Where the air is clear

An official diagnosis is pending, but all symptoms point to chronic wanderlust.

After a mere four months spent getting settled in SLC, mid-August found the James Core contingent packed into a few suitcases and on the road yet again--and this time we didn't stop until we hit ocean. Well, we did stop once.

PAGING OFFICER DANGLE
We knew it to be impossible to reach our ultimate destination in one trip due to the one-year-old-monkey-in-the-car-seat-behind-me factor. So we scheduled a sleepover in Reno.

Due to some pretty fancy footwork, I scored us a sweet deal for a room on the 19th floor of the Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino with a pretty decent view--not that it really mattered, since we were there primarily to sleep. It was a small victory in my deal-scoring portfolio, though, and we felt properly savvy and smug. Despite the late hour, we dumped our luggage in the room, and after a brief scare wherein we thought we'd lost our computer bag, hit the casino floor to stretch our legs and scope out breakfast options for the next day. The lights were twinkling, the music was bouncing, and the air pulsed with the hopes of big wins and the stink of cheap air fresheners. Oh the stink. Is that honestly supposed to be better than stale smoke?

After we had adequately explored, we returned to the room for sleeptime. Silly Mom and Dad. Who wants to sleep when there's such an awesome view? And don't even think that closing the curtains will make me forget that it's there. What's that? I don't care if there are people trying to sleep next door! I want to see the lights outside! I'm not tired! I'm not tired! I'm not tired! Repeat. For two hours. Remember how the view wasn't supposed to matter and we were just supposed to sleep? *sigh*

So it was a rough night, but the breakfast buffet next morning was AWESOME and we were able to rip some tired balloons off of an unmanned timeshare trap to keep Jonah happy in the car. They did the job and stayed there for the next two weeks.

As we drove out of town, we passed approximately seventeen Reno PD cars surrounding one rusty Camero. It did look like a dangerous Camero, though.


ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The drive from Reno on was beautiful. From the quintessential vacationing of Lake Tahoe to the golden hills of Sacramento, and the lush vineyards of wine country. Northern California is stunning. We also passed a tractor-trailer engulfed in a roiling inferno on the side of the road. It was pretty intense.

Our first In-N-Out burgers of the trip were purchased and consumed in Salinas. Ah, the tasty.


STEINBECK COUNTRY
We hit Monterey Friday afternoon, picked up the keys to our rental, and headed over to Pacific Grove to unpack and get settled in for six weeks of California dreamin' while James takes a few classes at the Monterey Institute.

It's been great being back on the peninsula--we were here two years ago and adored our wintery summer. This time 'round, we're looking forward to summery days of fall.