Don had this interesting copper colored baffle/sleeve to put over the pot on the stove. The idea is to slow the rising air from the burner, and therefore capture more of the heat in it for cooking. I used it every time I cooked. It did seem that it took less fuel to refil my stove when I got home than I was expecting.

  

That's my new tent, erected in the woods for the first time. We rented a Colorado for the trip.

     

  

That's the Tahoe Greens, who were a major chunk of the party. Santa Clara County was the 2nd most represented County. The others on sent one or two people each.

        

Sitting around talking, there were Nader fans and McKinney fans among us. Nobody worked that hard to change anybody else's mind. The attitude was more like "whomever comes to town, let's make sure their crowds know about the Green Party."

  

I was enjoying making sure everybody knew about Arizona, the latest quarter in the series. Many times I told somebody else "this is the last State in the lower 48." I think it was Don who said "I've seen the Grand Canyon, and I've seen a seguro cactus, but I doubt there is anywhere that you can see them both at the same time." He also mentioned that they both represent Arizona well.

  

The water in the lake was way down from where it had been the previous year. For one thing, that boat dock had been a sandbar that was too deep in the water for me to know about in previous years.

See that long dead tree leaning out? I remember swimming across the lake, reaching up, and hanging off it just a few years ago. Now it's so far from the beach that it doesn't seem possible I did that.

     

I followed a creek up towards the source, but it and the trail that was following it petered out and I had to turn back. It was a good trail to forage for firewood on though. I ended up taking back as much as I could carry. There was also a lot more there for other people to find.

     

Susan and some relatives dropped by for a while.

     

About the time the party really got going this ranger dropped by and said it was time to be quiet.

     

We hung out for a long time. Some told stories, some told jokes, and every now and then we would sing a song.

     

Much popcorn was consumed, as well as lots of other good food.

     

     

I put my camera away and then went back to watch the fire. It got down to a bed of glowing coals before I went to bed.

  

One of the nice things about my stove is that it stands nicely on its side, making it easy to keep the fuel pump clean while you are putting stuff away.

  

   

Valerie remembers swimming across the lake, with the tops of those bushes tickling her belly as she went by them.