Day 1 - Jacks Valley, Nevada to Alturas, California - 202 Miles

Today was not the best day to begin another fun trip in the RV we belatedly discovered. Though the sun was shining as we got ready and turned off the various utilities, by the time we fastened our seat belts the dark clouds had begun to boil over the Sierra and the wind had begun to blow with its usual Nevada exuberance. At that point I suggested to Concetta that maybe we should wait as our local station's weather-girl had only yesterday promised mostly sunny conditions by Tuesday. But Concetta said nothing doing, we were going.

So okay, we found our way to the interstate and swiftly left Carson City behind. But the skies continued to look ever more threatening and by the time we stopped off in Reno to say goodbye to our younger son and his family it was looking positively gloomy, so gloomy that our departure photograph will probably look like we took it at four o'clock in the morning instead of an hour away from noon. As an added feature, raindrops began to sporadically appear.

Undaunted, after kissing everyone goodbye -- even 3 1/2 month old Lydia, we climbed aboard and we set our course for northeastern California where we hoped to stop for the night in the town of Alturas some 200 miles from our starting point. By then the rain began to fall hard enough to require the wipers as we slogged our way northward into the more sparsely-settled areas of Northwestern Nevada.

By the time we crossed the state line into California the rain was pelting us hard enough to require the wipers on high and I had begun to question the wisdom of driving all the way to Alturas with nothing but rain drops to see along the way. I told Concetta that if the weather continued to be lousy, I was thinking about stopping in Susanville for the night and just spending the rest of the day reading and doing the blog. She didn't have any objections, so Susanville, one hundred miles short of Alturas, became our new destination.

But as always happens, once you've made solid plans, mother nature says, "Bet Me!," and makes the next pitch a curve ball. Sure enough, as we got within a scant few miles of Susanville, the rain stopped, the angry black clouds parted, and blue skies began to fill our windshield. Feeling buoyed by the prospect of the day not being a total loss after all, we took the cutoff toward Alturas and reset our potential arrival time for 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

Using the GPS we found our night's lodging location, Sully's RV Camp, with ease, and rolled in right on schedule. Good old Fred in the front office gave us a nice campsite with a view south toward our departure point in Carson City and west toward the beautiful city park. As I hastened to set up the usual water, sewer, and electric, I could tell that it was going to be a beautiful afternoon in Alturas. Once I had completed my chores, I told Concetta that we just had to take a nice long walk into town and enjoy the sunshine, cool air, and rural charm of our afternoon destination.

So it was that we spent over an hour enjoying the sights that included the copper-domed court house, a defunct Chevrolet dealership, numerous early nineteenth-century buildings, and a couple of moldering Edsels in a side yard no less. As with most rural towns in America these days, the main street in Alturas has definitely seen better days. Lots of vacant storefronts lined both sides of the street, and very few casual strollers could be seen downtown looking to spend money. Still, the walk was wonderful.

Once back in the RV it was cocktail hour and Concetta busied herself making that happen, while I spent my time trying to get my new laptop to connect with the mobile internet device, then trying to remember just how I interact with the blog and actually post something. Since I don't do the blog when we're not on these extended vacations, it's sometimes a challenge to figure out how the darn thing works.

But this time, once I had figured out what was needed to attach to the internet device, my fingers seemed to magically find their way to the blog-editing area and, more surprising, the HTML codes needed to add paragraphs just popped into my head. In addition, I remembered right away how to add photographs where I wanted them, so by the time dinner was ready I had crafted most of the blog entries, added the pictures, and was nearly finished. Dang! Life is good!!

Tomorrow, we plan to continue heading north toward Lakeview and then Burns, Oregon. Short of Burns, we'll turn west and motor over to Bend, Oregon. Not sure what we'll see on that route, but I hope there's lots of green rolling countryside, homey-looking farms, and just a riot of old farm equipment, rustic buildings, and other exciting things to see and photograph. Right now the sky looks promising for good weather tomorrow, so let's hope for lots of sunshine and dry driving conditions on the two-lanes. So until then, I wish you exciting destinations and memorable travels from the Davises, the Happy Wanderers.