Fruita in Two States

Starting Point: June 19, Fallon, NV
End Point: Park and Ride, Fruita, CO
Miles: 756

Bare with me, this is my first post done on my phone. Chad and I haven't had a stable Internet connection in almost a week and SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED! I'll attach pictures later.

Let me just start with: holy crap... today was a long day... and again it all stems from camping being a fickle beast.... oh.. that and I'm addicted to National Parks. But, let's blame camping.

Started off nice and easy, with a weird packaged, Indian influenced, continental breakfast from our equally weird hotel. Luckily, the coffee was good and we were on the road by 6:30am.

The goal was Capitol Reef National Park by 5pm. That's when visitor centers generally close and were gonna camp there. Easy peasy. Until, I realized we were a mere hop, skip and jump from Great Basin National Park! No problem! We have time!

GBNP was wonderful! We did the drive through version of visiting - going through the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. I really wanted to see the bristlecone trees but the hot weather and lack of shade prevented us from leaving Milli in the car for an hour... or two... so instead we saw Wheeler Peak and it's glacier from afar and enjoyed the 10,000 foot altitude.

I was excited that even after seeing the Great Basin we were still gonna make it to Capitol Reef! That was until we hit the new timezone in Utah... and I found out the stupid visitor center closed at 4:30... oh well - campground was still open!

Open but... FULL! Fine. New plan: We'll just enjoy the park this evening and stay in a hotel for the night. Wow. Capitol Reef is beautiful and a little more hands on than many other parks. See, it used to be an old Mormon homestead, a place where a man could hide the fact that he had multiple wives from the authorities.... anyway, that's a lot of mouths to feed so they planted these massive orchards of fruit trees! The area is now called Fruita (so is the campground). The best part though is that you can pick the fruit! As much as you want to eat! We found some heirloom plums that were tart and awesome. A little too early in the year for much else.

Ok, time to find a hotel. What?! EVERY HOTEL IN A 100 MILE RADIUS IS FULL?!? Crap.

Fine. We'll keep driving. And heck we might as well enjoy the rest of the park since we now won't be back in the morning.

Yes. We will be back. It's beautiful.

New plan: stay closer to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and spend the morning there!

Ummm... no. All those hotels are full too...

How about driving all the way to Grand Junction, Colorado.

Nope. Apparently they are having a MASSIVE music festival... so... and I'm not exaggerating at all...

ALL of those hotels are full too. And it's 1am... and we're tired.

Time to sleep in the car. At the Fruita, Colorado, Park and Ride... luckily it's free, there's space and we're warm and safe. Comfort has never been ALL that important to me.... no really... Least that's what I kept telling myself.

Onwards and upwards tomorrow - the only way we can go!

Face of the Sun. I Mean Tahoe.

Starting Point: June 16, Kelseyville, CA
End Point/Stay: June 18, South Lake  Tahoe, CA

Miles: 224

I FOUND CHAD!! Woot!

Picked him up from Sacramento airport! Woot!!

Then we went straight to South Lake Tahoe to visit with his dad and brother and as a bonus a couple of his old friends and his Aunt and cousins!!

Wednesday: Hanging out with Luis! We visited all the local watering holes including the Hard Rock Hotel! Then we met up with Chad's family and had a spaghetti dinner.

Thursday: We went and had breakfast at the hospital! May sound weird but Chad's dad is the cook there and the food is AMAZING! Then before dinner we went on a walk on Kiva Beach.

Tahoe is so beautiful. I really like it here. Being so close to the sky has its disadvantages... like being closer to the sun... and causes sunburns... oh well. Its been so fun!

Heaven er... Kelseyville

Starting Point: June 12, Kings Canyon National Park, CA
End Point/Stay: June 15, Kelseyville, CA

Miles: 340

I know I've said it before... but I've just gotta say it again: I love my friends. I have the pleasure of knowing some of the most amazing, accomplished, motivated people.

I've spent the last 4 days visiting my old college roommate and her family in Kelseyville. They are amazing and showed me a great, wonderfully mellow time. We went wine tasting, hiking, cooked delicious food, moulded Play-doh, just talked.... Awwwww.... a perfect weekend.

Friday: Wine tasting, cuddles and sunsets.

Saturday: Farmer's Market, dog park and sunset.

 I bought... and ate... POUNDS of these apricots

Sunday: Biscuits and gravy, wine tasting, historical markers, and wine on the deck.

Monday: Hiking, turkeys! reading, and Breaking Bad.

I mean really... could I have asked for anything more?!

A Humbling Giant

Starting Point: June 11, Barstow, CA
End Point: Kings Canyon National Park, CA

Miles: 267

Since day one of this road trip extravaganza, I have been planning on seeing Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. I had been to Yosemite quite a few times, but had never had the chance to visit the other two. On the way there from Barstow, I stopped at a couple fun places:

First, the Cesar Chavez National Monument. Unfortunately it wasn't exactly open when I stopped by... so I was only able to explore the gardens and grounds. I don't really know why the monument was in Keene... but the gardens were beautiful and I liked this quote:

As I was leaving the monument, I saw a sign: Tehachapi Loop, 3 miles. Woot! I had been there once before! Its kinda cool... its a place where trains gain some elevation by going through a loop that is so tight that longs trains actually cross their own ends.

Now it was time to head to the parks. I was so excited! And I am so glad we went. Visiting these national parks was such an humbling experience - and Milli and I finally got to camp.

Standing in the presence of General Sherman was the most humbling experience. Here I was, lucky enough to be next to the largest living thing in the world. The Sherman Tree is 2,200 years old and 52,500 cubic fee. It was so big and has lived through so much, entire civilizations have come and gone during its lifetime. And there I was, a 31 year old human... I felt like a mere speck in its shade.

Milli and I drove the entire General Highway - a road connecting Sequoia and Kings Canyon. We eventually stopped at the end of the line, Grant's Grove in Kings Canyon. It was beautiful. Milli and I were surrounded by huge sequoias, right at the edge of a canyon. The sunset was amazing. Even princess Milli enjoyed camping there.

Such an amazing night. I would live in those parks if I could.

Why is Camping SO COMPLICATED?!

Starting Point: June 10, Litchfield Park, AZ
End Point: Barstow, CA

Miles: 383

I finally had to leave Arizona... reluctantly... the goal was to take a short drive from Litchfield Park to Mojave National Preserve and camp for the night. But.... there was no camping in Mojave happening.. in fact I am getting REALLY good at setting up my tent... and haphazardly taking it down and throwing it in the car. Ugh.

The drive to Mojave was generally underwhelming. Arizona and California aren't the most... spectacular states to drive though... Mojave however was amazing. It was the perfect temperature - hot in sun, nice in the shade. I saw a bunch of wildlife - including cows in the campsites hehe. I found a great place to camp and set up the tent. Milli was hanging out in the shade - all was well.

Until.. the storm came through... and the rain... and then the wind. Ohhh... so much wind....

This was the tent during the wind... notice its half of its usual size... Poor Milli was trapped in it! So, this made me make the decision to move. Afraid that the wind would only get worse as the sun went down... so I found a KOA about an hour away near Barstow... and... we didn't stay.. cause the wind was worse there... like way, way worse. So, Milli and I got a hotel. And I had a margarita.

And it was delicious.

Should I Stay or Should I Go....

Stay: June 8-9, Litchfield Park, AZ

My time in Arizona is quickly coming to an end... and that makes me much sadder than I thought it would... I keep trying to extend my stay here another day, but I think my next destination is just a little too far for me and a nervous dog in the car to handle.

The last couple days have just been so relaxing!

Monday:

I got to hang out with the kiddos. Emma and I woke up bright and early and went for a hike at White Tank Mountain Regional Park. The hike was supposed to be a 1.1 mile hike out to a waterfall.... but it ended up being out to a stagnant puddle of gross... However, we saw some awesome lizards! One was a massive chuckwalla! The other was a Great Basin Collared lizard! They were so cool!

 There were even some petroglyphs

Then we just came home and vegged. Watched some Spider-man. Decorated and cleaned up for a birthday. Cooked some dinner. Did some nails. Really it was a wonderful day!

Tuesday:

I mostly caught up with Game of Thrones today... and got my hairs braided! The weather looked ominous so I just hungout inside.

Tuesday brings the big decision: Should I stay, or should I go, now.... should I stay or should I go...