Lake Valley Reservoir

Lodgepole Campground

June 3-5, 2016

At least once a year, I get together with a group of close friends I work with for a camp trip.  We always try to stay within a 100 mile perimeter of Reno, NV, for logistical reasons.  This is the 6th year in a row we've made this trip, but this one was special because we were losing one of our founding members.  Pat Kendrick (P.K.) just took a transfer to Seattle and while we're all very happy for him and his family, we're sad to be losing such a close friend.  I have heard that Washington state has a few camping opportunities, so I'm sure he'll fare just fine up in the Pacific Northwest.

This year, we chose the Lodgepole Campground at the Lake Valley Reservoir.

This is a PG&E campground and it was an incredible area.

None of us could believe that we had never heard of this place before.  The campground only had two empty sites, but it only felt half full.  It's laid out very nicely and the reservoir's release creates a nice stream that meanders through the campground.  Most of the sites can be reserved through the PG&E website, but a few of the sites are on a first come/first served basis.

I tucked in to a nice little level spot about 20 feet away from the stream and made camp for the weekend.

 Our final camp trip with our friend P.K.

We wasted no time breaking the chairs out and the beers open.

It was in the high 90's in Reno, so finding a place that was 15-20° cooler was nice.

The only problem was that the mosquitoes were out in force, especially in the evening.

You know Mijo is in a good mood when she starts dancing in camp.

Believe it or not, but this was one of the smaller "sticks" Dexter found to play with.

The first day, we just all hung out together and caught up on the latest news.  We adhered to the only rule we have and that NO SHOP TALK.

The next day (Saturday) we all woke up whenever we felt like it, made our breakfasts and had out coffee.  P.K.and his family wasted no time getting their kayaks wet in the reservoir, which is only a short 10 minute walk out of camp.  

The rest of us just took it easy for the better part of the day.  We hiked up to the lake, where Dexter wasted no time jumping in and going for a swim.  Even though I brought my kayak, I never even put it in the water.  It had been a long week at work, so being lazy won out over physical activity.

As we always do on Saturday night, we had a pot luck dinner, which is always one of the best features of these getaways.

Glenn had to fetch spices for his wife, Mijo's, Japanese fried rice with shrimp.

Mijo's fried rice was even better that it looked and it looked damn terrific!

P.K.'s wife made two Dutch oven dishes: slow braised short ribs and homemade macaroni and cheese and they were incredible.  They're getting quite good at the art of Dutch oven cooking.

I did a grilled and sliced tri-tip and brought some marinated mushrooms and Christina made a pineapple cake that was off the hook.

Why does food taste so much better when you're camping?

As usual, we had beer, wine and whiskey to share and also as usual, we had way too much food.  That didn't stop us from trying to eat it all though and we paid for it the rest of the night just sitting there fat and happy.

That evening around the camp fire, Mother Nature gave us a lightning and thunder show, but only gave us a few sprinkles of rain.  The whole thing made the evening even more special.

The thunder and lightning continued off and on throughout the night and some rain did eventually fall, but we were all tucked in for the night by that time.

Even my little traveling buddy "Porky" had a great time on this trip...

Glenn, P.K. and me.

Glenn and his wife Mijo.

When a good friend moves away, everyone always makes plans to see each other again in the future and the lucky ones are actually able to do so.  We were no exception.  We talked about points halfway between Seattle and Reno and thought Crater Lake might  be a good place to meet next year.  I guess we'll have to see if we can make it happen--wish us luck.