Jen’s Journal – October 17, 2019

Day 110: Manzanita Lake Campground, Lassen Volcanic NP, CA

Sunny, after nighttime rain.

We drove to Lake Tahoe. Everyone told us it’s beautiful. And it is. The water is clean, the towns we drove through are clean and pretty.

The rest of the day sucked.

I really needed a shower, then do laundry. None of the laundromats in Susanville had showers. Then a restroom would do to wash up. We went to three laundromats and none even had a public restroom. So forget the shower or the laundry. I used a ton of wipes on myself anyway.

I got locked out of Arvi at a chilly rest stop.

I found a free campground on the west side of Tahoe, but Tom was worried about the 24° low. If the temperature gets too low, Arvi has sensors that will detect the freezing temperature and automatically dump the tanks. Or the water lines could freeze.

So we went into Tahoe City to figure out where we could go where the low is above freezing.

Turns out we have to go west over the Sierra Nevada mountains to get warmer nights. So we did.

We needed gas. State parks are closed. When we got to a county park we found that reservations are required. We didn’t have a phone signal to make a “reservation” online so we didn’t stay. I would have, but Tom was uncomfortable doing that. It was dark.

Everything is Tom’s fault.

We drove back to Sacramento and parked in front of Ross and Rita’s house again. We’re not sure where to go tomorrow.

I didn’t feel well this morning, either.

Things got better! Ross offered his outdoor shower for me to use in his completely private side yard. That was relaxing and just what I needed. California living!