Last night we were in Reno with Jackson; always so great to see him. Job is going well and he likes living in Nevada.

We headed out of Reno this morning and as it happened, Jackson was picking up a piece of equipment right on our way. We got to watch him in action.

Most of Northern Nevada and eastern Oregon are pretty sparingly traveled and inhabited.

Tonight we are camping at Antelope Reservoir on the Oregon/Idaho border in a small bureau of land management campground. It is serene and beautiful.

Tomorrow onto Boise and McCall.

We – Robert and Mary, Olivier and Claudia, Jordi and Diane, and us – all met when our sons were buddies in high school. Our sons have gone their separate ways, but we four couples have remained friends – hiking, camping, and cooking together.

I call us the gourmet camper group because we don’t have typical camp food. We have had several types of paella, rack of lamb, braised Catalan pork, grilled salmon, Brazilian style beef, and sumptuous breakfasts. We all like to hike, read books, sip wine and catch up on our kids’ lives.

We left Wawona this morning to start our cross country trip. We are launching our trip from one of the most beautiful places on earth – Yosemite National Park. If you haven’t explored the Wawona area of Yosemite, try it sometime. We will be going through Tuolumne Meadows and up 395 to Reno to visit with Jackson.

We left Lafayette this morning. It is weird to think we won’t be back in Lafayette for over two months. If I can attach it, I will show you a selfie of Steve, Jasper, a.k.a. adventure dog and me about to leave home.

Our first stop will be Wawona in Yosemite national Park. We already had plans to meet our gourmet campers group in Wawona. We did stop in Mariposa at the intersection of Highway 140 and 49 and Steve and Jasper posed for a photo outside the museum.

Our good friend, Lee Paige, reminded me of one of JRR Tolkien’s quotes “not all those who wander are lost”. A good thought for our trip. 

Steve, Stephanie and Jasper (our dog) leave Lafayette on September 11 to travel the United States for the next 2 months in our Casita travel trailer. We have a route mapped out, list of campgrounds around the country, and friends and family to visit.

We are 21 days from departure. Steve is working on our 4Runner and the Casita to make sure they are both ready to hit the road. I am making lists and setting up our house and finances to be gone for an extended period of time.