High season camping

Lake Tahoe is a busy camping destination? Really? No vacant no-hookup tent sites? Oh, an overflow area with no picnic table or fire pit, no, that should be fine..

Somewhsere around 50 miles to Reno we thought about booking a tent site. Of course we'd forgotten it was Friday in the summer, so there wasn't much luck calling every campsite we could. The exchange above took place with a woman at the KOA in South Lake Tahoe, who talked us out of making a reservation.

We felt pretty good about doing that, and the drive in was great. We definitely need to go back there without our apartment behind us. Looks like it's a good place for fun outdoors adventures.

The camp was pretty full when we pulled in, but I was confident about the overflow area, which was supposed to be clearly marked with a sign and on the map. There was, naturally, absolutely no indication of any extra area to camp, and we took the truck around the very tight path to look at the sites. There were a few partial and full hookup sites, but nothing for just a tent, which was already pricey for camping.

There wasn't any service in the area, so the phone was useless for looking for other lodging. Matthew parked and ran to look for a guy in a campsite sweatshirt. This turned out to be the best idea, thank goodness, because he showed us to an open site! Sure, it was on a slope and terrifying to pull into, but it was a place to sleep. There was even a picnic table.

After heating our soup and having a beer (probably not allowed, but no one was looking), we crawled into a very cold tent. I woke up shivering not long after falling asleep, then woke up bursting for the bathroom, but scared to go out due to the possible furry beasts that could be sniffing for dinner. When I finally got enough courage, Matthew requested the other blanket, in the front part of the truck, at which point I mentally wrote a giant thank-you note to Wall Drug, where earlier this week we impulse bought 2 "Indian" blankets. They're made of acrylic, which U don't think grows much on the plains.

When I got back to the tent, there were some very loud snores coming from next door. Matthew said he wouldn't have let me go if he'd heard that before I went out. I said it sounded like my dad, who is not a bear, and so I was pretty sure I had been safe.

Once the sun came up we warmed up enough to get out from under the covers. After settling the bill and getting some coffee, we opened the fortune cookies we'd gotten at the registration desk. Guess it was a Christian camp, because the fortunes were Bible verses. We were blessed to find the place I guess.

Back on the road, I was behind the wheel over and around the mountains around us. I pulled into a For-Sale restaurant, then a convenience store type place where the sign made it look like a diner, which was not going to do for breakfast. Finally pulled off in Camino, off 50, and found a little coffee shop run by a husband and wife who set up shop after many years in the Bay Area. First people to be amazed that we were coming from New York, and also to say that one eventually tires of the Bay Area. They were excited to hear Matthew's accent, because they have an adult child living in England, and at first it sounded like maybe where he grew up, but that was just them being confused about the name of the town. Nice folk. That being said, everyone we've interacted with, save the woman at the tollbooth on Chicago, has been pleasant and friendly. This is a pretty nice country, at least on the route we took.

We are still driving, and have just pulled through a patch of traffic outside of Sacramento. Berkeley is so close! Moving into a new apartment this afternoon after nearly a week on the road. It feels like we just left and it's amazing we are already this far. Now we have to figure out what the new version of real life is, but first order of business is getting there (and a shower).