Category Archives: Nevada

World’s Fastest Indian Was Here

From the start of this blog, I always said I would post honestly – the good, bad and the ugly. This post has it all. Wednesday’s prime rib dinner at the Rupert Elk’s Lodge lived up to its billing. The prime rib was excellent, the corn on the cob was fresh and our baked potatoes were well seasoned and perfectly baked. The salad bar wasn’t the greatest, but everything was fresh. We couldn’t eat it all, so we brought home some leftovers for steak and eggs for me and steak salad for Donna.

Thursday morning it was time to leave Rupert. Our first stop was the dump station in town. I had filled our fresh water tank before we left the Elk’s Lodge and after dumping, we hit the road with empty holding tanks. Our route had us heading south on I-84. We turned off onto ID81 to take a shortcut into Utah where we would pick up UT30 west.

As soon as I hit the exit ramp, I sensed trouble. I saw a line of vehicles stopped on the overpass and the truck ahead of us was stopped at the top of the exit, waiting for traffic to clear. Once we were stopped, I could see the source of the hold-up. A tractor-trailer rig with an over-sized flat bed trailer failed to make the turn onto the northbound on-ramp. The extra-long trailer was hung up on the concrete barrier. I feared we would be stuck for a while before we could continue. The thing was, the direction we wanted to go was opposite of the trapped trailer.

A couple of gentle toots of the horn got the attention of the trucker in front of us. He saw I was indicating a right turn. He was able to move forward and left enough for us to squeeze by. Trouble no more, we were on our way. The shortcut on ID81 was a good choice. There was very little traffic – we only saw a few cars every 10 minutes or so. The speed limit was 65mph, so we weren’t going any slower than we would have traveled down the interstate. The road surface was good. The only downside was the narrow road with little to no shoulder.

The long drive southwest on UT30 had similar road conditions with even fewer cars along the way. We’d left the Idaho farm country behind and were driving through a mostly barren landscape. There weren’t any real towns – just a few clusters of houses in a place called Rosette – they even had a post office there. Eventually we crossed the border into northeast Nevada and found the town of Montello. No stoplights in Montello. The road designation changed at the border to NV233.

We finally hit I-80 and headed southwest toward West Wendover. A few miles down the interstate, I heard a loud bang – it sounded like something had hit under the front of the coach. I checked the side mirrors to see if there was anything in the road and didn’t find anything. Then Donna said, “We need to pull over – I can see a basement door open.” She was looking at the driver’s side view mirror and from her vantage point, she could see something that wasn’t in my view.

I stopped on the shoulder and walked around the front of the coach. What I saw qualifies as ugly. It wasn’t a compartment door she was seeing. It was the front body panel mounted under the driver’s seat from the front of the coach to just behind the front wheel well. I looked it over and found the rear bracing of this panel was bonded with a type of epoxy to two braces in front of the wheel. At the front of the panel, it folds toward the center of the coach at 90 degrees and has four rivets holding the front of the panel.

We heard a noise earlier on ID81 but didn’t see anything out of order. I thought the sound may have come from a farmhouse we were passing at the time. In hindsight, I think the bonded braces broke free there. This allowed the panel to flex back and forth from airflow and on the interstate, the rivets gave way. Now the panel was slightly bent away from the coach and would flap in the wind until it completely broke off.

I thought I could secure it well enough with duct tape and gave that a shot. We got back on the interstate and I kept our speed at 55-60 mph. It held for about four miles, then went bang again. I pulled over and this time, I opened the front generator compartment, cleaned the bulkhead there with rubbing alcohol and ran the duct tape around the front edge of the panel with the tape adhering to the bulkhead. This seemed more secure but it only held for about another four miles. This was getting real ugly.

I didn’t like working on the driver’s side of the coach on the interstate shoulder. Fortunately, the traffic was light and most drivers moved out of the right lane giving me plenty of room. But at one point, I looked up to see a car traveling at about 80 mph barreling right past me about two feet away!

I knew I had to do something besides duct tape. I rummaged around and found two small screws. I put them into the rivet holes – holes in the panel no longer lined up with the holes in the bulkhead, but I was able to pound them in with a hammer. Then I duct-taped over the screw heads to hold them in place and re-taped the panel.

Back on the road this held. We stopped at the Pilot-Flying J in West Wendover where I topped up the tank with 69 gallons of diesel at $4.01/gallon! Gulp, $276 worth of fuel brings our fuel costs to about $500 since we left Mount Vernon, Washington. This Biden economy is killing us.

Donna bought another roll of duct tape at the travel center and we continued east into Wendover, Utah. Our short run in Nevada was done and we went east on I-80 to Utah exit 4 where Donna found a boondocking spot on BLM public land off Leppy Pass Road.

Boondocking on a level area of BLM land

I added another screw to my temporary fix and re-taped it.

Temporary fix – you cab see the adhesive residue from my first tape jobs

We saw a few other RVs in the area but we were spaced well apart. We were at an elevation of about 4,300 feet above sea level. I never realized the Bonneville Salt Flats had this much elevation – it definitely is enough to affect the power of naturally aspirated engines. I disconnected the truck and we took a drive out to the Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway area. The speedway was first used in 1912 for timed top speed events. While we were there, an organization was preparing the course for a motorcycle speed event. There was great movie about a motorcycle at Bonneville called The World’s Fastest Indian made in 2005 – it’s a story based on the life of New Zealander Burt Munro starring Anthony Hopkins

They used to have a straight track nine miles long with a black stripe for Speed Week – a week-long event to set speed records sponsored by the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA). Speed Week was canceled in 2014 and 2015 due to poor conditions from heavy rain. Mud washed over much of the flats. Between the leaching of salt into the aquifer and mining operations, the amount of salt has gone down greatly over the last 50 years. Where the salt surface was once more than two feet thick, it’s now only about two inches thick and the track is less than three miles long. The speed track is no longer striped, they use flags and markers for the course.

This marker is at the end of Bonneville Speedway Road where the flats are
Trucks in the distance preparing the course for motorcycle trials
Salt surface scuffed by Donna’s shoe

When we returned to the coach, I re-hooked the truck to the coach. Another coach came in and set up about 100 yards from us. At first it looked like they were going to stop right next to us. Really? It’s wide open here on the flats.

Sunrise over Bonneville – still lots of smoke in the air

Friday morning we found a couple others had pulled in during the night – SUVs with people presumably sleeping inside. We pulled out and drove east on I-80 for 80 miles and hit UT138 south. This route bypassed Tooele (pronounced TOO-illa) and had very little traffic. I was a little worried as most of the route had no shoulder and if my temporary panel repair broke, I had no place to stop. We made it without incident and stopped for the day at Fort Deseret State Park. It’s a quiet place to dry-camp for the night, but’s it’s the strangest state park we’ve ever encountered, I wrote about when we stayed here last year.

Saturday morning we continued south on UT257 which became UT129 at Milford, then UT21 at Minersville. We drove through the town of Beaver and found I-15 south there. The interstate immediately climbed and we reach the summit at 6,500 feet above sea level.

We left I-15 shortly and my repair was still holding up. We took UT20 which was a steep climb up 7% grades to the summit 7,920 feet above sea level. The descent down the east side is even steeper at an average grade of 8%. We found Paradise RV Park a few miles north of Panguitch, Utah. It’s a nice RV park with very low rates and no real amenities. Donna met the neighbors who’ve been coming here for years. They said over the last few years the ownership became absentee, only coming around to collect fees and the place is slowly deteriorating, though still pleasant. We paid $134 for a week including tax and might extend over the Labor Day weekend.

Donna grilled chicken wings, thighs and drumsticks for dinner and served it with sauteed veggies we found at the local grocery. We also bought some veggies and great watermelon from a roadside stand in town. The couple operating the stand were full-time RVers for 13 years before settling near here and they grow their own vegetables which they sell.

Grilled chicken with Mediterreanean vinaigrette and sauteed vegetables

We’re near Bryce Canyon and plan to explore this week. The temperature reached the mid-80s today and is supposed to get there again tomorrow before we have a cooling trend with rain probable on Tuesday and Wednesday. We are finally away from the smoke and have decent air quality after breathing wildfire smoke since early July.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Eastern Sierra Tour – Second Stop

When we left Carson City, Nevada, we were at an elevation of about 4,800 feet above sea level. Our route was simple – US395 south for about 130 miles, then turn west on CA203 (exit 263). Along the way, we crossed Conway Summit at 8,143 feet above sea level. Our destination was Mammoth Mountain RV Park at Mammoth Lakes, California – a total distance of about 140 miles.

The RV park has mostly large, loosely defined, back-in sites among pine trees. It’s at an elevation of about 7,800 feet above sea level. When I checked in, I asked where the best place to unload the Midget from the trailer would be. The guy told me not to worry – the lane in front of our site was very wide and it would be no problem to unload there and back the trailer in to drop it in the site.

He’s obviously never driven a big rig. The “wide” lane was lined with trees and wasn’t wide enough for two coaches to pass each other. The easy back-in to drop the trailer was also complicated by trees. But, we got it done.

It looks wide open from here, but believe me the trees behind where I’m standing made it tough

On Tuesday morning, Donna rode with Steve, Gayle, Chuck and Barbara up to Devil’s Postpile National Monument. They were just in time for a ranger-led tour. From there, they hiked to Rainbow Falls and then to Red’s Meadow. I stayed behind as I needed some down time.

We had a happy hour with the group later that day, then had dinner on our own back at the coach. The weather in Mammoth Lakes was mostly pleasant during the day if you were in direct sun. But in the shade, the temperature was noticeably cooler and the wind could create a chill. The temperature over the four nights we were there ranged from the mid-to-upper 60s during the day and low 30s overnight.

On Wednesday morning, there was an optional Mammoth Mountain Ski Area gondola ride. We passed – we didn’t think we had the right clothing for a ride up to 11,000+ feet above sea level. I heard it was just above freezing temperature at the top. Donna and I took a ride in Midget-San through town and out to the ski area. There was a potluck dinner on the schedule and I had prepped two racks of babyback ribs the day before. Around 2pm, I got the Traeger wood-pellet fired smoker-grill out of the trailer and put the ribs on.

With the limited grill space on our small Traeger, I couldn’t provide enough ribs for everyone. I cut the ribs into single bone servings so as many people as possible could sample them.

Potluck dinner at Mammoth Mountain RV Park

Thursday’s scheduled activity was a trip to Bodie State Park. Bodie is a California gold-mining ghost town. It was over an hour away by car. Donna and I didn’t want to make the long drive to spend the day at a ghost town. We opted to drive out Lake Mary Road and get a look at some of the lakes. We drove by Lake Mamie and stopped at the Twin Falls overlook.

Twin Lake viewed from Twin Falls overlook
Another view of Twin Lake

We drove up to Horseshoe Lake – probably the most interesting of the many lakes in the area. What makes Horseshoe Lake so interesting is the high concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2). It is thought that a large reservoir of CO2 exists deep under the mountain. The gas was identified in 1994 and it is believed that an earthquake in 1989 opened channels in the earth releasing the gas in this area. About 120 acres of trees died when the CO2 deprived their roots of oxygen.

Dead forest at Horseshoe Lake
Horseshoe Lake

Horseshoe Lake is about 9,000 feet above sea level. I was happy with how well the Nissan A15 engine in Midget-San performed. The Weber DGV carburetor continued to run cleanly at this altitude although I could feel the power loss from the thin air.

We drove the loop around Lake Mary. We came across several people from the Alpine Coach group – I guess we weren’t the only ones taking a self-guided tour of the area.

On Thursday evening, I was hoping the watch the NFL Thursday Night Game. But, with all of the trees I couldn’t get a satellite signal and the park cable TV didn’t have the NFL Network. I was out of luck. Then I figured out that I could stream the game on my smart phone. It didn’t take long to get used to the small screen and I watched the second half as Tampa Bay beat Carolina.

Friday morning we packed up, hitched the trailer and hit the road. We had a short run of about 40 miles to Bishop California and the Highlands RV Park. The ride down US395 included a six-mile descent of 6% taking us down to about 4,200 feet above sea level. I made the entire six-mile descent without touching the brake pedal as the Jacobs Engineering (Jake) engine compression brake came through again. I had the Jake brake set on low and targeted 55mph. When my speed crept up to about 58-59mph, I switched the Jake to high and it brought us back down to 55. I toggled the low-high setting all the way down with no worries.

At check-in, the guy at the counter was surprised by the overall length of our rig. He said we would take the pull-through site from end-to-end, but it would be okay. It took a bit of doing to get into the narrow pull-through, but we got in, although we’re extended a little beyond the site boundary at both ends. The weather forecast for the weekend here calls for highs in the low 90s and overnight lows in the upper 50s. Much warmer than Mammoth Lakes – we’ll be running the air conditioners!

Eastern Sierra Tour – First Stop

It’s been a whirlwind since my last post, five days ago. That’s the thing about organized group tours – you’re no longer setting your own agenda and scheduling at your own pace. I ended my last post by saying we were going to Virginia City for a train ride – that wasn’t accurate. What we did was drive a few miles out of Carson City east on US50 to Eastgate Depot. That’s where we boarded the Virginia and Truckee (V&T) train for a ride up the railway to Virginia City.

Before we boarded, a couple in period costumes put on a two-person show giving the history of the area and the V&T line. It was quite good and somewhat hilarious although the truth of the matter is they exposed how corrupt the banks and politicians of the era were. There may be a lot of truth to it today as well.

The 1914 Pullman rail car we rode in was pulled by a steam powered 1916 Baldwin locomotive. Originally the V&T used wood-fired steam engines. They converted them to coal and quickly realized it was a mistake. The coal-burning locomotives required much more maintenance and the coal had to be shipped to the rail yards. They then converted them to burn fuel oil. The locomotive that pulled us along was fired with recycled motor oil.

1916 Baldwin steam locomotive
1914 Pullman Rail car

They bill the trip as a 24-mile round-trip, making it 12 miles each way, but our tour guide told us it was longer than that. The train moves slowly as it climbs a 2.4% grade most of the way. We went through the 566-foot long tunnel #2 and another shorter tunnel. The tour guide narrated throughout the hour and 15-minute ride – when he wasn’t interrupted by the train whistle. There are whistle requirements for trains as they cross any thoroughfare, whether it’s open to the public or private.

Send-off from Eastgate Depot

We saw several wild horses on the ride up to Virginia City and many more on the way back down. The train took us to the Virginia City Depot on F Street. This is a few blocks down from C Street which is the main street through town. It’s a relatively steep uphill walk from the depot. Virginia City is built on the side of a mountain. We had a three and half hour layover to tour the town and grab lunch. I visited Virginia City back in 2016 and posted photos in this post.

Donna and I strolled along the wooden boardwalk through town on both sides of the main drag.

Howdy partner – on the boardwalk

We poked around in a few shops and bought some locally made beef jerky. Then we looked at lunch menus and finally settled on Joe’s Cafe – which was recommended by our tour guide. The food there was excellent and we enjoyed lunch along with fellow Alpine Coach Association (ACA) members, Ed and Pat Meadows. We had lunch on the rear deck with a 100-mile view!

You see all types of folks in Virginia City. We even came across a modern day prospector doing it the old-fashioned way. He had a burro loaded with his equipment and supplies. He was dozing on a hitching rail when we first saw him, then later he loaded up and headed out.

See the prospector dozing on the hitching rail
Time to load up and head out

The elevation of Virginia City is 6,150 feet above sea level, so we made a considerable climb to get here. The town was the result of the discovery of the Comstock Lode – the first major silver deposit discovered in America. At its heyday, the population may have been as high as 20,000 people. Today, there are about 1,000 residents with about 4,000 people total in Storey County.

In 1875, the main business district was destroyed by fire – what they called The Great Fire. As the fire spread toward the residential districts down the mountain, a decision was made to blow up the St. Mary’s in the Mountains Catholic Church to create a fire break. The church agreed to the plan as long as the town promised to rebuild the church. Their plan worked and saved the housing. There was much wealth in Virginia City at the time and they kept their promise to rebuild the church.

St. Mary’s in the Mountains church and 100-mile view

The Virginia City train depot doesn’t have a turntable. So, to get back down to Carson City, the locomotive was disconnected from the two Pullman cars, switched to another rail then reconnected on the downhill side of the cars. This meant the locomotive ran in reverse all the way back to Carson City. I should also mention that just before we reached Virginia City, there is a sharp curve in the railroad and the grade steepens for a short distance to 3.9%. This is the steepest railroad grade I’ve ever heard of. Modern rail lines don’t exceed 3%.

The train engineers were careful to keep the speed down as we slowly descended – a runaway train wouldn’t be good. We saw several small herds of a dozen or more wild horses on the way down.

Wild horses
More horses
Looking across a canyon to the railroad grade and tunnel #2 entrance

The good thing about going on a pre-planned group tour is the fact that I wouldn’t have been inclined to spend $55/person to ride in an old train up to Virginia City. But now I’m glad we did the tour.

Saturday morning started with breakfast at the group area before we departed for two scheduled tours. Donna and I drove in Midget-San a few miles to the Nevada State Capitol Building. There we divided into two groups for a guided tour.

State Capitol Building with silver dome

The guided tour was interesting as our guide was very knowledgeable and filled us in on many details of the state’s history.

Chandelier with pink alabaster stone globes
Teddy Roosevelt once sat in this chair made from elk antlers

The tour lasted about an hour and a half, then we walked a few blocks down the road to the Nevada State Museum. This museum is located in the old Carson City Mint Building. The building has additions to it and included a simulated mine in the basement. Again, the guided tour was filled with historical facts and worth the time. It was another hour and a half. We ended the tour with a demonstration of the Carson City Mint coin press number one.

Coin press number one

This is the last remaining working coin press of this type in the world. Carson City Mint struck coins from 1870 to 1893. Coins with the CC stamp are highly sought after by collectors. One of the tour guides operating the press showed us a 100-ounce bar of silver – 99.99% pure.

100 – ounce bar of silver on the left

Sunday morning we headed out for yet another tour. This time, Donna and I drove Midget-San about 30 miles east on US50 then south to Fort Churchill State Park. Fort Churchill was operated for only about nine years – 1860 to 1869. The soldiers stationed there were tasked with keeping the peace and protecting the settlers coming across the wagon trails. It also served as a Pony Express stop and supply depot for the army.

Today the fort is in ruins. It was abandoned in 1869 and pieces of value, such as doors, windows and hardware were sold off. Roofing material was stolen and the buildings vandalized. Today the grounds are preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only partial adobe walls remain of the buildings. It was interesting to tour the grounds and visualize what life must have been like there 150 years ago.

Officer quarters ruins
Buildings south of the parade grounds

They have two of three cannons sent to the fort in the 1860s. The heavy cannons were considered useless by the commanding officer – they were too heavy and unwieldy for the terrain surrounding the fort. He gave them away to local militia. Now they are on display at the state park and are still in working order. We were given a firing demonstration – with a powder charge only, no projectile.

Artillery circa 1860
Fire in the hole!

We regrouped for lunch at a nearby roadside picnic area. Most of the group went on to tour Buckland Station – another area of historical interest. Donna and I were toured out and headed back to Carson City.

I kicked back and watched the Formula One race from Monza that I had recorded. It was a great race! I watched a little football, then we departed for a group dinner at Red’s Old 395 Grill. We had a choice of smoked pork spare ribs or beef brisket with cole slaw, beans, cornbread and fried onions. Donna went for the ribs and I had brisket. We were about done in though and I missed all of the opening weekend of NFL action.

I should mention one more thing that happened at Gold Dust West Casino RV Park. On Sunday afternoon, Scott Hicks came by our site and told me there was a sign on our trailer saying it wasn’t authorized to be there and was subject to tow! What?! I went and pulled the sign and took it to the registration desk at the casino. I explained to them that I was in the RV park and I put the trailer right where they told me to put it. I also mentioned the green tag they gave me that was on the trailer identifying me as a RV park guest. Eventually, a manager told me it was a mistake by someone in security and not to worry, it was fine.

On Monday morning, we prepared to pull out and head south to Mammoth Lakes. When I went to hook up the trailer, there was another sign on it saying it was unauthorized and subject to tow! I’m not too impressed the with the security people at Gold Dust West.

This post is much too long, I’ll have to catch up on Mammoth Lakes in another post.

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Casino to Casino to Casino

On Monday morning, Donna and I took a ride through the Modoc National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Midget-San. Donna told me she heard a pack of coyotes yapping in the NWR the night before. I heard geese and cranes in the evening, but was sound asleep before the coyotes got excitable.

We were hoping to see some wildlife in the NWR, but all we saw were birds, mostly waterfowl – geese, cranes and ducks. Also a few hawks which I couldn’t get a good enough look at to identify.

Dorris Reservoir in the Modoc NWR

We ended up driving into Alturas to grab a few groceries and had lunch at El Agave Azul – we were told it was the best Mexican food in town. We both thought it was average at best, but we enjoyed the lunch.

Later that afternoon, a tractor-trailer rig pulled into the lot at Desert Rose Casino and parked parallel to us on the driver’s side about 40 feet away. He had an empty flat-bed trailer. I noticed he left his engine idling – I assumed he left it on to run air conditioning. It was about 90 degrees outside in the sun. Later I saw him come out of the casino with a woman and a bag of what appeared to be take-out food. They got in the truck, but it remained parked and idling.

We had an uneventful evening as I watched more of the US Open tennis on TV and went to bed before Donna. In the morning, Donna told me she had a horrible night. The noise of the idling truck in the lot kept her up most of the night. The truck sat there idling for about 14 hours. Since he was hauling an empty flat-bed trailer, he couldn’t have been needing to run a refrigeration unit or anything. I think he idled the big diesel to keep his cab air conditioner running!

We packed up and pulled out Tuesday morning. Our route took us south on US395 through mostly open range land and some tiny towns like Madeline and Termo with populations under 100 people. At Standish, we turned on Standish Buntingville Road which is also known as the Reno cut-off. It’s a shortcut bypassing Susanville.

This took us around Honey Lake and we climbed to the Nevada border near Cold Springs. We took the first Nevada exit and found Bordertown Casino RV Park where we had a reservation for a 70-foot paved pull-through site. We were checked in quickly and found the park to be clean and well-maintained. The 70-foot site length is a bit of an exaggeration though – our 65-foot overall length only left a foot or so to spare and stay within the marked site. The power pedestal, water and sewer were ideally located and we were in business in no time.

Donna was excited by the park wifi – that was big news as far as she was concerned. They had an excellent signal with high speed and allowed streaming video. Donna took advantage and watched three or four episodes of The Americans on Amazon Prime. We had a cocktail in the casino and ate in their restaurant. They had a taco Tuesday special – $1 tacos. I ordered three and they were quite good. Donna went for an oriental chicken salad.

Wednesday was mostly a bust. We had warnings of thunderstorms in the area and had showers off and on throughout the day. I watched hours of US Open tennis. Without anything exciting to talk about, I’ll just insert the obligatory sunset behind our coach shot.

Sunset behind our coach at Bordertown Casino RV Park

We pulled out this morning around 10:30am. I made a stop at their fuel pump and topped up with fuel. They had straight diesel #2 – no biodiesel content. We had a short drive to Carson City. We made a stop at Walmart to get water and Donna stocked up the refrigerator and pantry. I walked over to Round Table Pizza and ordered a take-out pepperoni, mushroom, onion and green pepper pizza. I haven’t had a Round Table pizza in a long time and they are one of my favorites. Donna put the groceries away and we had lunch in the coach before moving on.

We pulled into the Gold Dust West Casino RV Park around 1pm – our third casino in a row. I had called ahead to inquire about dropping the trailer. I had a hard time making sense of what the gal was telling me on the phone. We found a large, empty lot that was part of the casino parking near the RV park. I unloaded the Midget and dropped the trailer there. We drove through the RV park in MIdget-San to reconnoiter, then I went to the registration desk at the casino hotel to check us in. They told me I couldn’t leave the trailer where I dropped it. I had to take it to another smaller lot on the other side of the casino. They couldn’t tell me why I couldn’t park it where I did, they just said “it wasn’t allowed.”

There was no sense in arguing so we drove the Midget to our site then walked back to the coach to hook up the trailer again. I dropped it in the designated area – about a 1/4 mile away from the RV park and out of our view. They assured me the lot was under video surveillance 24/7.

Alpine Coaches are filling this small RV park. We have 24 registered members of the Alpine Coach Association here to tour the eastern Sierras. Over the next 13 nights we will caravan to three different parks and take tours of the many sights this area has to offer. I’m not usually one to go on organized sight-seeing excursions, but when we came up this way last spring, we missed most of the attractions due to weather. With an organized group with pre-made plans and reservations, we’ll be sure to check it all out now.

After setting up this afternoon, a thundershower is passing through. The forecast calls for the rain to thin out after 5pm but gusty winds could continue through the night. Tomorrow should be sunny with temperatures in the upper 80s. We’ll be going to Virginia City for a train ride!

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

A Couple of Oddities

The rain is lingering here in northern California longer than expected. We had rain showers off and on all day yesterday. It’s windy this morning and rain is forecast later this morning – possibly a thunderstorm with small hail this afternoon. The forecast high for today is only 63 degrees. If the weather guessers are right, starting tomorrow we’ll have a completely different weather picture. The forecast calls for a high of 80 degrees and no precipitation.

We didn’t do much yesterday – Donna went grocery shopping in Corning and then out for a bike ride. I made a run into town for a few things in between rain showers. I figured while I was hanging around this morning, I would write a short post about a couple of oddities we came across recently.

The first was in Sparks. We went to Great Basin Brewery Friday afternoon for happy hour and had an early dinner and a couple of cold ones. Great Basin has three locations in the area – the Sparks Brewery and Pub, another brewery and pub in Reno and a third location that’s a bottling facility. Great Basin is the oldest currently operating brewery in Nevada. The Sparks location is the headquarters and it opened in 1993.

Sparks and Reno are joined – they aren’t two distinct cities anymore. If you travel westbound from Sparks on Prater Way, once you pass under I-80, it becomes 4th Street and you’re in Reno. When I was a kid back in the 1960s, I came through here on a summer vacation with my grandparents. I remember Sparks being a small town a couple of miles outside of Reno back then. But I digress.

Back to the story at Great Basin. When we left the pub, Donna noticed something odd at the fence by the parking lot. Two bicycles were locked together through the fence, one on each side. The strange thing was the lack of wheels. One bicycle was a road bike and both wheels were missing. The other was a mountain bike and the front wheel was missing.

I took a closer look and could see the remaining rear wheel on the mountain bike had a conventional axle with nuts fixing it in place. The drop-outs for the missing wheels appeared to be quick-release type – no tools required.

Where are the wheels?

We concluded that one of two things occurred here. Either the owners of the bikes removed the wheels and took them wherever they went – we didn’t see anyone with bicycle wheels in the pub. Or, a thief saw a target of opportunity. Since the frames were locked together, he or she simply released the skewers on the quick release axles and took the wheels. We’ll never know.

We came across another odd thing here at Rolling Hills RV Park. We’re in Corning, California in the upper Sacramento Valley. This part of the valley is relatively flat with gently rolling hills. Around the Rolling Hills facility are open fields with native grasses, the casino, an equestrian center and a golf course.

While we were walking through the RV park to check out the sites, we came upon two birds. I immediately recognized them as chukars. But here’s the thing, chuckars don’t belong here. I’ve only found chukars on steep, rocky canyon walls. Their native habitat is actually in the middle east and Asia. But they’ve been successfully introduced in the western states – California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Utah. They’re mostly confined to the rocky steep walls of canyons where they find security and feed on cheatgrass. Most often, water can be found close by.

A pair of chukar in the weeds
They’re watching me watch them

So, what are chukars doing in this fairly flat region? I can only guess that they’re escapees from a game farm, but I’ll probably never know.

There are also plenty of California quail around here, but that’s not unusual.

Last evening, in-between rain showers, Donna grilled shrimp skewers and a new-to-me side dish. It was a portobello mushroom with pesto, prosciutto and mozzarella cheese. It was a treat. She also picked up some fresh corn on the cob. It seems really early for fresh corn, but there it was. The white corn wasn’t the sweetest but it was good.

Grilled shrimp, portobello mushroom and corn

We’ll hang out today and wait for the weather to improve before we start exploring the area. Donna plans to put on a pot of lentil stew – perfect for a rainy day.

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Snowy Donner Summit

I continued to monitor conditions over Donner Summit via the live webcam provided by Caltrans and NDOT. Our decision to not go on Thursday was a good one. The conditions weren’t good and Friday wasn’t any better. I watched as snowplows worked to clear the road and snow piled up on the shoulders.

On Saturday morning though, our window of opportunity to travel west on I-80 looked good. The webcam showed the Interstate clear and dry. Winds were only 15-20 mph but expected to gust higher in the afternoon. Snow was also supposed to return later in the afternoon. We pulled out of Sparks Marina RV Park round 9:30am. I wanted to get over the summit around noon when the temperature would be warmer, but still beat the gusty winds and snow in the forecast.

We planned to top off the fuel tank before leaving the Reno/Sparks area so we could enter California with a full tank of fuel – fuel costs are higher in California. At first I thought about hitting the Maverick station by the RV park, but I decided against it as I didn’t want to get trapped in their lot if too many cars were there. I filled the tank at the TA Travel Center near I-80 at McCarran Boulevard.

We headed west on I-80 and crossed the summit at 7,239 feet above sea level around 12:15pm on a dry road. There was plenty snow all around though. On the steep slopes near the pass, we saw signs of avalanche damage. Tall trees we’re piled on the slopes like a box of spilled match sticks.

Donna snapped this photo through her window near Donner Summit

We left I-80 at Yuba Pass and hit CA20 westbound through the Tahoe National Forest south of Lake Spaulding. This is a two-lane highway with reasonably smooth pavement for the most part. The area is heavily forested with towering Ponderosa pines trees lining the road.

We hit a few twisty bits and road construction in a couple of places, but traffic was light on this route and it was very scenic. As we dropped through the foothills near Grass Valley, we encountered farm land and finally cattle country. Near Yuba City, we drove through flooded rice fields.

We made a shortcut through farmland on Woodruff Lane which took us to CA70 northbound. Our original plan was to boondock somewhere along this route, but we decided to press on through Oroville. CA70 eventually merged with CA99 and took us through Chico. About 12 miles north of Chico, we turned west on CR-A9 near the Abbey of New Clairvaux – a winery we visited when we were here three years ago.

We drove through Corning and stopped at the Rolling Hills Casino. We had reservations to stay at their RV park beginning on Sunday, May 19th. We were a day early and knew the park was full on Saturday night. But, they also have a truck stop on the property next to the RV park and we knew we could dry camp for the night there. By this time it was raining.

We found a fairly level spot on the lot and set up. We popped out the bedroom slides but opted to leave the living room slide retracted. A few other RVs were there along with some tractor-trailer rigs when we arrived around 2:30pm. Soon several other RVs arrived and parked by us. A woman pulling an older travel trailer with a a late model Mercedes SUV parked next to us. I was in the trailer when she came over and asked me if I had a spare battery. I asked her what kind of battery? She said the battery for her trailer had fallen off and she had no electricity in the trailer.

I didn’t have a battery to lend her. Later she asked me if I thought she could hook up to her car battery for power. I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea. Car batteries are not intended for deep-cycle use and she would have bigger problems by morning. She wanted to run an electric heater all night. I told her she would have a dead car battery by morning and be stuck. I guess she opted for extra blankets because we didn’t hear from her again.

This morning we had to wait until noon to check in. We found a long pull-through gravel site and set up in site 18 – and didn’t have to drop the trailer. We’ll stay through the Memorial Day weekend and celebrate Donna’s birthday on the 27th. We did that here in 2016 and found the steakhouse in the casino was very good.

This morning, I checked the Donner Summit webcam again. It was snowing and the road was covered with packed snow. We made the right call to cross when we did. Rain showers continued to pass through here most of the day. The temperature is cool with a high of only 60 degrees. Tomorrow should be warmer – 70 degrees and dry. We may have a few showers again on Tuesday but the long-term forecast looks great with highs in the upper 70s to 80 degrees and overnight lows in the high 50s. We plan to stay here for 10 days.

Taking a Pass

We started the week with pickleball at the Evelyn Mount Community Center Monday morning. There were a few unfamiliar faces there and the level of play was very high. The way they rotate players on the courts is a little different – sometimes it results in the same pair playing together for multiple games. Also, some of the players on Monday wanted to play against specific people, so they were re-arranging the order of paddles waiting to play. No one did this to gain a wait time advantage – if they wanted a particular group to play together, they went to the back of the queue.

It was warm on Monday and I worked up a pretty good sweat before we were done at 11:45am. On the ride home, we made a stop at Winco Foods – one of my favorite grocery stores. We only needed a few things and I found an IPA from one of my favorite breweries – 10 Barrel Brewing from Bend, Oregon.

10 Barrel Brewing Apocalypse IPA

They also had fresh sushi made onsite – something I hadn’t seen at any other Winco store we’ve shopped at. We picked up some for lunch and it was excellent.

On Monday night, Donna prepared fish for dinner. She made walnut-crusted tilapia which she served with coconut-cauliflower risotto and green beans. You might recall a meal I described last week that was similar but it was tortilla-crusted tilapia.

Walnut-crusted tilapia

Tuesday was basically a repeat of Monday. We played pickleball all morning and returned to Sparks Marina RV Park. We really like this park – it’s level, very clean and well-maintained and it’s quiet – it also has the best wifi of any park we’ve stayed at. It’s a little on the pricey side though – more than we usually want to pay. I should mention the pickleball at Evelyn Mount Community Center costs one dollar per person each day. The weird rotation on Tuesday had me paired up with the same guy for four games in a row – we played well together and won all four games, so I shouldn’t complain. Donna was partnered with the same guy for three games.

Tuesday evening Donna prepared another favorite meal. It was pizza chicken – that’s not a typo, I don’t mean chicken pizza. Pizza chicken is a dish that uses flat, thin slices of chicken breast in place of pizza dough. She tops it with the marinara sauce, pepperoni slices, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. When it comes out of the oven, she tops it with kalamata olives, chopped red onion and pepperoncini.

Pizza chicken

It’s a tasty dish and avoids using dough – Donna keeps flour and sugar out of her meals. She served the pizza chicken on top of roasted spaghetti squash.

I packed a few things in the trailer in advance of our departure on Thursday. Tuesday night we had a change in he weather. We woke to rain drops Wednesday morning – I had covered the Spyder the night before and had the Weber Q grill, Donna’s bike and folding chairs packed away. The rain put the kabosh on going to play pickleball. We would’ve been soaked on the Spyder.

The rain cleared away by noon but the wind really picked up. It was so gusty that I retracted the window awnings! Then I had a special weather advisory appear on my Radar Express phone app. It warned of a series of storms from the Pacific crossing California and into Nevada. Snow was expected on the mountain passes along with strong gusty winds. Travel advisories warned against crossing the Sierra Nevada range in high profile vehicles – high profile is defined as anything over nine feet tall. We’re over 12 feet tall.

I looked at the Donner Pass webcam provided by Caltrans and NDOT. The road was dry and clear Wednesday afternoon, but I took the advisory seriously. We didn’t need to be anywhere, so I went to the office and extended our stay until Saturday. The forecast called for snow and high winds by Thursday morning with the gusty winds continuing through Friday. Saturday promises a break in the weather before another storm comes through Saturday night and Sunday. The new plan is to make a dash over the pass and into California on Saturday morning.

Wednesday evening Donna made another favorite dish – flank steak stir fry with broccoli, mushrooms and scallions over rice. Simple and yummy!

Flank steak stir fry

This morning I took another look at the live Caltrans-NDOT web cam on Donner Pass. We made the right call. The road was covered with snow and I watched in real time as a minivan slid out of its lane and came to a stop on the shoulder. We don’t need to drive in that slop. I didn’t see any big rigs crossing the pass. The forecast calls for a wintry mix with gusty wind over the pass today.

The temperature here in Sparks is only supposed to reach the upper 50s today and tomorrow. I’m hoping the expected break in the weather on Saturday holds true.

Exploring Reno/Sparks

After I wrote my last post Saturday morning, we headed out on the Spyder. We rode to the Reno Riverfest – a summer kick-off held at Wingfield Park near downtown Reno. Wingfield Park is an island in the Truckee River, which flows right through town, accessible via pedestrian bridges, two on the north side and one on the south. The Riverfest featured a number of events including a kayak competition, several bands on two bandstands, vendor tents and beer gardens.

Entry was free and a sunny Saturday meant huge crowds in the park. The temperature was around 80 degrees.

Pedestrian bridge on the north side over the Truckee River

We watched the kayaks on the south side for a while. The competitors had to paddle upstream through rapids and maneuver through a series of gates. It looked very technical as they had to quickly change direction to get through the course.

Kayak competition

We listened to a guy performing an excellent blues set with just his acoustic guitar and a great voice. He was good!

Great blues set

We didn’t hang around for too long. It was very crowded and Donna had left her I.D. back at the coach, so we couldn’t go into the beer garden. On the way back, we stopped at The Depot Craft Brewery Distillery. We sampled a couple of tasty brews made onsite – they were okay with Donna not having her proof of age. They also have five stills for distilling spirits, but we didn’t try any liquor.

On the way to the Riverfest, Donna spotted a storefront with a sign advertising hand rolled cigars. We made a stop there on the way back. It was Ruiz Cigar Lounge. This is a cigar shop featuring Ruiz cigars – rolled onsite by Marvin Ruiz and also some Ruiz cigars from his family’s factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. Marvin is an interesting and very friendly guy. He moved to Nevada from Nicaragua in 2005. He imports tobacco from his family’s farm and rolls cigars. He learned the trade in Nicaragua, first working at the Padron factory where his father and grandmother also worked at one time. Later he worked for Drew Estate and then Perdomo.

We talked cigars for a while as he showed me his selection and described many of the cigars in the Ruiz line up. I bought one to try, then he surprised us with a treat. He brought out some tobacco leaves and described the different leaves. They were all Nicaraguan from Esteli and Jalapa. He realized I knew a little bit about cigar construction as we discussed different leaf types and methods of rolling the filler.

Then he proceeded to roll a cigar. It was like watching a magician. His movements were quick and precise – he had the filler bunched and rolled in the binder so quickly that there must have some sleight of hand involved. He was almost done with the cigar before I could start snapping photos.

Already rolling the filler bunch with binder leaf
The bunch and binder are hidden by his right hand as he makes a cut with a chaveta – a special type of knife for cigar making
He laid out the wrapper leaf to finish the cigar
Finished cigar – old school style without using any molds

He gave me the Churchill cigar he’d just rolled. How generous is that?!

Off the shelf Ruiz cigar on the right – the shaggy foot Churchill he made for me on the left

I puffed the shaggy foot Churchill after dinner. It was a very nice cigar and I enjoyed it immensely.

On Sunday, Donna rode her beater bike to do some shopping nearby. While she was out, she went to Petco and brought home a surprise for Ozark the cat. Ozark has only been outside of our coach a few times in the four years since she joined us. She likes to sit on the steps behind the screen door or in her window bed to watch the outside world, but she isn’t inclined to go out.

Donna brought home a cat harness and leash. We fit the harness to Ozark and Donna took her out. She seemed to like it. She rolled in the synthetic turf in our site and they took a short walk. I’m wondering if this will encourage Ozark to go out on her own – that wouldn’t be a good thing.

Our site with fake grass at Sparks Marina RV Park
Donna and Ozark exploring

Sunday afternoon, I went back to Ruiz Cigar Lounge and sat with Marvin and shot the breeze while we puffed our cigars. He told me a lot of interesting stories about growing up in Nicaragua as a third-generation cigar roller. Another fellow from Nicaragua came into the lounge – I don’t recall his name – he told me Marvin is a Master Torcedor – a title given to only the most highly skilled cigar rollers. I bought a few more cigars from him.

While we’re back on full hook-ups, Donna is taking advantage by catching up on laundry and preparing some fine dinners. Saturday night she made one of our favorites – chicken enchilada skillet casserole.

Chicken enchilada skillet casserole

Sunday she whipped up coconut cauliflower risotto while I grilled chicken thighs. She served it with steamed spinach.

Grilled chicken thighs with coconut cauliflower risotto and steamed spinach

This morning we returned to the Evelyn Mount Community Center for pickleball. The games we’re all high level and we had fun. We’ll go back again.

The weather here in Sparks, Nevada has been holding up fine. Daily highs are in the upper 70s. It should be cooler Wednesday with a possibility of rain on Thursday. We’re scheduled to depart on Thursday – with any luck we’ll beat the rain. I’m not sure where we’re going next – maybe Susanville, California. I’ll be sure to top off our fuel tank before we enter California – diesel fuel prices are about a dollar less per gallon in Nevada than they are in California.

Mono Lake, Hot Springs and Sparks

June Lake was gorgeous and we wouldn’t have minded spending a couple more days there. But, with snow in the forecast we packed up and got away Wednesday morning. We left Oh! Ridge Campground around 10:30am. We took the scenic route completing the CA158 loop through town and past Grant Lake. This section of the road is typically closed in winter. It was a beautiful drive.

We headed north once again on US395 and made a stop north of Lee Vining at the Mono Lake Visitor Center. This is a nice center – it’s practically a museum. I think it’s the nicest one we’ve seen since we stopped at the Missouri River Visitor Center on I-90.

Mono Lake is unique in that it’s fed by at least six mountain streams, but has no outflow. The 45,000-acre lake is about 13 miles long and nine miles wide. Lake water levels are kept in check by evaporation in the dry desert climate. Minerals concentrate in the water which is highly alkaline.

In 1941, the city of Los Angeles struck again. They diverted water from four of the streams feeding the lake. This caused the lake level to drop by 50 vertical feet and further concentrated the minerals in the lake, doubling the salinity. This affected the ecosystem. Brine shrimp are found in the lake and are an important food source for two million migratory birds.

In 1978, the Mono Lake Committee was formed to save the lake. They eventually won a legal battle before the California Supreme Court in 1983 and the City of Los Angeles was ordered to replenish the water it had taken from the watershed.

Mono Lake view from the visitor center – Paoha Island on the right

The alkaline water has high levels of calcium. Fresh water enters the lake from subterranean sources. When the fresh water from these springs mixes with the calcium rich lake water, it forms columns of limestone called tufa. These towers take centuries to form and once the lake level was lowered, many of them became visible above the surface.

Tufa towers near the shore

We saw signs advising that Tioga Pass from the eastern Sierra to Yosemite was closed due to snow. The alternate route was a loop north by Lake Tahoe – a six-plus-hour detour!

This vehicle in the parking lot would get over the pass

After we left the visitor center, we climbed another pass on US395 and topped 8,130 feet above sea level at the Conway Summit. Our travel day was short – we drove about 50 miles to Bridgeport and checked in at the Bridgeport Reservoir Marina and Campground. Our site had us right on the reservoir.

Our windshield view in the evening

After lunch, I unloaded the Spyder and we took a ride out to Travertine Hot Springs. These natural hot springs were only a few miles away but it entailed a slow ride up a bumpy dirt road. We found one bathtub sized pool with very hot water where the road ended. We hiked down a well-used trail and eventually found a place where there were a few interconnected larger pools.

On the way back, we climbed a razor back ridge that had a large crack running down the center and I shot a couple of photos.

The pools are at the end of the ridge
View of town from Travertine Hot Springs

Bridgeport has a population of about 600 people and sits at an elevation of nearly 6,500 feet above sea level. Although the town is small, it has a brewery. We stopped at Big Meadow Brewing on Main Street for a cold one. Although they’re small with only a 7.5-barrel system, they had excellent beers on tap.

Sunset at Bridgeport Reservoir

Donna prepared tortilla crusted tilapia for dinner with sauteed corn, spinach and onion.

Tortilla crusted tilapia

Our original plan was to spend one night at the reservoir, replenish our fresh water and dump the tanks in preparation for more dry camping in Carson City. Donna found a casino there that allowed five nights of dry camping in their lot. Then we discovered that the information was outdated. The city had passed a no camping ordinance and the casino no longer allowed it. A similar ordinance was passed in Reno. However, the casino operators there argued that RVers were an important source of business for them. In typical hypocritical government policy, the city agreed not to enforce the ordinance at casinos. This apparently isn’t the case in Carson City though.

Glassy water at the marina in the morning – the fishermen were loving it
Jetty protecting the docks

We changed our plan – flexibility is our motto on the road. We decided to head to Sparks and go to the Sparks Marina RV Park. We’ve stayed here twice before – both times Donna had flights out of Reno so she really hasn’t spent much time here. It’s a nice park with pull-through sites that they advertise as 65 feet long. In reality they’re no more than 60 feet and we overhang a bit at both ends, but it works without having to drop the trailer.

While I was dumping the tanks at Bridgeport, I found a problem. Our Rhinoflex sewer hose had sprung a leak. I cut the bad portion of hose off and re-installed the fittings. I could see that the hose was becoming brittle. A few years of desert sun will do that. On the way to Sparks, we made a stop in Gardnerville at Walmart and I bought a new hose.

Donna found pickleball at the Evelyn Mount Community Center about eight miles away from the RV park. We played there Friday morning from 9:45am to 11:45am. The level of play was advanced and we had a good time – we’ll go back again.

Last night, Donna cleared some leftovers from the refrigerator. She sauteed cabbage and added the leftover pork tenderloin with apples and onions, rosemary garlic roasted potatoes along with asparagus. She finished it off with a balsamic reduction and it was tasty!

Leftovers dinner

The weather forecast here in Sparks is favorable with daily highs around 80 degrees and overnight lows of about 50. There’s no rain expected in the next several days. We’ll hang out here until Thursday – I took advantage of the weekly rate. We haven’t figured out what our next move will be yet.

Plan A, Plan B, Plan C

Donna was back for our last weekend in Sparks. On Saturday morning, she went for a run around the Marina Park Lake. She said she struggled and afterwards, she felt whipped – no doubt from a full day of air travel on Friday. Traveling on airlines always leaves you a bit dehydrated and jet lag doesn’t help. Of course, with Donna back I was treated to a much better dining experience – not just the company, but the great meals she prepares.

On Saturday night, she made tortilla crusted tilapia with pico de gallo and sauteed veggies on the side. Absolutely delicious. We buy only fresh tilapia farmed in Mexico or Central America, not the Chinese or Indonesian frozen fish as farming practices there are a bit scary based on what we’ve read.

Tortilla crusted tilapia with pico de gallo and sauteed veggies

Tortilla crusted tilapia with pico de gallo and sauteed veggies

I started Sunday by watching the Formula 1 race from Barcelona, Spain. It turned out to be one of the most entertaining F1 races in recent memory. The odds-on favorites from the Mercedes team, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, collided going into turn four and were out of the race. In my opinion, Nico took a defensive line, which is expected, but Hamilton thought he could barge past since he had greater speed on the exit of turn three. He should have backed off. Instead he went into the grass, got sideways and took both cars out. From there it was all about young Max Verstappen. The 18-year-old became the youngest Formula 1 winner – his father Jos Verstappen was a Formula one racer as well.

I also recorded a few motorcycle races  – World Superbike and Moto-America races. I’m loving the coverage of motorcycle racing on BeIn Sports. They show the races without commercial interruption.

I didn’t watch the motorcycle races right away, I had to figure out our next move. I thought I had a plan. We ditched our initial thought of heading to Lake Tahoe due to the wet and cold forecast for the coming week. Then I found what looks to be a great RV park at the Expo grounds in Sacramento, located on the Sacramento River with long pull-through, full hook-up sites and miles of paved bike trails right outside the park. I sent an e-mail inquiry. Unfortunately, due to the dirt track mile motorcycle races next weekend and the county fair over Memorial Day weekend, they only had a couple of nights open.

So, plan A and plan B fell through. After some searching, we decided to head up to Susanville for a week, then on to Corning, California for 10 days. The weather forecast looks favorable and Susanville has an RV park that looked good. In Corning, we thought the RV park at Rolling Hills Casino would work – long pull-through sites and not likely to be booked over Memorial Day. I made phone calls and we’re set. This will position us nicely for our reservation in Bend, Oregon beginning June 4th.

Donna made a spiced pork tenderloin with maple-chipotle sauce. She served it with smashed garlic red potatoes and steamed broccoli. Once again, I’m feasting like a king.

Pork tenderloin with maple-chipolte sauce

Pork tenderloin with maple-chipolte sauce

We finished the day by watching a movie recorded on our hard drive. It was Bridge of Spies starring Tom Hanks. The pace of the movie was slow and it was less than we expected – Donna said she had all she could do to keep her eyes open as the movie dragged on.

On Monday morning, we prepared to leave Sparks Marina RV Park. We had everything done and were rolling by 9:30am. On the way out, Donna remarked how much she liked the place and how they do things right here. The park has wide lanes making it easy to maneuver. It’s exceptionally clean and well-maintained. The picnic tables are well constructed and set up with a metal plate to have a small barbeque like a Weber Q on one end. We’ll remember this place next time we come through the area.

Our Route took us up US395. US395 starts out sharing the I-580 designation in Reno and is three or four lanes wide through the metro Reno/Sparks area. It climbs out of the valley immediately with fairly steep grades. Traffic quickly thins out and it becomes a divided highway with two lanes in each direction, then merges into a two-lane highway. It rolls up and down hills with passing lanes on the steeper grades. Before long we crossed the state line and we’re back in California.

It was an easy drive – very scenic with the eastern Sierra Nevada range on our left and a wide valley on our right. We stopped at the Honey Lake rest area (map). It’s a relatively small rest area, but has a nice view and several information kiosks describing the geology, flora and fauna of the area.

View of Honey Lake from the rest area

View of Honey Lake from the rest area

After walking around the rest area, we continued on to Susanville, California and the Susanville RV Park. When I made the reservation, I was told we would have a 65′ pull-through site. At check-in, the woman at the counter looked at our rig out the window and said,”You know you have a 65′ site.” I told her as long it was really 65′ we should be fine. She went on to say it was not permissible to overhang the site into the street due to it being a fire lane.

I was wondering if this would be like the “65-foot” site in Sparks that was too short for our 64′ 9″ length. We pulled into site 63 and Donna directed me. After a couple of adjustments back and forth, I had us in – barely.

Mirror technically extends past site boundary - but we're in

Mirror technically extends past site boundary – but we’re in

Back of trailer right on the line

Back of trailer right on the line

Our 65' site

Our 65′ site

After settling in, we took a ride through town to have a look. We stopped at the Lassen Brewery to wet our whistle, but they don’t open until 4pm on Mondays and it was only 2:30pm. We rode around some more and then headed over to the new Mt. Diamond Brew Pub in the Mt. Diamond Casino. I had an IPA and Donna ordered the Kolsch. We were both disappointed in the quality of the brews and being in a casino means cigarette smoke. We won’t bother stopping there again.

We hit the sack around 10pm. It’s very quiet here and I slept soundly – the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a while. The forecast for the next few days looks good – we’re expecting high temperatures in the 70s and 80s. We plan to take advantage of the weather and the area by hiking some of the trails nearby.

 

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