We found ourselves caught between a massive storm coming from the west and the mighty Sierra Nevada mountain range. Forecasts showed that there would be massive flooding and heavy winds in the San Joaquin Valley all week. We decided to head up the mountain just a bit to escape the heaviest of the winds. This way, we’d only have to deal with some rain, which wasn’t such a big deal to us, as it would generally flow off the mountain and away from us.

We winded through the mountain highway, making a few quick stops here and there when we’d see a view we’d like to soak in for a bit longer. Lupi has always been found of cows, and we just happened to run into Bagby, where a bridge that spans across the Merced River gave way to a lush meadow right by the river where a herd of cows were grazing. We pulled over and took in the view for a while, and eventually I hiked a bit further down with Lily to get a better look at the river.

News from all over the state was showing horrendous floods, and in the city we were living in previously, someone drowned trying to get back home on the highway. We would try our hardest to get past the mountains and into the desert regions to try and get past some of the worst of the storm, but we wound up facing a road closure up at the snowy pass, just about an hour from where we needed to be… I was a bit upset, but nothing a nice night in with Lupi wouldn’t alleviate. We ended up driving all the way back down the mountain and into the foothills, where we found a small town nestled into a safe enough area and away from the winds.

That night, Lupi woke me up to the sound of thunder so close it was nearly shaking the van. I’m a pretty heavy sleeper, so if it weren’t for her nudging me awake, I would have slept right through it. However, I’m glad she did, as it was pretty incredible to experience such a storm from the relative safety and comfort of our van. Lily was a bit scared though, and she nudged her face into my legs in her best effort to mimic an ostrich.

In the end, unless we wanted to drive over 6+ hours to get into the desert the long way, we’d be forced to stay in the hills until it was all over. I’m not the type of guy who loves to drive, and long drives really suck the energy out of me, so the only available option of escaping really didn’t seem like much of an option to me. We’ll settle in, and see this thing through. At least we’re getting some rain. That’s something.