Published on

9/7/11 10:15 PM

Pacific Standard Time

Part Deux, Day Deux

We woke up with the intentions of visiting the Movie Museum just down the road from our room. We arrived at the door at 9:00 AM hoping they would be opening about then. Although we did see the proprietor wandering around inside, the sign on the door said that we would have to wait until 10:00 to find out about all of the movies that had been filmed in the area. He had no interest in starting his day too early.

The morning air was fresh and a very comfortable temperature. To wait around another hour would mean the sun would just be heating things up. Instead, we packed up and headed off to Bishop to take advantage of the cool morning air.

We were told that Bishop had some good barbeque. We didn't find any of that but we did grab a bite. Afterwords walked around and noticed the 10 or 20 sporting goods and fly fishing shops. Apparently that is very popular in the surrounding lakes and streams up in the hills.

We talked about a guided fishing trip but that never materialized. Dead fish in our saddle bags might just be a bad idea anyway.

Reno isn't all that far as it turns out. We could have ridden the rest of the distance fairly easily. The GPS had been programmed to take us to Murphys, CA which is in the Calavarus County wine country. The route it had selected had us bypassing Yosemite National Park and taking a road that followed the northern park boundary. Peter had the great idea of working our way through Yosemite instead. Terrific idea!

If you haven't been there before, everything you had heard about it is true. It is a stunningly beautiful place with some truly unique and amazing scenery. The road through the park is a very pleasant ride and since we were there just after Labor Day, the tourist traffic was delightfully minimal. Out of the other side of the park was an easy ride to Murphys, California.

Murphys was our planned destination for the night. We had talked about making a wine-touring trip at some point and Peter and I had the opportunity to explore the area and report back to the “better halves”.

Murphys, just a few years ago, must have been just a bump in the road. The “old town” is actually a short block off of the highway and most of the highway frontage is occupied by modern, rather sterile buildings. So much so that we couldn't find a saloon! Imagine that! We couldn't find a cold beer! We actually had to double back and cruise the “Business District” (which is what they now call their old Main Street) and stop at a wine shop to ask where we could get a beer!

The staff at the wine shop suggested we could find a fine beer at a restaurant just a few doors from where we were. Very nice people at the wine shop and we chatted for quite a little bit. They did also mention that there was a rather horrible place, just “kitty-corner” to the place they mentioned, but that only the less cultured folks in the area frequented that establishment.

We wandered down to the most highly recommended place. It turned out to be a slightly snobbish restaurant that served rather snobbish beers as well. A pint each of a couple of beers neither of us had ever heard of and we decided to visit The Nugget (that seedy bar just across the way).

As soon as we entered, we felt right at home. Friendly people in a typically tavern-ish place. We chatted with the locals over a couple of pints and finally felt properly quenched.

Off to find a room, grab a little dinner and back to the Nugget for a “night cap” filled up the remainder of the evening. 545 miles on the odometer. 259 miles traveled today.