2 RV's heading to Davis CA

... spending the night at Rocklin CA

If the worst thing that happens today is that I lost a pen, it's a good day.

Breakfast, a little better than last time. Still the same Hostess goodies but also oranges, yogurt and cereal. We had to wait as it wasn't ready yet a 6:30 AM.

Beautiful sky in the east before sunrise, but too many power lines to get a good picture. The parking lot isn't full, but it is the fullest I have seen it. So there was a reason they didn't want to be giving discounts.

Before we get to the freeway we pass two casino's. Both lots were full at 7:30 AM. They both have motels, but people are not staying home.

Before we get to our 1st stop a pickup pulling a travel trailer running on one of our plates passes us. Neither of us saw a placard anywhere on the pickup. A little while later I see one like it at a gas station with a cop behind it. No way of knowing if it was that one or not.

1st stop - Elko at the Sinclair for a rest break. We had planned on getting our sandwiches here and eating them later. Nope. Food doesn't open until 9 AM on Sundays and it is only 8:30. Weekdays they are open at 4:00 AM.

As soon as we are back on the freeway there is another cop that has a transporter pulled over. This is not one of ours. Then a little later our pickup/transporter passes us again. Still no placards but I do get a partial on the plate this time. He uses bungies to hold his plate on so I couldn't see the exact letters. I'll give it a few days and then look the plate up online.

2nd stop - Winnemucca for fuel and food. They do have a place that makes a few basic things to order, but we bought pizza and taco's off the shelf. Pizza was good, taco's were too spicy for me. But it was food without making a second stop.

Loves truckstop on the far end of town is not open yet. This time it looked like there were a lot of store fixtures being stored under the gas canopy.

3rd stop - Fernley at the Flying J for a rest break. Quick in and out.

We sail through Reno at the posted. Very light traffic for a Sunday afternoon. None of the NV inspection stations were open.

Donner's Pass. Again, very light traffic. Very few trucks, mostly cars. Some snow on the hills and along the road in the passes.

One question at the CA fruit inspection station "Transporter?"

4th stop - Gold Run at a rest area. From here BB makes a reservation. My heading is spinning, more like plugged, from the changing elevations today. 30 more miles and we are done ...

5th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Rocklin. Today they have a large part of their parking lot coned off. Amazon is using the motel as a training / staging location for new drivers. Something just about every motel would love right now. Corporate business. Still plenty of room for trucks to park. We are early enough that we get some of the car spots.

As we are gathering our stuff a guy walking in the parking lot asks us a few questions. He used to drive RV's out of IN a few years ago.

Once in, we walk down to  Kathrin's Biergarten. Good German food. It's a few blocks away but worth the walk even in the dark. No indoor seating, but they have two tents set up over some of their outdoor seating. And they have used part of their parking lot for more tables, but none of those are being used today.

We sit outside the tents. BB gets a sauerbraten and I get a reuben and potato soup. The reuben doesn't have as much meat as some of the fast food ones but much better. The soup was very good too. Too much food to order desert. By the time I am done eating, we are getting cold. It was 60 degrees when the sun was still up, not sure how fast it dropped.

It was cold this AM. The temps were down in the single digits every time we hit a low spot for quite a while this AM. And with the high hills and low sun angle we were still driving in the shadows at time until mid morning.

So far so good. I don't think either of us have any rock chips. I hear a little gravel once in a while but nothing loud.

In the past we have done our final fuel at Battle Mountain but at some point switched to Winnemucca. Leaving Winnemucca today after fueling, I had a range of 80 miles past the motel. (drop is about 30 past the motel) Now at the motel I have a range of 150 past the motel. So between BB and I we are leaving $20+ of fuel above what we feel save driving with.

The mileage on these really varies. Sometimes it is just over 10 mpg, and others it runs for a long time at over 20 mpg. Not sure what is causing that. I know it didn't like the cold this AM. But neither did I.

Another day where the excitement was watching the fuel mileage. Nothing exciting travel wise. Four days and we haven't see a single bus. And don't remember any transporters today, not driveway.

I don't listen to the radio much except when I have Willie Radio. Otherwise known as XM. But after two days of listening to Willie, I decided to NOT listen to him yesterday and today. I did push the button from 0 to somewhere over 100 at some point. But spent most of the time on 5, 6 and 7. 50's, 60's and 70's music. Most of the others, if I listened at all it was for one song. But I did listen to the Bluegrass station for a while.

Tomorrow we will leave about 9 AM, fuel and get to the drop about 10 AM. BB will walk across the street to the rental car place while they are inspecting. Likely be done by 11 AM. Eat at In n Out. Then call the bus dispatcher. Yes, we have done this routine before.