Reno and Ely, Nevada

We left an unimpressive Reno, NV, last week after being stuck there by a late snowstorm. We did have one fun afternoon visiting the National Automobile Museum, the Harrah Collection. Over 200 antique and classic cars--Ellen's favorite was the 1908 Thomas Flyer that competed in a drive from New York City, across the U.S., across the northern Pacific Ocean, across Russia and all the way to Paris! The car has been restored to the way it looked when it finished the race. It was a fascinating place to spend a cold day.

We delayed our departure a day, hoping not to catch up with the storm! The drive from Reno to the tiny town of Ely, NV, took us up to summits of close to 8000 ft, through lots of snowy passes, but on good cleared roads. Ely was to be just a stop along the way to Salt Lake City, but is quite a gem. Our KOA is just outside the town, and there are snow-topped mountains everywhere we look.

http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

Friday and Saturday we went on some nice long walks, although we had to avoid mud from the melting snow. Sunday afternoon we drove 60 miles to the Great Basin National Park, but were disappointed that the roads were closed above 7500 ft. We had hoped to drive to about 10,000 feet near the top of Wheeler Peak (13,000+ ft) to see the Bristlecone Pine Grove. These twisted, stunted trees are the oldest trees in the world--several thousand years old! We got out at a campground at 7500 ft to go for a walk--Ha! There's no oxygen up there! Five minutes of walking up an inclined path had us huffing and puffing, even the dogs! There was quite a bit of snow on the ground, a beautiful clear rushing stream, and a wonderful view of the valley below. But a 30 minute walk was all we could handle.

Tomorrow we leave for Salt Lake City. We will be staying at a pretty campground right on a river in Provo, just south of Salt Lake City.
Ellen will see some of you in Kingwood at the end of the week. Mike and the dogs will be having wild times in Provo while she's gone ;).

Hi all! The picture above (which we didn't take) is of the Sundial Bridge--a really cool pedestrian bridge over the Sacramento River in Redding, CA. We walked the dogs over this bridge and on the really nice trails along the river several times while in Redding. There were mountains all around us, most notably Mt. Shasta. We were there for almost a week waiting for some mail to catch up with us, and so I could at least get our taxes to the point of filing an extension! The RV park we stayed at was on the Sacramento River, beautifully landscaped with good cable and wifi. We don't have any new pictures to post because we really didn't do anything significant other than the mentioned administrative things, as well as grocery shopping, laundry and a haircut. Didn't want to take a picture of Mike's latest prison cut!

We've had a couple of rainy days but overall we've been enjoying beautiful spring weather. We've worked really hard at avoiding winter weather as we've moved north in California. Yesterday we finally left California and drove to Reno, NV, working our way toward Salt Lake City, where Ellen will fly home for a visit next week. It was a beautiful drive (until we got out of the mountains and into the dry lakes and desert again) and sunny and 75. Imagine our surprise when we watched the evening news last night and they said that today we would be under a winter weather advisory! Right now it is about 31 and snowing hard and blowing. We may have to stay here an extra night just to ride out this storm and the poor road conditions. Lows are forecast to be in the mid-20's the next couple of nights :(. This presents problems with frozen outside water lines. We thought about back-tracking down I-80 to the Sacramento area where it is sunny and warm, but there is a wind advisory along I-80 for high profile vehicles (like ours) so I guess we will just hunker down and ride it out. The forcasted snow "showers" seem pretty hard to us, but hopefully it won't get too bad.

More to come!

We are still enjoying this beautiful campground, and our week here, despite rain Wednesday night and Thursday. Yesterday (Friday), after our walk with the dogs, we did our grocery shopping, then went to Agate Beach nearby. After parking high on a bluff, we had a long walk down to the beach; as we walked we kept thinking that we were going to have to climb back up that bluff! It was extremely windy; the waves were pounding and crashing. The beach was almost deserted, and is covered with gray rocks, some almost as fine as sand, others round and flat and smooth. There was also beautifully smooth driftwood of all sizes. The beach is so-named because of the agates! You have to look hard, but we found 4 small ones, about the size of jelly beans. Then came the climb back up the bluff, but we did fine. We're getting in pretty good shape!

Today we discovered a wonderful park in Arcata, near Humboldt State University. Arcata is a funky little college town that is decidedly weird. The park has miles of winding trails through a redwood forest. The redwoods love this climate, and this park, like others we've been in here in Northern California, is full of mosses and ferns, and is cool, damp and muddy. Of course, the dogs pay no attention to the mud!

Late this afternoon Mike went into Trinidad to buy a six pack of beer and while passing an overlook near Trinidad Head, saw a whale! We sat on the overlook for an hour or so near sunset watching the migrating Pacific Gray Whales. It was a beautiful view and a beautiful evening. Our pictures are here http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

We'll be here in Northern California until Tuesday, when we'll start working our way southeast.

Vineyards, wineries and redwoods

Our week in Petaluma brought more wonderful adventures. Early in our stay we drove back south to San Francisco and went to Muir Woods on the recommendation of friends and our daughter. The drive took us once again on a twisty, winding road which, again, was well worth it. We walked for about 2 1/2 hours through the gorgeous redwoods. Fern Creek babbles through the Woods; at one point along the trail there is a bridge that is actually built on a fallen giant tree.

We took advantage of being in the middle of the California wine country! One day we drove to Sonoma and were particularly interested in the Jacuzzi winery and its history. Another day we drove to Napa where the vineyards cover every hill, visited the Robert Mondavi vineyards and tasting room, and ate outside at a wonderful burger joint called Taylor's Refresher. The drive home took us on yet another twisting road, probably the narrowest, most winding yet!

We got to see another stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway, along the Sonoma Coast. The dogs went with us on this drive, and enjoyed a walk at a park way up high overlooking the ocean. I don't think they appreciated the view like we did!

Mike had a special treat when he found out that the SCCA was holding a Regional Race at nearby Infineon Raceway. It was Sears Point when we were here 30 years ago with our friends Tom and Laurie Mankin!

While we were still in Petaluma, Mia celebrated her fourth birthday! We got to talk to her, quite briefly; after all, she's only 4! Her other grandmother was visiting from St. Louis, and I know they had fun together.

Imagine looking out the windows of your RV and seeing the massive trunks of Coast Redwoods! We are now staying in the most beautiful campground, about 250 miles north of San Francisco, and very near the coast. The nearby tiny town is Trinidad, and is on the bay; we are a few miles north of Trinidad. Today, April 1, we took a short drive north, stopping at a national park information center--really interesting facts about the trees, the devastating logging that took place until the 1960's, and the Native Americans who lived here. We then took a 2 mile walk through the Lady Bird Johnson Grove of old growth Coast Redwoods. So spectacular! Ferns, trillium (3-petal shade-loving flowers), moss-covered fallen treetrunks, trees so tall you can't see the tops, trees so massive their diameter is greater than Mike is tall! See our pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

We hope to see more of the Redwood National Park, the nearby lagoons and beaches, and find a grocery store where a package of sandwich cheese is less than $6.00!