June Trip-part 3

Day 5 - Idaho, Nevada

Got another early start this morning as we needed to cover some extra ground due to the previous day's extended activities. It was also decided to bypass yet another scheduled stop, the Bonneville Salt Flats, and go directly to Reno, Nevada, our next stop for the night. This decision allowed us to get back on our schedule, which was needed at this point in our journey.

Originally, our trip called for travel through Utah, but this latest plan deleted that state altogether and substituted Idaho in it's place. There really wasn't any reason to stop this time around and the pictures that we took were all taken from the car as we rode along. Once we made our way to I-80 in Wells, Nevada, we only stopped once for food, gas and a restroom break.


On our way through northern Nevada on US 93, we encountered the coldest temps of the entire trip. With the mercury dipping all the way down to the freezing mark. We even had a bit of the white stuff as the rain froze and turned to snow. I believe it only got up to 40 degrees when we finally hit Reno later that day. A long ride for sure, but worth it to catch back up.

Jim had previously arranged for a free stay at the Harrah's casino, so we quickly made our way there to get settled in. Once checked in, we went across the street to one of the many restaurants and had a delightful meal before Kathy and I returned to the room while Melody and Jim played the slots for awhile before calling it a night. The picture at the left is our view from the hotel room.


Day 6 - Nevada, California

Only a couple of stops to make on this leg of the journey, but if previous days were any indication, we knew we were in for another long day. With Reno just 20 miles or so from California, our first stop came quickly at the Donner Memorial state park in Truckee. We didn't spend too much time here, but managed to get a few pictures of the monument which had been erected to honor the ill fated party.

The next part of our journey was a departure from our normal travel pattern of sticking to interstate highways and such as we cut across the state in order to get to our next destination, bypassing Sacramento in the process. In addition to saving time, we also got to experience more of the hilly, twisty roads with beautiful photo opportunities such as the picture below.

Once we got by all of the twisty roads, we found ourselves on iconic Hwy 101, making our way north to Leggett, California. This is one of the few places left where you can really experience the giant redwood trees, so big you can actually drive through it! This attraction was not on the original agenda, but was added at the last moment once I discovered a day with a very short driving time. The addition of this site fulfilled two needs. 1) to make an 8 hour travel day and 2) to fill the desire of our pilot, Jim.

And our last portion of the drive for this day was a short jaunt down Hwy 101 to Santa Rosa, where we found a suitable hotel in which to spend the night.