It’s a weird feeling having our last visit to Bishop before we set sail on our world adventure. There is a mixture of excitement and sadness. I’m not sure sadness is the correct word to use, but I’m sure most people can relate to the feeling you get when you have no idea when you are going to see your family and friends again as well as not knowing when you’ll see the mountains in the Eastern Sierra again. On one hand, it’s “we are going to miss this” and on the other hand it’s “wow, we are so lucky to have had this and now we get to see new things and share it with all the people we love and new people we meet along the way!”. We look forward to sharing our adventures via blog, and we looking forward to having family and friends visit us along to way even more so.  So follow us on the map (soon to add to blog) and visit us!!!

We had a fantastic visit to the Eastern Sierra and shared amazing times with family. Like usual, we couldn’t fit everything and everyone in with only 3 days to visit, but we managed to do a lot.  First day: drove over from San Francisco Bay, hot springs and my oldest nephew, Reymond’s high school graduation! We are so proud of you Reymond!

Saturday: we spent the morning playing with the nieces and nephews and celebrating Reymond’s graduation with a big family bbq.

Sunday: Breakfast at Great Basin Bakery, Hike on Crater Mountain to find lava tubes for boatschool lesson with our good friends LIzzy and Arron and Linda. And of course a visit to Keough’s Hot Springs and Mountain Rambler Brewery.  Crater Mountain proved itself amazing. Here, this awesome geological formation existed in “my back yard’ during my childhood and I hadn’t been to visit since my 6th grade field trip with Mr. Beach.  I tried to research where to find the lava tube online, but little information has been posted. We managed to find two lava tubes! The first was huge! Through a small opening, we dropped down into a cavern, which through another small opening lead to another cavern, and then again through another small opening into another cavern.  Each opening that lead to the next room we had to crawl through on our hands and knees. The kids loved it! The second lava tube we found was much smaller, with only one cavern, and was full of bats. I later learned that this was a maternal roosting spot for the endangered Townsend’s Big-eard Bat. Although I feel lucky to see these amazing creatures, I feel bad for possibly disturbing them without knowing the ramifications. For this reason, I am not posting the location of the Lava tubes that we found and I encourage whoever goes to seek out the Lava tubes to be cautious of the Townsend’s big-eared bat and if sited, please do not disturb them.

Yummy beers and food @ Mountain Rambler Brewery night with the Kiddoo Family

Monday: we made our way back home with a pit stop in Tahoe for a dip in the cold lake and a stay at our friend’s house. Malcolm and Gyongyi use Tibetan Singing Bowls and essential oils to aid in health. Just walking into the house was healing. Thanks guys!  If you are interested in Sound Healing, Gyongyi is having a Sound Healing Workshop this August!