Hello lovemuffins, Kate here. It’s been exactly a week since we hit the road so I thought it was time for another quick update! We had our first major(ish) change of plans/route this week due to our poor planning around 4th of July weekend…oops. We decided that, instead of killing time all weekend to get into Yosemite on (hopefully less busy) Sunday, we’d head away for now and make a visit back to Yosemite when we’re done with this trip. It was a hard decision but at least we got a little taste and now we know we’ll have to come back for more. Maybe a fammy road trip…any takers?

Since then, however, we took a detour out to Sacramento via Calaveras county (looking out for jumping frogs, of course) and spent the night of the 5th in a prettttty crappy motel…where we got to take a shower, sleep in a king sized bed, and eat some free breakfast! Such luxury! On the 6th we took a stroll in and around the Capitol building and smelled lots of pretty roses, learned about all the counties in California, and admired the Governator’s portrait. From there we headed out toward Tahoe National Forest, stopping by the Folsom State Prison/Museum on the way. We were there 15 mins before closing so the sweet man at the front desk let us in for free. Thank you, friend! Fun fact – Johnny Cash was never incarcerated there, but Rick James was! Exploring the museum was a very eye-opening and kind of haunting little experience, but one we’re glad to have had. We stopped by a highway fruit stand after that and were back out into the wilderness!

We lucked out hardcore and found a beautiful, quiet, FREE campsite called Robinson Flat in Tahoe NF. There was a working hand pump well, a cute little stream around a meadow, and even patches of snow on the ground! By the time we arrived there was just time to find a spot, start a fire, and get some grub going before it got dark and cold. To our surprise we were joined at about 9pm by 6 cars full of what we presumed to be an extended Russian family dressed in beachware who all piled into the site next to ours. Approximately 20 adults and children in all. They lit a fire and were gone by 7am the next morning… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We’d initially planned to stay at Robinson Flat for one night but we ended up staying for 2 because the site was just so lovely. On the second day we hiked up to Duncan Peak to check out the fire observatory, at a fellow camper’s recommendation, and found some USFS workers shoveling snow off the road. Tiring work indeed! We snapped a few pictures of the beautiful view and headed back down to our campsite before it started getting dark. Brian set up a camera to catch the sunset and I sat by the campfire to read. Idyllic AF!

This morning we left that site and headed on to Carson City via Lake Tahoe. We came in from the California side and saw just how busy Tahoe gets in the summer! We admired the lake from our car as we passed by, not wanting to get out and work our way through the crowds. We stopped by a Smith’s for a few essentials and enjoyed a picnic in Mills Park. Now we’re mooching some Starbucks WiFi and enjoying a Beatles playlist while we plan our next move! We’ll stop by a free site again this evening to sleep, then off to Reno in the morning. After that we won’t be back in Nevada ’til December. Crater Lake is next, then up the Oregon coast into Portland. Smell ya later!

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