Friday & Saturday, August 9 & 10, 2013 – Reno and Napa
We are headed home after 7 weeks on the road. We spent the night in Reno, NV. We decided to head there without reservations since just about every campground we’ve stayed at has had vacancies. Little did we know that August 7 – 11 is the busiest time of the year for Reno because of “Hot August Nights”. This is a huge classic car and hot rod show that covers several towns in the Reno/Tahoe area.
We looked up a KOA campground in Reno, because we’ve always found them to be clean and nice. The particular KOA campground we ended up at in Reno was very small and located right across the street from the Peppermill Hotel and Casino, which was one of the many locations for a large exhibition. The place was jumping and the campground looked jammed packed. We pulled in anyway and when I went into the office to see if they had a space for us, the young lady at the desk told us we were in luck because she had just gotten off the phone with a cancelation. So, we got the last space. Unfortunately, it was expensive because of all the visitors that had descended upon Reno. There was nothing special about this small park that only had 43 spaces other than it’s location. It is located right in the mid-town area of Reno on S. Virginia Street. This also where many of the antique shops and trendy artist boutiques are located. You can guess what Elisa wanted to do straight away. We did find a number of nice things at very good prices.
We popped into the Peppermill’s Cafe Milano. When dining at most casino restaurants, we’ve learned that it is best not to expect too much. Their goal is the move the gambler’s through as quickly as possible and get them back out to the casino floor. In this case it was a welcome oasis in the midst of the bustling casino. The food was good, the portions generous and the price low. Elisa opted for the Chinese lunch of chicken stir fry and fried rice. I know – Chinese at a place called “Cafe Milano”. Anyway, it was good and only $5.99. I opted for the prime rib – french dip. It was packed with some great prime rib beef perfectly cooked and served with an au jus and creamy horseradish sauce that was great. Mine was $10.99. What a deal. As evening approached, there was a live band across the street in the parking lot that served as the hot rod exhibition center. There were countless hot rods cruising along S. Virginia Street. Occasionally, the sound of the loud band would be drowned out by the squealing burn outs being performed by hot-rodders as they raced off the line at the changing traffic light. Once in awhile we the sounds of the revving engines and squealing tires would be followed by police sirens. At about 9:30 PM, with all the commotion still going on, we became a bit nervous about our selection and wondered would we get any sleep that night. To our relief, things quieted down by around 10:00 PM. I firmly believe that this is a testament to the fact that the only folks that can afford to spend the money that these hot rods demand are a bunch of old farts who, like us, have a hard time staying up past 10:00 PM. We slept well that night.
Yesterday’s lunch at Cafe Milano was so good, we went back there for breakfast and it was delicious. It was so large that we wouldn’t have to stop for lunch until about 3:00 that afternoon.
Before hitting the road we took a stroll through the Peppermill’s exhibition area where there were hundreds of classic cars on display. It was nice to see the cars in the early morning light in front of all the crowds. After that, we were on the road again, heading toward the Napa/Sonoma area where we planned to visit Elisa’s friend that she went to high school with – Leslie.
The drive through the Donner Pass and along the Truckee river was beautiful. As we made our way up the mountain along I-80 we could see off to our left the railroad tracks along which the California Zephyr rail line makes its way from Chicago to San Francisco, CA. (The last stop for the Zephyr is actually in Emeryville as the rails that once spanned the Bay are no longer there and the rest of the trip is on a bus – sad.) It is an amazing engineering feat for them to have built that track. Much of the track is covered in order to keep the snow off of the tracks. All I can think of is how unfortunate for the passengers who are unable to see much of the beautiful vistas that the Sierra Nevada mountains have to offer because they are in these man-made tunnels.
We did finally make our way to the small town of Windsor, CA which is a bit north of Santa Rosa. The traffic just past Sacramento on I-80 was horrible; stop and go for miles. It wasn’t much better when we turned off on US-12 that cuts through the heart of Napa Valley and heads into Sonoma valley. It was a Saturday afternoon and it seemed everyone in Northern, CA was out tasting wine. For the past 7 weeks we had been traveling across the country and the places we have been were not at all crowded by California standards. We forgot what it was like to be back in the “land of the automobile” – California. I can only imagine the shock we will experience as we make our way back through the LA area.
The small town of Windsor is located off of US-101, a major artery that bisects California heading north from Los Angeles to Canada. Windsor is situated between Santa Rosa to the south and Healdsburg to the north. To the west is the Russian River and to the east is the famous Napa/Sonoma valley. The wealthy trappings of Napa have largely been lost on the small rural town of Windsor, for it is home to the many hispanics that work in the very fields that yield some of the finest wines in the world. On this day Elisa’s good friend, Leslie was working at a fair that is hosted by one of the local churches. This fair was organized to provide backpacks filled with school supplies for underprivileged children of the community of Windsor and to spread the word of the Lord. By the time we got there around 3:00 in the afternoon, Leslie was able to call it a day at this well organized event. We headed over to KC’s Downtown Grill. It is located just across from the beautiful town square where the children’s fair was being held. The buildings along the square are all fairly new (circa 2002) but have been designed to resemble the older buildings that may have been there from the town’s founding in 1851. It is very quaint. We had a great lunch and spent the next several hours catching up with Leslie. Joining us was her daughter Kathleen, Kathleen’s husband David and their son Benaiah. Unfortunately, Leslie’s husband Joe and her other daughter Andrea weren’t able to join us as they were working. It had been about 17 years since we were last together, but we seemed to pick right back up where we left things, almost as if it was only a short while ago. That’s how it goes with good friends.
At about 6:00 PM it was time to say goodbye for now and promise not to wait another 17 years before getting back together again, and we were back on the road. We were going to head to Elisa’s brother’s home in Martinez, CA. To make the drive there we decided to head south east through CA-12 from Santa Rosa toward CA-37. This route takes us through some of the most beautiful parts of Napa Valley. The late afternoon sun made for a beautiful golden landscape. We really enjoyed the ride and bypassed most of the traffic on US-101. Eventually we made our way to CA-37 south of the Napa Valley and this route cuts through the delta of the Sacramento River and heads through the small town of Vallejo. Along the way we passed the remnants of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard (MINSY). At one time this was a large ship building center located on the West Coast. It was the first Naval base located on the Pacific, having been opened in 1853. Commander Farragut presided over the shipyard in 1854 and would go on to fame with his exclamation over the battle of Mobile Bay, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead”. During WWI MINSY played an important role in the production of ships for the Navy. In WWII it played an even more important role with the production of many submarines that aided in the war effort in both theaters of the war. The last ship was built at MINSY in 1970 (submarine – USS Drum) and until the closure of the ship yard in 1996, it was used as a ship repair facility. Today, much of the Ship yard lies in disrepair. Although much of it has been turned over to the local community very little has been put to use and it lies as a rusted shell to the past. Hopefully, it will not be a past -forgotten.
Eventually, we made our way to Martinez after crossing a couple of bridges that make their way over the many branches of the Sacramento River delta. Finally, we cross the Benecia/Martinez Bridge that crosses Carquinez strait near the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The bridge is made of two ribbons of concrete that soar over the Strait. Sitting below these two ribbons of concrete, with only the tops of the rusting span visible, is the old iron draw bridge that once serviced traffic across the Carquinez Strait. Now we are in Martinez.
Our arrival here marks the near completion of our adventure. We are now back with Family. Yes, we will take a few detours through Half Moon Bay and Pismo Beach as we make our way back to San Diego, but we can feel that it is different. We are headed home and before now, we were always headed to some unknown and new adventure. Our feelings are tinged with sadness yet an eagerness to get back home.
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