1st Stop: Mammoth Lakes (posted by Buddy)

How we got here- In a white camper van. Yup, Tim got rid of his Tundra with custom pop top, and got us a used Sportsmobile/Dodge Sprinter. I love it because I get to ride in the front!

What we're doing here- Tim & Himne quit their jobs to pursue an opportunity of a lifetime. Next to their dream of living in Hawai'i, they had been talking about doing a road trip to Alaska and eastbound across the US/Canada, for as long I can remember.

So we left San Diego on Friday, March 27. Mammoth was beautiful and I had lots of fun there! Snowed a few times ie fresh pow-pow for Timne and I had a spacious & cozy cabin to run around in. Great location out in the wilderness where it felt like the great wide open belonged to me! At the same time it was convenient for the peeps to be just a 5-10 minute drive from town & the slopes. (Click here for photos and reservations: http://www.vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/44883.html.)

Peter, Mike, Vika & Ricardo joined us for that 1st weekend and had a blast on the mountain. Timne encouraged everyone to do their part in reducing the beers and wine we had brought from San Diego. (No room for it on the road trip.)

Our next visitors were Tess, Mike and Doug, who made a diligent, joint effort to empty a couple of wine bottles. One night Tim dared everyone in the hot tub to jump out and make snow angels right then and there. Glad I didn't have to see that =)

These 10 days in Mammoth were great and we enjoyed having friends over. Looking forward to meet up with more friends & family as we continue North, especially since we might be away for quite a few months.

-BLD

Convict lake. Fun side trip from mammoth. Also visit the hot springs off the airport road (closes at dusk).

Yumm. Fresh igloo. Pic taken at June lake. Not a great mountain overall – but Tim’s now favorite all time carving run is there.

TD: You are never really ready to take a trip like this. I had been hoping we could do something like it for years, then when you actually make that leap to living out of a van you start to second guess yourself. You start to wonder about where you are going to stay, do, cabin fever etc... Well, after a hectic day of last minute packing and cleaning we leave San Diego late on Friday to head up to Mammoth. Thanks to Mike & Peter for the moving help.

More Mammoth pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/himneL/MammothApril2009?feat=directlink

Some additional blogs from Tim:
Tim’s blog:
http://miscellaneousdebris-tim.blogspot.com/

Blog about the Sportsmobile / RVing:
http://timnewhitehouse.blogspot.com/

Trip buying the RV in North Carolina and driving to SD:
http://timnepretrip.blogspot.com/