Bye Bye California....onto Winnemucca, Nevada, May 19

  We drove 380 miles today through amazing variety of terrain.
  We started in the green and beautiful Napa Valley, drove near the flatter land of San Francisco Bay, then through the agricultural area around Sacramento. Then...up up up the Sierra Nevada Mountains to over 7,000 feet and through the Donner Pass.

Railroad trestle in the distance by the Donner Pass

Barbara in shorts at the Donner Pass

    The Donner Pass is named after the tragedy of the Donner Party, American pioners who spent a disastrous winter in 1846-47 snowbound in the mountains. They were trapped near Truckee, high in the mountains. Some set off on foot to seek help. It took four months before a rescue party arrived. Of the 87 members, 48 survived, partly because they resorted to cannibalism. (Shades of The Essex)
   Then, we went down, down, down into Nevada and into the flat area around Reno with nearby salt flats. Then across the middle of Nevada which is dry but we can see snow covered mountains around us.
   We are at a nondescript Motel 6 in Winnemucca, population 7,000. We went to a nearby supermarket (Ridley's) and got food to eat at the motel. Temperature: 77 degrees.
     Winnemucca was named for Chief Winnemucca of the Paiute tribe. His daughter, Sarah Winnemucca advocated for education and fair treatment of the tribes in the area. She wrote the first autobiography written by a Native American woman. In 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad reached Winnemucca, part of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Basque immigrants worked as sheep-herders and the town still has an annual Basque Festival. And, in 1900 Butch Cassidy's gang robbed the First National Bank of Winnemucca.

   This is our turn eastward, so we feel as if we are starting for home. We have been in California since early March and have thoroughly enjoyed it. California has it all - beaches, both sandy and rocky, deserts, mountains and skiing, beautiful forests, rich agricultural areas, rolling hills, fabulous weather and vibrant cities. (Of course, there are those earthquakes, wildfires, flash floods and droughts) We are sorry to leave California.