We took our first family trip to Mammoth Mountain a few weeks ago. My husband and I were a bit nervous how Pon Pon will handle the five-hour road trip, as well as being away from home for the first time, but she took it like a champ! She cried a bit in the car, but only for a few minutes, and she was happy and pleasant during the entire vacation. We stuck to our regular sleep schedule each night, and she slept well in the Pack and Play we brought with us. We were definitely a pair of very happy and proud parents! 
Our friends Liwei and Iris joined us for a few days, and we spent a wonderful and relaxing time together in the mountain. The boys enjoyed fishing in the nearby lakes, while we girls (including the baby) relaxed in a beautiful rustic condo. I think Pon Pon really enjoyed the big space in the living room where she can roll around freely.
On the way to the condo, we stopped by Village Café in Bishop, a quaint town about 25 miles from Mammoth. The café looks like someone’s grandmother’s dining room but serves a pretty decent food like a real restaurant.
My husband’s favorite is corn beef hash and biscuit with gravy, which are pretty amazing.
I ordered my usual vegetable sandwich, which is also surprising delicious.
This place gets packed pretty fast and closes early but is definitely worth stopping by on the way to or from Mammoth. It’s close to the super famous Erick Shat’s Bakery.
For dinner, Liwei cooked up rib eye steaks he purchased from Harris Ranch, with some roasted vegetables on the side to offset the guilt from the meat. My husband and I have been cutting down on our beef consumption (to almost zero), but this was well worth breaking our fast. Thanks, Liwei, for the wonderful and decadent meal.
Liwei and Iris left a day early so we decided to go out to the Village for a lovely dinner out on our final night in Mammoth. Many restaurants were closed but Smokeyard BBQ and Chop Shop was open so we decided to give this place a try.
The food was tasty and the ambiance was lovely. We wish we could have stay there longer to soak it all in, but Pon Pon started to cry a little at the restaurant (after a long day) so we ended up taking turns holding her while the other one shoved the food in our mouth! 
My husband ordered BBQ chicken with amazing corn bread, and I had BBQ chicken salad.
Mammoth is wonderful in the summer. Spending time in the snow is fun — lively with all the ski and snowboard crowd — but there’s something lovely about silent and empty town. We can’t wait to come back!
Oh, and on the way back, we stopped by Mt. Whitney Hatchery in Independence (a small town after Bishop). It was unfortunately closed that day, but we enjoyed a picnic there with sandwiches we bought from Erick Shat’s Bakery near the lovely pond.
Lavender and OliVE 