Day 66 - Friday, July 2

At the Motel 6 in South Lake Tahoe (mile 1090.8). Walked 3.4 miles today.

Woke up and Frank best me out of camp again today. The two of us went ahead since AB would be going a little farther than us today. Frank had a massive amount of not-hot chocolate to start the morning and the sugar rush meant that she practically flew down the mountain with me struggling to keep up.

We reached the road after a few miles and tried to hitch into South Lake Tahoe, but the cars were moving too fast and we weren't having any luck. However, we did have cell service here and took advantage of it. One absurdly expensive Uber ride later, we found ourselves at Bert's Cafe (which we had chosen as our breakfast spot last night with the cell service) where we met Jedi. After a hearty meal, we walked down the street to the Goodwill so I could look for a town shirt (I had been using my base layer but sent that home) and Frank could look for a dress. No success on either item, but she did find a romper she really liked. As we were leaving, Kerry, a lady who worked there, introduced herself to us as a trail angel and offered us rides to the trail and use of her tandem kayak while we were in town, so we might take advantage of that this weekend.

We then walked to the bus stop and took it across town to the post office. Frank and I got off here while Jedi went to the hostel where he stayed last night. The bus is free due to COVID which is super convenient because things are a little spread out. Frank picked up a package from her sister and I mailed home my tent as my new one will arrive in Tahoe hopefully tomorrow. We then caught the bus again and went to another thrift shop where I managed to score a lightweight town shirt for $3. We then went next door to the Motel 6 where we're staying tonight. It was hard to imagine staying another night in the hostel (we plan to spend the three following nights there), so we opted for this (much more expensive) option. Check in wasn't for another three hours, but a room was available and they let us in early.

After dropping our stuff, we went to get some groceries, shampoo, and laundry detergent across the street. One shopping trip later, we brought our goodies back to the hotel. We showered, did laundry, and ate some of the ice cream we had bought at the store while watching "The Matrix". I can't get over how clean my hair feels after my first shower in 12 days. About 5:00 pm, we got on the bus and took it to a local brewery where AB, Mama, Chaparral, Tree Trunk, and several other hikers I hadn't met were hanging out.

Once Thin Mint showed up, six of us piled into Mama's car and he drove us to a Chinese place for dinner. Here, we saw nature at it's finest: wildlife in it's natural habitat.  See if you can spot it...

We all ate a massive plate of food and then Mama dropped Frank and I back at the hotel. After more ice cream and watching some Food Network, we turned in for the night.