Back to winter......

7:33 am - Wednesday - April 12th - Gardnerville Ranchos, CA (Elks Lodge) - 48° F, humidity 42%, wind 5 mph out of the south....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 60° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were hiking a slot canyon near Kanab, UT.....↴

.....the view this morning (Gardnerville Ranchos, CA at the Elks Lodge).....↴

After 9 hours of sleep I was feeling fresh, and read for another day of driving the Mother Road (US-395) north to Likely, CA.  We slept with every single window open Monday night, and by 6:30 am it was quite chilly inside.....just the way we like it.  After turning on a few heaters the interior was hospitable in a few short minutes.  You know, I've used that expression (few short minutes) for years, and for the first time this morning I'm wondering from where did that expression originate?  Aren't all minutes created equally, and composed of exactly 60 ticks of the second hand?  Is it that the minutes seem, or feel shorter?  Hmmmm....these are the random thoughts going through my mind on a beautiful Wednesday morning, but I get ahead of myself.

After typing and posting my daily missive TLE and I walked a few short blocks (there's that 'short' thing again) over to Erick Schat's Bakery, in business since 1907, for some pastries and coffee.  As you know, we don't usually eat breakfast, but on special occasions such as being a few short blocks from Erick Schat's Bakery one must indulge oneself in some wonderful pastries, which are best enjoyed early in the morning.....

.....being able to sit in direct sunlight, with long sleeve shirts, and without the shade of a market umbrella was so nice.  We lingered over our coffee's and pastries for almost an hour before making the walk back to the Newell.

Within 30 minutes of our return to the Newell we were rolling our wheels once again, grateful we would be enjoying some of the best views anywhere on the lower 48....

Approaching the first summit of the day....Sherwin Summit

Discovering Crowley Lake is still frozen on April 11, 2023

First rest stop of the day at the Crowley Lake Vista Point

Approaching the 3rd summit of the day....Conway Summit

....our next rest stop was at the top of Conway Summit looking back at Mono Lake.  If you have been following us for any length of time you know that we always stop at this vista point whether going south, or north to take a picture.  My parents began this tradition way back in the 50's, which TLE and I have kept alive all of our married life.....

April 11, 2023 - the entire landscape is covered in snow

April 9, 2022 - no snow down there, and very little on the mountains

This is TLE's Mono Lake Vista Point picture taken through a window of the Newell....it was too cold for her to go outside

.....the miles and the summits passed by quickly, and soon we were passing the next to last summit...Devil's Gate Summit, and heading for the long, winding Walker River downhill into Walker, CA.  All that remained was one more summit before Minden, NV..... Simeh Dimeh Summit, which we crested around 1 pm.

Before we reached the Tahoe/Douglas Elks Lodge in Gardnerville, we stopped at the local Maverick fuel station, which almost always has the best prices in the Carson Valley, to top off our diesel tank.  In all we took on 107.5 gallons at $3.59/gallon at a cost of $387.  Almost double the amount we took on at Kramer Junction the day before for just $87 more (we paid $5.39/gallon there).

By the time we finished at the Maverick and drove the last 5 miles of the day arriving at the Elks Lodge around 2 pm I was beat....155 miles covered, and 5 summits.....it felt like 250 miles...lol!  Time to relax for a couple of days.

We had planned to got out for a late lunch at our favorite local micro brewery, Shoe Tree Brewing, but the wind had begun to blow ferociously right after we arrived, throwing a lot of dust into the air, so we decided to just stay put at the Elks Lodge.  In just two days we have covered 523 miles, averaging just over 260 miles per day.  Our last day of driving (Thursday) for the next 6 months will be about 206 more miles.

My mind is still overflowing with the spectacular wintery views we enjoyed along this stretch of US-395.  I cannot remember the last time we saw this much snow in this area in April.  The level of snow looks more like December, or January.....definitely not April.  In just two days we went from early summer weather to winter like conditions, but that is the beauty of being able to change your view without going through escrow!

Thanks for stopping by