Sunday Edition: Heading Home a Little Early

Integrate, reset, and rest.

The Sunday Edition is Tuesday’s little sister—off-the-cuff updates I’d bring up over a coffee catch-up with a friend.

My decision to return home came not unlike Forrest Gump’s stop mid-stride in Monument Valley, or a toddler waving jazz hands at the end of a meal. All done! I was sitting with Toast at the south rim of Crater Lake, its water bluer than the sky, with every intention of heading north to the Deschutes National Forest just outside of Bend, when I realized, “I want to go home.”

I had spent most of my week slowly making my way up the 395, a route that takes a little longer than the 5, but is dotted with hikes to alpine lakes and goes straight through Reno, where I spent high school and where one of my oldest friends and her husband currently live (pictured in the Polaroid above!). I stayed with them on Mother’s Day, only after they assured me that I wasn’t crashing dinner with his family, and took off in the morning for one of their favorite campgrounds. The pin they sent, a seasonal sno-park, sat beyond a nondescript turnoff a few miles south of the entrance to Crater Lake and had free dispersed camping along a rushing creek. As I pulled my van in, I was relieved to discover that I was the only camper so Toast could run free and I could set up my camping chair by the water, undisturbed. After a short hike, I made dinner and headed to bed early just as the mosquitos began to come out, feeling incredibly grateful to have access to yet another beautiful place.

My trip was filled with nights like this one, but by the time I made it to Crater Lake I felt, more than anything, like I needed time to integrate the experiences I was lucky enough to have; to sit at home with my dog and my partner, who I missed so much, and just be before I head out for the next leg of my adventure. I’ve been home for three nights, and have bounced back far more quickly than I did my first adventure, already returning to the rhythms of my days at home. As always, I have so much to share from the week, including:

• My latest hyper-fixation lunch (comes together in five minutes!)

• A show, book, and album I loved this week

• Why I’m doing a clothes buying freeze (join me??)