Sacramento on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011

Fallon, NV to Lincoln, CA: The day dawned cold...less than 20 degrees. The drive over Donner Pass on I-80, then CA 193 to Lincoln took three hours but the roads over the mountains were mostly clear of snow and ice. 

Bob applied for a job for January to mid-April, 2012. While he was in his interview for 1-1/2 hours, I took my Escape to an automatic car wash to clean all the sand and grime from the trip to Great Basin N.P. I still had time left, so I sat at a park and read my book.

On the drive back, we wanted to see Hidden Falls. Even though some of the signs to the regional park were missing, Bob got out his Droid and we found our way. We had no idea what to expect. At the park, the sign said the hike to the falls was four miles round trip. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to "collect" this waterfall today.

On our way back to I-80, we made a quick stop in Auburn, CA. Gold was discovered nearby. See photos.

Museum and courthouse.

Bob with statue of placer miner.

Charbonneau District near Wilsonville, Oregon was named for Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. We used to live four miles from there.

I-80 is a major freeway across the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The scenery is breathtaking. Unfortunately there is major construction and in many areas the freeway is down to one lane which makes sightseeing difficult...no place to stop. I was the passenger and got these pics while Bob was driving.

We made tracks back to Sparks, NV to shop at Costco before it closed. We were also hoping to make it back to our RV park to get our propane tanks refilled, but that didn't happen. They stop filling propane tanks at 5:00 p.m.  

Since we did not want to run out of propane (our heat source) in the middle of the night, Bob "ran out" to try to find somewhere that would fill propane at night. He couldn't find anyone, so bought a "Rhino," which is an expensive way to do it. You have to buy a new propane tank (which is now our extra tank). When it runs out, you can get it refilled for $20 or so.

While Bob was out getting propane, I put away all the groceries. Had to get creative because there isn't much room for Costco-sized portions in a 5er. 

For dinner tomorrow night, I will put a chicken, potatoes, carrots and celery in a Crock Pot and let it cook while we're at work. Tomorrow we start work at 7 a.m., so I did all the prep work for the Crock Pot before we went to bed. In the morning, I put it all together, turned on the Crock Pot, and when we got home 11 hours later, dinner was ready! Yum.

After that we got to relax.