The road from Lake Tahoe to Yosemite is either uphill or downhill, so it was quite a tiring drive. Still, Calaveras county (Mark Twain’s Jumping Frogs) is beautiful. After about four months of sand (TX, AZ, NV) and soil (Tahoe), it was nice to see some grass covering the ground. Strange the things you miss.

Staying in a small, Elk’s lodge RV camp south of Yosemite.

Tomorrow, I head either to Yosemite or Rio Vista, CA. Yosemite is a bit of a backtrack on my way north, but isn’t a big deal. Rio Vista is where I could set up a base and explore San Francisco for a couple of weeks.

I also applied for a volunteer spot as a camp host up along the Columbia River in Oregon. That would be sweet as I love the area. I’m feeling the need to settle down for a bit (it’s a four month gig), get some writing in and of course shoot some photos of the Gorge.

After I uploaded my last post, it started snowing harder so I went out and shot some more photos. I like this one the best.

A light snow fell all morning outside my window.

I am John Locke but I act like Jack Shepard. Jack’s the rational guy. John’s the man of faith…

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I got up early, freezing, and went out to shoot some pictures. I was gone about three hours and when I got back the LP gas alarm on my RV was beeping away like a rap artist…

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Thinking positively, “Won’t it be nice if I make it safely down the hill?”, I made it safely down the hill without blowing a tire or tearing out my holding tanks. I ended up at Lake Tahoe with a ton of email, new tasks and no hookups.

It’s very serene here.

I spent the day tying in a blog to the Missing Children component of CareCause. How that changed things! All of a sudden these photos become so much more than just background noise to my tired web-browsing eyes. Suddenly there are stories behind the children’s faces. Keeping the blog updated will be a lot of work for me – yet it is so vitally important.

If just one child is saved because of these efforts – it will make my entire life worthwhile.

On my hike yesterday, I came across this plot of rocks in the desert that reminded me of a Zen garden.

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A lone cactus in a desert of juniper. I saw no other cacti in my morning walk. Barely two inches across and struggling in this world amidst the hard, dry rocks.

If we only take the time to look, we would find beauty in the most unexpected places. Watch this video for a perfect example. Around the 3:30 mark, my eyes started to mist over and a smile gently awoke upon my face.

All last night and all today, an icy north wind blasted my rig, making it feel more like a sailboat than a land vehicle. The bitter cold and constant rocking discouraged me from working. I bundled up and tinkered and read and meditated.

I managed to make it up to the top of the hill that I mentioned yesterday. I think my next RV will be a high clearance 5th wheel with a big enough truck to pull it up steep grades. One of my recurring concerns with dry camping is the roads are often rough and steep. Rough can cause you to knock a hole in your holding tanks. Steep can mean that you have to back down a rough road that you can’t quite make it up with a smaller engine. Both of which were serious concerns getting up here today. The last ten feet I had the pedal floored and was only creeping up an inch at a time.

But success was had and the rewards are wonderful: peaceful 360 degree views, desert solitude, a great Internet connection, and a small town (supplies) within 5 miles.

Moving on tomorrow. Either up to the top of a nearby hill I found today, or, if the road turns out to be too rough, off to parts unknown.

Five minutes after my brother called to wish me a Happy Easter, this little fellow showed up in my camp. I took these things as a sign that I should post my thoughts about the holiday…

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My plan was to head over to Yosemite today, but my S. Florida ignorance got in the way – that and the Sierra Nevada Mountain range…

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I had never been to Las Vegas before, so I thought I’d stop by. Left with $60 more in my pocket than I arrived with, but this is substantially less than the $32 million I was promised by the slot machine vendors. Oh well.

Though this photo is from Sedona, I took a long overdue dip in the Colorado River outside of Needles, CA today…

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As I went about my day, I took the advice of a practice from Ask and It Is Given and spent much of my time appreciating my surroundings – no matter where I was. I immediately fell into “the zone” – something I often experience while shooting photos or feeling spiritually one. Though I had not realized this before, during those times I am always in this mode of appreciation, but feeling it was more of a gift than anything I could consciously perform. Today I learned you can put yourself into “the zone” simply by taking your time and seeing the beauty and wonder of anything in your vicinity.

Try it. Let me know your experiences.

I’m reading Ask and It Is Given and I’m surprised how much I’m liking it. Because I’ve been thinking on these things well before I read the book, I decided to make this month’s habit: Positive Thinking.

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