The interlude....

 6:28 am - Thursday - April 13th - Elks Lodge, Gardnerville Ranchos, CA - 31° F, humidity 55%, wind 5 mph out of the east by northeast.....partly cloudy today in the Carson Valley with a forecast high of 53° F.  On this date in 2020 my mother, Virginia, passed on to the next life at tender age of 90....she is missed........↴

After a whirlwind drive over two days to reach Minden, NV we took a day off from getting up early and moving to our next destination.  Before we drop anchor at LPG&RVR for 6 months we needed to stock up on COSTCO and Trader Joe stuff, plus do a 'big food shopping' at the local Smith's.  We had plans to meet good friend from College, Terri Dickerson, at 12:30 pm for lunch, so we were in the VW by 9 am to take care of the 'big food shopping' first.  

By the time we finished, got home and put everything away (that takes about an hour all by itself) it was going on 11:30 am, and we needed to be on the road again by 12 pm to meet Terri at the local Chili's for lunch.  TLE did the most of the driving on Wednesday as I was ready to be just a passenger after driving over 524 miles Monday and Tuesday.  We arrived just before 12:30 pm to find Terri exiting her car......good timing.....she is very punctual...lol....

....I am a creature of habit when it comes to Chili's, and ordered their 'Old Timer Burger'.  TLE is always trying new things, but when I find something I like at a restaurant I pretty much always order that same menu item every time.  The last time we saw Terri was 1 year and 3 days earlier, so we had a lot of 'catching up' to do as one might expect.  The conversation continued non-stop for over an hour, and it was as if no time had passed.

After bidding our adieus to Terri we headed directly to Trader Joe's, which was just across the parking lot from Chili's.  I like their store brand, Finlaggan Single Malt Scotch, so I bought 4 bottles to last me a few months until we return to the Carson Valley for TLE's cataract surgeries....yup....I've had mine done, and now it is her turn.

We were back at the Elks Lodge around 3 pm, and before we knew it the sun was sliding down the western slopes of the mountains which separate Minden from the Tahoe Basin.  In just a couple of hours we will continue our journey northward, hoping to reach LPG&RVR around 2 pm at the latest.  Then begins the time consuming process of setting up our 'lido deck', and the rest of our encampment for the next 6 months of stationary living.

On a side note we are very happy with our four new Michelin drive tires....they are much quieter than the 8 year old tires we had removed.  Those tires had a very aggressive tire tread, and would give off a audible 'whine' as we rolled down the road.  The new Michelins are quiet.  We originally got the last set of tires as we were planning to do a lot of boondocking, which we did over those intervening 8 years, and wanted the benefit of better traction in loose, sandy soil, which they provided, but it is time for a smoother, quieter ride.  I believe we should even see slightly better gas mileage.

The temps we will be encountering upon arrival at LPG&RVR are running about 10° lower than here in the Carson Valley, and about 45° lower than GNHS....it is still late Winter/early Spring up there.  Opening day for the golf course is 4/15 this year, but we're wondering how many hardy souls will be out playing golf in 48° temps.  The forecast shows possible snow showers this coming Monday.  You may remember that it snowed 8 times between April 12th and the end of May last year in Likely, CA.

Our two day Carson Valley interlude has come to and end, so it is time for me to close today's post, and get ready to haul anchor for the final 205 miles of our northbound odyssey on US-395.....stay tuned for more great pictures of scenery along the 'Mother Road'......thanks for stopping by!