Returning to life on the road

Just days before Xmas – and on our one year anniversary of our first departure in the van that resulted in a fire – we left Kerri’s parents back in Grass Valley and started our way towards Santa Barbara, CA for our sailing lessons. It felt like the first time in months that we are properly ‘on the road’ again, and with two weeks before our lessons, we had some time to get back into the groove, so instead of driving down Interstate-5 (hated by us both) we pointed the van towards East, crossed the Sierras, and only turned South once we got well and truly in Nevada.

Kerri had never traveled down the Highway 95 corridor (always opting to take 395 instead) so we took it. It is a nothing-special strip of road through the desert of Nevada, but for a single lake about mid way, and a perfect overnight spot for us. Twenty Mile Beach (free) at Walker Lake became our first official boondocking in what seemed to be a very long time. Not much too it really, but it felt good to be out of the hustle and bustle of all the California and Washington states. 

We both agreed that it was good – very good – to be back in Big Blue and on our way to the South West. Dry desert is what our bones needed after months of the wet-cold of Washington and Northern California at this time of the year. With snow-capped peaks surrounding us, a calm lake below, and the place all to ourselves, we slipped under our blankets by 6 PM and started studying our sailing books in preparation for the impending lessons.