On the road
Sunday 19th April 2009
The original plan was for us to drive to Reno today but as we enjoyed Saturday's arena football game in Stockton we decided to stay an extra night in Sacramento (although we had to change hotels to a Hilton) and head for Reno and Crater Lake tomorrow.
So we had a slowish start to the morning - I managed to make use of the hotels laundry for much needed washing and just after 1pm we headed for the local mall and had Dairy Queen for lunch! A hot dog and a banana split - yummo.
Then we drove the 80 K's along the 5 to Stockton for a ice hockey game between Ontario Reign and Stockton Thunder, we had front row seats and enjoyed the game which was won by the Thunder.
It was just after 7pm when we got back to Sacramento and we had Olive Garden for dinner before heading back to the hotel.
Monday 20th April, 2009
Started the day in Sacramento and drove east along Highway 50. Had breakfast at a Dennys in Placerville and then continuted up into the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Scott and I had done this drive in 2001 when we drove from Sacramento back to Cedar City in Utah. The drive was at night and was quite an adventure through the mountains and the last few minutes into South Lake Tahoe was like a roller coaster ride.
Today we did the same drive during the day and were able to admire the views..... a nice river that runs along the road and then just before South Lake Tahoe you peak at 7300 feet before the roller coast ride. The views of the lake and mountains are quite magnificent.
South Lake Tahoe is in California and is like a ski resort. After 10 minutes of driving you enter Nevada and straight away all there is is casinos.
The Lake Tahoe area is very nice, the lake very pretty.
We drove on through Carson City and ended up at Reno for the night.
Tuesday 21st April, 2009
Our plans to drive on to Crater Lake have been abandonded. Sadly my cold has not got any better and Scott felt it was best that we stay the day in Reno allowing me to take it easy.
I felt better after sleeping in till 10am and eventually we headed out to a few things around Reno.
We went to Best Buy and Barnes and Noble/
Then to lunch at Dairy Queen.
Then to Wal-Mart and I bought some shades for my glasses. I had broken my original prescription sunglasses on the Ghostrider on the first day of the trip. Then went to Wal-Mart to buy a cheap replacement pair and lost them a few days later in Vegas and then bought another pair and they broke in Phoenix. I have since managed without them but in San Francisco and especially in Reno where it is 90F/30C I have been struggling. So I spent $10 on some shades that i place on the front of my normal glasses. Seem to work OK.
After Wal-Mart we went to a mini golf course and played 36 holes. I beat Scott by 12 strokes over the 36. Not often I get to beat Scott at a sport these days so that was nice.
Scott tried out a batting cage as well. Like a bowling machine at home but set up for baseball. He did average on the 65mph machine and then much better on the 55mph machine. He has the habit of trying to hit the ball along the ground like a good cricket player should - not good for a baseballer though.
After the batting cage we came back to the hotel and watched some Stanley Cup ice hockey on TV before a buffet dinner in the hotel and then some more ice hockey.
Wednesday 22nd April 2009
Today ended our shortened road trip as we drove from Reno in Nevada back into California, through Sacramento and ended back in San Francisco.
I thought Reno was an OK city. Like Vegas but smaller and much quieter. Scott wandered through the hotel casino at one stage and though he was the youngest person there by a 100 years. I would agree that this place seems to be for oldies, the younger ones have Vegas.
We left Reno ay 9:20am and along I80 through the mountains and back down to Sacramento where we stopped at the hotel we stayed in last Sunday to pick up something I had left behind.
Then we GPS'ed a Carrows for lunch and ended up downtown Sacramento but couldn't find the Carrows. Back on to I80, we stopped at a Dennys for lunch and then arrived at Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco at 2:30pm.
We caught the Ferry to Alcatraz Island and checked out the prison there. The audio tour is very well presented. The views of San Francisco are magnificent.
After the visit to the island we checked out the seals at Pier 39 and then we had a slow drive to our hotel for the night near the airport. We had a very nice iHop dinner.
Tomorrow we fly to LA, rent a car and drive to Vegas. Done this way to save return fees on the rental car.