Friday and Saturday, March 18 and 19, 2022 (Travel to Robinson Rancheria Resort & Casino, Nice, CA)

We knew we had another fairly long drive today, so we hit the road around 8:00...it was also another beautiful start to the day with lots of blue sky. We got back onto highway 50 and continued the short distance to Fernley, where we fueled up and then caught I-80 west. With our plan to take the coast highway 101 north, we needed to get over to it. So we will set Clearlake, CA as our destination for today.

Approaching Reno, NV...

Into California!

Beautiful scenery as we travel through the mountains...

Upper left is a very long railroad snow shed...

It's a long climb up and over...

We stopped at the Donner Pass Summit Rest Area for a break...

Another 16 miles, we left I-80, taking highway 20. Earl and Allison were well ahead of us so as we turned onto this much narrower 2-lane highway, I was a little worried we'd taken the wrong exit. Thank goodness for the radios we are using to keep in touch!

We were delayed about 20 minutes as there was single-lane traffic being led through by a pilot car. While stopped, we had no idea that it was because they were taking down trees...we thought it was road construction...

Beautiful views along this highway...

Going through Marysville, CA...

Crossing over the I-5...

Continuing on highway 20...such a beautiful area and so green... 

You'll have to excuse the bug splatters. We drove past an orchard that had all their beehives next to the highway and at one point it was like driving through a hail storm we hit so many. This has happened to us before along the I-5 orchards. Why would you place hives next to high traffic areas?! Steve deleted the splatters he could from the sky with his Lightroom photo editing program😊

We were on a slight incline when it happened! Ka-pow! The new turbo hose that was installed on our way south last fall blew! After all of the mountain passes we have gone through over the last few days and now it blows?! I quickly radioed Earl what had happened and he found the first wide pull-off on the highway...we limped along a short distance with little power and parked behind him. 

Thank goodness Earl and Allison are traveling with us! They helped take the boat and boat loader off, and tilt the cab. 

Then Steve got to work installing the new spare hose, including clamps. 

The hose that blew off still looked perfectly fine but Steve installed the new one anyway. Did the mechanic that finished up the last re-install that Steve started not tighten the clamp enough...who knows. The turbo hose and pipe gets oily over time which seems to lubricate the hose enough to make it slippery causing it to eventually blow off under pressure. According to a heavy duty mechanic friend (Hi Jim 😉) and some forums Steve's been on, this is not an uncommon occurrence with diesel engines. If it was just a matter of lifting a hood it would be easy peasy...

Putting it all back together. Thanks for all your help Earl and Allison!

We still had a lot hills ahead of us, so needless to say we were a little anxious 😟 

Clear Lake...we have been this way twice before (both coming south and going north) but have always taken highway 29 which is inland on the other side of the lake. Highway 20 follows the edge of the lake...

Finally, we have reached our destination...Robinson Rancheria Resort & Casino...

We picked a spot on the far side of the parking lot...and then I called the casino to ensure we were okay to park here (we always like to get the okay...beats getting kicked out in the middle of the night LOL!). Earl and Allison are behind us...our trailers are back-to-back...

We had a momma and baby come to greet us. Don't think momma was impressed, she made quite a racket and "nosed" her baby to move on!

The Resort and Casino from where we are parked...

With a forecast for major rain Saturday, we decided to spend the day here...besides after 2 long days of driving, a day off was warranted.

It was a bit of a restless night for us as there was some idiot with a loud car idling and revving his engine periodically somewhere in the parking lot. Once we were up and daylight arrived Steve noticed a beater car nearby with what looked like a tarp hanging off the drivers side of the car. 

These guys came down for breakfast...

A little later Steve noticed the maintenance people setting up some barricades in the parking lot beside our trailer...oh, oh, we might not be able to stay another night after all. Steve went out to find out what was going on and was told the barricades were being set up for the local fire department...they will be doing some training. Cool...we have entertainment!

So Steve spent quite a bit of time outside watching them. They were training new drivers.

They had to drive as fast as they could through the cones without hitting them, then they had to back up. Amazingly most drivers either knocked a cone or two over, or at least kissed a few going forward, but rarely hit anything backing up.

This truck had to weave back and forth between the cone going forward, then back up through them. Steve didn't see them hit any cones.

After lunch we went with Earl and Allison to a nearby grocery store (it had a big parking lot so he didn't bother unhitching the trailer). It was at that time when the forecasted rain finally started. After the rain, we had a full rainbow.

We had a very relaxing day...and are ready to continue our journey tomorrow. However, in the wee hours of the morning Steve heard the revving of a loud car again. He's back!! Steve was livid and thought about getting dressed and telling the guy to either pack it in or move on. Choosing a better course of action at 2 a.m. he phoned the Casino and was told security would take care of it. We had a peaceful night after that.