Carson to South Lake Tahoe

By the time I woke up this morning, mom & Carol was already reading the paper and having their respective coffee/tea. Ken was at the market, generously getting groceries for morning omlettes. Carol always makes us omlettes with all sorts of great ingredients. Today was garlic, spinach, feta, kale, and herbs de provence.  YUM.

After breakfast I went for a long swim – 1/2 hour of laps, and 10 minutes of breaststroke, which is the true cardio swimming, at least for me. Ken invited us to come to the local library’s book sale, which was kind of what you’d expect. After that I was hell-bent on visiting a local letterbox — it was my second time looking for one.  I had printed out the directions to 5 Mail Order Brides, and Ken was wonderful game to drive around Carson looking for it. After a few missteps I was able to find it. Triumph!!  I’m hoping this is the hobby that takes my love of puzzles, and applies it to the great outdoors. So far, so good.

After letterboxing, we all went to lunch at Red’s Old 395 Grill, which is one of my favorite restaurants in Carson City. They serve mostly BBQ, and their restaurant is full of wacky large props, including but not limited to: the hostess bar was salvaged from the Old St. Francis Hotel in SF, and there is a steam engine that helped to pave Wall Street in Manhattan. Also, they have a ridiculous number of bottled beers, although I prefer the Arnold Palmer.

  

After lunch, it was onward to Camp Richardson! Their cabins are pretty simple, but comfortable, and ours is about 50 paces to the lake. 

  

Mom and I decided to walk out onto the nearby pier to watch the sunset. The sky here is smokey from a fire somewhere (Monterey?), so the sunset was extra-colorful, although the daytime sky was hazy.

  

Evening is when all the ducks and geese swim ashore and snuggle in for the night. I remember from last year that this is one of the super-cute things at the end of the day. It’s fun to return to the same place — it look a lot less effort to get settled in. There’s a restaurant at Camp Richardson with pretty lights at night. The iPhone takes decent night shots, don’t you think?

  

I decided while we were watching the sunset that there are three things I want to do on this trip: get some exercise every day, go out on some sort of boat, and hide one letterbox. I think those are manageable ambitions!

 

 

San Francisco to Carson City, NV

This week I’m going on vacation with Griffin & my mom in Lake Tahoe. For the last two years, she’s rented a cabin at Camp Richardson and invited us to come along. Thanks, mom!  The first leg of the journey was to drive to Griffin’s parents house in Lake Tahoe. Griffin was already in LA for work, so he’s driving up with mom.  I had the car all clean and packed by 10:30am, and hopped on the road.

After about 3 hours of driving, I was ready to get out of the car and stretch my legs, and so was Astro. I pulled over at the rest stop at Donner Summit on I-80 Eastbound, thinking I would be back on the road in 10 minutes. *Right* in front of the parking area was a small lake, so I let Astro hop out of the car to cool off and take a drink. He was so thrilled he actually went and stood in the lake for about 10 minutes.

  

I walked around a bit, and noticed that there was a 1/2 mile loop trail. One of my goals on this trip is to get some exercise every day, so I decided to go for the hike – actually, it’s more like a stroll, as there are no elevation changes. It was *gorgeous*. Seriously. The hike goes by a really pretty lake, granite that was etched by glaciers, and it has cute placards describing what you’re looking at, and it only takes about 20 minutes, and that’s if you dawdle.

  

From there, it was a short drive to Reno. Wayne was in Reno doing bus and car maintenance, so I went to see him briefly at the Grand Sierra. He seemed happy to see another human, as he’d been dealing with bus repairs for a few days. Then, onward to Carson City!

When I arrived at the Lucey residence, Carol was already sitting by the pool, just about to have a swim. I went upstairs and put on my bathing suit, and managed to get in some laps, and a soak in their hot tub. Carol made us a terrific salad — I particularly liked the addition of pistacio nuts and blackberries. A few hours later, mom & Griffin arrived.  Mom had never visited Ken & Carol’s house, so she got the grand tour, and Carol played the piano for us a bit. Griffin coaxed me into the hot tub one last time, and then it was off to bed.

Finished the Capelet!

So, I finally managed to finish the capelet I’ve been working on for several months, just in time to take it to Lake Tahoe (and for San Francisco’s foggy summer). I’ve never actually made a sweater, so I thought I would start with a half sweater, and I am absolutely thrilled with the pattern & the fit.  It’s also the first thing I’ve made out of baby alpaca, and it’s yummy, without any itch at all.

I’m going to take a break to work on another project, and then I might just knit the sleeves, which are knit as two separate pieces. Then again, I might just be satisfied with the capelet as-is. w00t!

 

Simple Birthday Fun

Today is my birthday… It has been a day for simple pleasures.  Griffin and I went for a walk after breakfast. We went to Glen Canyon via Diamond Heights, and walked through a community garden I hadn’t seen before. San Francisco is full of cute little treasures like this!  

  

For lunch, I decided it was time to harvest some of that lettuce that I planted a few months ago. It was extra-special to make a salad out of lettuce we grew ourselves, and definitely a celebration of the tastes of summer: peppers, strawberries, nectarine, & tomatoes. Griffin made us smoothies out of coconut milk too.

  

In the afternoon, I helped Griffin with a Very Important Powerpoint presentation for Strike.tv. He had so many slides that we put them all up on the wall!  I’m proud of all of the effort he’s putting into this new venture, and I think he’s going to do really well with it. Go Griffin!

I drove Griff to Oakland airport, and then headed back to SF for dinner with Alicia Pollak. She’s pregnant (due early Oct), and this is the first time I got to feel her baby kicking. I got three hard thumps. We went to Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack, where we both had… spaghetti. Thanks for dinner, Alicia!  I came back home and sat in the hot tub before bed. What an awesome day. San Francisco is really cooperating with this 80-degree weather. Could we just keep it like this for the summer, please?

 

 

Feather River Campout

We arrived Friday night quite late at Feather River, and Griffin & Rocky were there to greet us and guide us to a parking spot.  I had a quick walk around the property to scope things out, and then snuggled up with Griffin to go to sleep. When it’s 40 degrees outside, the bus is extra-toasty!

The next morning everyone was geeking in the bus, and appreciating the cats. Chibi entertained us by being an especially cute ceiling cat several times during our visit.  This picture prompted me to look up ceiling cat for a reference, and instead I found that volunteers have translated at least 61% of the bible into LOL-speak. Awesomeness!

   

Griffin was working on his presentation for strike.tv, so he was most often seen with his computer on the couch in the bus.  I was appreciative that he came to the campout, since he’s been really really busy with work lately. I think he made some good connections there, did some relaxing, and did a lot of work remotely too. I’m really proud of how diligent he’s been lately. Yay, Griffin!

Rocky and I did all the cooking, and here is Seymour helping me make dinner. He is particularly fond of salad greens. Healthy kitteh!  The cats were all entertained by people walking by, and especially Sean playing with a remote controlled bird (can you say “teasing?”).

  

The campground is right ON the Feather River — here is Brian Behlendorf learning how to fish on Sunday morning on the river. 

Wayne was able to park the bus about 50′ from the DJ booth & projections, which made it very convenient and easy.  Griffin, Rocky, Wayne, and I spent quite a bit of the evening in the bus visiting with people. You could hear the music from outside, and see the projections through the front window of the bus, and AND look things up on your computer, all at the same time. Underground party + comfy bus + geekery + pals + BBQ = awesomeness!  I took this picture of how close the bus was to the party, in the hopes that I can convince Breanna to come next year (she’s in Fayetteville having family time). Pretty please?  ;-)

Reno is the big papa cat who sits on the front seat watching people come in and out of the bus. Here he is looking serene and regal.

It was really surprising how much time everyone spent on their laptops, given that we were in an incredibly beautiful campground in the woods with a river. It is, however, a favorite activity, as you can see here.  Griffin is looking more relaxed after 36 hours in the woods, don’t you think?

This morning Cara was making pancakes for about 2 hours right in the middle of camp. They had the best pancake spread I have EVER seen. Pancakes, blackberry syrup, whipped cream, strawberries, melted chocolate, butter. I could go on, but you would be too jealous. Thanks, Cara!

  

Pretty soon it was time to say goodbye to Wayne, the cats, and the bus. What a fun week it’s been!

  

I drove home with Rocky & Griffin, and we stopped in Chico for Mexico food at Amigos de Acapulco. The drive down through CA was considerably more twisty (and Rocky is a pretty sporty driver), so I just looked out the window for the first hour. After Chico, I took out my knitting, and made several inches of progress on a caplet I’ve been making for myself. Another 2 inches, and I’m done, just in time for San Francisco’s “summer”.

We were just south of Richmond when we found that our scintillating conversation had kept Rocky from remembering to put gas in the car. Oooops! Rocky managed to coast the last 1/8 mile down the highway, through the intersection turning left, and into a gas station. His power steering and brakes were off, along with the car’s engine. We made it by the skin of our teeth, and had a big cheer when we pulled into the gas station. Rocky says he only runs out of gas when he’s in the car with really fun people, so I was flattered. I was thrilled to have made it to the gas station, and pondered how I felt so triumphant, when just a normal trip to the gas station doesn’t leave me particularly jazzed.

It’s nice to be home, and I’m making the effort to put this all down before I forget the details. Doing a daily blog entry and reviewing the events of the day seems to add to my overall happiness, sort of anchoring the good stuff further into my brain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stocking Up in Reno

We awoke at noon sharp, and moving a bit slowly. Today was the day to stock up on supplies in Reno, get gas, and drive to Feather River Campground, where we would meet Griffin and Rocky. We were definitely lagging, so we started with bacon & eggs. That helped a bit. We made it out of town by 2:15, with the goal of hitting cell signal by 3:30 when Wayne had a conference call with Breanna.  We were tracking the AT&T signals from Pyramid Lake onward, and the closest signal was just south of Nixon. Wayne made his call a few minutes late, but it did happen.

We spent about 2 hours in Reno getting biodiesel, and the stocking up at Trader Joe’s, with a quick dinner at Del Taco. Then we hit the road to Quincy & Keddie.  Friends and Family does two big parties each year — one at Willits, and one at Feather Rivier. We hadn’t been here before, but it was only 90 miles (as the crow flies) from Gerlach, so it seemed like the right thing to do.  It turned out to be a couple hundred miles driving in the bus. Also, Griffin was planning to go, and I was really missing him by this point.

Griffin and Rocky beat us there by 2 hours, but we pulled up around 10pm, and found a good spot for the bus. It was great to see my sweetie again!! He was thoughtful enough to bring me a headlamp, which was the only thing I was missing. Rocky and I are trading off — he’s making breakfasts, and I’m doing dinner for all of us.  I walked around for a bit and talked to friends, and then bedded down early. It was a LONG day, but worth it.

Playa Visit

No visit to Gerlach would be complete without setting foot on the playa, so we took a little detour over the railroad line to drive onto the playa. Because it’s springtime, the playa is still muddy and wet in spots, and it’s easy to get stuck.  Here is me triumphantly standing on the playa, and the surface, which looks more like regular mud than the usual cracked dry look that the playa sports in the fall.

  

These are the two posts that mark the road from the playa across the railroad tracks, and onto Jungo Road.  Note the stop sign, which is somewhat comical in the middle of nowhere (although I’m sure it’s a great safety feature).

  

The Feather River line looking in both directions at the Trago Springs crossing.  It was a little scary to stop on the tracks for 30 seconds to take these photos, but everyone was paying super-close attention, and left the car running.

  

I followed the bus out in the Jeep, because the road was a little rough.  I stayed far enough away not to eat the bus’ dust.   Back to Gerlach for a final night on the town!

We returned to Gerlach, and decided to have one last beer before departing the next morning. We stopped at Bev’s and had a Newcastle, and then walked down the street to the Joe’s Gerlach Club, where we had more than one Sierra Nevada. Quite a number of locals were there, and after a significant quantity of beer was consumed, a plan was hatched to a visit a “secret” hot spring that’s right in Gerlach.  We went back to the bus for towels and additional beer, and drove a posse down to the Great Boiling Spring, where we all had a great time lounging in the water. It was really big and deep, like a nice warm swimming pool. We stayed out quite late, but the stars were beautiful, and everyone had a really fun time. I lost Wayne’s “extra” headlamp swimming, so I owe him a new one.  I won’t “out” the locals who went with us, but we really appreciated the hospitality, and general spirit of fun.  Thanks, guys!!  :-)

 

Frog & Trego Hot Springs

Wednesday we decided to visit some of the local hot springs.  We drove down Hwy 447 (formerly 34) south, to Jungo Road (NVSR 49) east, along the south side of the playa, and our first stop was Frog Hot Springs.  It is the place that most people go, because it’s the closest hot springs to town on public land.  It was a pretty small pool, with really cute little fish that tickle when they nibble on your skin. 

The next stop, further up Jungo Road, and then cutting in west along a dirt road, was Trego Hot Springs. It is not marked at all, so you kind of just have to know where it is.  It was a gorgeous location — a long trench, with lots of vegetation growing along the sides.  The last time I was here was during BurningMan 1996. I remember being here with a whole posse of friends, and everyone smearing the clay mud on the their bodies, letting it dry in the sun, and then hopping in the water to wash off — like a fun facial that you can do yourself. That was when BurningMan was still small enough for the hot springs to be open, and not mobbed.

At one end, we measured the temp at 128 (where the source of the spring is), and then further down as low as 92.  Apparently the railroad workers dug the trench when they were building the railroad tracks, to provide water for livestock, and probably a hot soak for themselves too.  We were able to park the bus right next to the springs, and then to see the train roll by every hour or so about 75 feet away.  The Feather River rail line is the one that passes by here, which is unique in that it allows double-stacked cars, because the tunnels are so tall.

 

  

Here is me in the hot springs.  I was in for a total of 7 hours — 5:30pm to 10:30pm, and then 10:30 to 12:30 the next day. YUM.

  

Since it’s hard to find, I documented two of the landmarks.  If you’re coming from the playa, this big tower is just south of the springs, and visible from pretty far away.  If you’re coming from Hwy 49, this yellow sign is where you turn off onto the dirt road that leads to the springs.  Just in case you’re tempted to go, know that it’s closed for about 3 weeks during/around BurningMan, and guarded by someone from the BLM to protect the fragile area from being trampled by too many people.

  

Shooting in the Desert

My first day in Gerlach, I made us some bacon & eggs, and then Wayne tidied up a bit. I particularly like this photo of him vacuuming.  A clean bus is a happy bus!

After breakfast and a leisurely morning, we decided to go for a drive in the surrounding countryside.  I had never driven around this part of Nevada during a non-BurningMan period, and that was part of the allure of coming up here.  First we took a driving tour of Gerlach.  As it measures about 6 x 6 blocks, the tour was somewhat brief. There is a cute post office, and small trailer park, a few bars & restaurants, and lot of homes.  In the 200 census, there were 499 people combined in Gerlach & Empire, which measures out to 5.3 people per square mile.

One of the things I love about Nevada is the big sky.  Here it is, full of fluffy clouds. What an awesome day!  We drove part of the way to Susanville, but then decided we were going to just putter around more locally.

  

There were two steer lounging by the side of the road, and we quickly took this picture as he was standing up, and moved on down the road.

We wanted to check out Squaw Reservior, where we thought we might go fishing, and/or park the bus overnight.  It looked like a nice place to fish, all reedy and pretty.  One side didn’t have great parking for the bus, but the other side was great. There was one RV that seemed set up there long term, so we let them keep all their peace and quiet. I’d still like to try fishing one day — my grandma was a fly fisherman, and general outdoorswoman.

  

Wayne is a big fan of the 2nd amendment, and one of his favorite things to do in NV is to “open carry” a weapon. For most of the drive, Wayne was wearing a left-handed holster containing a .45. Wayne was nice enough to also provide me with a Sig Sauer P228 9mm, so I also open carried for part of the drive (a left-handed holster for me too).  I have to say, it was kind of thrilling, in a “do we really get to do this?” kind of way, but also, the pistol was heavy. I’m not sure I’m cut out to to be the kind of girl who carries a weapon everywhere, although I do like the shooting part.

I was excited when we stopped the car — it was my first time shooting outdoors, and it was really different than at a range. It was super-quiet except for our gunshots, and you could see little puffs of smoke every time we hit the ground.

We found an old beer can and filled it with rocks so it would stay upright. Before we knew it, it was pretty full of holes.  We had to reset it several times because it kept falling over. Finally, I’ve had the typical teenage boy “out shooting in the desert” experience that I’ve always heard about. Cool!!

  

 

 

Bus Cats

The first morning waking up in the bus, I was greeted by Wayne & Bre’s 5 cats: Reno, Seymour, Chibi, Reno Jr., and Chicklet.  My cat Pixel is the 6th member of their cat family, so it was like being greeted by Pixel in quintuplicate.  Every night I had a posse of kittehs sleeping at my feet – usually Seymour & Reno Jr. Like most cats, they like to sleep on luggage and other possessions.

Chicklet & Chibi (note how Chicklet sleeps with her paws out in front, like Pixel).

Seymour is the only differently-colored cat of the bunch — the rest are silver & black tabbies. 

Chibi gives Junior a snuggle

Big Daddy Reno (the patriarch of the family) takes a snooze on the dashboard

I’m not *positive* I’ve ID’d the tabbies correctly in the photos – their variations are fairly small, and not always recognizable in photos. I do know I photographed all 5.