David: We got up early enough to say farewell and thanks to our wonderful hosts, Mike and Kim. They finally left at 7.30 and I fear that we may have chatted so long that Mike was late for a meeting on the effects of the Federal Government shutdown which started today. Continue reading Tuesday 1 October: Truckee to South Lake Tahoe →

We had a luxurious wallow in the morning, reading in bed with cups of tea, in MIke and Kim’s lovely house.  We spent some vauable time plotting out the next phase of the trip with maps etc and emailing a couple of other potential warmshowers hosts along the way. It is such a great way to meet interesting people and soooo much nicer than a hotel.

We then cycled into Truckee (not panniers or trailer, horray!).  The town had a pleasant ‘oldy wordly’ downtown of a couple of streets but extends out some distance in all directions.  We got directions to a bike shop, who were very friendly and tuned up David’s brakes and gears and we brought some emergency space blankets  to line the tent if very cold as we have some high camps ahead ( a tip from someone else on turning the 3 season tent into a 4 season tent).  Lovely coffee and paninis in town before heading back to the house for some more strenous reading and relaxing.

When Mike and Kim got back we decided to get a Thai take out. On the way to pick it up they drove us up to Donner Summit, which had wonderful views over Donner Lake and the surrounding mouintains as the sun went down. We had a great evening chatting and getting to know and like Mike and Kim topped off by a game of scrabble (Kim the winner!)

Bernie: It was odd to set off without being able to say goodbye to Gary and Avery and thank them properly. It was a shame not to get to know Gary better and Avery, who is clearly a very talented baseball player and motorcyclist, and even at 14 seems to be a really nice lad. Continue reading Sunday 29th Sept – Quincy to Truckee. 70 miles. →