July 14- We are camped just outside of Point Reyes National Seashore, poised to get back on the nature trail after two-day break for some urban debauchery in San Francisco. OK, well, mainly it was a lot of walking and eating. Unbelievably, I have lived 39 years on this planet and had never been to San Francisco apart from the airport. So I had some catching up to do. We treated ourselves to a couple nights in a hotel using some of Rob's work travel points, and se...

July 14- We are camped just outside of Point Reyes National Seashore, poised to get back on the nature trail after two-day break for some urban debauchery in San Francisco. OK, well, mainly it was a lot of walking and eating. Unbelievably, I have lived 39 years on this planet and had never been to San Francisco apart from the airport. So I had some catching up to do. We treated ourselves to a couple nights in a hotel using some of Rob's work travel points, and se...

July 12 - The posting of this blog will signify that we have returned to the land of connectivity, leaving behind Nature's Grand Cathedral. We drove down from Tahoe on Friday, after Elena and Kieran's first horseback ride. The drive was uneventful but very twisty, a nice heart-stopping combination of blind curves, no shoulders, and a cycling event out on the roads. We didn't have a camping reservation that night, and I was as little worried about getting a spa...

July 9 (AM)- So I have found one of my new favorite places on Earth. Yesterday we pulled into Lake Tahoe. Once you get past Nevada's Last Gasp (four hideous casino hotels piled on the border), it's fabled blue waters, craggy mountains, towering forests— all the things I love about the Adirondacks, on steroids. We got to Tahoe without a camp reservation, as the lakeside campground Rob had wanted to stay at filled months ago, so we drove around looking for a p...

July 7- A quick blog before bed. . . We got to Great Basin after a long and spectacular but desolate drive across Utah yesterday (note to Utah planners: it would be better to mention that there are no services for next 100 miles *before* the exit for last of said services. Just sayin'.) The red rocks and the uplift monoclines are amazing to behold, but in general, Utah is a little too wide open for me. (Side note: I find it an interesting irony that the state is ...