Gold Country Trip with the Ramblin' Recs Fall 2001

Tuesday, Oct. 16
 
We broke camp this morning in preparation for each heading our separate ways.  Ben and Emily were the first out.  They are heading fairly directly home.  We were the second to leave, heading to just south of Carson City.  Shirley and Ron were getting ready to head to the San Francisco area prior to picking up the new motorhome.  That way they would not have to learn to drive their new larger rig on the streets of San Francisco.  Jim and Margo, with Joan following, planned to follow about the same route as we.
 
We had a beautiful drive across highway 20 to I-80.  The trees are full and dense.  Most are a rich green, with a few in their fall colors of bright yellow, red, and purple.  The road was largely 2 lane, but was a pleasure to drive.  Once we hit I-80, we had construction much of the way, with traffic narrowed to one lane.  We decided to go a little out of our way through Reno to see that area.  It probably was faster than going the more direct way around the north-east part of Lake Tahoe.
 
Our campground is in Minden, about 10 miles south of Carson City, and is not quite what we expected, but it is fine.  It is a "parking lot" with little strips of grass, some very pretty trees, and is in conjunction with a hotel.  It is called an "RV Resort"!  The roads and spaces are quite tight and closely spaced.  It was almost full!  Almost directly behind us is the laundry room, where our key card gives access 24 hours.  The Internet access line is in there.  I updated the church website, posted more pictures to my website, sent report #3 and several other messages, and got my email.  I have been without access for several days now and am late getting the church data updated.
 
We ran 3 loads of wash this afternoon.  That pretty well gets us caught up.  I cheated!  I ran 2 loads of my stuff through the washer.  I then took them to the laundry room where they fit in 1 dryer at 25 cents for 35 minutes.  It took less than 50 cents of time to dry them.
 
We explored the local area this afternoon for a while.  When we got back, I decided that we were close enough to stable Internet connections (Scholl's and Wilkison's) that I could risk re-installing Windows.  I had gotten the missing install files from an ex-Dell tech-support person at the Columbia campground.  He got tired of the constant traveling and became a handyman at a campground.  I was nervous to try the re-install that far from other options.
 
The install went smoothly and has improved, but not eliminated the crashes.  I need to re-format and totally re-install everything when I get home.
 
Jim, Margo, and Joan never showed up here, so maybe they decided to drive a little farther today.  It is probably just as well, as I doubt they would let Joan sleep in her car here.
 
Tomorrow we will drive the Saturn back up to Lake Tahoe and do some exploring there.
 
Wednesday, Oct. 17
 
We headed over to Lake Tahoe this morning.  We poked around the south end, heading into California in the process.  
 
It was very frustrating at first!  Almost every road we tried to take to get a view of the lake ended at "Private Property - No Trespassing" signs, or guard shacks, or locked gates.  We did get a few good views from the road initially.
 
As we started up the west side, we started getting an occasional break where we could approach the lake.  We decided to totally circle the lake.
 
As we got to Emerald Bay, we started to get some spectacular views!  The lake is so pretty, and Emerald Bay is the prettiest!  Another beautiful spot was Meek's Bay.  We went to the shore here at a resort which looked closed, but will actually close for the season on Monday.  The sandy beach and the trees made it look almost like a tropical island!  The water here was a light bluish green, as opposed to the normal look of the lake at a deep navy blue.
 
We completed our loop of the lake and went into Carson City.  We looked at the state capitol and found the Walmart.
 
We continue south in the morning.
 
Thursday, Oct. 18
 
We pulled out from Minden and headed for the Ridgecrest area, about 300 miles.  I have gotten thoroughly spoiled by the 45 to 150 mile days!
 
The drive down 395 was spectacular!  There were beautiful pine trees interspersed with bright yellow Cottonwoods at the medium altitudes, and with equally vivid Aspen at the higher.  Much of the road is 4 lane, and the 2 lane sections have frequent passing lanes.  As we got down in altitude we entered the typical desert landscape.
 
We thought this park had advertised phone hookups at the sites.  When I asked in the office, the lady said "We don't have any phones".  It turns out she is right.  I was thinking of tomorrow's park, and they don't even have a pay phone here!
 
The park has an interesting layout.  It is a combo mobile home and RV park with a fence separating the two sections.  This leaves a narrow strip for the RVs wide enough for 4 rigs.  There are 5 or 6 gates each entering a "cubicle" of 8 spots.  There is no connection between them.  I'm sure glad ours was empty.  I would have had "fun" maneuvering in here if it was populated!
 
Tomorrow we head for Kingman, our last stop before reaching our friends, Keith and Virg Scholl.
 
Friday, Oct. 19
 
This morning I was chatting with the fellow in a 5th wheel behind us in camp.  He lives in Minnesota for 5 months a year, then to Ridgecrest for a month, to Apache Junction, AZ for 5 months, back to Ridgecrest for a month, then home to MN. again.  When we camped at the Lake of the Woods in MN, we were within 2 miles of his home.  On one of our drives, we drove right past it.
 
We bought fuel today for the first time in 12 days!  Our last fuel was from Bakersfield, after we left Tehachapi.  We went almost 900 miles on this tank.  I like large tanks (until the bill to fill it up - almost $150 this time)!
 
Our camp, just east of Kingman, AZ truly has to-the-site telephone jacks, so my Internet is easy here.  This is now the 3rd park (in several years) where we have had phone service to the motorhome.
 
This will be the end of our reportable trip.  The next week is visiting with the Scholls and then on to Prescott, AZ to see our friends Gene and Betty Wilkison.
 
We should be home by the end of October.
 
Thanks for traveling with us.  It is fun sending these reports and sharing our experiences with family and friends.
 
Till our next trip,
 
Dick and Betty Mason
 

 
 

Minden, NV / Lake Tahoe
Tahoe 1
A view of Lake Tahoe from the edge of the highway
in Nevada, approaching Stateline
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Tahoe 2
The trees were vivid at this lakeside park
in California
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Emerald Bay islalnd
Island in Emerald Bay as seen from the south side.
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Emerald Bay
A view of Emerald Bay from the north side.
(A 3 picture panorama)
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Meek's Bay
A 4 picture panorama of Meek's Bay looks almost like a tropical island.