No Whining In Lee Vining

I woke up in the town of Lee Vining this morning. I had gone to sleep there also, but it was a restless night in a  motel  room with noisy water pipes and a room that stayed hot unless I ran the loud air conditioner. The air conditioner had a remote control just like a tvee remote control and I discovered I could turn the thing on and off from bed.

All night it was on then off, on again and off again. I woke up exhausted but with a feeling of accomplishment.  

Lee Vining was a place I wanted to visit because it is on the shore of Mono Lake, and if I had ever been there I can’t remember.

The lake is salter than the Great Salt Lake, and salter than the ocean. It is an important stop over for migrating birds, but is probable most known for the Tufa limestone formations.

Mono Lake Tufa Formations

The migratory birds have left so It was just this California Gull, a few swallows, some Canadian Geese, and aboot a bazillion insects that thrive on the lake shores, and given the word that we have actually devastated the insect population with our motorcycles, they are ready to hit our bikes with a force not seen since the great Saskatchewan grass hopper massacre ride of 2003.

Another very cool thing aboot Lee Vining that I discovered is they have…

Three coffee shops that say they have Espresso.

I walked into the shop I thought looked real, with my shiny new Kaladi metal cup in hand, and asked the fellow behind the counter for a Lungo.
The Barista asked how many shots I would like and proceeded to tell me the time to ounce ratio of their shots.
I was impressed, and my lungo was ok. An unexpected treat, in a country normally void of decent espresso.

Enjoying my hot steamy beverage, much to my surprise I met another coffee connoisseur.

Bobs brewing gear is a bit primitive, but percolation has not limited his enthusiasm for conversation over coffee, or for solving the problems of the world, that we worked on for a while…and so later in the day it was no surprise to learn that the supreme court finally upheld the constitution and ruled in favor of marriage equality. With good koffee anything can happen, citizens united look out, your elimination is next.

 

The Eastern Sierra Nevada, is a great place to ride...