Morgan Family Vacation Part II

Our second part of our trip:

So, we left Grass Valley around 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning. We had lunch at In 'N Out Burger in Carson City. We sat in a booth and as we were getting ready to leave a man slid into the booth next to us. Melina reached out and touched him on the shoulder (she has a habit of touching strange men in public!). He turned around, smiled, and said "oh, look at the strawberry-blond baby!" I said, "do you really think she is? It's hard for me to tell." He said, "yes, definitely!" So, I am holding out hope that Miss Melina will be a redhead or strawberry blond after all!

Back on track, we had a very uneventful rest of the afternoon drive to Mammoth (both girls were angels--Melina was apparently used to driving long distances now and barely screamed). We arrived at Glass Creek campground around 4:45. We found our campsite, Jeff left us there, and then went into Mammoth to bring the trailer back. We then set up camp, etc. Unfortunately Jeff started coming down with a cold the night before so he was feeling pretty poorly by evening.

Wednesday we headed into town, picked up some groceries and sandwiches, and headed to our destination to meet Mike (he spent one more day in Grass Valley and left that morning). We drove high up a hill near Conway Summit and ate our lunch overlooking Mono Lake (a magnificent view!). Later down the hill while waiting for Mike, we spotted these pretty butterflies:

so Isabelle grabbed her binoculars for a closer look

We met Mike and then headed to Virginia Lakes to explore the area (none of us had ever been there).




Two beautiful lakes, and then we stopped at Virginia Creek and Isabelle did some swimming while the boys did some gold panning and Melina and I hung out.

We then went to an old mining town called Monoville Diggins. We had been there before, an old mine and cabin are all that exist now. To our amazement, as we drove up to the site, the claim's caretaker and his wife were there cleaning up the place and we were able to see the inside of the cabin and take a tour of the mine. What luck! It was quite an experience!




Then dinner in Lee Vining at Bodie Mike's as we enjoyed the outside atmosphere and the beautiful weather.

Thursday we headed to Bodie. Although we had been there 2 years ago, Mike had never been, but it was still very enjoyable to see this old mining town with such a history again. And to see the difference in Isabelle too, as I carried her in the sling at just 3 years old on our first visit, and this time she actually walked without (much) complaint.

Isabelle at age 3 in 2006:


And our family now, 2 years later!


Friday morning we relaxed in camp, and Isabelle and I did some fishing.

We then headed into Mammoth and found the old Mammoth City mining site and did some exploring there.


Then we hiked 1/4 mile out to an old stamp mill and did some exploring around there.


We stopped for this great view on the way to Mammoth City.

By this time, we're all definitely ready for showers, so we embark on the third part of our vacation and check into our condo!