Rikki & Chris at LonelyPlanet.tv (Fox,too) - watch the video!

Hahaha!!! I was thrilled after logging in lonelyplanet.tv and finding our video on the homepage!!! This was from a previous trip but I thought it was worth mentioning here (yeah, yeah, no one reads this) but it's nice to keep this as a time capsule, anyway.

A month back when I uploaded the video, Rebecca Peniston-Bird, Lonely Planet.tv producer wrote me an email saying how much she liked the video, particularly my "sense of humour".
We had a few email exchanges and I told her that there'd probably be more since we are going to travel in the near future. I promised to keep her and the website updated.

What I didn't realize was that in the vid, I said "antelopes" (GASP!) yes, with an S. My grade school teacher told me about "reindeer" but failed to mention about antelopes - oops, there, I did it again.

Anyway, go see the video, log on to lonelyplanet.tv and see if it's still on the main page. If not make a search for "nevada" and it's the one titled "High Deserts/High Spirits", or CLICK HERE to see the video. Can you vote and make it a favorite? That would be swell.

Thanks a bunch!
PS- the selections on their website change/rotate of course, so I captured my monitor screen and pasted it up there for you to see :-)
It feels good to be picked by the staff and the viewers at the same time! :-)

Lakes, Lakes, and More Lakes

Before leaving the town of Mammoth Lakes and the Devils Postpile, we did the scenic route and went on a tour of the different lakes that this county is known for - the hundreds of lakes and streams, trout fishing, and hiking trails through the John Muir and Ansel Adams Wilderness area. I'm including the rest of the small trips to different lakes we took in the past days in the album below...



Driving out of California, we stopped by the calm and amazingly beautiful Mono Lake (at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains) one of the oldest lakes in America. Mono Lake is a very salty lake that has intriguing rock formations called "Tulfas".

(Mono Lake webcam here.)

And yes, our photos...








Finally, in Nevada, we came across another small lake (actually, an artificial reservoir but not obviously so) - Topaz Lake - and dry camped there. This time we parked right next to the water so the view outside our windows were SPECTACULAR!!! Click the photo below to see my portfolio on Topaz Lake.

It almost felt like we were on the water as you could see it directly outside the windows. Chris used to go here as a kid with his cousins. To me its an awesome place. We're here only a short time, and after the weekend's over we're back to the Bay Area. I'm really excited for our next trip, I've never been to Oregon and Washington. After the dry, humid and hot desert, I'm looking forward to a cool, coastal getaway. See you soon!

Last Day at INYO

It kinda felt good to leave Mosquito Country, actually it wasn't THAT bad. In the mornings when it is 65 friggin degrees, Fox and I can go out so he can pee and do his doodoo. The mosquitoes are still sleeping by then or whatever it is they do at 5:30 in the morning.

However, today I had a nice photo shoot. It was a bit before sunrise (the sun being behind the mountains) and there was already light. It felt just right to do this shoot in monochrome as this place was the inspiration for Ansel Adams. Here's a tribute to the Inyo forest particularly the serene meadow that surrounded us, the beautiful territory where Mr. Adams composed many of his great works.

The Devils Postpile

Today was a hiking day. After scrambled eggs and bacon (no cereal this morning - it's outside in that metal storage and it's too cold to get it!) We head out for the day to see The Devils Postpile - a 60 foot high wall of geometric vertical cylinders, part of the National Parks in the US. This national monument which includes Rainbow Falls has one amazing hiking trail. Chris, Fox and I covered almost 4 miles of heat, dust and dirt and by the end of the hike poor Fox was dragging his tail :(
I know we will be talking about this hike again someday, and how much it was worth the toll. Take a look at the pics we took during the hike!
Click here to see the photo album!
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By the way, a darn fly bit me (YES! A FLY! With friggin' TEETH!) while we were hiking and caused this nasty bruise!!! If tomorrow I'm green all over with big red eyes and scales instead of skin, I probably won't be writing a blog anymore.

BUGS and BEARS

We found a cool campground in Devils Postpile that overlooks a meadow that we can see from our kitchen, living room and bedroom windows. Towering pine trees provide both the frame and the backdrop for the meadow, and we can see how the Inyo forest inspired Ansel Adams. The site was also next to a stream, and several hiking trails all around.

Two things I didn't like:
1. Mosquitos
2. Black bears

It's impossible to go outside and not get feasted upon by the flying buggers, so DEET is our best friend. On the other hand, although we have to lock all our non-refrigerated food in a metal compartment outside the RV, I would love to see some black bears!

Monday in Bishop

Today we finally arrived in Bishop, a sweet dainty town which doesn't look like it belongs to the desert. Again, the mountains were prominent - and it's nice to see them looming in the background as you drive through the town streets. This part of the desert is greener. We are camping in a full hook-up site tonight. That means water, electricity, cable tv and drainage for wastes will all be available. Good for running computers since we don't have to run the generator, but not really our ideal situation, since you're most likely next to another RV. During the day were out for adventures so it doesn't really bother us much.

All blinds down and the air conditioning running, everything's dandy. Alas, our internet satellite can't get a signal because of a tree blocking the way. For the next few nights we recharge, there won't be any cellphones and emails and bloggings, so I hope that explains it.

How To Lose Your Keys in 10 Mins

1. Make sure all your keys are on one key ring. This must include EVERYTHING - from home keys, mailbox keys, car keys, RV keys - don't forget your maglite and your 'Patron Saint of Travelers' trinket your beloved recently-passed-away grandfather handed down when you were a child.
2. Place said key ring on top of car bumper while you attach it to be towed by the RV.
3. Once the car is attached, drive away in the RV towing your car.
4. It's that easy - just set it, and forget it.

When it's time to untow the car, you'll be panicking and running around cursing in no time.

You can try retracing your way back but of course it's not gonna be there.

Last Day With The Joshua Trees

I know, I look like a total retard in this photo.

Today's our last day here. Everyday is my favorite :-). I get up at 5 AM or something - for exercise, walking or to take my photos or videos. Fox usually goes with me. We explore around and we love playing around the Joshua trees. There's also a self-guided hiking trail just in the camp. Chris and I went before sunset tonight. A last chance to be higher than these giants, to look down on God's creation. I have a feeling we will be doing a lot of these in the next few days.

Car Troubles??? Need a Loan???

My friends at the Box Office, I know you'll get a kick out of this. Right there - in the middle of nowhere - is this dilapidated car that looks like it was greeted by Al Capone's gangster men during the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

This is one car "Pimp My Ride" wouldn't be able to fix.

Hey, at least whoever owns this car won't have to worry about air conditioning!

A Beautiful Place Called The Desert

It's nice that we have the Xterra. When we drive to a campground (or to any camping destination) we tow it behind (it doesn't get mileage!) Once we get to our destination, we setup and settle, and whenever we go out to explore the area we use "Chuck", the 4x4, like when we went to this hilly desert North of where we camped. I was taking a video when Chris took this picture. I didn't realize how immensely VAST it is, and how breath-taking and beautiful this place really is until I looked at what's behind me!

High On The Hill

Here ye, here ye. A photo from yesterday - as soon as we settled, we started exploring. Fox was very excited. I was still gawking in amusement. The sun was just setting and the colors started bursting everywhere.

I took a photo of our RV right under that big rock. And I thought our RV was big!

Fox: Me & My Dad

This trip is awesome! I was so happy! I knew something was up soon as I wore my red scarf. I don't mind the sand so much and there's a lot of places for me to explore. We climbed on top of rocks soon as we got here. If only I could get Spencer out here. I'm sure he'd be fine with rock-climbing.

Red Rock Canyon

Our trip begins in Red Rock Canyon in the Mojave desert, then to the Alabama Hills and Tuttle Creek in Lone Pine, and then to Bishop, the White Mountains and on to Devils Postpile and Mono Lake. From Fresno, after visiting Chris' mom, we drove and drove until houses disappeared and cities became towns and their distances got farther and farther. Then there were just highways and mountains. Beautiful mountains. We entered a campground named Ricardo (a good friend calls me that!), and soon these magnificent walls of red rocks came into view. This place is gorgeous and I fell in love with it! We searched for the right spot, just below this towering rock. It was the only one that had good shade and we were very hot. This is the desert after all.