WOW...Nice to Get ABOVE the Smoke

 

 

We LOVE Granite Flat Campground, two miles south of Truckee along the Truckee River.  It is a mere 90 miles or so from Sandy and Arny's place, but is just below 6,000 feet in elevation, while Citrus Heights is a mere 172 feet.  It does require a climb over Donner Summit, elevation 7,050 feet, but it is all Interstate and well worth the drive.  So while Citrus Heights reached a temp of 90 degrees today, Truckee only reached 77 degrees, and it is now 73 degrees at 5 pm.  Also, at nearly 6,000 feet, the sky is blue, and the smell of the devastating fires is nil.

This is Indy's first RV trip, and she was a bit 'shook up' over it for the first 30-45 minutes.  I had to go by Sam's Club to get gas, and try to fix our tow car lights because the passenger side light just wasn't working all the time.  By the time we got up to Auburn, she settled down, and she enjoyed her first 'REST AREA' at Gold Run where I took her and Bubba for a quick potty break walk.  The picture above, taken with my cell phone, was their walk here at Granite Flat...you can just see the Truckee River in the shadows to the right above that big rock.  Their walk went real good, except I have to learn to not let them tie me up with the leash cords...I was 'fit to be tied' by the time we got back, that's for sure.

This picture shows the river which I took from a distance from where we are parked, but with our camera.  We have stayed and written about this campground many times, and I have included some nice river shots in those postings, along with other campground pictures.  Today the campground is about 10% filled, but with many reservations for this weekend.  The entire Tahoe National Forest, including Granite Flat, was shut down until this past Saturday due to fire danger.  I can see a few reservations which were for that time period up through this week...and those sites are all empty.  The National Forest website says that all camping is on a first come, first serve basis now...but the sign at the registration area says differently.  Oh, how the world has become so dis-organized these past six to eight months!

Our camping spot ($11 with the National Park Senior Pass) is close to Highway 89, but we never have minded the traffic.  At night, the traffic falls to nearly nothing...unless there is a big night club act or concert in Lake Tahoe.  Unfortunately, US 50 is shut down coming east into Lake Tahoe for a few weeks due to bridge work, so we 'might' get more traffic today than normal.

It really is nice to be back up in the mountains, that is for sure.  We also love Sandy and Arny's backyard...but with temps hitting over 100 again on Monday, we made a good time to escape.  Of course, Bubba does not think so...he thinks we should stay there ALL THE TIME!

Went into Truckee shortly after we got here and picked up a new set of tow car lights.  I had taken the old ones apart, and the bulb was still good, and I saw no sign of rust or corrosion.  Put some electrical grease on it, and before I hit I-80 leaving Sam's it stopped working again.  But by the time I got to Rockland, it started working, and kept on working all the way here.  I do not want to take a chance of getting another ticket (YES, got busted for doing a California Stop in California!), so I went to ACE Hardware in Truckee and found this pair of lights, and they work just great.  I am keeping the old ones as a backup, and perhaps at home I can figure out what is wrong with them.

Tomorrow we are not sure how far we will travel into Nevada...might only be to Winnemucca, might be all the way to Jackpot just shy of the Idaho boarder.  In Fernley there is a Blue Beacon Truck and RV Wash, and our poor baby needs it so much...even 55 mph (towing speed limit in California) could not blow off all that ash and dust from the California Fires that have been falling on it the past 4-6 weeks.  Depending on how long washing takes will probably determine how far we end up going.