Bishop, California - #89 CHECK!

This past weekend, my husband and I traveled to Bishop, CA and the surrounding areas in the Sierra Nevada mountains for a little anniversary getaway. We seriously don't take enough vacations and since we figured this would be the last chance before 2 become 3 (or 6 become 7 if you count all the pets), we wanted to go somewhere beautiful, relaxing, and not too busy. The small town of Bishop was perfect.

I come from a family that likes to DO things on their vacation. Visit landmarks, go to museums, hike, watch movies, etc. However, Preston is definitely a "I don't want to do anything, I just want to relax" kind of guy. Given the insanity that has been in our lives lately (which will only get worse I'm sure), we opted for the latter. We packed up our happy little Subaru and headed north with no plans other than a hotel reservation (plus golf clubs for him and a camera for me!). Keep in mind though - I am no landscape photographer. In fact, I rarely even attempt to shoot landscape and even more rare is when I show anyone what I shot. I really want to learn, but for all of you out there that have a natural knack for this, bear with me...

I slept in the first morning while Preston golfed (in 35 mph winds, lol) and then we sleepily headed up to the snow. It was nice and stormy (my kind of relaxing weather, personally). We drove up to Lake Sabrina first. It was right at the base of the snow level, but since that was pretty high in elevation, we decided that we shouldn't push it (since I was already getting a wee bit of altitude sickness).



I don't know if the temperature translates in the photo to you, but holy cow, it was cold. Right around freezing, but the wind coming down off the peaks was way too cold for this California girl.

We started back down and stopped briefly at both North Lake and South Lake. These next photos are from North Lake. There was actually a guy out there fishing too. Craziness. It was so gorgeous and quiet though. Nothing but the sounds of the wind.



I think our Subaru was so happy to be in its element. :) By the time we were done with the long weekend, the Sub (pronounced "soob" in our family...) was covered in mud and dust after driving through puddles, off-roading on volcanic rock, and driving through a lot of rain and dust. The drive to North Lake through the aspen trees and mud puddles was one of my favorite parts. Totally worth it to get here.



There are several places in town that were quite beautiful also. I loved this blood hound hanging out on the back tool box of his owner's truck and had to grab a quick pic with my point and shoot. He was so happy when his owner came back out too - started thumping his tale on the toolbox as soon as he caught sight of him. He also appeared to enjoy having his photo taken.



I loved this little creek down the road from our hotel.



This truck hanging out in the front yard of a repair place down the road was very eye-catching to me. I have always loved old cars and this one was no exception, even in it's state of disrepair...



Preston and I were also totally amused when we found this just up the road from us. Especially since we rarely see our last name spelled correctly!



Throughout our trip, we spent time exploring and relaxing every way we could. Preston napped, I got a pedicure (holla!), and we enjoyed visiting some local photography galleries while it was raining outside. I've been wanting to do this for a while, and I was thrilled when I realized I get to check this off my 101 in 1001 List! Not only did I go to Vern Clevenger's gallery on Main Street, I also went to the Mountain Light Gallery as well (mostly made up of Galen Rowell's work). Check out his shot of North Lake! It was inspiring and beautiful - and I even bought a book on landscape and nature photography so maybe someday I can get good at this too. :)

The next day, we drove up onto the volcanic tableland mesas just a bit further north. It was still wonderfully blustery and I loved how the clouds looked.



We also spent some time lounging in the Looney Bean - one of our new favorite coffee spots. :) All in all, we really enjoyed the nice, relaxing time - just the two of us (well, three if you count Cameron). I highly recommend it for a nice, quiet, picturesque getaway. :)