Stockton, CA to South Lake Tahoe, CA: 140 (approx) miles

Well, we made it. Sorry this has taken so long to conclude but we have been waiting for internet access to be set up at the house as we're both getting a little tired of internet cafes.

We arrived here on Thursday after a short drive from Stockton. The house was even nicer than we remembered especially as it was to be our home. That night no unpacking was done, we took out anything food-ish from the truck as we are in the heart of bear country and just went to bed.

Friday - a day that we were both silently dreading -

8.45am drive to Sparks, NV rent Budget Truck

11.15am Drive from Budget to ABF (the cross country haulers)

12.30pm Head back to South Lake

2.15pm EAT. Unload truck (to be unloaded by 4pm in order to return truck on time)

4pm Back to Sparks via some shops to get food and other household items

8pm Arrive at South Lake. EAT

Non-stop lifting, moving, carrying, lugging, sweating. All with our faithful brown and white companion. Carrying heavy boxes up 2 flights of stairs at 7,000 ft elevation is enough to tire anyone out but come evening, we were done. Bed.

Saturday - unpacking, never ending boxes

Sunday - same, though with a fun trip to the beach for Ollie who has clearly had enough of travelling (See photo!)

Monday - more of the same and here I am but I can now see the carpet!

So far California seems a most hospitable place, especially Lake Tahoe. The sun seems to shine day in, day out, the nights are cool and there aren't really any bugs. Steve already has a job, I'm working on it and our house is lovely. Right now, I don't think either of us would, if we could ask for anything else.

Once again, thank you for following this blog - we hope you enjoyed it!

Elko, NV to Stockton, CA (via Lake Tahoe): 412 miles

Our first cloudy day. But not for long, the sun soon came out.

Finally I could put our destination as California in to our GPS!

There weren't too many reasons to hang out in our hotel so we got up and got moving. As Elko is to be the future home of Donny and Kelly Dumont we thought we would check it out on their behalf (they are expecting to arrive on Saturday.) So after stopping by "Bail Bonds, Elko" (Ollie was in a spot of trouble) we drove to Spring Creek and were amazed at the enormity of the Ruby Mountains and also the National Park.

Our journey then took us through Winnemucca which doesn't have much to boast about except: Butch Cassidy Left Here Rich... ahh yes, but he left didn't he? rich or not, he still left... and so did we.

We also drove passed a "Correctional Facility" we were advised not to pick up hitch hikers:

But the man in the orange suit looks so anxious and hot standing out in the sun.

The drive took us through Sparks and then through North Lake Tahoe.... wow, this is our home! the lake was sparkling brilliantly under the sun, the Sierras were on the horizon and the smell of pine was just perfect. We stopped off at King's Beach, just outside Incline Village on the North Lake, Ollie had a race around with another dog in and out of the water, splashing around and I got chatting to a girl who had lived in Lincs (UK) for a few months. So far, a very nice place and we'd only been there an hour or two and one of the other dogs on the beach was an English Springer!

Then back in the car and onwards to Stockton, CA to spend some time with family via South Lake. The base at Heavenly looked amazing with all of the new renovations and shops - our new mountain! I am looking forward to patrolling here (once I fill out the application...)

We arrived in Stockton at about 10pm after having driven on I-5 (the road where all of the famous car chases happen! we even saw signs to Los Angeles...) spent some time chatting to Baba (Steve's Grandmother) and then fell in to bed. We're here until Thursday then off to South Lake.

We are now Californians - like super, whatever, like ohmygod, it's totally awesome.

Ketchum, ID to Elko, NV: 250 Miles

Farewell Ketchum and Sun Valley. After thinking about it a little more, we decided not to stay here for one more night but to push on in to Elko, we could make the most of the day without needing a room for the night. Steve chose his bike route so went off on that adventure and Ollie and I went back to the base area and then for a swim. There we were accosted by the same aged lady who had about 8 yappy dogs in her possession, or lack of; they yipped and squeaked and chased Ollie around and around in small circles snapping at his ankles: he clearly was not having fun with his tail wedged firmly between his hind legs. "Oh, they love to chase, they won't hurt but they love to chase" simpered the old lady. The last straw was when one of the short legged snappy ones kicked dirt all over my bag with it's back legs, that was it; I grabbed my things, saved Ollie and marched up back to the hotel.

We waited for Steve to ring to let us know that he'd finished and when he had, we drove down to the Trail Head and loaded up the truck and set off for some lunch then headed on our way out of the town to Elko, NV.

Luckily it was short driving day so we arrived in Elko at 8pm (we'd also gained our last hour), we checked in to our hotel, ate some pizza and went to bed ready for our ultimate drive tomorrow in to California.

Ketchum, ID

Need I mention that it was another 80 degree sunny day?

Ketchum / Sun Valley, Idaho is a great place. It's very pretty, clean, and the people are unbelievably nice; there are a few shops most of them are bike or ski shops intermingled with a few boutiques and cafes. We had breakfast and then wandered around the town remarking over how nice it was - it is also a very dog-friendly town in that every shop has a water bowl outside and dogs are even allowed in most of the shops.

We took a bit of an accidental detour back to the hotel but it was a good excuse to look at some of the houses nearby, most of them seemed to be condos near the mountain. A majority must be holiday rentals or second homes as they were very quiet but well maintained.

After eventually finding our way back to the hotel we made a quick turn-around and drove up to Sun Valley which is actually not the ski resort; from what we could work out Sun Valley is a separate town/valley with a very smart hotel, a golf course and even it's own clay pigeon shooting range and gun club, it even had its own Post Office. The nearest mountain (at which the hotel sits at the base) is Dollar Mountain a series beginner slopes but not called Sun Valley... the Sun Valley ski area actually takes place at Bald Mountain... confusing? we thought so too.

We stopped back in to Ketchum, went to Bald Mountain/Sun Valley and walked around the base area, like the town it was very nice but surprisingly small. We found a small section of the river for Ollie to swim in and he splashed around for a bit, then we went back in to Ketchum and had some lunch. I stayed in the town whilst Steve went back to hotel for a bit then we took Ollie for another swim and met Maggie, a dog and her owner - who was a Real Estate Broker in Florida with a condo here that she said we were welcome to rent over the winter!

Once Ollie had eaten, we shot in to Ketchum for a tea and coffee where a man heard me order and asked: 'Brit?' his niece married a 'Brit' and lived in Weybridge, now they live in the South of France, he and his wife had just seen a Noel Coward play - probably the same one Mum and Dad saw in Windsor; they had seen it at the Performing Arts Centre, he highly recommended it.

The lady we met earlier was also very in to Mountain Biking and told Steve of some great trails near the hotel that he is exploring tomorrow - incidentally, we have decided to stay here one extra day, can you blame us?!

As described by locals, Sun Valley is:

Heaven on Earth

I wouldn't live anywhere else

A Wonderful Place to Live

Always Sunny

Teton NP, WY to Ketchum, ID: 260 miles

As the clear sky and bright stars would dictate, it was a cold night. Ollie had an extra blanket that we wrapped him in and seemed to sleep soundly apart from the occasional low growl to the apparent noises outside - just to let everyone know that he was in charge.

We unzipped the tent, stretched and looked around... and there was a moose cow ambling along not more than 100 feet from our tent, she wandered off in to the scrub, then just a few minutes later 2 huge bulls appeared. They were jousting and playing around, the joust wasn't a serious competition because they continued to hang together and munch away seemingly oblivious to all of the cameras clicking away. Every few minutes they took a few steps closer to our tent until at one point they must have been not more than 15 feet away! it was a perfect start to the day - watching bulls play around whilst we sipped tea and coffee.

We must have watched the moose for about 1 hr 1/2, then as they wandered off we started to pack up the tent and head in to Jackson for some late breakfast and to write the earlier blog. Once it was written we walked around a little more and then waved goodbye and drove to Teton Village where the actual Jackson Hole Ski Resort is.

It was certainly a very nice resort, really nice shops and restaurants without being over the top, again, one to come back to...

Onwards to Idaho.

The drive took us through some very interesting terrain, one area seemed a bit like Area 51; there were acres and acres of nothing except for the occasional sign that said: No Trespassing Per Department of Energy and then a reference to Atomic Areas and a lot of "communication towers." The nearest town had only a population of 76...

However, the most remarkable part of the journey was the Crater of the Moon National Monument. Historically it occurred just 15,000 to 2,000 years ago: hot lava burst through cracks in the earth and cooled leaving a huge area of black stones and boulders. It looked as if someone had just tilled the field - it looked creepy and very prehistoric.

I think Idaho took us both by surprise, I wasn't sure what to expect but it has some of the most beautiful countryside: cows and horses grazing with a mountain back drop and lots of potato fields. The first town we drove through was very pretty and clean then as we drove closer to Ketchum and Sun Valley, the log homes we saw were just amazing, huge ranches with acres of land and incredible views with dozens of very happy horses grazing in the fields.

From a dusk perspective Ketchum looks lovely; big-ish with nice looking shops and Sotheby's (always a good sign) luckily we are here for 2 days, maybe I'll go riding (horses with Robert Redford) and Steve will go riding (biking), we'll also have to check out Sun Valley...

Bozeman to Yellowstone NP/Grand Teton NP to Jackson WY

We thought the best thing to do was to combine the last 2 days in to one blog as Wednesday consisted of us driving to Yellowstone, NP from Bozeman and then yesterday was Yellowstone, NP to Teton NP.

So Wednesday: we packed up our things and once again... loaded them and Ollie in to the truck and off we drove to Yellowstone taking in Big Sky Resort on the way through. It was a really nice resort in a stunning setting with a lot of accommodation. It was self contained up it's own road which made it seem a little contrived with million dollar mansions following the road up to the ski area. Nonetheless, it was somewhere we would absolutely like to come back to in the winter to ski.

Then onwards to Yellowstone. As we were on the other side of a public holiday we assumed that the park would be quite empty and that we would have a good choice of campsites, we chose one that was a little way out because of the proximity to a lot of wildlife - wolves, moose, elk, coyotes. However, it was full, full, full, we were directed towards Grant Village - that didn't really appeal to either of us... the campsite was nice, we we relatively private in that we were approachable from one side only. We set up our site and headed to The Lake House for supper. That night we knew it was going to be cold (32 F/ o C) so set up our tent accordingly: sleeping bags and our down duvet; we both actually slept well - Ollie was a little cold in the night and managed to wedge himself in between us under the duvet with his head on my pillow!

Once the sun came up, it warmed up in to another lovely day.

It's a national park so of course it's lovely but Steve put it very well when he said it was : The Disney Land of National Parks.

Onwards to Teton NP and Jackson, WY. (Thursday)

On the way through southern Yellowstone, we stopped by Old Faithful and some of the other geysers (there were so many in the area) to see her in her glory. Our timing was perfect (!!) we walked up to the geyser and were both pleased to see a lot of people sitting around, only a good sign, then 20 minutes later off she went: plumes of smoke rose in to the air as a precursor to boiling water shooting up in to the sky about 20/30ft, followed by more smoke and that was it.

Back to the truck and off again.

The drive through to Teton NP was incredibly stunning, a sharp contrast from the rolling mountains of the rockies - the Tetons look more Alp-like, sharp mountains jutting in to the sky still with snow on them. Around every turn is a new view and another picturesque moment with deep, deep canyons to the left and waterfalls rolling down in to the river below. The constant is the snaking river that dutifully winds its way along the road, in and out of canyons, marsh and trees. Click, click, click with the camera.

Jackson appeared in front of us and Steve pointed out the resort (we're on our way there now) the main resort in the town is Snow King an impressive mountain that looms over the town below. The town in itself is very pretty in an obvious tourist/western influence kind of way, it's clean and has the design of a true Ol' Western town with the boardwalks and shop signs hanging above.

We found another campsite and again, it was surprisingly full - however, we were allowed to choose our lot (which rarely happens) and found one backing on to mountain scrub near a river. We set up the tent and headed in to Jackson for a bite to eat and another wander around. Cold nights are quite tiring so we were ready for bed pretty soon after, it didn't feel as cold as the night before so we held off on the duvet and fell asleep talking about our travels so far and to come and gazing at the stars above.

Vermont plate sightings...none in Wyoming

Bozeman, MT

For those of you that had noticed some clouds in the sky yesterday, Montana absolutely made up for it today with a crisp, cool, sunny day. We went to breakfast at our 'usual' spot and made a plan to firstly go for a and to check out Big Sky tomorrow as it was on the way to Yellowstone NP.

On our way to our hike/bike we drove around what we thought was the campus last night but actually transpired to be a lot of churches and some new condos. The University was a State one and wasn't actually as big as we had first thought, needless to say we drove around the campus and had a look at the students and the buildings. All very nice but nothing remarkable.

Then on to Emerald Lake, an 11 mile hike in the Hyalite Canyon. Ollie and I started off first as we were on foot, then once Steve was ready he biked up to us, Ollie just wanted to be with whomever was going first and fastest - not me on either count. So Steve would go ahead, wait for me to catch up, then go ahead etc. The hike was a stunning trail through the woods, winding up Hyalite Canyon in and out of the trees, meadows and streams. We were absolutely in Bear Country which did worry me somewhat especially when I passed some trees with huge gorges from bear claws (gulp), Steve soon calmed my fears by telling me that not only were there black bears which will "stay out of your way" but that there were Grizzly Bears too who "want to kill you" fabulous. You just bike ahead with the dog and I'll creep up the trail on my own, singing songs and whistling fun tunes...

Luckily, no such encounters were had. It was a seemingly never-ending trail 'just around the next switchback' was uttered so many times I gave up thinking we'd ever get to the top, just when it opened up in to a meadow and seemed to be just the place for an Emerald Lake, the path would wind back in to the woods and climb once more.

Soon enough our efforts were greatly rewarded as we rounded a corner and there was a spectacular lake, absolutely worthy of it's name, glistening in a meadow surrounded by tall peaks, pine trees and lush green grass. It was quite break taking and worth the up hill climb.

Then to turn around and go all the way back. Steve and I played Leap Frog, not in the literal sense as he was on a bike... I would go ahead with Ollie, then Steve would come past, Ollie would run with Steve, they'd go on for a bit, wait, I'd catch up and so forth. On our way down I couldn't help but notice that the sun was moving out of the canyon and that it was getting a little dark. Soon enough I reached the bottom bear-encounter-free, Ollie passed out, Steve and I loaded the truck and set off back to our condo, on the way back we made reservations for supper had a quick change around and headed out.

Now we are back after an absolutely delicious supper, fit to rival any restaurant I've ever eaten at - it's late, we're both a little achy and nicely tired and Ollie is snoring soundly on the bed (soon to be moved to his bed). An excellent day was had by all.

Tomorrow, Big Sky and Yellowstone NP. The next blog will probably be Thursday sometime as we are camping.