From a California Ghost Town to Lake Tahoe (NorCal Ep.8)

my name is Peter Santaniello and I make
videos around the world but for the
first time I’m showing my home country
America in this video series my
Ukrainian wife and I travel through
Northern California to places most
foreigners and even Americans don’t know
about we will show you USA culture
through the combination of an outsider’s
and a locals perspective
join us on a road trip through a very
diverse often misunderstood and
stunningly beautiful land it’s really
cool when you come back to your country
after being gone for a long time
another day another adventure here at
Mono Lake California far east of the
state high desert Lake totally different
once you get over the Sierra Nevadas
this is watered yes but it’s desert out
here
so we’re gonna go to some really cool
interesting places today that you don’t
know about Nana surprises
to the lake to the lake
such a theatrical performance oh so
peaceful here Mono Lake mysterious I’m
curious but let’s be serious
today we’re going to a little little
surprise location
Nona doesn’t know about and then to Hot
Springs like at natural Hot Springs in
the desert and then up to Lake Tahoe
so the migration pattern for some of
these birds here is all the way to
Argentina and they come up Mono Lake
rate Salt Lake looks like Canada also
how does it feel nothing what would you
say like you breathe all this space
right you breathe the space you’re in
there saying
[Music]
what do you know about bode Natalia you
don’t know anything about bode
[Music]
was described as sea of sin lashed by
the tempests of lust and passion injures
implies to have random it’s your baby
passion lust
so Bodhi is considered a ghost town
nobody lives here anymore now it’s a
park pretty cool though it’s pretty cool
it’s way out in the middle of nowhere
they found gold here there was a boom
and then a bust gold was discovered here
1859 the population went up to 10,000
people I’m just giving you the the
highlights here at 30 mines 60 saloons
bars many near Bonanza street
prostitutes cribs and opium dens in
Chinatown there was a big bar scene okay
opium dens and prostitutes and this
nice-looking little quintessential 19th
century town so that would be
interesting right you go to an opium den
at night one of the 60 bars and hang out
with some prostitutes and then the next
morning you find yourself here a little
Redemption little father I’m sorry
I’ll be good next week
yeah it’s like your front side is
burning in your backsides freezing I’m
here the carts the carts that would pull
the minerals the gold out of the mines
very hard work being in those mines so
imagine that though you’re out here
you’re Dean you’re digging in these
mountains all day right you find your
nuggets you have disposable income
you’re in this rowdy crazy ass town of
10,000 people with 60 bars and you’re
just partying with your buddies and
maybe [ __ ] goes wrong and you bring a
gun out in these streets right here you
get a you get pissed off at somebody you
bring a gun out and you just do a draw
which means you you know walk away from
each other and well this is what the
movies are like right one two three and
they turn around shoot each other went
on up here isn’t it crazy
there was a full-on Chinatown here in
this city with their own Taoist temple
and isn’t that the story the Chinese
always find the opportunity no matter
where there’s money have you made
wherever there’s money to be made in the
world you will see Chinese because they
are the ultimate business people slash
entrepreneurs smell that sage this is
all sage
yeah guys it grows all over the place
here cell phone coverage not existing
that’s like been a great part of our
trip right no cell phone coverage and
yeah what people don’t understand
especially coming from Europe usually is
the the grand spaces how far things are
spaced out and the fact that this is
California the most populous state in
the whole country but with that said
there are plenty of spaces where you’re
out in the middle of nowhere I love how
these guys all look very tough and they
were lived in tough times in a rough
landscape but they dressed well they
look stylish here and bode fashion
seriously even in these these very rural
settings they styled you know what it
was there was a lot of risk there was a
lot of risk in life right and so with
that came the reward wood that came the
danger and I think like people felt
really very much alive
you know unpredictability exactly well
the guy who founded this place Bodhi
died because of a snow storm he got
caught in a snow storm taking a horse
and carriage to the next town over
they were from France yeah
massive roaches they seemed very civil
they’re probably and have it whining
cheese in the desert all yeah you know
like about it the best up at this
altitude when you smoke but it really
altitude yeah that’s just said noted no
to alcohol and yes to weed telling him
history now there’s only been three
funny and there was Johnny Carson there
was Robin Williams and then there’s me
what about Bill Murray Goulburn sandwich
cheese cheese sandwich avocado salsa
that’s right
on a mission on a mission rallying the
Ford Fusion in this car I’m given
serious thumbs up to Eastern Sierra
Mountains
this is her my foreign audience these
are mobile homes and they actually come
in on the back of a truck and put
wherever right and I live in Ukraine now
so how do people have this understanding
that everyone in America is loaded rich
they land in Hollywood and you know
they’re gonna see Brad Pitt on the
streets wanting to hang out and all this
weird like like movie type realities
that are not the reality and a lot of
people in the states are don’t have much
money a lot of people live in places
like mobile homes
this is Bridgeport population 575
quintessential
middle of nowhere western town
check this out muffin they even have
that on signs now you can’t smoke
marijuana in here the door it’s crazy
how open it’s become in just the last
couple years here like it was always a
like a weed smoking culture but as far
as the lid get leave legality goes and
the like overall societal acceptance
it’s unreal like two years it’s really
changed
okay let’s try to good soft-serve
strawberry
oh you’re smalls like super huge gonna
have chocolate vanilla swirl
I’m strawberry vanilla swirled chocolate
sprinkles do you want sprinkles you want
sprinkles trust me you have a dip fudge
option yeah it’s really an American
thing the tip for the creamy stand you
tip at restaurants for sure like 20
percent the average now and hotels for
the cleaning staff really that’s
different isn’t it tipping oh yeah it’s
bigger than you yeah see you’re gonna
you’re gonna let it cool a little are
you gonna let it sit a bit and then the
ice cream freezes and it turns hard
another nice aspect to the Eastern
Sierra Nevada mountains are hot springs
they’re hot springs all over the place
hey you guys let’s go in these look at
that shop mother nature especially at
night she’s a theater of stuff no city
lights
[Music]
lives here for seven seven years up at
Lake Tahoe basically from 20 to 26 and
then back again after went around the
world like 28 to 30 that’s eight years
anyways roughly seven years in total
always feels like home coming back here
you know a lot of these beaches tomorrow
we’re gonna go to a very cool beach up
the coast and up the shore
22 miles long 12 miles wide is that
right it’s something like that I think
very deep up to 1600 feet plus deep and
these very clear transparent waters
reason being there’s no aggregate all
trip here we’re up at about 6,200 feet
which is like 2,000 meters so nothing’s
really like running into it there’s no
industry developments been pretty much
null for a long time so nothing’s really
polluting it I guess these boats do
somewhat but other than that it’s very
clear so basic rundown this is North
Shore far end is South Shore that’s west
shore and that’s ashore and why is that
interesting because every Shore has an
identity like climatic identity here is
the banana belt up here and ashore
that’s where the best features are the
West Shore sees the most snow there’ll
be like three times as much snow on that
side then on that side in the winter the
South Lake is more of a city small city
a lot of casinos it’s got a totally
different feel to it I always liked it
better up here and then that little
plateau looking peak way in the distance
is [ __ ] Valley one of the better ski
resorts in America which is right in
front of the camera
and so you have a lot of these rounded
boulders and then depending on where
you’re at nice sandy beaches the lakes
high though a few years ago it was very
low and it all depends on the snowmelt
and so last year was a big very big
winner filled the lake back up and
there’s only one outlet in Lake Tahoe
the Truckee River it goes out to a lake
in the desert called Pyramid Lake and I
think there’s like something like 68 or
72 inlets you know rivers flowing into
it most of the water is lost through
evaporation it’s very dry up here Sun is
very strong and it never freezes no
matter how cold it is outside the lake
never freezes secret entry way whoa
around the rocks
not that cold huh it’s not too bad last
night was freezing so here’s the cool
fact about Lake Tahoe is this it it cuts
between state lines so Nevada and
California Nevada side is remote there’s
very little development and that’s
because I’m forgetting the guy’s name
but when he died I believe it was in his
will to give that land to the state of
Nevada the state of Nevada did an
amazing thing and decided not to make a
ton of money but to preserve it so you
have all this coastline that’s on
touched California side even though it’s
well treated what not all that over
there there’s pretty much houses along
most of it yeah and it’s interesting too
when you’re driving because you’ll
you’ll hit that State Line and you’ll
see all the casinos you know you’re in
Nevada and California doesn’t have
casinos on the way so there’s a lot of
history here Sinatra used to hang out at
one of the casinos up here now behind
those rocks this is one of his party
places and there was a house I can’t see
here but it’s around here and there’s a
boathouse needs to sneak in and they had
their parties there’s also like
well-preserved bodies at this on the sea
floor because there’s really no algae
eating anything up definitely at the
depths and it stays like a constant very
cool temperature it’s a summer place and
a winter place there’s like
twelve roughly twelve ski resorts in the
immediate vicinity and then you have
Reno this is over that gap there right
over there there’s a road and you go
over 45 minutes away and you’re in a
city of roughly 300,000 does not approve
of this place
you’re gonna Beach [ __ ] it
the first place I lived at in Lake Tahoe
this house on the west shore 1999 winter
98 99 there’s so much snow the snow
accumulated on the roof of the home one
night there was this this loud noise of
ash and then boom and the whole house
shook it’s because all the snow from the
roof fell and tried to open the door
there’s a little peephole of light it’s
we actually had to dig snow into the
home and crawl out crawl out a little
hole and that winter we had snow here
until June
so this is where I spent seven solid
winters in my life
[ __ ] Valley California this lift right
here kt22 one of the best lifts in the
US and all these cliffs up here called
the fingers they fill them with snow
great extreme steep challenging terrain
and this was my obsession this place
work nights at a restaurant over there
called clump checks and Road here every
day that’s the story that’s the
California Road Trip those are some of
my favorite places and super cool to
show you revisit and show you guys
because most of my contents out in the
world actually all of it is so people
ask me about the state sometimes well
that’s what it was and there’ll be
episodes you can look at before this
last one if you want to see more of the
road trip okay
that’s the story and off to Pakistan in
about a month doing a video series there
until next time
peace