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A Short Vacation to Reno,
Truckee, Sacramento and Lodi
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| August 16, 2007: I get the chance to take a trip to visit my children in Reno, then my sister in Sacramento and Parents in Lodi. I'm hauling stuff I'm no longer going to tow around for storage at my sisters. |
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My first stop is in McCloud, California for a Coffee shake. Note all the stuff in the back for storage. Just after McCloud, I hit road construction, lots of it. This caused considerable delays. The views of Mt. Shasta, then Mt. Lassen with a tiny town and Old Station, in the trees. Below the photo of Mt. Lassen, I drop into Susanville, California. Below that is a view of Reno. |
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August 17, 2007: Today was a very special day with my daughter Mindy in Truckee, California. Mindy and I like to hike so we chose to hike south from the Sugar Bowl Ski area on the Pacific Crest Trail into one of the most scenic area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mindy's best friend, Gunnar, her German Shepherd, joined us on our hike and carried her own pack with water. Our hike started up a rocky trail but soon grew into a partially wooded area of the Sugar Bowl Ski area. Click any of the photos to enlarge. |
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| The first piece of ski area equipment we saw was a snow making machine located on one of the popular ski runs. Once we reached the top of the run, we found the control booth for a quad chair lift. It looks something like a space ship about to land on the top of the mountain. |
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| The trail leads us to a Sierra ridge where there is a steep cliff to the east and gradual decline to the west. This is one of the most scenic and windy parts of the trail. If we continued south we would cross into the Squaw Valley Ski Area where the 1960 winter Olympics where held. This was easy hiking because the trail is level in this area. |
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Looking east, you can see Donner Lake behind us. Reno is located beyond the mountains in the distance. Truckee is located just on the far edge of Donner Lake. Click any photo to enlarge. |
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 August 18, 2007: This is another hiking day but this time with my son Ben, his wife Kim and their dogs Jackson and Amber. The dogs Vizslas, they are very friendly and energetic dogs. Amber especially never stopped hoping and running during the whole hike. We chose to hike from Mt. Rose at the 8,000 foot level of the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the Tahoe Rim Trail. This was a windy day but otherwise perfect weather and |
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the wind was appreciated when we began to get hot. We did not get views of Lake Tahoe on this location of the rim trail but did get a nice view of Washoe Valley and Washoe Lake about 4,000 feet below us. There is just nothing quite like the Sierra Nevada Mountains for hiking and views because of the abundance of granite. Click these photos to enlarge. |
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| August 19,2007: My son Joe came to Reno with his new Dodge Charger for dinner and a visit. We went to a new restaurant, Wild River, for dinner and enjoyed both the dinner and the ride in the new Charger. I'm usually joking with Joe because he use to own a Ford pickup, the joke was always how my Dodge would have to tow his Ford, now I can't joke about his Dodge Charger. |
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August 20, 2007: When I arrived in Reno on Thursday last week, I mentioned to Ben I was going to make an appointment for a physical when I returned to Oregon. Ben is a Physician's Assistant in Reno so he talked me into coming to his clinic for a blood sample and test because his nurse is an expert at taking blood. I'm not one who likes the idea of having my blood taken but agreed to Ben's suggestion. I'm glad I did because Kim is the best nurse |
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ever. I did not even feel her needle stick. In this photo above, I made her put the guard back on the needle so I didn't have to see it during the taking of the photo.
Ben has a professional looking office with all his degrees hanging on the wall. I got the blood results today and when consulting with Ben, I'm learning I will have to cut back on my fat intake and probably won't get to eat all that I want to at Howard Prairie Restaurant any longer. |
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August 21, 2007: Toward the end of this little vacation, I get to visit my sister and parents in Lodi, California. We have all just had a good meal provided by my Mother but all the vegitables came from my sister's garden. My sister is smiling so big because she is thinking of all the money she is going to make selling all the stuff she agreed to store in her garage for me. It's alot of my tools so I hope, when the time comes, they are still in her garage. Click the photo to enlarge. |
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| August 22, 2007: Mindy and Gunner love to swim in the lake. Especially after a long, hot hike. Gunner's favorite is to chase a frizzby style dog toy into the lake. If she doesn't see the toy at first, Mindy just points to it's location on the water and Gunner swims after it. Gunner does nearly everything with Mindy. Swimming is just one of the best things they both like to do. Click any photo to enlarge. |
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| August 23, 2007: From 1846-1854, the California immigrants used Roller Pass to cross the Sierra Nevada summit south of what is now Donner Summit. The last tenth |
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mile was so steep, roller logs were used at the top to hoist wagons to the summit. 12 Oxen were used at the top along with 12 more Oxen at the bottom for each wagon. The Roller Pass link above tells of the Donner Parties failure to reach Roller Pass and give several photos and maps of the area. Click either photo to enlarge. |
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A night time parting photo of Reno, Nevada. |
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