<-- Day 34 - Apr. 22nd: Old Town Sacramento | OVERVIEW | Day 36 - Apr. 24th: 'Tire'd of Reno -->
Reno was our goal on Wednesday, but not before a few stops along the way.
We started by taking I-80 east, turning off at Auburn, then following highway 49/193 as it wound into the Sierras towards Georgetown, the western gateway to the Rubicon Trail. The drive is delightful, with trees, valleys and mountains all around. Many of the turns are tight and slow, but we weren't in a hurry.
We knew we'd arrived at the right location when we spotted a "Jeep Jamboree USA" building. We hopped out and peered in the windows. Nobody was home, but there were several vehicles, including Mark Smith's green CJ-3A and yellow Jeepster. We would have taken photos, but the glass was kind of dark.
As we pondered the vehicles inside the building, a truck pulled up near us. The driver got out and he too peered into the windows. We got to talking and it turned out he was a retail rep for YETI coolers named JD Holt. He handles the area south of the Oregon border all the way to Bakersfield. He explained that YETI is trying to penetrate the Northwest better. I explained that sounded like some of my readers would appreciate. After some discussion, he told me he'd set me up with a cooler at good price so I could test and report on it. Sounded like a deal to me, so we'll be arranging that after we return home [Ed Note: I never did hear from him ... we ended up buying a Bison Cooler, which has since changed company names].
With nothing happening at the Jeep Jamboree USA building, we drove a little farther until we found downtown Georgetown. Hanging from one of the stores was a sign that read "Jeepers Jamboree". I thought it was part of Mark Smith's organization, but I was wrong. What I didn't know is that there are two different groups organizing events along Rubicon. This year the Jeepers Jamboree holds its 62nd Jamboree (July 24-27th), while Jeep Jamboree USA holds its 36th annual event (August 1-3).
From Georgetown, we drove to Placerville where we visited the El Dorado County Historical Museum. The museum had a couple items, including a very old popcorn machine. Another interesting item was one of Studebaker's first wheelbarrows (for lack of a better description) and several of his wagons. I don't remember a reference to the wheelbarrows during our 2013 visit to the Studebaker Museum.
A very enthusiastic, but not so knowledgable, docent tried to help out with our tour. She escorted us with a handful of notes, referring to them often. She tried to point stuff out to us, but we politely would shake our head and then explain some new fact she didn't know. She asked how we knew so much and we told her that much of this stuff was still hanging around my parent's house. I don't think she took us seriously.
Following the museum, we discovered the Placerville Natural Foods Co-op. While not the largest or most fully stocked co-op I've ever seen, they did have four types of eggs for sale: chicken, duck, turkey and goose. Oh, I wished we had been camping tonight. I would have made some wonderful basted eggs! Alas, I had to leave with any eggs :-(.
We decided it was too late to drive down to see Sutter's Mill (about a half hour south of us), so we headed for Lake Tahoe. The drive was postcard perfect1
Lake Tahoe was beautiful as well.
Ann braved the cold water with her toes. She didn't last long.
From Tahoe we quickly dropped down into the Nevada desert until we reached Carson City. There we saw the Nevada State Museum. It was closed by the time we arrived. It looked promising enough that after Reno we plan to explore Virginia City and Carson City some more.
Tomorrow we explore the National Automotive Museum, which just happens to be having a special WWII exhibit. It sounds promising!
<-- Day 34 - Apr. 22nd: Old Town Sacramento | OVERVIEW | Day 36 - Apr. 24th: 'Tire'd of Reno -->
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