) and some intermittent rain.  The latter yielded a brilliant rainbow on the horizon.  I saw more closed roads (due to flooding).  Meanwhile, in the opposite direction, there was a steady stream of fire trucks.  This likely tied to several warnings that Google Maps was giving me about road closures towards the north.  There was abundant snow on the Sierras to my west and I started to wonder if I would encounter any of that as I made a steady climb above 3000 feet.  I stopped at Lone Pine to visit the US Inter-Agency Visitor Center (at the junction of CA-136) and got some maps (1315).  Inside the building, I saw a PCT hiker (wow!).  There were lots of posted warnings about closed roads (across the Sierra, for snow).  When I asked about the fire that had closed US-395 (near Mono Lake), the ranger told me the road had reopened - I wonder how long it will be before Google Maps learns that fact...  Back in my car, I continued north through the actual town of Lone Pine, which had all the markings of a PCT Trail Town.  There were plenty of signs that the residents believed they lived in the "Gateway to Mount Whitney".  I saw images that reminded me of the time that Mollie and I had made part of this same journey (2019).  At 1435, I stopped for lunch (to go) at Taco Bell in Bishop and passed the official beginning of the current US-6.  This road goes all the way to Provincetown so I had thoughts of my family in Massachusetts.  However, I continued on US-395.  For the next hour, I encountered continual sprinkles and dropping temperatures.  I noticed that the snow on the Sierras seemed to mirror where the cloud layers were so that didn't bode well if I traveled through any clouds...  The road surfaces were already showing signs of recent rain and my car warned me we'd reached 37 F, the threshold for potential ice encounters.  At the same time, I started to see signs about how I was passing 7000 feet of elevation - I believe I reached 8000 at one point.  Since I'd had time to psyche myself up for this kind of situation, I tried to ignore the bothersome thoughts and drove very carefully.  Unfortunately, gas mileage started to degrade at around this time and I eventually had to get off the Freeway so I could driving (three miles) into Mammoth Lakes for a gas station.  Like during the 2019 visit with Mollie, Devil's Postpile was closed.  The elevation of town was 7881 feet and there was plenty of snow on the ground.  I got just barely enough gas at the Shell in town (1540) to make it to Carson City.  At the time, I was annoyed at the price - with hindsight, though, I feel pretty lucky that I "only" paid $5.43 per gallon.  Back on US-395, I descended (slowly) into the Mono Lake Valley.  The conditions turned dryer and, by the time I reached Mono Lake and stopped at a boat ramp lot by the side of the highway, the only weather of concern was the temps (they'd dropped into the low 30s).  The lakeside site was very remote and I was pleased to see some completely white peaks to the east (probably part of the Sierra ridge that marks the CA/NV border).  Departing Mono Lake, I climbed (still on US-395) to another high pass (the sign at the top was 8.1K).  This driving phase felt better, with the conditions improving.  After descending again, I passed through the town of Bridgeport - it was stunning to see that they were selling gas for $6.50!!!  After that, US-395 continued north but didn't climb anymore.  Instead, the road followed some valleys and creeks.  Things were going well until a large buck walked out into the middle of the road - I needed maximum breaking to miss him.  The dusk made me concerned that I might have more such wildlife encounters but that ended up being the only one.  The descent was quite steep near the CA-NV border town of Topaz Lake.  By then, it was dark but the lights reflecting off the lake itself - this was a nice effect.  As I made my way into Carson City, I pondered how my new tires and careful driving had kept me out of trouble as I navigated through steep, cold and wet mountain passes.  Over the course of the drive through Inyo and Mono Counties, I'd been forced to transition (finally) from shorts and t-shirts to winter wear.  I felt relieved to have made the journey safely!  At 1810, I arrived at the Carson City Motel 6.  After checking into my room, I spent time setting up my computers for a four night stay.  The surrounding area seemed like it required a bit of elevated vigilance - when I tried to set up the TV for sound while I wasn't in my room, I figured out that it was broken (submitted a trouble ticket).  Eventually, I was able to leave the room and spent time walking on the bike trail that paralleled South Carson Street in front of the hotel.  I ended up completing the northern 1.5 miles before stopping for a drink (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale) at the Lucky Strike Casino that was next to my motel (2000).  I had a good talk with the bartender before going back to my room.  Before bed, I organized some more, recorded my eBird findings (multiple stops) and completed some blog updates.  Surprisingly, I ended up communicating with my daughters (their request), even though it was very late for them.  I also did some light reading before turning out the lights (2300).  Excited to be working in Nevada this week!