The road (back) to Zion

So when we last left you we had spent the night(5/5) in Elko. After a night of stiff wind and temperature at night of 26! (good news--the pipes didn't freeze), we headed back to Salt Lake City. This stretch of I-80 had several items of interest for Mom, our photographer. Both she and Becca are terrific travelers. They look out the windows and comment on things they see. Here are a few of the photos Mom snapped, starting with the Utah border sign. We were happy to see it.

Signs like these give you a heads-up to food and gas vendors at the next exit.

This actual round-up was Becca's favorite moment

 Commercial trucks in NV and UT are allowed to pull three trailers

Along the Salt Flats Mom saw this huge rig.

I imagine this is a genuine problem along this sometimes bleak highway

Mom loves what we call the "Triples". She has a photo collection of many

Stretches like this reminded us of the "Cars"movie

We have a Flying J "Frequent Filler Card". We like it for gas, snacks and general trucker ambience

So we pulled into the SLC KOA on 5/6. We visited Jon and Kelly's families on 5/7. On Saturday 5/8 we went down to Springville, near Ganon's family. We'll stay here until 5/30; take care of some chores and spend time with Tommy and his family.

Iron Horse

Chances are you've heard of Elko, Nevada. It's about 125 miles east of Winnemucca and 230 miles west of Salt Lake City-- tomorrow's goal. With afternoon high wind advisories posted for the Fernley to Elko  I 80 corridor, we got an early start from Desert Rose, racing the wind to Elko, planning to stay at the Iron Horse RV Resort tonight (5/5--and Happy Boys' Day to all of my sons, sons-in-law and grandsons!) We made it here just as the wind started rocking the rig.

This is a typical vista along this part of I80

Gramma, on the camera, is always on the look out for trains

Wonderful rock formation

Flying J deli for a meatball lunch --ono

A fun tunnel along the way

Desert Rose

So have you heard of Fernley Nevada? How about Fallon Nevada? Well, tonight (5/4) we are staying between the two little cities at The Desert Rose RV Park. We left Loomis this morning and headed over the Sierra Nevada on I 80, with Gramma manning the camera

I was concerned about getting over the 7000 ft. Donner Pass. But the weather was brisk and beautiful and the road was dry and traffic light. Bigfoot did just fine, even pulling the Saturn.

Aunt Catherine said we'd probably see snow above 5000 feet. She was correct. But it was all off of the road.

We were interested in the nice name for this park. Across the nation we have found that park names are not always accurate. In the middle of the desert we feared a more accurate name might be "The Coiled Rattler RV Park". But this is a nice little park with level concrete sites with grass in between.  We are looking forward to a level night's sleep. Tomorrow it's off to Elko.  Stay tuned.

French Toast

One of Gramma's best dinners is French toast. She prepared it tonight in her little galley

Ono!

Loomis on May Day

Here we are in Loomis, CA "Gateway to the Sierra Nevada". Becca is waiting to go to the Loomis 3rd Ward for church. Tomorrow we have an appointment with Camping World in nearby Rocklin. Big problem is the electric step not functioning correctly. Coming up from Meg's the step came down and wouldn't go back up, even when we did the Megan switch dance (ask her) and we had to drive 100 miles with it sticking out. Auwe

Yesterday Aunt Catherine, who lives in nearby Sacramento, found a fun restaurant here in Loomis, "Cafe Zorro", where we went out to dinner.  Becca got spaghetti and meatballs, one of her favs. I got a stuffed trout--really ono. Mom wasn't thrilled that it came with its eyes in it. Mom got lasagne. Aunt Catherine got chicken alfredo--one of Emma's favs, says Gramma.

Here is Gramma in her Sunday finery, with the Loomis chapel in the bg

As always, our RV park is near the railroad track. The whistle is very easy to hear in the night. On the tracks near us is this specialized track repair rig.

If the force is with us and the step is fixed, on Tuesday we'll head over Donner Pass. Stay tuned