I’ve decided on one more day in Sparks. I want to leave. I check the weather over Donner Pass hourly or more, but that ‘frozen mix’ forecast persists. I’m not thrilled with driving Donner Pass on a nice day in a car, not towing, so I sure don’t want to drive it in this situation. At 10am I go to the office and ask if the charge for Sunday night will be back to the normal rate. The lady hims and haws….finally says yes I can have the regular rate, like she’s doing me a big favor. I don’t know, maybe she is!
I’ve already prepared to leave in case the forecast would change. Tanks are emptied and I never even unhooked from JR, so I’m ready to roll. That will make it all that much easier tomorrow morning.
We walk between the raindrops early in the morning and Joy and Shiloh take a couple more dips in The Fountain Of Youth….er…the Truckee River.
I’m not sure about fruits and veggies going back into CA, so I start cooking all the ones I still have on hand. Lentil soup, fried potatoes, boiled cabbage and….applesauce. If everything is cooked and in containers in the fridge perhaps CA will leave it alone! I’ve never come into CA in a travel trailer so I don’t know the boarder procedure.
I’ll let you know how it goes!
Wandering Spirit 
you know to be very careful, but i will say it any way.. stay put till clear weather!
Hi Linda, have you been over Donner Pass with Steve? It’s just that the traffic is so crazy there and everyone drives so fast. And it’s steep and curvy. I drive slow…like the old lady that I am!
Not sure if you still can, but you used to be able to exit 80 to the business route through the town of Truckee before the AG station, and re-enter after the station at the far end of Truckee on the west bound side, coming from Reno. We did that a lot to avoid traffic at AG inspection. Of course agriculture is very important to us in Ca and I would never encourage you to bring fresh stuff in bought elsewhere. Another tactic is if you only travelled to Reno area and back they don’t consider you a risk, or did not years ago. Happy travels.
Hi Velda,
Thanks for the ideas. I should be good with staying on the highway. When I first moved to CA I heard it was illegal to have gerbils here. (Don’t ask). Anyway each of my two boys had a gerbil. We smuggled those little guys into restaurants (in a pocket)’ motels, and finally into CA. It was a great adventure for us. I’ve seen gerbils for sale in CA since then so I guess they were legal after all, but those little guys sure made the trip fun!
As I was summarizing your post to a colleague he started spouting off about the history of Donner Pass or that area anyway. He was talking about people eating people, I thought he was being silly, not that eating another human is humorous. Sure enough he shows me some internet sites about what happened there many years ago. So, maybe it was a good idea you didn’t chance getting stuck in that area.
Did you think about moving to the casino parking lot? I am going to do my first overnight at a casino in October.
Love reading your blog. You can be pretty funny.
Phyllis in Oklahoma
Hi Phyllis, welcome! Yes it is a true story. It must have been pretty horrible freezing and starving…and…never mind.
Meat is meat to me. I don’t eat cows, horses, dogs, chickens, cats, pigs…or humans.
I did see tons of RV’s in a casino parking lot. I did not get the impression it was free or anything though. I thought about moving. But I stayed here. Walking around this ‘park’ I’m noticing that well over half the RV’s are using this as a permanent residence. It surprises me with the noise from the planes. I guess they get used to it.
I think you’re smart to wait out the weather, even if it means you have to drive longer than you like a couple of days. Can’t help you with entering California with a trailer. We haven’t made it that far west with Cassie yet. I’d love to have some of that rain in our area. We have cloud but only “freckles” of rain on the radar..and widely scattered at that.
Cost and ambiance(lack of) are big reasons why we avoid commercial RV parks whenever possible. But that is survivable. Getting in a wreck on an icy road might not be. Wait till it clears.
Hi Reine, I’m hoping all this rain is helping with those wild fires in CA. It must have rained or still be raining on at least some of them.
The Truckee River is very low too…it’s just so dry in so many places.
Trying to ‘go with my gut’ about when to leave. I truly think there is something to be said for ‘gut feelings’. Have to involve the brain at some level too though. I’ve messed up in the brain area a number of times….trying to learn to use it along side the gut. 🙂
Take your time and drive safe!!! Nothing is worth the risk. But I don’t understand about the food???? You can’t bring food into Ca??????
Hi Pam,
See CA is a MAJOR crop growing place so they are concerned about bringing bugs or diseases in from fruits and veggies brought in from somewhere else. There are inspection stations at every entry that I know of. I’ve always been asked if I have any with me and have given up my grapes, tomatoes, etc. I don’t know how strict they are with RV type vehicles, but anyway I figured if I cook everything it’s no longer fresh and no longer a threat.
I think if the food is cooked and in containers, you can bring it into California. When we were there with our RV we made sure we didn’t have any fresh fruit or vegetables. Better sit tight than drive in the rain (but that’s my nature LOL). I don’t like driving in rain, snow, sleet, hail, etc. Love you!
Yes I agree Carmen, I don’t think they will have any problem with cooked food. I still have half a tomato and some cilantro but I’m about vegged out right now. 🙂
I have freeze dried strawberries and blueberries but I don’t think they count.
I’ll be looking forward to dry pavement tomorrow!
Hugs n love!
Hope you got out of Sparks O.K. I never liked that place. So crowed and noisy. You will be fine once you get over that darn pass. Lynda J.
Hi Lynda, good to see you here! I’m looking forward to leaving in the morning. I’ve heard quite enough airplanes taking off RIGHT over my head! And I’ll be glad to have the mountain behind me.