Itstrainingtime

Cross one more thing off the 'ole bucket list:

Leaving this beautiful town later this morning. My wife captured this on our day out and about yesterday: Today we head northwest to San Francisco, due to arrive this evening. From there we'll head down the coast to Los Angeles over the next several days.

My wife is stirring...back to being a non-weenie again.

I wish I could explain the "dynamic" of this area better - of course, Mammoth got a record amount of snow this past winter. What might not be so obvious is how "precarious" this area is to the rain/snow line. (yes, that is something they contend with even here) During many winter storms, the area is flooded with warm Pacific air and the snow line often ends up somewhere in the 7,000 to 8,000 foot range. The town sits at just under 8,000'. For most of the winter, the town was JUST above the rain/snow line, especially during the bigger storms that dropped feet of snow at a time. Along with that, and sitting at the base of the mountain, Mammoth is obviously higher in elevation than areas around here. So when we drove into town on Sunday we were amazed at how quickly we went from bare ground to feet of snow...it happened in a matter of 3 miles. It literally wasn't until the last 5 minutes or so of our trip into town did we finally see snow cover. It really is bizarre how the town manages to find itself JUST inside the "snow zone" every winter. Mammoth Lakes averages about 250" of snow annually...the next town down the road averages about 60".

Good morning - why I'm up this early on vacation is puzzling even to me, but the gondola ride yesterday was...wow, it was so freaking beautiful! Unfortunately, most of the pics are lousy due to glare from the sun reflecting off the windows...below is one I got shortly after leaving the village. What struck me is how little snow remains on exposed hillsides at "lower" elevations. The town still has several feet of snow cover mainly due to the fact that the town is essentially in a forest. Open areas around here, the snow has vaporized. In fact, the only snow in this general area is now on the mountain itself and the immediate town of Mammoth Lakes. If we were to drive 3-4 miles south on CA Rt. 203 out of Mammoth the ground is 100% bare other than some piles. We are doing some hiking this morning and then biking this afternoon. Tomorrow we'll leave midday and head west towards the Pacific (Mammoth is way inland, much closer to Nevada than the ocean) and then we'll head down the PCH starting Thursday. This weekend will be spent in the LA basin before starting the train trek east all of next week.

It's remarkable how much this town is like the beach communities on the east coast - yesterday was NUTS...people everywhere. Woke up this morning and it's a ghost town. I was looking at the lift cams earlier and there are many chairs without skiers and boarders on them. Also, hours were cut starting today, last uphill access is at 3pm.

First full day in Mammoth Lakes: We will be riding the scenic gondola shortly...I'll try and get something up tonight. This was taken from outside our condo in town. Average snow depth is town ranges from as little as 40" or so to as much as 80" closer to the "village" at the base of the mountain. That is where the gondola starts and is the place where the cam is located that I've shared multiple times over the past several months. It's currently in the upper 50s - pic was taken mid-morning today. We'll be here for 2 more nights before starting to head south through CA. Air is...different, that's for sure. Our condo sits at about 7,750' and I can sure feel the difference when moving around.

Greetings from Mammoth Lakes California! We arrived in town around 2:30 local time and were treated by the sight of a thunderstorm up on the mountain with snow at the summit. I hope to be able to share some pics in the coming days but I'm pinching myself right now in awe. There's about 4 feet of snow left here but it is melting quicker than Joel Embiid in a playoff game. The person that checked us in said the snowpack went down nearly 5 feet this week! Glad we got in when we did before it's all gone. Still nearly 15 feet on the mountain. I did not see any of the "game" but will offer this quickly - I have said for the past 3 years that the Philadelphia 76ers will not win with Joel Embiid. I have taken a LOT of abuse over my commentary but I stand with that sentiment today. Embiid is a Fantasy basketball player- he puts up great Fantasy numbers, but anyone who thinks he's a winner is living in Fantasy world. The team will make a lot of changes during the off-season but as long as they build around #21 the team will not win. I've been waiting to be proven wrong and I don't think that day is coming.

62 and gorgeous here in Truckee. 72 back home on the weather station. Looks like Maytown got to 87 today. Glad I'm here.

Greetings! A very quick hello from Laramie, Wyoming as we continue our journey west. I told my wife that I would unplug from the real world on this once in a lifetime trip so I'm going to sort of honor that...she's in the shower right now so I wanted to say hello and tell you that it is absolutely stunning out here. No snow on the ground here but it's gorgeous! We'll be arriving in CA later this week and we'll be on the Mammoth Lakes gondola on Monday. Just talked to my son and he said not a drop of rain at home since we left Saturday morning. Figures. LOL I'll try and sneak a few more updates in the next couple of weeks. https://www.visitlaramie.org/plan-your-visit/webcams/downtown-laramie/

Just hit 60 here.

MU officially recorded a trace of snow yesterday - in a season where less than 1" fell they still pull off measurable in May. Just to clarify - it was snow that fell...not another form of frozen precip that gets recorded as snow.

.03" at home - home station down the road from work actually recorded .16" yesterday. Quite rainy during the morning to early afternoon time frame. I mowed last evening and will do so again tomorrow. With the breeze yesterday the grass wasn't too bad to cut last evening.

Not a huge surprise given that our area was in moderate drought status previously and we received less rain than most over the past week.

At least here at work, much more in the way of rain today over the past couple of days. I had no measurable rainfall yesterday but have had several showers today already.

I would have as well had I not watched dozens of Amtrak meatball videos. LOL

We planned our trip by watching travel vlogs - Jeb Brooks is one of our favorites. And he talks at length about said meatballs.

That's good info - I know I'm guilty of overestimating warmth and underestimating the cool spells. (AN spells always seem longer to me than BN streaks do) That really puts things in perspective.

After a week on and off the train, we're looking forward to being in control of our own travel. The entire trip is meticulously planned EXCEPT for the drive south along the coast. We're going to take time and enjoy things on a whim. After years of coach seating on Florida trips, we splurged (somewhat) for a roomette. It's small, but we'll have beds and access to showers. Plus privacy.

We've taken the Auto Train to Sanford FL many times, the Silver Star to Orlando, and many regional trips to NYC and such. Really excited to head west! Heading west it's a little over 51 hours on that route, 65 hours heading east. As always with Amtrak, delays are to be expected and built into the traveler's schedule. It's not the way to travel if you're inpatient or in a hurry, but if you're in a total relax vibe like we'll be you can't beat it. We'll be heading nearly due west through Denver as Bubbler mentioned and reaching the west coast near San Francisco. It'll take us a week to get there as we're stopping several places along the way. Spending a week in California and then heading east out of LA across the deep south before turning north along the Mississippi towards Chicagoland.

California Zephyr westbound from Chicago to San Francisco, then the Texas Eagle eastbound from Los Angeles to Chicago. A series of routes from Mount Joy out to Chicago and back. We'll be renting a car to drive the Pacific Coast highway south from SF along the coast.

We're actually taking Amtrak.

Yes, Friday will make #10.

51 here with on and off sprinkles/very light showers. Definitely does not have the look and feel of early May, that's for sure. I still might be able to sneak in #9 in the next couple of hours...

You might very well catch and pass "me" this month as I'll be traveling for 23 days beginning on Saturday. Rest assured, family will be stepping in to keep the mow count growing. LOL