Woke up early on Wednesday morning to a very quiet, peaceful campground. This is got to be one of the quietest places I’ve stayed. It was also nice not to have to worry about putting all of my food and cooking equipment away as soon as I used it because there were no bears, in fact, there didn’t seem to be any animals besides birds and they didn’t come over to investigate while I was cooking. After I made my breakfast sandwich I got on the road knowing I had close to nine hours of driving ahead of me.
I took a break when I got to Twin Falls to check out the Sutherland Falls. I found a few adorable free little libraries around town, then I did one of the scenic drives, which had some nice canyons and waterfalls, but wasn’t quite as scenic as I was hoping. I guess my expectations are pretty high after all the time I spent in Wyoming. But I did find a wonderful hot springs place where I soaked for about an hour, something I really needed as my air mattress deflated completely twice last night so I had a sore back. It felt really good to sit outside and soak, the place had four different for pools with different levels of heat. There were also private rooms as well as small and large yurts/geodesic domes that you can stay in overnight. It was an area that seem to be very popular for kayaking as many of the cars passing me had kayaks on their roofs.
Once I was done with my soak, it was time to get on the road and drive and that’s pretty much what I spent the entire rest of the day doing with occasional pitstops for a restroom or to get a snack. There was a lot of road construction on 80 which made the drive longer, but I finally pulled into my friend Russ’s place at about 8PM, after a lovely drive around nearby Pyramid Lake.
Russ and his wife Beth own this 75 acre ranch with incredible 360° views of the little valley they are in. They’ve got a couple of dozen chickens, two horses, two llamas and 14 alpacas. What an adorable menagerie! I have not seen them in probably 10 years, and it was so great to catch up and learn about everything we’ve been doing especially in the 3 1/2 years since they moved from the suburbs of San Diego to the ranch. It is such a wonderful spot, I can completely see why they made such a huge change in my lifestyle. Luckily, they are all able to work remotely so we’re able to live in a space that is far away.
As usual, I woke up early the next morning and sat on the front stairs watching the mountains across from me light up as the sun rose. I feel so lucky to be able to spend a little time here. Russ and I went out and did the morning feeding of the animals, I got to hand feed the alpacas. They are just so beautiful, especially their eyes – I can’t get over how huge and soft-looking they are. We spent the rest of the morning catching up some more than I got back in my car for my final leg of the journey home.
The drive from their ranch near Reno was as beautiful as always, and there was very little traffic, but as soon as I hit the El Dorado Hills I came back to reality. It wasn’t too bad as I managed to miss commute traffic on either end, and I could see the slow slog of traffic going east on 80, but it was still really challenging after having spent five weeks in a place with almost no traffic. I really miss the slower pace of life in Cody. I got home in the late afternoon and was very happy to hug my mom and get my car unpacked. I got a little work done for an upcoming meeting them by 7:30 I was ready for bed.