July 12 - The posting of this blog will signify that we have returned to the land of connectivity, leaving behind Nature's Grand Cathedral. We drove down from Tahoe on Friday, after Elena and Kieran's first horseback ride. The drive was uneventful but very twisty, a nice heart-stopping combination of blind curves, no shoulders, and a cycling event out on the roads. We didn't have a camping reservation that night, and I was as little worried about getting a spa...

July 9 (AM)- So I have found one of my new favorite places on Earth. Yesterday we pulled into Lake Tahoe. Once you get past Nevada's Last Gasp (four hideous casino hotels piled on the border), it's fabled blue waters, craggy mountains, towering forests— all the things I love about the Adirondacks, on steroids. We got to Tahoe without a camp reservation, as the lakeside campground Rob had wanted to stay at filled months ago, so we drove around looking for a p...