But I hope to never do that again.

My blog has been neglected, this time, because we were out of town

We just got in last night.

I’m afraid this is going to turn into Travel-Log-Blog this summer with all the trips we have planned.  That’s just as well since I’m a little burned out of coming up with intriguing, thought-provoking, clever topics.

What’s that?

You’re right.  This blog has never been about intriguing, thought-provoking, clever topics.  So why start now?

After deciding spur-of-the-moment to leave a day early, we rushed around like mad washing, packing, and cleaning and we headed off to California last Wednesday.  Armed with a gazillion and one DVDs, some junk food, some books, and pillows, we were ready for the 11-hour drive.

After trekking through the sparcity (a made-up word.  I think.) of south central Idaho and south east Oregon, we hit Nevada and made a B-line to Reno and all its kitchy glory.  My husband had found us “a deal!” online so we could rest from our travel labors and continue on our journey in the morning.

Well, we got what we paid for.  Two rooms at the Sands for $35 a night.  We only had to shield the kids’ eyes as we waded through the smoky casino to the registration desk and up the elevator to our floor.

As hard as it was to pry ourselves away from the ancient chain-smoking regulars at the slot machines, we set off on the road early the next morning and headed to Tahoe.

Although we lived in the Bay Area for almost 10 years, we had never taken the kids to Lake Tahoe.  So we got off on a tangent and spent some time at the lake.  It was the perfect day for it.

Just to prove I did actually go on this family trip, here’s a shot of myself I took in the rest room mirror.

One of the things I miss most about living in California is the fresh local produce.  We lucked out because there was a farmer’s market  down by the lake that day.

We wandered around sampling the delicious California fruit and bought a basket of plump raspberries and a bag of juicy nectarines and plums to fuel the rest of the drive ahead of us.  Yum!