This trip has had a lot of lessons for me, many of which I've already learned of course, but learning them again is always good.  Today was interesting because I learned/re-learned something I've been told so many times.  Over the last few weeks we've really been isolated.  I mean, Nevada desert isolated.  So this morning we woke up with California in our face, and some people wanted to go off route and swing by Lake Tahoe.  I thought this was a good idea so I volunteered.  The only down side was that the natural road path took us along the lake through the city of South Lake Tahoe.  I'd been to South Lake Tahoe several times, and I kind of hate it because it's really touristy and generic.  So you can only imagine the culture shock when, after weeks of the Utah and Nevada deserts, we suddenly found ourselves in the IHOP in the city of South Lake Tahoe, surrounded by tourists.  I knew this would be an issue - we all did - but I was still surprised by how strong, and visceral, the experience was.  We were all nervous to the point of visibly vibrating in our chairs.  And I realized two things: one, which is that in the immediate sense, when people who have been in the wild suddenly encounter civilization it's quite a shock.  But more importantly two, that there are other ways to live besides cities and tourists and civilization and that maybe, perhaps, I like those even more.  The thought of living in small towns or out in the wild has begun to appeal to me.  My biggest concern is finding a significant other to share my life and a job to keep me happy.  I do like people, believe it or not, and I like meeting new people, and I worry that being isolated would hurt that.  But today I also realized how nice it is to be apart from the world.  That's a lesson I will carry with me.