4th of July, in Mammoth Lakes

Hello again, my annual Independence Day trip is to Mammoth Lakes, woo-hoo! Better yet, Jacque was able to join me, WOO-HOO! It's a beautiful weekend, lows in the 40's, high in the 70's. Sun's out, a bit of a breeze blowing, just doesn't get much better. We went out to breakfast this morning, then hit a crafts fair going on here in town. I bought a lawn ornament for Jacque, a nicely made metal rendering of a family of quail (we get quail in our yard all the time). The bus is fueled and swept, the potty is clean, supplies are set up for the return trip. In other words, the bus is parked, and we're ignoring it. Jacque wasn't able to actually be on the bus (she had to work on Friday, bummer). As a result, she drove her 2000 Ford Focus, with nearly 200,000 miles on it, the 400 miles to Mammoth, thru the high desert as well as Friday afternoon traffic streaming out of L.A.! This girl will do anything for an adventure.... Anyhow, her car ran flawless, and we now have wheels to travel around the area! Yesterday, we landed up at Silver Lake, near June Lake, and were quickly "found" by the 20 trillion mosquitoes in the area. Needless to say, we didn't stay there very long. I found out that the "Minnesota" in me apparently is still strong; I killed mosquitoes left and right, deadly efficient on the first attempt. We cruised the Mammoth Lakes area, drove by several places where Jacque used to live. Today, we're going to the 3-grave-site graveyard here in town. Yup, that's right, 3 graves! Dates back to the 1880's. We both drive home tomorrow, the 5th of July. Jacque will go early, to stay ahead of the worst of the heat (no A/C in her Focus), I'll be along later, with 41 tired backpackers.