Reno, Nevada

After leaving South Lake Tahoe in California we were making our way north of Reno for the Memorial Day weekend.  Along the route we were passing by Battleborn Batteries, the manufacturer of our lithium batteries.  Since our solar was not performing its best, we stopped by and a couple of techs came out to take a look at our setup. 

 

We parked in their parking lot and the techs came out to look at our setup.  Unfortunately it was a cloudy day so it made it more difficult to evaluate the system since the solar panels were not generating much power.

Sean and Roni of Battleborn took a look at our setup and using their apps to check on the functionality of it. 

Sean and Roni spent about a 1.5 hours with us looking over our system and making recommendations for improvements.  Al was pleased that some experts looked over his installation and didn't find any blaring issues.  We left them with a plan to watch the system over the holiday weekend capturing info from the app connected to our charge controller and then return on Tuesday to determine next steps.  

Well, over the weekend, Al went up on the roof and found a loose wire and that fixed the problem along with the recommendation of changing the configuration of the wiring of the four batteries which were professionally installed.  The wiring change would draw the power equally from all four batteries instead of draining each battery separately. 

For holiday weekends I like to have reservations so we don't have trouble finding a place to spend the nights.  Memorial day weekend we stayed at Bordertown Casino and RV Resort which was north of Reno, Nevada and at the state line with California. 

 

 The park was full for the holiday weekend.

 

The casino was very small with people smoking inside.  Not a place for us.

Over the weekend I did laundry and Al worked on the suggestions from Sean and Roni.  He also had time to take the generator apart to replace the pull cord.  While it was apart he removed so much dirt it accumulated!  Al got the cord replaced and the generator all put back together without any extra parts remaining.  And it started on the first pull! 

Now both the solar and the generator are working great!  Yipee!

One day we took public transportation to downtown Reno to walk around.

Bus Station

The Truckee River goes through town and we enjoyed walking along the river and viewing some public art. 

After more than a year of haggling, city officials seem to be closing in on purchasing the controversial Space Whale sculpture. 

Reno City Council on Wednesday approved $137,500 to purchase and repair the sculpture that has been in City Plaza since 2017. The price includes $62,500 to buy the sculpture and $75,000 for repairs. 

Artist Matt Schultz created Space Whale for Burning Man 2016. At one point, he was asking more than $1 million for the sculpture, with funds going back to his team of artists and the Generator, the local arts and maker space where it was built.

The "Believe" sculpture has hopped around for the past three years, but it finally has nestled into its permanent home.

Using cranes, city of Reno crews relocated the former 2013 Burning Man sculpture from the ReTrac Plaza, near the Reno arch, to the City Plaza letter-by-letter.

The City Plaza, located at the corner of First Street and Virginia Street, is the former home of the historic Mapes Hotel. The sculpture formerly was in the same location in July 2014 to serve as the backdrop for the filming of the American Idol summer bus tour.

"Believe" is one of a series of 12-foot-high rustic, block letter word sculptures made of 4-foot-thick steel. In all, the letters span 70 feet together.

The Tahoe–Pyramid Trail is a planned 114-mile long-distance pedestrian and bicycle trail which will run between Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake, principally along the routing of the Truckee River.

Washoe County Courthouse

Greater Nevada Field home of the Reno Aces

The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Unfortunately there were no home games over the weekend for us to attend.

Our route from South Lake Tahoe to the Bordertown Casino and RV Resort.

Next we're spending the night at a potato farm in southern Oregon. 

Tonopah, Nevada to South Lake Tahoe, California

We are finally on our way for our summer travels.  We left Boulder City and while driving through Las Vegas we stopped off for diesel at a Sam's Club for $5.13/gallon.  

Our first night stop was at a dry camping spot on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property in Tonopah, Nevada. 

Before we pulled in to the area we filled up the truck with diesel for $5.69/gallon.  Gulp!

We picked a spot along the dirt road and parked.  There was plenty of room.  We were level front to back so we didn't need to unhook the truck.  That saves us time in the morning when we get ready to continue north.

We got up the next morning and hit the road.  Before arriving at South Lake Tahoe which is in California, we filled up the truck with diesel for $5.19/gallon.  We heard the prices in California are very high.

We approached South Lake Tahoe, California from Nevada where gambling is legal.  This is the view of the casinos on the Nevada side.  There are only a few casinos in this area so it's nothing like Vegas.

View from California looking in to Nevada at the state line at the traffic light.

We camped in the City of South Lake Tahoe Campground By the Lake for 9 nights.  The campground was right in the town of South Lake Tahoe.  I loved being parked among the tall pine trees.  This campground had no electric, sewer, or water at the site so we were dry camping in this campground.

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, straddling the border of California and Nevada. It’s known for its beaches and ski resorts. On the southwest shore, Emerald Bay State Park contains the 1929 Nordic-style mansion Vikingsholm. Along the lake’s northeast side, Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park includes Sand Harbor Beach and Spooner Lake, a gateway to the long-distance Tahoe Rim Trail.

Interesting facts about Lake Tahoe

• 63 streams flow into Lake Tahoe.
• Only one, the Truckee River, flows out into Pyramid Lake.
• Unlike most bodies of water in North America, the lake's water never reaches the ocean.
• At 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, Lake Tahoe is Big.
• Elevation is 6229 feet
• 71 miles of shoreline (42 in California and 29 in Nevada).
• Maximum depth is 1645 feet

To celebrate my birthday in May I wanted to go zip-lining so we went to Tahoe Treetop Adventure Park at the location behind Granlibakken Ski Resort.  The Tahoe City location contains 27 zip lines and 60 bridges/events

The events were mostly unstable steps that had to be crossed to get from one platform to the next.  Mixed among the events were zip lines.  Of course we were tethered to a cable the whole time we were off the ground. 

Nancy

Nancy

Nancy

 

Al

Al

Al

Al

Al

 

 

Before we left for the day Al did this one last course which was a difficult one.  I was too tired to give it a try.

 

Al

Al

Al

Al

Al

Al in the back

Al

Al zip-lining back to earth

 

We lucked out to be the in the last time group of the day so they let us continue past our allotted time until we wanted to leave.  Normally they can tell by the color of the helmet when your time was up.

We had perfect weather and a beautiful blue sky.  The course was so much fun and exhausting.  We were both pretty tired after using so many different muscles.  And jumping off a platform to ride the zip-lines was so scary for me at first but by the end it was no problem.   

Al's Photo

 

The view driving back from the zip-lining adventure.

Another day we took the free bus to state line and walked back to the campground.  Along the way we stopped off at a beach area of the lake.  It was May so the water was too cold to get in.

 

 

Al's photo

One fun thing we did while in the area was hike the Rubicon trail at Emerald Bay.  We luckily found a place to park the truck and hiked down to the lake.  

 

 

 

In the center of Emerald Bay is a small island with the ruins of an old tea house.

 

 

The 1929 Nordic-style mansion, Vikingsholm, was built on the shore of Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe.

 

Vikingsholm was built by Lora Josephine Knight as a summer home. The foundation was laid in 1928, and the building was constructed in 1929 by around 200 workers. Before starting construction, Knight and her architect traveled to Scandinavia to gather ideas for the house. Some parts of the structure contain no nails or spikes, as a result of old-fashioned construction methods. Most of the building was made from local materials.

While Mrs. Knight is known for building Vikingsholm, she and her businessman husband Harry were also primary backers of Charles Lindbergh's non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.

Harvey West, a wealthy lumberman who owned the land after Knight, sold it to California for half of the appraised value in 1953.

Vikingsholm has been called "one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in North America." 

 

 

 

Tea House Ruins

We even spotted an eagle flying overhead.

Emerald Bay in the front and Lake Tahoe in the background.

 

While looking for things to do in the area we found that there was a volunteer opportunity to plant trees in an area destroyed by fire.  

The Caldor Fire was a large wildfire that burned 221,835 acres in the Eldorado National Forest and other areas of the Sierra Nevada in El Dorado, Amador, and Alpine County, California, in the United States during the 2021 California wildfire season.  The fire burned August 14, 2021 – October 21, 2021.

Warning
Entering Burned Area
Potential Hazards Include:
Falling Trees, Falling Rocks, Flash Flooding and Debris Flows

 

The seedlings were provided by The Sugar Pine Foundation and transported in boxes. 

 

 

Here is more information about the foundation:  https://sugarpinefoundation.org/

 

Tools and gloves were provided

We got our instructions from various members of The Sugar Pine Foundation and Forest Service Rangers.

 

 

The replanting area.

 

 

  

 

We spread out and starting digging small holes and planting the seedlings. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were planting the seedlings the local TV station came by to do a story.   

 

 

 

Here is a link to the blog entry that was posted with a link to the news story.

 

https://imagineourrvdreams.blogspot.com/2022/05/we-made-news-again-this-time-in-lake.html

 

 

 

 

 

It was great to see so many volunteers show up for the re-planting event.

Our carpool driver, Peggy

While we were camped in South Lake Tahoe we were having trouble with our solar not charging our four lithium batteries.  At least we have a generator as a backup.  Al spent time trying to figure out the solar problem and then came in the RV to tell me, "I have bad news and really bad news."  "The bad news, the solar is not recharging the batteries effectively, and the really bad news, the cord on the generator broke so I can't start the generator."  We limped along conserving power as best we could and the solar charged as best it could and with the pine trees blocking the panels that did not help the situation.  We managed fine but will look forward to camping at a campground with electric hookups until we get the problems fixed.  I have complete confidence that Al will figure it all out!

 

 

One day we went to explore the east side of Lake Tahoe in Nevada.  Parking is very limited on this side and very expensive but we were lucky to be in the area during the slow season so we found a 20 minute spot in the Memorial Point rest area that was not full.  We walked around for about an hour.  Shh.....

 

 

 

This was the view from our picnic spot.

We took a day trip to the capital of Nevada, Carson City. 

 

 

Capital Building image from Wikipedia

 

Nevada Legislation Building

There was a nice park around the government buildings.

Tribute to Nevada Miners

Nevada Law Enforcement Memorial

Al looking at the Kit Carson statue
Christopher Houston Carson was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and news articles, and exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of dime novels.

Abraham Van Santvoord Curry is considered the founding father of Carson City, Nevada. A native of the state of New York, he traveled to the West Coast during the California Gold Rush and settled in Nevada's Eagle Valley, where Carson City was established.

Before we left Carson City, we filled up with diesel for $5.29 as we're leaving South Lake Tahoe tomorrow.

Next we're headed to a park north of Reno for the Memorial Day holiday.