We have moved on to Lee Vining, CA for a four night stay. We took day trip to Bodie State Historic Park. Bodie was one of the richest gold strikes in California. It was once known as the most lawless, wild and tough mining camp in the West. We took a self-guided tour of the ghost town. Only 5% of the original town still remains. A few of buildings that are still standing are: a school, a methodist church, several houses, the general store, a hotel, and a boarding house. The population of Bodie during its heyday was 8,500. The school’s highest enrollment was 615. The town of Bodie was named after W.S. Bodey. (Yes, the spelling is correct. They changed the spelling when they named the town.) He stuck gold in 1859. He ended up dying in a blizzard and never saw the town come to life. It became a boomtown in 1877 and had more than 2,000 buildings. By the end of the mining operations, Bodie grossed more than $33 million.
We spent the rest of our stay in the east side of Yosemite National Park. The visitation numbers to the popular national parks are through the roof. You need to get where you want to go early and be able to put up with the crowds. To beat the crowds, we need to start hitting these places in late spring and early fall but this requires getting lucky with the weather.
We now have a three day marathon drive home through the deserts of Southern California and Northern Arizona. We have really enjoyed the two months we have taken to travel but home always calls.
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