Day 137- Thursday - Easy Mountains, Nearly Impossible Hills

Fearing California gas prices, we fill up at a gas station across the highway from the Walmart and join Interstate 80 for the journey to California.  This takes us through the towns of Sparks and Reno.  We try to stop at a Petco to pick up cat supplies, but the parking lot has no space for a 36ft RV pulling a car and we're not totally out of food, so we press on.

Suddenly we see trees on the mountains and before long we're into the beautiful Sierra Nevada range, surrounded by pines and, with a clear blue sky, enjoying nature at its best.

Of course the Sierras are higher than the smaller ranges we've been traversing, and we find ourselves following the Truckee River towards its source, as well as the route of the Central Pacific Railroad.   Soon we're in California and stop for lunch at a rest area at the top of Donner Pass, at 7,400ft.  I won't go into the sad story of the Donner party here, but if you don't know it, try googling it.  There's quite a wind blowing here although I hadn't noticed it as we were driving.

Now we start downhill.  We've been looking for a California Welcome Center to pick up a map and other information and we're delighted to see sings for one as we approach the small railroad town of Truckee.  We're less delighted when we find out that the Welcome Center is in the railroad station in the middle of town, since the main street is (a) busy and (b) narrow.  There's also no parking for RVs at the station.  So although we both agree that this is a cute town, we go round the block at the end of the main street and return to the highway, unscathed but with no new map!

Our destination tonight is at an altitude of 710 ft so we know there'll be a lot of downhill driving.  Fortunately I80 has been built with stretches of 5-6% grades for 2-3 miles interspersed with easier sections, so it's not a problem for us or the RV.  At one point there is road construction which slows us down to 10-20mph.  Quill is very happy about this and settles down on the dashboard to watch the view - something she would never do at a higher speed.  Suddenly Vicky announces that our steps are down, which shouldn't happen when we're in gear.  I look back and discover the door is open!  I'm able to pull over and shut the door (which fixes the steps) and no cats have escaped.  I guess one of us (probably me!) didn't shut the door properly but I'm nervous for quite a few miles.

Eventually the pines give way to fertile fields - this is the area where the California Trail pioneers of the 19th Century were heading for - and we find our exit from the highway.  Although we're still 50 miles from Sacramento the last few miles among the Interstate take us through an urban area.  We exit on CA 49 and Vicky informs me it's 16.5 miles to our destination, Ponderosa RV Resort in Lotus CA.  No problem, right!  Especially since the route was chosen for us by a website designed for RV travelers.

Probably the worst 16.5 miles I've driven this year!  We have to cross the American River.  The bridge across the river is no problem, in fact it's quite spectacular.  But the downhill road to the river is steep (6-7% grades), twisty (20 and even 15mph curves) and narrow (so there's not much space between the center line and the (narrow) shoulder of the road).

I make it to the river with no problem except we've both decided we never want to drive this road again.  But of course, having crossed the river we now have to drive uphill on a road with exactly the same characteristics as the downhill one.  I average 20, occasionally pulling over to let people pass me, but when I do get to the top of the hill and pull over, there are dozens of vehicles who were probably fuming at my slow progress.  We agree that's their problem and breathe a sign of relief.

The last few miles are pleasant, driving past farms and even a vineyard with lots of grapes on the bushes.  But the "RV Trip Wizard" itinerary has one last curve to throw at us.  It told us that our destination would be on the left, 16.5 miles after we turned on Rte 49.  I've figured out what the mileage should be on the odometer and when we get to that figure there's no sign of the resort.  A mile or so further on we come to a crossroads where I pull over and Vicky calls the resort.  It's just past the crossroads and soon we see it.  However, to get in we have to do a u-turn across traffic and then squeeze past a truck that is taking up half the forecourt.

I make the u turn but decide I've had enough.  Vicky kindly jumps in and gets us past the truck and to the registration kiosk, where they are expecting us.  However, they haven't assigned us a specific spot and tell us to drive around until we find a spot we like.  A nice idea, but the roads are narrow with overhanging trees and we're still towing the car. We decide to unhook the car and I walk down and find a nice spot by the river.  I then go back to guide Vicky but take a wrong turn so she has to go through a narrow space and do a complete loop with the RV.  She accomplishes this and we finally find the spot.  I back it in under Vicky's direction.

Ron and Carol, two Californians in the next space, invite us over for cookies and conversation.  Vicky had already mentioned that the American River was where the gold that sparked the 1849 Gold Rush was found, but neither of us realized that we're just up the road from Sutter's Mill, where the discovery took place.  Ron and Carol give us the brochure from Marshall State Park, which commemorates John Marshall's discovery, and tell us it's fascinating and we could spend the best part of a day there.  They also tell us about "Apple Hill", site of many apple farms which are now at the height of their harvest season.  Listening to tales of apple pie, apple cobbler, local crafts and more makes us realize we need more time here.

The fact that they've seen river otters (Vicky's favorite animal) across the river from our site also makes a longer stay appealing.  So our original 2 night stay here will become 4 nights.  Since Ron and Carol also warned us off one of the other places we'd planned on staying (narrow sites, lots of mosquitoes, no full hookups), we need to rethink our plans.  As I'm updating this blog, Vicky has been working on new plans.  But in the meantime we've made it to within 125 miles of the West Coast unscathed and it looks like we'll have a fun weekend here.  Stay tuned!