As any California resident knows, going north on the 5 freeway suuuuucks. It's brown, dull, and has a particularly stinky area by the slaughterhouse nicknamed "Cowschwitz." We realized that when our journeys take us to towards the eastern side of the state, we get a far more interesting highway to travel on: The 395.
Highway 395 begins in the Mojave Desert (from LA the 14 runs into it), and it crosses Owens Valley, and cuts into Nevada. You could take it all the way to Canada, where it turns into British Columbia Highway 395.
On the Freeway 14 piece, make sure to stop at Jawbone Station, and say hi to Bob, the 119 year old tortoise who lives outside in an enclosure. He's super friendly. It's just a rest stop, but the tortoise makes for an interesting break along the road.
After this area, the landscape starts changing and you get a lot of volcanic rock and lava tubes. You can explore them a bit further north: Fossil Falls
Near Olancha, keep your eyes open for some weird looking statues. You'll then see Gus's Really Good Fresh Jerky, which as advertised, is really good. Gus will let you sample all the flavors. They have a small selection of drinks, so if you need soda, hit the gas station across the street. Gus's Fresh Jerky
After this, you'll see a weird house that looks like a lemon. I don't know anything else about it.
Alabama Hills has a ton of weird rock formations, if you want a short hike to stretch your legs. Alabama Hills
On our trip yesterday, we stopped at Manzanar, which was the Japanese internment camp here in California. There were a handful of camps during WWII, which relocated 100,000 people. Families had to uproot their lives and start over from nothing after the war ended. When we went, it was 100 degrees out. I can't even imagine how horrible it was.
The memorial site itself has a few buildings intact, and the auditorium was turned into a very nice museum, retelling many personal stories from the residents within. Even though it's sad, it's absolutely worth a visit. You can also do a driving tour of the site. Manzanar
Up at Big Pine is a BBQ place that has eluded me every time I've been on the 395. Copper Top BBQ. It's at 310 N Main St, Big Pine, CA - and voted top restaurant in the country on Yelp in 2014. It has really weird hours 12PM – 5PM and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Someday I'll make it over.
It's okay though, cuz 30 mins north is Bishop, which has LOTS of awesome food! Erick Schat’s Bakery is tons of fun to explore. A relative had fond memories of Holy Smoke Texas BBQ, and Mahogany Smoked Meats is on my to-eat list.
This last trip though, we were on a mission. We heard that there was a deli hidden in a Mobil Gas Station called Whoa Nellie Deli, with some amazing lobster taquitos. It's across the street from Mono Lake. When we found it- as weird as it was demanding lobster at a gas station - we were super pleased with our decision. It was paired with a raspberry salad and I don't think I've had anything better on a road trip. Mono lake is also really pretty and worth photographing along the way.
Shortly before Mono Lake is a much smaller lake called June Lake. We found some ridiculously good tri tip tacos at Trout Town Joe, a coffee shop. Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense. They were still really good. A couple doors down is a candy shoppe that's worth a peek, and June Lake Brewing has tons of tasty beers. Or you can bring beers to-go. The Mobil with the lobster taquitos also sells a couple of the June Lake beers.
By this time, you've long left the desert, and the temperature has cooled a bunch. You're surrounded by pine trees, and everything is super pretty. When you see cows, they're the kind of happy cows that California cheese probably comes from. It's a really nice drive.
North of here is Lake Tahoe, which is a destination usually for skiing, hiking, paddleboarding, ziplining - you name it. Lots of beautiful lake adventures await. Shoutout to out awesome hotel at Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort, which gives you access to paddleboats and stuff along with your room. I don't have awesome stops along this road north of this point, but I hope that if you're hitting Tahoe, Burning Man, or Reno from LA, that you consider this lovely drive and some of these amazing stops.
