Weather watchers.....

 6:36 am - Tuesday - April 12th - Gardnerville, NV - 19° F!!!, 60% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the south by southwest......crystal clear, BLUE, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 44° F, but we will not see that high as we roll our wheels in about 90 minutes to Likely, CA where it is also 19° F as I write, but has a forecast high today of just 36° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were hiking a slot canyon near Kanab, UT......↴

The winds began around 2 am Monday and howled most of the day with gusts into the 40 mph range quite often.  With the wind came first rain, then snow......

....the snow came in the afternoon, and just about the time it began to stick, it stopped.  Snow for two hours is interesting, and fun, but more than that begins to make one worry about driving conditions the next day.....lol.

Due to the high winds, rain and snow we  stayed inside the entire day, as one might expect, being weather watchers.  I did venture outside for brief interludes three times, however. Once when it stopped snowing, and raining to retrieve one of my winter jackets from the trailer (I put them away back before we left Seal Rock), and the other was, again, after it stopped snowing and raining to wipe down only the VW windows....it was too cold to do anything more.  The third, and final time was near sunset to remove the tire covers once I was sure it was not going to rain anymore....didn't want my shiny ALCOA wheels to get dirty, so I covered them Sunday afternoon before the rain/snow came.

Otherwise, Monday was a very laid back day.  We watched a complete Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester City, I watched some YouTube videos, we read a lot, and there were at least two well deserved naps.  We had four electric heaters (bedroom, bathroom, salon, and water bay) running continuously all day long, and into the night as the temperature never got out of the 30's.  As I write this morning (Tuesday) we have those same four electric heaters running, plus the salon gas furnace.  

We were in bed by 10 pm....at least I was.....Tuesday will be an early day as we want to get out of the Elks Lodge by 8 am to take on diesel and propane before heading north....we want to arrive in Likely before it begins to snow Tuesday, which is forecast to be around 2 pm.  

When we are traveling we pay very close attention to the weather as there are a number of weather conditions we try to avoid like the plague.....high cross winds, headwinds, snow, rain, and fog.  Often the weather forecast will dictate when we begin our driving day, such as Tuesday. Originally we were going to continue our drive north Monday, but the high winds, rain and snow changed that plan to Tuesday.  We have delayed our departure from numerous locations over the years due to high winds, snow, rain, fog forecast along our route.  The only time we will drive on windy days is if the wind is a following wind (sailing term)....or in other words....a tailwind, and that has been the case a number of times.....nothing like a tailwind to improve your fuel mileage, right?

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Weather holding pattern......

 7:18 am - Monday - April 11th - Gardnerville, NV - 43° F, humidity 50% (not sure how it is only 50% as it is raining....lol), wind 20 mph out of the southwest....forecast for today is rain/snow with a high of 47° F.....in Likely, CA the current temp is 36° F with a forecast high of 39° F, and snow...what are we getting into?

On this date in 2017 we rode our bikes from the San Luis Obispo Elks Lodge down to Avila Beach and back.....↴

.....the view this morning....we're all alone at the Gardnerville Elks.....↴

All by ourselves Monday morning!

Sun, blue skies on one side of the coach.....

.....and rain, heavy cloud cover on the other side

Sunday was a beautiful Carson Valley day, and even though the temperature only got to 63° F, it felt warmer than that.  We needed to check out a fuel station in Carson City for accessibility for our 62' feet of rolling steel....this station (Sinclair) has the best diesel price in the Carson Valley at $4.47/gallon...everyone else is at $4.89/gallon....42 cents per gallon adds up over 180 gallons....almost $76....to save $76 we'll drive to check out the station....lol.  Additionally, we wanted to visit the local Trader Joe's and COSTCO one more time to stock up on a few staples we prefer to buy at those stores.

We left home around 11 am to make the 21 mile drive north into Carson City to first check out the fuel station.  Usually I can tell if we can get in and out of a station by looking at Google Earth and/or Street View, but sometimes I need to see it in person to be sure.  Early on in our journeys we got into some tight situations in fuel stations, and do not want a repeat of those experiences.  It took about 25 minutes to get there, and within a couple of minutes we knew it would work for us, so when we leave on Tuesday, or Wednesday (weather permitting) we'll top off our tank there.  We have enough diesel left in our tank (about 75 gallons) to make to Likely with more than a few gallons to spare, but we like to arrive at a job with a full tank as that prevents moisture from building up inside the tank over 5, or 6 months, plus who knows how much diesel will cost in 6 months the way things are going?

After stops at COSTCO  and Trader Joe's we were home by 1:30 pm, and settling in to watch the final round of this year's Masters.  After all the dust settled Scottie Scheffler won by 3 strokes over Rory McElroy, which is Scottie's fourth win in the last 57 days....sounds almost Tigeresk, no?

Most every time we pass through the Carson Valley we get together with college friend Terry Dickerson.  Her husband, Chuck, died about 13 years ago, unfortunately.  I've been friends with the Dickerson boys going back to college, and am still in contact with Chuck's younger brother, John.  Losing a spouse late in life is not what any of us plan, but when it happens there is a void left, of course.  About 6 years ago Terri met a very nice man, Bill, with whom she has been since then.  We haven't really had a chance to meet, and get to know Bill, so we made arrangements to meet Terri and Bill for dinner Sunday night at one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants......

Dinner at El Charro Avita in Carson City

.....we met them at their home just south of Carson City around 5:30 pm where we spent an hour talking, and then drove together into town arriving at the restaurant around 6:30 pm.  Then for another two hours we talked non-stop....what a great evening spent with good people, and we love Bill!  Our table was in a back corner of the restaurant, and I was facing away from the rest of the tables, so I had no idea we were the last ones in the restaurant at 8:40 pm.....lol.  It's been a long time since we closed down a restaurant!

We were home around 9:20 pm, and beginning to witness the forecast winds, and heavy cloud cover moving in.....there is an 89% chance of precipitation all day Monday, so we will be hunkering down most of the day.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Summit day.....

7:58 am - Friday - October 22nd - Bishop, CA - 39° F,  48% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the northwest.....clear skies today with a forecast high of 75° F.  Our view this morning.....↴

The Eastern Sierra Nevadas as viewed from 

Bishop Tri-Counties Fairgrounds

....on this date in 2017 TLE and I were hiking in Bryce Canyon NP........↴

All trails lead to TLE

Two days was really not enough time in Carson City, but it will have to do this time around.  We would have loved to drive up over Spooner Summit to see Lake Tahoe once again, have lunch at the Bridgetender in Tahoe City, and visit friends in South Lake Tahoe, but it was not to be.  We need to be in SoCal by this weekend to move our stuff out of my son's warehouse.

We were on US-395 heading southbound to Minden, NV just before 9 am.  Our first stop of the day would be the Maverick fuel station there where we would take on 139 gallons of #2 diesel at $3.54/gallon for a total cost of $493....ouch!  Fortunately we will not to 'pay the rent' again until sometime in December.

Standing between us and Bishop, CA was 160 miles of mountainous terrain, amazing, breathtaking, adjective defying scenery, and many high altitude passes.....the first one of the day being Simee Dimeh Summit at 5,987' above sea level just south of Minden, NV......

Topaz Lake

.....we re-entered California just past Topaz Lake, and continued on through Topaz, Coleville, and Walker toward Devil's Gate Summit......

.....standing at 7,519' above seal level.....a lot of grinding along in 2nd gear at 33 mph.....right at red line (2,100 RPM's)......

......after Devil's Gate Summit we took a long break in Bridgeport, CA before heading out of town to tackle Conway Summit, the highest elevation point of the entire length of US-395 at 8,131' feet above sea level.....

Bridgeport, CA.....City Hall

Looking north....

....and looking south

.....and it was another grinder.....8 miles to the summit before the Mono Lake Vista Point.....

.....we took another long break before continuing southward down to Mono Lake, and the small town of Lee Vining, CA.....

Still snow on the ground at the Mono Lake Vista Point from the latest snowfall

.....we always stop at this vista point whether going north, or south, to take a picture.  My parents did this when we were small kids, and TLE and I have continued the tradition.  The sky was amazing.......

....there were only two more summits to crawl over before we began our long 14 mile descent into Bishop, CA......the first.....Deadman Summit at 8,036' feet above sea level.....

June Mountain Ski Resort in the distance

Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort

.....and finally we passed the Sherwin Summit sign at exactly 7,000' above sea level.....

.....from there it was a slow slide downhill in 2nd gear for 8 miles at 6% grade, and another 6 to the Bishop, CA city limits.......

.....we arrived at the Bishop Tri-Counties Fairgrounds just before 2 pm, and opted for a site out in the field with 30 amp and water.  We've stayed here numerous times over the years....it is right downtown within walking distance of restaurants and services, and it is pretty quiet at night....

....and the view is not too shabby either.

We were going to go out to dinner, but TLE enticed me with the promise of a BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato) sandwich for dinner....an offer I dare not refuse.....lol!  Only 200+ miles until we reach SoCal, and our home for the next 5 weeks!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!