Colorado to California

And into July!  Now for a whirlwind journey across four states and two months...

Starting in Montrose, where we did some walks and runs around town (we enjoyed exploring Montrose in more depth for the first time), and John did a run down the river in our inflatable kayak.  I got a head start in the truck and trekked upstream to catch him coming down toward the water park:

Emptying some water from the boat:

And waiting for other water park users also having fun in the waves:

John's turn:

Woo hoo!

We had the chance to stay at the property Heath and Alyssa (from the RV Entrepreneur podcast) bought where they will be building a new campground just south of town - nice place!

A view of the San Juan mountains to the south:

The old schoolhouse that will be park HQ - we look forward to returning another time to see how everything is coming along!

And then we were on the road again, across Utah to Nevada.  We don't usually just drive across Utah without stopping to see interesting rocks and things, but we had places to be.

Our overnight was at a small campground near Great Basin NP, called Sacramento Pass.  We were happy to get a spot because it's a pleasant place with a nice trail system to explore.

Checking out the geology book at the campground - I wish I'd taken a couple pictures of these pages because there was an excellent explanation of Nevada's ridges and valleys.

A view from the trail, including Wheeler Peak "peeking" out over the top of the horizon:

From there we continued west on highway 50.  This was surprisingly enjoyable, climbing up pass after little pass and then rolling through valley after valley.  You just never knew what you'd see over the next hill.

We stopped briefly in Austin... no Toto, we aren't in Texas any more...

Alpacas, take 2!  If we got nothing else out of Harvest Hosts (and we have gotten a lot else out of all our HH stops), the ability to sleep at an alpaca farm makes it all worth while.

This farm near Fallon has the perfect setup.  Easy pull-through RV sites, a little store with alpaca wares, and friendly hosts who enjoy giving tours and introducing us to their adorable animals.

Hello y'all!

This one's specialty is posing for pictures with guests - thank you!

We had breakfast with friends in Reno the next day, and then began the drive across state #4.  California time!  We did a lovely little hike at Donner Pass, seen here before Dixie Fire smoke started settling in a few weeks later:

And over to San Jose to visit with Kip, Jane, and the real owners of the house, Nutmeg and Lugosi.  Seen here surveying their domain from on high:

We got to play cat-sitter for a few days, which was completely entertaining.  These two are mostly-grown kittens, and they are still figuring things out.  Like a cereal box that is (for some reason?) on the floor.  I would check inside it too:

Trying to determine how this thing works:

Are you SURE there's nothing inside?

Lugo is fascinated with spots of light on the wall, which in turn is like catnip for John who is using his phone to project a beam so she can chase it back and forth:

And of course, shopping for sustenance!  The Bay Area's newest location - perfect!

Phew, I'm rather tired just remembering all of that.  At least I've moved this blog along to July and California.  Thanks for following in our tracks!