California Coast to Nevada

Here’s what’s new!  We left off around Eureka, Ca traveling down the west coast.

We did a dump and diesel fill at the Shell station in Fortuna, then headed on south on the 101.  Since the weather on the Oregon coast had prevented much enjoyment of coastal scenery, we headed back out to the California coast at Westport, leaving the 101 at Leggett.  It’s a very narrow winding road, but good pavement and we were in no hurry. Meeting loaded logging trucks on blind corners keeps your attention focussed on driving.

A homeless-looking van was parked in my preferred ocean view spot, but snugged up against a guardrail nearby proved to be an adequate alternate.

The view out the door wasn’t too shabby!There’s nothing like sleeping to the sounds of pounding surf!

It was such a nice spot, we spent two nights here before deciding to move on.

Had a bit of an issue getting going as the worn-out truck batteries wouldn’t start the truck. Conveniently, my heavy duty 40 amp battery charger also refused to work.  I knew I should never have left home without at least two battery chargers!  So the generator charged up the house batteries, which eventually charged the truck enough to start as well.  We certainly wouldn’t want to be stuck in such a gorgeous spot now would we!

After passing through Fort Bragg, a turn inland brought us out to the 101 at Willits.  Continuing on southward we filled up with diesel ($3.81) and propane ($2.19) at the Coyote Valley Casino and station before continuing eastward on Hwy 20 into central California.  After a bite to eat in Williams we continued on to Colusa for the night.  We found a decent quiet spot right along the Sacramento river to spend the night. Unconventional, but better than Walmart!  Haven’t had to resort to Wally world for a year or so now!

We stayed on 20 through Yuba City, Grass Valley, Nevada City, and picked up I-80 for it’s run eastbound over Donner pass.

At Truckee we got off the interstate again.  Adding our 10 gallons of spare fuel, we had enough range to make it to the cheaper fuel in Nevada!   I didn’t recall ever traveling on the east side of Lake Tahoe, so that’s the way we headed, eventually coming out into Nevada at Carson City.  There were some minor construction delays on that route, but I kind of like that . 

After going through a single lane pilot car section, I let everyone else go past, and then I can mosey along as slow as I like with no traffic behind.  That gave us a chance to stop along the side of Tahoe for some photos.

Joining the 395 in Carson City, Nv, we went southbound, and filled up the tank and spare cans in Gardnerville ($3.29/g diesel), the last chance before returning to higher California prices.

There was evidence of recent wildfires in the area, and I thought it odd to see the red patches beside each burnt area.  Then I realized that the red stripes were all fire retardant drops from the aircraft fighting the fires.

The next stop was in Bridgeport to enjoy the Travertine and Buckeye hot springs for a few days.  Check out the fuel prices in Bridgeport!  That’s why I filled up in Nevada!

Next we spent a few days camped on some BLM or NF land, about a half mile from the springs.