Outdoors with Don Q: Escaping Carson City in the wintertime

For the last several years, Elaine and I have fled Carson City for a short time in the month of February to escape the seemingly, unending cold, snow and ice of our area in the wintertime.
This year is no exception.
The rental home:
In January, Elaine got busy on the Internet and at www.vrbo.com (Vacation Rental By Owner), she found the perfect hideaway location in Indio, California at a rental home for the period of time February 09-20.
Then, we made all of the necessary arrangements by a combination of the Internet and telephone calls with the rental owners, Randy and Theresa Cundiff.
Randy was a very pleasant person and great to deal with for the two would-be renters from Carson City.
The rental property is an 1,800 square foot home located on the fourth green of one of three nine-hole courses in the gated community of Indian Palms Country Club.
The home is fully furnished with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, fireplace, propane barbecue, outdoor spa, lap pool, etc., closely adjoining the fourth green.

Carson City to Lone Pine:
On Saturday, February 08, we loaded up our Four Runner and took off for Indio.
Our first stop was at the restaurant at the Topaz Lodge and Casino at Topaz Lake, where (in my less-than-humble-opinion) they have the world's best steak and eggs breakfast, bar none, anywhere at any time.
If you've never tried it, you have missed out on a truly great, five-star breakfast.

Then we drove from Topaz Lake to our overnight destination of Lone Pine; and along the way, as a reminder that it is still winter, there were requirements for tire chains or snow tires on that section of U.S. 395 in the Mammoth Lakes area.

At Bridgeport and Lee Vining, if you needed gasoline, it was an eye-popping $4.79 a gallon! Thank Goodness that we never get gas at those locations.

In the Mammoth Lakes area, the snowplows were busy clearing the highway.
At Sherwin Summit, we finally dropped out of the snow line into Owens Valley and the City of Bishop.
And, wow, what a change. Things were green, it was warm and there were bicyclists, walkers and golfers on the golf course.

A totally different world than the one that we had left behind in Carson City. Finally, after an uneventful drive, we arrived in Lone Pine at about 2:30 p.m. On our eight-hour trips to Southern California, we always plan to go half-way to Lone Pine, spend the night and then leisurely coast in the following morning.

If you ever replicate our trip to the southland, be sure to stop overnight in Lone Pine, and plan to stay at the Dow Villa Motel (800-824-9317) (760-876-5521) (www.dowvilla@lonepinetv.com).
The rooms are very comfortable and very reasonably priced.

Then, take a short walk down the street to the "Merry Go Round" Chinese Restaurant for a great dinner (my favorite is sweet and sour pork with fried rice). The next morning before leaving Lone Pine, do as we do, walk across the street to the Alabama Hills Cafe and Bakery for a cup of coffee and one of their giant cinnamon rolls. Another "Do Not Miss" eating experience.

And, after breakfast be sure to take the short drive to the west on the street that leads into the Alabama Hills for a spectacular view of the snow capped Sierra Nevada Mountains featuring Mt. Whitney (14,497').

Lone Pine to Indio:
Once we were back on the road, it was smooth sailing to the Indian Palms Country Club in Indio with clear weather all the way, although it was windy.
Some of the highlights of this section of our trip were:
Virtually no traffic on U.S. 395 until we reached Kramer's Junction.
The mind-boggling number of big semis traveling through Kramer's on SR-58.
All of the traffic signals as you drive through the Adelanto area.
The rare sight of snow along the edge of the highway at Cajon Pass.
The countless wind turbines on the hillsides near Palm Springs.
On our trip, merging from U.S. 395 to I-15, from I-15 to I-215, from I-215 to I-10 (in very heavy traffic) and finally exiting on Jefferson Street in Indo.
Yahoo! We finally arrived after a total of eight hours of driving in two days.

In Indio:
We met Randy at the rental home, he took us for a tour of the premises and explained about all of the light switches, power switches and security settings.
After Randy left, we unpacked, settled in, sat on the back patio (the weather, for us, was a fabulous 67 degrees), and watched all kinds of "duffers" trying to sink their putts on the fourth green.

The golfers:
It was interesting to see some of the golfers reactions when they putted: Some would hi-five each other when they sank their putt, others would shake their heads in disgust when they missed, one threw his putter down and walked away, and one poor soul putted and putted until he finally picked up his ball and stormed away.
The end of the day:
My cousin Lorraine and her husband Bob of Dayton, who live in Indio from November to April every year, had us over for a tasty roast beef dinner.
A great start to a great vacation at a great location.
And, a great way to escape Carson City in the wintertime.
It doesn't get much better than that!
Why don't you also give it a try before it gets too warm in Southern California.
Just go to www.vrbo.com and start browsing.

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can't tell you the most unusual thing about our trip from Carson City to Indio.
If he grins and says, "When Don and Elaine left the Dow Villa Motel in Lone Pine, they forgot his computer mouse and mouse pad and did not know it until Don tried to use the computer in Indio," he could be someone who we told about our trip.

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor of Carson Now and www.SouthTahoeNow.com. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com