Yestterday was a loonnggg day. We drove 700 kms.. We were on the road by 8am and the first part of the drive was over similar countryside as you might expect. Alternating granite mountain chains with wide basins. As we crossed the border into Utah there was very little irrigation and more rough grazing. Bob had read that there was a salt problem in these Basins if there was no natural water course draining them. Shortly after that we came upon Lake Sevier, a huge Salt Lake. We realised that we weren't that far south of Salt Lake City which was named for obvious reasons. As we drove further into Utah the terrain changed to more sedimentary rock ,sculpted plateaus. The colours were varied and constantly changing. We didn't have time to constantly stop so I have quite a few photos taken from the car. They have turned out quite well proving that my decision to be modern and not carry my camera as well as my tablet was justified. We did stop at two overlooks which had views of canyons. At the first one Bob read the plaque and found this was the first site where Joseph Smith's successor had lead his faithful followers into the wilderness. Some of them did survive but barely. It seems incredible that anyone except the Navaho could survive here. Local Indians were selling pottery, (which I could resist) and at the second overlook jewellery. This I struggled with as I would have loved to buy but resolutely got back in the car because we still had a way to go. As we drove along the highway we were passing through thundery showers which temporarily cooled the temperature so that it varied from low 80's to 100 F . Suddenly as we approached a rain shower there was a flash of forked lightening slant wise across the highway close in front of us. Shortly after we were amazed to see a small pine had burst into flame and was burning merrily all by its self. Was it a sign?
We finally arrived at our very comfortable motel and we are very relieved that we won't have any more long stints like that. This Quality Motel is of very high quality especially after the previous night at the White Pine. I forgot to mention that there was a Country Fair and Horse Show on in Ely on Saturday so there was a constant cycle of desperate people through the car park because the No didn't work on the Vacancy sign. We were lucky to have booked even that "last chance" accommodation.
Monday, 21 August 2017
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Ely Nevada. Sat 19th Aug
Today we drove the 70 miles to Ely and then a further 60 miles to the Great Basin National Park. This Park is really misnamed as although it encompasses a huge basin surrounded by the most rugged mountains I have seen the basin is not the main feature. For day visitors like us the main feature is Mount Wheeler which is 10,300 feet high. It has a huge ice sculpted bowl which holds tons of ice in the Winter as a glacier. Today there was still quite a bit of ice visible in the clefts around the summit but it won't last much longer. We drove from the Visitors Centre at about 6,800 feet up an amazing road to the car park and camp ground at 10,000 feet. Here Bob and I decided to tackle the 4 mile walk which climbs 400 feet up around two lovely alpine lakes. We had to go slowly on the climb because we were both feeling quite woozy with the altitude. However once we made the upper lake it was easy going from there. Well worth the effort. Along the way we talked to some other walkers. Two younger men were completing the walk we were on in preparation and acclimatisation for tackling the summit the next day. Another man has visited numerous times and commented that he had never seen the Park so busy. He attributed this to people visiting on their way north to view the Solar Eclipse which will occur on Monday. It is the first time in most people's history that there has been a solar eclipse in North America so it is creating a lot of interest. He is going to the border of Ohio and Colorado to view the entire show.
When we came down we finally managed to get our Park Pass from the visitors centre. We then returned to Ely for our bed. We imagined this desert road would be quiet but we have had to book in advance to get accommodation and to take what is available.
Tomorrow will be a long day as we drive across southern Utah to Colorado so you may not hear from me until at least Mon. The little critter on the rail is BB our toy bear who appears in regular emails to Eleanor and Hannah.
When we came down we finally managed to get our Park Pass from the visitors centre. We then returned to Ely for our bed. We imagined this desert road would be quiet but we have had to book in advance to get accommodation and to take what is available.
LAKE tahoe to Eureka Nevada
Friday was a very up and down day. We had a leisurely start and did some food shopping in Carson City so that we can self cater breakfast and lunch. Then I persuaded a reluctant Bob to drive to the US Government offices to enquire about purchasing a National Parks Pass. We are visiting so many National Parks that their annual pass is cost effective. When we arrived there the staff were very unhelpful and couldn't guarantee that the first park we are going to would ne able to sell us one. So between the two of us we were mightily annoyed. Meanwhile Bob had been consulting the GPS which said that our destination was 6 hours away instead of the 4 that Google had advised. Since it was already midday that meant we would be arriving late. AND IT WAS MY FAULT.
Things simmered down as we rolled down the highway. We were heading out into the Nevada desert and as Bob commented " it made the Nullabor look like a forest". However the terrain is made up of chains of hills interspersed with large flat valleys. The hills became progressively higher and had more shrubby comifers dotted over them due to the fact that they are snow covered in the winter and the melt irrigates the trees in the summer. Also in the valleys surrounding the three main towns they have diverted water courses and built reservoirs to capture the snow melt and irrigate the land. So in the midst of this rugged barren area there a green patches if agricultural production. This whole area is more than 4,000 feet above sea level and as we drove over the mountain passes they were mostly over 7,000 feet. This made the approaches fairly long and steep but fortunately the road is good. It was an interesting drive and we arrived at our destination, Eureka Nevada by 4-30pm proving google right. The fun was just beginning though. We had booked a hotel through Expedia and as we drove through the very "western" small town we searched for our hotel without success. We put the address into the GPS and she took us 7 miles back out of town to a new housing development with no hotel. By now we realised that we were in trouble because there was only 3 motels in this town and the first to were full. Apparently there is a lot of construction going on in the area and thus lots of workers needing room. We spotted an older motel back at the beginning of town and hustled down there. It was old but immaculately kept and cheap as well. We took a room and I would recommend the Ruby Hill Motel to anyone. We soon had three couples from Utah who were riding Harleys taking the rooms next to us.Naturally there was a bit of bike chat.
This morning two more events made the stay memorable. A group of deer strolled down the highway outside our room on their way to breakfast. Then our biker neighbours held a prayer meeting on the lawn outside their room.
I am attaching some photos ( I hope) of Lake Tahoe. These are a day behind because I was having trouble working out the storage system on my new tablet. Elise was bemused by my photo of a car park recently not appreciating that it was of the entrance building of the Peppermill and I was trying to give an imppression of the scale of the buildings.
Things simmered down as we rolled down the highway. We were heading out into the Nevada desert and as Bob commented " it made the Nullabor look like a forest". However the terrain is made up of chains of hills interspersed with large flat valleys. The hills became progressively higher and had more shrubby comifers dotted over them due to the fact that they are snow covered in the winter and the melt irrigates the trees in the summer. Also in the valleys surrounding the three main towns they have diverted water courses and built reservoirs to capture the snow melt and irrigate the land. So in the midst of this rugged barren area there a green patches if agricultural production. This whole area is more than 4,000 feet above sea level and as we drove over the mountain passes they were mostly over 7,000 feet. This made the approaches fairly long and steep but fortunately the road is good. It was an interesting drive and we arrived at our destination, Eureka Nevada by 4-30pm proving google right. The fun was just beginning though. We had booked a hotel through Expedia and as we drove through the very "western" small town we searched for our hotel without success. We put the address into the GPS and she took us 7 miles back out of town to a new housing development with no hotel. By now we realised that we were in trouble because there was only 3 motels in this town and the first to were full. Apparently there is a lot of construction going on in the area and thus lots of workers needing room. We spotted an older motel back at the beginning of town and hustled down there. It was old but immaculately kept and cheap as well. We took a room and I would recommend the Ruby Hill Motel to anyone. We soon had three couples from Utah who were riding Harleys taking the rooms next to us.Naturally there was a bit of bike chat.
This morning two more events made the stay memorable. A group of deer strolled down the highway outside our room on their way to breakfast. Then our biker neighbours held a prayer meeting on the lawn outside their room.
I am attaching some photos ( I hope) of Lake Tahoe. These are a day behind because I was having trouble working out the storage system on my new tablet. Elise was bemused by my photo of a car park recently not appreciating that it was of the entrance building of the Peppermill and I was trying to give an imppression of the scale of the buildings.
Friday, 18 August 2017
Lake Tahoe 18th August 2017
Yesterday we drove from South Tahoe around the west side of the Lake up to Tahoe City. This is the steeper side of the terrain and just as beautuful as we had been expecting. The traffic was steady but not difficult except at the viewing spots which were without exception congested with cars waiting for a parking spot. At one Bob just drove around the parking area while I hoppd out, took the photo and hopped back in. We allso found a couple of laybyes to stop in briefly. There is one area where we climbed a switch back up from the lakeside and found the top was a ridge just wide enough for the road with a plunging drop a few thousand feed either side to the lake. The water was blue geen in the sun today but the day was not too warm.
We had forgotten that in places like this Americans don't have many casual picnic spots and had packed the makings for lunch. There were plenty of entries to the State Park areas but these are places where it is anticipated that you will be camping or at least spending the day. Hence there is the usual $8 - $10 entry fees. You can imagine that once again Bob was not having a bar of that. At about 1pm we were driving through one of the small communiies where there was a large complex of buildings for hiring sport equipment such as boards and skis. At the back of the large car park servicing a cable car station thre were some tables and benches. I convinced Bob that as the cable car station was a winter thing and was currently locked up we could be cheeky and use the table. He was feeling nervous about being challenged until I decided to walk over to the bar/restaurant to buy a drink and use the toilet. It was a huge building with one small office the only part occupied and open, spacious and recently cleaned toilets.we settled in and enjoyed our lunch. Tahoe City was very busy with the usual holiday village offerings so we drove through and then retraced our route home. Coming from the bush one of the things we really enjoyed were the huge fir trees along the road. These doesn't seem to be as much damage from beetles in this area and the trees are tall and beautiful. Not like our commercial plantations as they are still in their natural parkland growth.
We had a delicious Italian style meal last night with both of us choosing some rissoto instead of spagetti for the first time. We both had seafood combined with it and it was fresh and well cooked.
Today we are heading east again and will be in Eureka, Nevada for the night.
Yesterday we drove from South Tahoe around the west side of the Lake up to Tahoe City. This is the steeper side of the terrain and just as beautuful as we had been expecting. The traffic was steady but not difficult except at the viewing spots which were without exception congested with cars waiting for a parking spot. At one Bob just drove around the parking area while I hoppd out, took the photo and hopped back in. We allso found a couple of laybyes to stop in briefly. There is one area where we climbed a switch back up from the lakeside and found the top was a ridge just wide enough for the road with a plunging drop a few thousand feed either side to the lake. The water was blue geen in the sun today but the day was not too warm.
We had forgotten that in places like this Americans don't have many casual picnic spots and had packed the makings for lunch. There were plenty of entries to the State Park areas but these are places where it is anticipated that you will be camping or at least spending the day. Hence there is the usual $8 - $10 entry fees. You can imagine that once again Bob was not having a bar of that. At about 1pm we were driving through one of the small communiies where there was a large complex of buildings for hiring sport equipment such as boards and skis. At the back of the large car park servicing a cable car station thre were some tables and benches. I convinced Bob that as the cable car station was a winter thing and was currently locked up we could be cheeky and use the table. He was feeling nervous about being challenged until I decided to walk over to the bar/restaurant to buy a drink and use the toilet. It was a huge building with one small office the only part occupied and open, spacious and recently cleaned toilets.we settled in and enjoyed our lunch. Tahoe City was very busy with the usual holiday village offerings so we drove through and then retraced our route home. Coming from the bush one of the things we really enjoyed were the huge fir trees along the road. These doesn't seem to be as much damage from beetles in this area and the trees are tall and beautiful. Not like our commercial plantations as they are still in their natural parkland growth.
We had a delicious Italian style meal last night with both of us choosing some rissoto instead of spagetti for the first time. We both had seafood combined with it and it was fresh and well cooked.
Today we are heading east again and will be in Eureka, Nevada for the night.
Thursday, 17 August 2017
To Lake Tahoe
We only had a short run from Reno to The Lake so we had a leisurely start. We arrived before lunch and had no difficulty finding a reasonably priced motel on the South Tahoe strip around the lake. I hasten to add that it is not lakeside accommodation as they are well out of our class. However the bakery rated as the best in South Tahoe is just two doors along and i have
made the trip for lunch yesterday and breakfast today.
On the way here we stopped over in Carson City, the Nevada State Capital. Bob had read that it was worth a visit. It was certainly a contrast to Reno with a gracious old centre of administrative and business buildings. An interesting feature was that there was plenty of free parking which make the stop over user friendly. We had a stroll around the city centre and then went on our way.
The scenery on the approach to the Lake and once we had topped the 7100+foot pass was beautiful. The Lake is huge and very deep having been ice formed. The proud local claim is that it is blue and clear enough to see a white dinner plate on the bottom at 70 feet. The surrounding mountains still have quite a lot of snow and the pines go right down to the edge so the contrast of rugged peaks and the lower level pines should make some great photos. We walked down to the two beach areas near us that are accessible to the poor public like us. They were busy but not impossibly so. We had tried to pull into a parking area near a recommended bay and found it was a private resort area and that we would have to pay $10 to park. Needless to say Bob declined to pay this for a half hour stop over. The day was a bit cloudy so not as good for photos. We will be exploring today and the sky is clear so I hope to get some good views along the way. I will attach photos of the Peppermill which is typical of the Reno casinos.
We only had a short run from Reno to The Lake so we had a leisurely start. We arrived before lunch and had no difficulty finding a reasonably priced motel on the South Tahoe strip around the lake. I hasten to add that it is not lakeside accommodation as they are well out of our class. However the bakery rated as the best in South Tahoe is just two doors along and i have
On the way here we stopped over in Carson City, the Nevada State Capital. Bob had read that it was worth a visit. It was certainly a contrast to Reno with a gracious old centre of administrative and business buildings. An interesting feature was that there was plenty of free parking which make the stop over user friendly. We had a stroll around the city centre and then went on our way.
The scenery on the approach to the Lake and once we had topped the 7100+foot pass was beautiful. The Lake is huge and very deep having been ice formed. The proud local claim is that it is blue and clear enough to see a white dinner plate on the bottom at 70 feet. The surrounding mountains still have quite a lot of snow and the pines go right down to the edge so the contrast of rugged peaks and the lower level pines should make some great photos. We walked down to the two beach areas near us that are accessible to the poor public like us. They were busy but not impossibly so. We had tried to pull into a parking area near a recommended bay and found it was a private resort area and that we would have to pay $10 to park. Needless to say Bob declined to pay this for a half hour stop over. The day was a bit cloudy so not as good for photos. We will be exploring today and the sky is clear so I hope to get some good views along the way. I will attach photos of the Peppermill which is typical of the Reno casinos.
Tuesday, 15 August 2017
Going to Reno
Today has had a very frustrating beginning. Recently there have been delays in the post going to publish. Then today the work I wrote last night has refused to publish despite numerous attempts. Finally I searched for an answer on the net and it seems I have to change the internet connection. So here's hoping this will work. The story as I wrote it yesterday goes like this. It would have to have been a long one.
We travelled over the mountains today and the scenery was stunning. We drove along the river valley until just before we reached Aubourn. Then we entered the Aubourn Gorge. The photo I hope to post shows the bridge that we subsequently crossed. The highest point in the Highway was the Donner Pass at 7000 + feet. There was snow on the mountain tops as we drove through.
We arrived in Reno at about 12pm which was too early to check into the accommodation we had booked at the Peppermill Casino & Resort. However I was prepared with the addresses of our two favourite stores and they were conveniently enroute to the Casino. The first one was a bit pf a disappointment but they did have a good cafe so we opted for lunch. When our sandwiches arrived we realised that half a sandwich was equal to what we would usually have for lunch. We agreed then that we would just order one in future and share. We developed a similar strategy for dinner at the Casino. I ordered a salad and Bob ordered a steak. Then we explained to the waitress that we can't eat their big meals and we planned to share. She was a bit bemused but hap
pily cooperated and brought us an extra plate and steak knife. The meal was delicious but we still couldn't finish all the salad.
The Peppermill is huge and we are staying in the budget rooms that we booked on Expedia. They are very comfortable and equal to 5 star in Australia. Tomorrow (today) we planned a quiet day doing some low key shopping and exploring. Bob needed time to recover from the shock of my shopping frenzy at Sierra Trading yesterday. I went armed with a list of specials that I had researched on the net but I must admit I had not actually planned to buy 4 pairs of shoes. I told him how much I saved but he was still shell shocked.
Today we have been into the centre of Reno which is actually wall to wall huge casinos and not much else. We did manage to find stamps for some snail mail and the Visitors Centre which we had not really hoped to track down. Tonight we are having Mexican Dinner as Bob has pointed out that if we are going to have it anywhere this is probably a good place.
I will now try to attach a couple of photos.
We travelled over the mountains today and the scenery was stunning. We drove along the river valley until just before we reached Aubourn. Then we entered the Aubourn Gorge. The photo I hope to post shows the bridge that we subsequently crossed. The highest point in the Highway was the Donner Pass at 7000 + feet. There was snow on the mountain tops as we drove through.
We arrived in Reno at about 12pm which was too early to check into the accommodation we had booked at the Peppermill Casino & Resort. However I was prepared with the addresses of our two favourite stores and they were conveniently enroute to the Casino. The first one was a bit pf a disappointment but they did have a good cafe so we opted for lunch. When our sandwiches arrived we realised that half a sandwich was equal to what we would usually have for lunch. We agreed then that we would just order one in future and share. We developed a similar strategy for dinner at the Casino. I ordered a salad and Bob ordered a steak. Then we explained to the waitress that we can't eat their big meals and we planned to share. She was a bit bemused but hap
The Peppermill is huge and we are staying in the budget rooms that we booked on Expedia. They are very comfortable and equal to 5 star in Australia. Tomorrow (today) we planned a quiet day doing some low key shopping and exploring. Bob needed time to recover from the shock of my shopping frenzy at Sierra Trading yesterday. I went armed with a list of specials that I had researched on the net but I must admit I had not actually planned to buy 4 pairs of shoes. I told him how much I saved but he was still shell shocked.
Today we have been into the centre of Reno which is actually wall to wall huge casinos and not much else. We did manage to find stamps for some snail mail and the Visitors Centre which we had not really hoped to track down. Tonight we are having Mexican Dinner as Bob has pointed out that if we are going to have it anywhere this is probably a good place.
I will now try to attach a couple of photos.
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