Carson City and Rock’n in the Wind

We knew there was a reason we needed to stop at Reno. Again, we were thankful we did make it to there and didn’t stop sooner. The wind blew and blew all day Wednesday and during the night it rocked and rocked the motorhome. There haven’t been many times on the road that we’ve needed to pull our slides in and take our antenna down due to storms but Wednesday night was one of them. The weatherman predicted strong winds and high gusts during the daytime but also predicted they were to subside later in the evening. Well, he missed it. The strongest winds came through about midnight and lasted for about 4 hours until the forecasted thunderstorms were to move into the area. The rain came but the thunderstorms never did. One more day of wind and then we’re out of here.

We had talked to the RV park manager about taking a trip to Virginia City during that day. However, he advised against it with the strong winds. He said there are sections of roads where it's not necessarily uncommon to see an RV or a truck on its side due to the winds. Instead we did decide to take the 30 mile ride down the freeway to Carson City in the Jeep. This is the town Mark Twain’s brother lived in and Kit Carson was famous for.

Have you ever seen a sign at the entrance to a freeway and then again on the freeway forbidding RVs? I hadn’t but it was there. The crosswinds from over the mountains made even holding the car on the road difficult. It also was not a good day to play tourist in this historical city. After all, who really wanted to be outside in all of this?

We didn’t. We drove through Carson City and that was about it. On a nice day it would be a very interesting little town to wander through. However, this was not the day to do it. The weather was just too nasty. Even though we can say been there done that, we also know that sometime we would like to return.

Guess what we found on our way back to the RV park?? A WINCO! I was so excited. We had to stop and fill up our basket with dog treats and a few other odds’n ends. It certainly is nice to know that we’re finally back in WINCO country! However, this one is a little different than others we have been to. This store had a section with slot machines. We probably should have figured that since it's in Nevada.

I also found the perfect little driving range. It’s just a few feet from where we are currently parked waiting for the winds to pass over. There were a few golfers bundled up and trying their luck regardless of the wind. I thought this might be a place Jerry and Ed would like to try out their golfing skills. All of the little buckets on the water have markers showing the distance just like the flags on a driving range.

We did take another little drive up the freeway. We were actually thinking about moving Thursday morning but then decided not to bother and just stay put for one additional night. We did see a couple motorhomes on the road but just the two. It makes you wonder if the folks don’t check the weather before they head out or if they are out there just daring something to happen. One was having a very difficult time staying in his lane. Of course, there were no warnings on this one but sometimes I think people need to make some safe decisions on their own.

Friday it'll be up over the Siskiyou Mountains and down into Oregon. Winds are predicted to be gone out of here so that's just what we're going to do .... get out of here.

Travel safe, everyone.