California is officially in our rear view mirror. We spent the entire spring exploring this great state, and I feel we’ve gotten to know it and ourselves a little better. We closed out our time here with a final week on Lower Lake, a nostalgic side quest to Napa Valley for a tasting experience at Pride Mountain Winery, and dinner at Brix, a restaurant we saved up for back in 1995. This last weekend we attended a family reunion of sorts for Louie, and we took one last look at the city where we first lived together stateside, Vacaville. With a little internet sleuthing we even found the address for our first one-bedroom apartment.

Now we are heading eastward, with plans for a few National Parks in the next week or so. The drive from Napa Valley to Middlegate Station in Nevada, where we are overnighting, was spectacular. We traveled through so many different environments and climates. We watched the outside temperatures and the altitude fluctuate. We saw snow on the mountains and 95 degree heat in the valleys. We passed through deserts and mountains. We saw towering pines and scrubby pińon. We crossed raging rivers and cracked dry riverbeds. We marveled at Tahoe National Forest in the golden hour, and had our heads on swivels as we drove Nevada’s Route 50, dubbed the loneliest road in America. At the end of our long drive we were rewarded with excellent burgers, a beautiful sunset, and a quiet parking lot where we are allowed to boondock. Life is good.