We left Queen Valley the morning of November 10 and took hwy 60 (Grand Ave) north through Wickenburg to I-40 and on to Kingman. It must have taken us two hours just to get from I-10 to Surprise. I never saw soooo much traffic and stop lights. Once out of the Surprise city limits, we made good time to Kingman, then took hwy 68/163, which is a bit north of Bullhead City and Laughlin. From there, we took hwy 95 north to Searchlight, then west on hwy 164 to I-15 a few miles south of Las Vegas.
We did cache a little, but didn't take very long at it because we were in a hurry to get to Pahrump, Nevada. We were going to stay the night at the Best Western in Pahrump, but the only rooms they had available were smoking and with my allergies, I said no. The only other places to stay were at casinos, and we didn't want to stay at one of them because of all the stuff we would have had to leave in the car unprotected. So, we headed on out of Pahrump to hwy 95 and on to the small town of Beatty, which is known as the gateway to Death Valley. We found a very nice place there to spend the night, and it was much cheaper than what we were going to spend in Pahrump (go figure).
Early the next morning, we headed north on highway 95 and turned west on hwys 266 and 168, which is a scenic route through the mountains to a neat little town in California called Big Pine. What a beautiful drive that was! The road was surprisingly good and in much better condition than most roads we take the coach on. In fact, we probably could have taken the coach on all of 266 which makes a loop back to hwy 95, but after we turned on 168 going into California, the road narrowed and got really twisty going up and over the mountains. In fact, one spot going down the other side, the road narrowed to only one lane going through a very narrow slot canyon. Definitely the coach would never have made that road!
While in the mountains, the clouds were turning very dark with a few drops of rain landing on the windshield. When we got into Big Pine, we stopped at a small park to do a virtual cache, but the wind was blowing so hard we could hardly stand up. Not much rain yet, but the sky was getting darker and more menacing. After getting the answers needed to claim a find of the cache, we turned north on hwy 395 towards Carson City. The wind was gusting very hard on our side and front until we got back into the mountains. What rain we were getting soon turned into a dusting of snow, and as we got higher in elevation (eventually 8,100 feet) there was more snow all around us. The pictures below were shot at a small pull out area between Mammouth Lakes and June Lake. The trees were gorgeous with the dusting of snow!
As we headed further north and came down in elevation, the snow disappeared and it quit raining. When we arrived in Carson City (where we stopped for the night) it was cold, but very nice.
The morning of the 12th, we got up to ice on the windshield. Seems it was 26 degrees out that morning (brr). It did warm up to 45 as we headed north to Alturas, then west on hwy 139 to Klamath Falls in Oregon. Just south of Klamath Falls near Tule Lake, Ca, there is a Lava Beds National Monument, so we took a side trip to see what they were all about. We have passed this area many times, but never took the time to stop and see it. We are glad we did this time because it is a marvelous place for cavers. Most of the park is caves (lava tube caves) and you can actually go exploring in most of them. There are more than 300 caves that have been counted within the park. Many of them have trails laid out and ladders installed to make access easy. Of course, we didn't have the time to explore any, so we just drove through noting that someday we will be back. The pictures below are of one of several large lava flows within the park.
Also in this area is where the Army and the Modoc Indians had a huge war. Seems the Modoc didn't like losing their land and being forced on a reservation nearby with their mortal enemys, so many of them took up arms and fought the army until they were re-captured. Many lives were lost during the fight, and after they were captured, the leaders of the Modoc were hanged; the rest of the band were re-located to a reservation in Oklahoma.
After leaving Klamath Falls, the rain started again, and we had pouring rain all the way on hwy 97 and down a mountain road (hwy 58) into Eugene, where we stopped and had dinner. What a relief to finally get off that mountain and out of the car. Even though it hadn't quite turned dark by the time we stopped, the heavy rain/wind and traffic made the trip down that road horrid. It was so nice to finally stop and get a break.
Back on the road after dinner (dark by now) it had finally quit raining, and we had clear skies the rest of the way home. Found out later there were many power outages in the Portland and Salem area that day due to high winds and heavy rain.
Anyhow, we are now home until after the Christmas holiday. Ken is planning on decorating, so I will post more once that takes place.
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