I’m fully aware how late this post went up but, let me take you back a couple of weekends ago. My 3-day Memorial Day weekend became far and wide. We were all over the place to say the least. With no specific plans in mind about where to camp and/or what to see, somehow, we ended up in Nevada. 

We started our day with a quick stop in a small town called Bishop. Usually, I find that the random towns (those small pocket of places in the middle of no where) I’ve visited in Southern Cali., it’s either they’re empty, abandoned, dilapidated or all of the above. Bishop town was different. It had a small community with plenty of shops, restaurants, hotels with a backdrop view of the Sierra Nevada Mountain; a place where I could definitely see myself living in one day.

The town was still quiet at 8am with the sunshine beaming as bright as it’s been. It was difficult for me to open my eyes. I took a quick photo below with my eyes closed at this ice cream shop. The colorful paints on the walls gives hints to the town’s character; a crafty small town with a side of spunky attitude. I’m not surprise at all to find out that (base on readings) western films were shot here. Hellllo John Wayne!

Some of our friends got a head start and camped out a night earlier. We, on the other hand, were the stragglers. Our friends kindly met us halfway.

While we waited, we took the liberty to mingle with the cows. These cows, I thought, looked very content eating grass and going about their day.

As we hopped out of the car, we inspected the scene. The cows on the other side of the fence became curious of us. The more we talked to them the more they started giving us their attention. Within minutes, they all started piling around the water bank staring across towards us. It was quite adorable.

We said good-bye to them and went across the street where, we saw a bridge and a tiny river. My friend decided to try and fish but, failed to catch anything.

After an hour later, our friends finally arrived and we headed towards Mono Hills Mountain. We drove around for a while until, we finally found the right spot to camp for the night.

Talking about absolute seclusion from the city, we really hit a good spot. There were large trees surrounding us, with actual trails that we could walk on and mountains all around. No signs of animals except lizards. Although, I was really hoping to see a deer or a coyote.

The next day everyone decided they wanted to check out this hot spring nearby that had good reviews online. Sadly, the woman at this place was rude as hell and is not worth mentioning any further. In any case, we decided to roam around the town. I found the old restored buildings in the area to be quite interesting. This particular one, on the photo below, had an old gas station, some furniture by the doors and signs that stated Wells Fargo used to be located within this shop. My mind wondered what the interior looked like back in those days. It would’ve been nice to see the inside of this building but, it is off limits.

Anyway, since the first hot spring was a bust, we drove out further to see another town that someone mentioned was cool to see. That didn’t work out either (because someone forgot where this cool town was located), although, the further we drove the more we realized we had crossed over to Nevada. There, in the middle of no where, was a true hot spring that was 100% FREE.

We joined several other campers for the night out here. Everyone seemed easy-going and obviously, were there for the 3-day weekend vacation. Lots of campers had dirt bikes and were riding around this area as fast (or slow) as they can. This desert offered plenty of space and it still seize to amaze me how much land we have in U.S.A. beyond the city.

By the end of the day, we were presented with a beautiful pinkish sunset and the moon was shining all throughout the night.

At some point, we fell asleep and I had one lingering thought before my eyes shut. I hope, at least in my generation, that we are able to keep as much of nature as possible so we can continue to enjoy life without distractions.