USA 2026 Calkins

What was planned to be a slow day, turned into a real slow day! We visited the local information centre (Welcome Centre in US vernacular and spoke to the lovely and very knowledgeable and helpful Ollie there) only to find:
1. The gondala we were planning to ride on was undergoing post winter maintenance
2. Red Meadow Road, to view local scenic highlights, was still under reconstruction (and cos of current snow fall wouldn't have been open even if maintenance had been completed)
3. Our planned route to San Francisco has been reclosed due to current snowfall and wouldn't be reopened until Friday (we leave Thursday, of course!)
So instead we went driving around the series of lakes, Lake Mary and Twin Lakes, which were beautiful. Cabins, houses and palaces tucked in amongst trees, with views of the water and the impressive crags of the Sierra Nevadas (complete with snow, and several waterfalls). Camping grounds abound too. Usually a quirky general store type shop, and bar/restaurant for each little settlement.
I had a lovely little side adventure when I popped into an art gallery (see video). The couple there live in Portland but travel for the "non-snow" months to their cabin, towing a 23 foot covered in trailer which includes art and collectibles they've picked up in proceeding year. They then place these items amongst their cabin and sell them, letting visitors wander through all the rooms.
The cabin itself was built in 1830s by a couple. The husband at least was an artist (not clear if wife was too) and they spent their summers at the cabin, adding a room each summer 🌞 Eventually they built on a kitchen (must have been bbq dinners before then). Kitchen still sports the original enamel over cast iron unit with double sinks and bench top, original metal cupboard fronts with original pulls, and a woodburning cooker which I imagine was original, or maybe it's replacement over the years. The current owners also have three pieces of furniture built by the original artist owner. One piece was the shop counter, and has frontage of vertically run "planks" with tree bark, below the smooth finished wooden counter top. It was beautiful in a rustic way, perfect for a cabin in the woods! I was so wanting to take photos, especially of the bearskin spread over a bed, complete with fierce looking face, with hat atop. Managed to refrain from asking. Lastly. the current owner told me that the bears come around and look in the windows, he said they're not aggressive. I'll take his word on that!Read more