Day 46 – Sacramento, CA

You need to understand that when I don’t have anything to report in the blog, it doesn’t mean that I slept all day, and that I didn’t get fed or get any treats, or go for any walks; it really means that I wasn’t involved in anything that I thought you’d be interested in, or would find cute or funny.  Like yesterday, when it was raining in the morning and Don took me for a walk that was just long enough for me to attend to some necessities, and none of us left the rig until the afternoon, when Geri and Don did some shopping and money machine operations.  It was just a blah, uninteresting day. 

Today was a travel day; some travel days are interesting and reportable, others are kind of a drag.  Today, I must say, had some interesting moments.  First, the weather this morning was the best we have seen since arriving in the Reno area.  The skies were clear, except for some clouds over the mountains, which are called the Sierra Nevadas.  Our walk was very pleasant, and Don took some pics of our walking route.  We encountered a tiny white poodle that I had met on a previous excursion with Geri, and she remembered me and showered me with kisses.  I always like that, though it’s a bit embarrassing.  We met a gentleman with an older dog, older than me, and I determined that he was packing treats in a pocket.  I sat at attention in front of him, and was duly rewarded.  A very successful walk from every respect.

Mount Rose in the clouds

Look at that grass!

One of my admirers

We rolled out of this very pleasant Park around eleven, with Geri and Don debating the need for fueling before leaving Nevada.  Don was not inclined to stop for fuel, while Geri pushed for buying cheaper in Nevada.  Don was driving, so he won.  We hadn’t gone very far, just into Reno, when Don announced that we had an emergency requiring a stop alongside the road.  Geri and I were initially alarmed, until Don pointed out that one of his rear view mirrors was threatening to fall out of its enclosure.  We pulled over briefly, Don retrieved the mirror, and we were underway again. 

We’ve been over this mountain route before, and it truly is a beautiful ride.  The only problem today is that there’s a lot of construction going on, resulting in slow, one lane rides in many places.  But the scenery is gorgeous, and I sat up and took in a lot of it.  We stopped in a rest area to stretch our legs, and Don found a display of an old hydraulic monitor that had been used in the late 1800’s for placer mining of gold in the neighborhood.  He pointed out the adjacent hillside that was seamed with vertical ridges, that had been hydraulically mined.  He loves this stuff, having been a gold miner himself many years ago.  Geri and I listened with feigned interest; we don’t want to get the guy mad, he is the driver. 

Typical I-80 scene

We rolled on down the mountains, with Don using all of the braking systems that the rig provides; its kind of fun to watch, all the button pushing and switch flipping that he has to go through.  But I know that it’s important to keep our downhill speed under control and keep us safe.  We finally reached the flat land of the Great Central Valley of California, and a brief conflict ensued between Geri and Don; we could take the short route through Sacramento proper (Geri’s concept), or we could avoid downtown Sacramento altogether by taking the I-80 bypass (Don’s preference); the driver won again.

We pulled into the West Sacramento KOA a little after two, got set up for living, and Don did a repair job on his rear view mirror.  While Don was hooking up the water, he met the people in the rig next door and got big kisses from their friendly Pit Bull, Belle.  I haven’t met her yet, but I hope she likes me as much.  Geri took me for a really good walk down to the river; the weather is very pleasant, and there are a lot of great areas for walking near the Park.  We won’t be here too long, but I think we’ll have a good time!