While we were brushing our teeth and packing up I spied a jack rabbit and the kids and I watched him go about his business for a while.
We also drove by a bird of prey sitting pretty by the side of the road on our way north.
We made our way back into California and took in the sites of Lake Tahoe. We stopped and did our laundry while we had some lunch.
We headed up the beginning of the Rubicon Trail and found a camping spot next to Miller Lake. The view was great, the water was warmer than we thought it would be and the mosquitoes were plentiful. We opted to spend two nights in this location before we went our separate ways. Our first night here we opted for the quick and easy Pastrami and Swiss melt dinner and the second night we had Meatballs, rice and green beans in a mushroom potato sauce. S'mores were enjoyed by all both nights. While we enjoyed the area we spotted a deer just across the trail from our camping spot. The kids went tree crawling, tried their luck on the slack line and enjoyed a dip in the lake. All to soon our stay would end. Our companions were heading on to California in hopes of visiting the ocean and we were heading back towards home for some quiet time before we head out again.
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| Camp is literally right behind me |
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| Pic courtesy of Mike |
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| Pic courtesy of Amanda |
Back into Nevada we went! We stopped at Walker Lake for a restroom/lunch break, from far away it looks really nice and you wonder why there are no people here whether on land or out on the water. We took a quick drive down to the beach and found it swarming with blue dragon flies (1000's). The molted husks covered the ground and scrub brush as though it were clumps of seaweed. We also saw super fast lizards and a couple of snakes sunbathing on a rock. The water looked scuzzy once up close. A quick google search resulted in an article about an arachnid infestation and polluted water that was killing the fish. Upon researching the arachnid infestation further it states that the lake becomes infested with orb weaving spiders in the summer time, but dissipates for the rest of the year. Well its July and we didn't see any spiders...I wonder if the dragon flies have something to do with that.
Onward we went hoping to find a decent camp site before we lost the sunlight. Our only hope a small chunk of Humboldt National park that would cross our path toward home. As we searched we noted a massive military depot that surprised us with its size.
We worried about rain as the clouds loomed ahead of us.
We finally found a pull off along our main route to some old mining shafts, we found a semi level spot to camp just off the main trail and quickly whipped out the tents and sauteed up some burgers for dinner before hustling into the tents as the last remnant of daylight drifted away.
Morning came early for us as we wanted to shower, eat and hit the road as early as possible since the drive would be a long one for our final day. We were up by 7 and heading out of camp by 9.
It wasn't long before we hit the Extraterrestrial Highway and started heading toward Las Vegas.
Once past Vegas we hit Boulder City, we told the kiddos to get their heads out of their tablets and check out the dam....haha....the new bridge has walls so high that nothing is visible from the car. I remember when you drove across the dam and passed the Arizona/Nevada line drawn down the middle.
Back in Arizona!!
We stopped in Kingman for a late lunch which took us about an hour and ended up finally making it home a little after 8pm.
Camping and traveling with family and friends is always fantastic fun but there is something to be said when you walk into your house and the first thought in your head is, "Ahhhh, home."
