Napa Valley - Lake Berryessa Area

Today we headed out from the Sacramento Area over to the Napa Valley area, but expect to return to the Sacramento Area on Tuesday and stay until we leave the area on the 22nd.  On Monday and Tuesday my brother-in-law, with very little assistance from me, put a thick aluminum angle bar on the motor home mud flap.  We (he) also turned the exhaust pipe so that it blows out and down to the side of the RV, instead of just straight down.  This should help keep the exhaust off the HHR that we tow.  (I noticed a huge difference on this trip already.)

We got on the road around 10:30.  I decided to fill up with fuel at the Sacramento 49er Truck Stop, which is a Pilot truck stop....was glad to see that the price of fuel was down to $4.12, about 25 cents lower than the highest price that I think we paid so far per gallon.  It was a fairly easy trip, outside of 5-6 miles of construction along California Highway 12, and we pulled into the Skyline Wilderness Park.  We have full hookups for $33 per night, which includes everything except for no cable TV, but we do have adequate TV over the antenna. 

Above is a picture of other RVs in the park.  Below is our American Eagle.

 After we got hooked up and had lunch, we went for a ride over to Lake Berryessa.  It is the largest lake in Napa County, formed by the dam which was built in 1953-1958.  The lake covered up the city of Monticello when it finally was filled in 1963.  The dam is named after the city of Monticello.

The dam is protected by a large fence with razor wire along the top (could you say nine-eleven?), and even the signs are safely protected behind the fence (picture above).  Below is a look at the dam (I had to place the camera lens through the fence).  The Monticello Dam is nothing spectacular, and probably needs a bit of work.

But the view down below the dam is ok....

 And the road along the side of the dam is a very nice drive....

 With many views of Lake Berryessa...

 

 The lake is nice for boaters....

 There are trout, bass, catfish and even salmon in the lake....

 And is used for waterskiing, jet skiing, kayaking and canoeing...

Below is a close up of the point to the right side of the lake in the picture above, and reveals the swimmers enjoying the lake on a nice, 80 degree day.

Lake Berryessa was, at the time it was filled, the second largest lake in California.  It has over 160 miles of shoreline, and a maximum depth of 275 feet.