The Sierra Nevada Unit kicked off 2019 with its Bavarian World Luncheon in January. Gail and I were unable to make the commute up to Reno but 12 hearty souls came out for conversation, cuisine and Airstream fellowship: Susie Brown, Anita and Gary Haskell, Joana nd John Lapham, Terry & Eric Larson, Diane Leipper, Jeni and Brian Root, Jerry and Dyann (McDonald) Thornburg. That’s a little light compared to our January 2018 luncheon but the weather was more extreme this year. Maybe we should have teased the members with another SNU door prize; I’ve still got a couple that I’ll use throughout the year so plan your SNU schedule wisely!
Luncheon(s)Report –Bavarian World-It was hard to get our members to share all the luncheon stories with me 500 miles away but the gist of it is:Jeni and Brian Root share some common hobbies with Joan and John Lapham, bicycling, golf and the obvious Airstreaming; Jerry Thornburg was a short timer then (don’t know if he announced it); he was counting down the hours until the 24th. Retirement is now official with time to catch up on his hobbies, Airstreaming and a life of leisure with Dyann (I may have embellished this a little). Too bad Gail and missed it; our yearly New Year’s celebration of pork and sauerkraut probably paled in ethnic accuracy to the food at Bavarian World!
February’s Sierra Nevada luncheon brought out recent and old-time members for Mexican food at the Casa Grande Mexican Restaurant and Cantina; Susie Brown (2017), Anita & Gary Haskell (2007), Joan & John Lapham (2015), Terry & Eric Larson (2017), Diane Leipper (1995), Lyndi & Jack Schroeder (2004) and Dyann & Jerry Thornburg (2005). Gail and I (2007) were unable to make it up from Riverside but I picked my favorite, the Apretalados (shrimp & crab wrapped with bacon),from the photos found at http://sierranevadaairstreams.org/memories/rallies/19ja-fb-lunches/gallery.html.(photos courtesy of sierranevadaairstreams.org ) Good news from a reliable source; many at the luncheon are planning to come to Washoe Lake, our 1stofficial rally of the year, weather permitting of course. My source also reported some excitement for our rally at the new Walker River State Recreation Area (May)and Rye Patch (April).Speaking of Rye Patch, luncheon host Terry Larson (thanks Terry) reported on our April rally at Rye Patch State Recreation Area. We have the group campground reserved for Thursday thru Sunday. It’s been a few years since the SNU has been here so Gary & Diane gave brief description on how to get there, some of the amenities and the campsites in the canyon along the tree lined Humboldt River. We’ll have lots of space and close access to fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing; “water and shore birds, both resident and migratory, are common at Rye Patch. Canadian geese, coots, grebes and cormorants are frequently seen. Mule deer are known to roam the park and prong horned antelope are often sighted in the area surrounding the park”(sourced from the nv.gov Rye Patch website).You can find out more about Rye Patch and its amenities at http://parks.nv.gov/parks/rye-patch
Washoe Lake was a great start for the year’s rally season! Did you procrastinate and put off prepping your Airstream? Well 15 members and guests with 11 rigs didn’t, making it a great showing for our SNU kick-off rally for the year
Washoe Lake Rally-Sorry to repeat myself but it was great to see all the SNU members that turned out for our Washoe Lake Rally; 11 rigs and 15 members and guest! The 10-day long-range weather predictions were pretty accurate. It was mid to upper 50s in the daytime and mid 30s at night. Well that outlook held for most of the weekend. Did I mention I was the Official Weather Guesser for the 2014 Alaskan caravan! Ask to see my plaque! Our early arrivals, Dyann and Jerry Thornburg had rain or drizzle most of Wednesday. Their early arrival warned the rest of us that the campground loop was almost full but they arranged for the SNU to use the Equestrian camping area. Thursday, rally start day, brought more rain and drizzle, rigs and guests. Friday dawned cloudy but little rain allowing our morning coffee klatch outside and the afternoon arrival of SNU President Don Williams. A predicted storm for Saturday brought in the most weather, heavy rain at times after midnight, turning to wet snow after dawn and back to rain mid morning. The clouds rose and teased us with sunshine and warmer temperatures until the late afternoon cool down. Sunday morning dawned sunny, clear and somewhat cooler. As noted the weather caused some change to our typical rally activities, mostly eating and relaxing. Dyann and Jerry Thornburg hosted the Friday night potluck dinner in their motorhome. Saturday’s rain and snow canceled our morning coffee/sweet roll breakfast. Some left to go buy supplies while some of us visited with Nancy scoping out our club, rigs and camping/rally style. She and her husband recently bought a 2010 27ft Safari and think our SNU style camping will fit in nicely with theirs. The clearing afternoon weather allowed us to keep our potluck dinner outside. Joan & John Lapham and Dawn & Doug Dale grouped their portable fire pits near our tables and chairs to provide a sense of warmth, even with the light snow sprinkles we had! It must have worked because they were still there after dark basking in the warmth of their fire pits.
Saturday Potluck & Sunday Sunday’s sunshine raised our spirits even if temps were only in the high 30s. We drank coffee and ate sweet rolls, watched the wild horses and a surprise visit by an American Bald Eagleb efore storing our gear, hooking up and moving on. For more on our president’s (SNU, not USA) travels read his Washoe Extended Weekend Sidebar. Of course every rally is a learning experience, one of our members found that you can’t leave your Airstream plugged in all winter without maintaining the batteries. Susie’s Airstream was quite cold Thursday night with her battery at 9v or below. With the battery dry and unwilling to accept a charge, Susie headed for home some 20 miles away after Saturday’s potluck. Batteries again, John and Joan found 10 volts on their battery Sunday morning. SNU members suggest good battery maintenance practices for all members. Others found or knew they had normal deferred maintenance that could have been done before they left. Lastly, another member with nearly 200,000 miles towing found that it helps to get out and judge that sharp turn in the dark least your steps suffer the large rock! All will be better prepared at next month’s Rye Patch Rally.
My late departures for Washoe Lake was delayed by our truck’s service needs; oil change & filter, transmission service, valve adjustment (every 100K miles) and an unexpected brake job. Gail was still feeling puny from a cold so she decided to stay home. I departed at 07:40 pm and headed for one of our normal stops, Fossil Falls Campground near Little Lake. After 5-1/2 hours of rest I hit the road and arrived at Washoe Lake early Friday afternoon; some Airstreamers are out side basking in the cloud cover! I’ve covered the rally weekend so I’ll continue with my extended weekend. With no time commitments I headed to the new Walker River State Park to see what our May rally site offers. The Pitchfork Ranch unit is 5 miles down a typical Nevada dirt road with some minor washboard;15 mph seemed a comfortable speed. The Riverbend Campground is somewhat primitive,no hookups but each of the 16 sites have ample room for a second rig,a shade ramada and picnic table. An improved campground with two group sites is under construction near the Visitors Center; it includes water and electric at each site and is expected to be open for the Memorial Day Weekend (just days after our rally).There is the typical two-lane dump station near the Visitors Center and full serivce campground. Walker River SP offers wildlife viewing, water recreation, hiking, biking, fishing and relaxation. One can also take a 4X4road trip to visit the historic ranches and mines in the area; a 75 mile back country route will take you to Bodie State (California) Historic Park, roads not being closed by weather. Don’t have a map of Walker River SP, download your own at; http://parks.nv.gov/uploads/documents/PITCHFORK_water_trail_map.pd for visit the Walker River SP site here: http://parks.nv.gov/parks/walker-river. With still more time on my hands I headed south to take advantage of the warmer weather, but not too warm, in Death Valley. I saw four Airstreams headed north on US-95, all responded to my light flash but all were naked, no WBCCI numbers! In retrospect, I got scammed somewhere on the way to Death Valley at one of my stops for gas in Hawthorne or Beatty. BofA noted two attempts to charge our account Friday the 5th in Las Vegas; a new credit card and account number are on the way! SNU’s favorite campground, Mesquite Spring near Scotty’s Castle, was closed because of recent flood damage (lucky I stopped to talk to that fellow BMW m/c rider) so I headed to the expansive Sunset (parking lot) Campground at Furnace Creek. Picked a spot near another Airstream owner thinking I could visit and share life’s stories. It turned out that owner Stacy and her friends were still college age. You can’t stereotype though, she lives full time in her 25’ front bedroom and even is a WBCCI member. Stacy was raised in Ohio and still visits her parents who live within 20 miles of the Mother Ship at Jackson Center (the Airstream Factory). Tuesday was my day for exploration, I have long sought out older and historic roads across the US, some abandoned and no longer used as they are replaced by modern alignments. Death Valley and the Southwest have their share and I have carefully plotted way points on Google Maps for later exploration. In the past I would have had to convert the wayp oints to coordinates and load them in my GPS to find them in Death Valley, but an almost modern cellular network (3G) has been developed in the core area of the park between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. The cellular network can be accessed up the main Death Valley Wash to the northwest although not always along Scotty’s Castle Road, which is located more up slope than the older alignments I wanted to explore. My way point for an older road leaves the current roadway near mile marker 21. My phone took me to within 100 feet of that point. My plan was to hike about two hours along the older roadway to a point beyond where it dropped into the Death Valley Wash as it approached Mesquite Spring Campground, then turn around and either hike back on my original path or hike cross country to Scotty’s Castle Road and back to the truck. I carried a modest day pack with snacks, water, a fleece, wind/rain shell, binoculars and camera as a precaution against any difficulties. Surprisingly, the 3G cellular network was accessible along my route although it was down to 2 or 3 bars. Using it meant long waits for information or screen-writes but I was able to periodically send Gail my way points using Apple and Google Maps. It became obvious why the lower alignments had been abandoned; numerous washes had spread out into multiple rivulets that washed out the roadway in many places and in some cases four to six feet deep. Those same washes had not spread out as much on the newer up slope roadway reducing the damage from flooding and washouts. I did findseveral areas on the current Scotty’s Castle Road that were covered in up to 18 inches of debris from the recent flood events in the Valley. I was over an hour into my hike when I noticed the shadow of my foot looked strange. I lifted my foot to get a closer look and found that the cushy polyurethane midsole of my boot was delaminating and crumbling between the boot and the sole; the other boot experienced the same failure! Not wanting to hike out over the rocky terrain in what would become high topped moccasins or join the early Lost 49ers, I terminated my exploration, hiked cross country to the modern roadway and then back to my truck. My only disappointment was I had not gone far enough to find where the older alignment dropped into the wash. I had explored the earlier alignment below Mesquite Spring Campground but I would not connect the two sections this trip. Plan on an SNU exploration when I am able to put together a Sierra Nevada Unit rally at Death Valley.Find more photos of Washoe Extended Weekend at: http://sierranevadaairstreams.org/memories/travelogues/dwilliams/spring2019.html.
Some of you held off from attending our April Rye Patch Rally didn’t you! You shouldn’t have; the weather was another forward step towards Spring and Summer from the not quite wintry rain and light snow we had at Washoe Lake. Yes, it rained on Dyann & Jerry on Wednesday (an early arrival reveals that Jerry’s on retirement time). It was cold, cloudy and rainy on Thursday but after that it was great even if wasn’t shirtsleeve weather all daylong. Our members Solo Stove fire pits kept the evening chill away!
What a great rally site at Rye Patch; the SNU reserved the (Humboldt) River Campground group site at Rye Patch State Recreation Area immediately west of I-80 and the Humboldt Range of mountains. The group site is a primitive camping area for tents, trailers and RVs with picnic tables, a fire pit and a badminton / beach ball area(go figure). Our group of seven rigs fit easily and we could have fit more (HINT, HINT). Full service restrooms were shared with the regular campsites so no wanting for modern conveniences! Okay cell service was extremely weak to non-existent in the canyon but a short hike or drive to the rim or the dam solved that problem if it was one. Dyann and Jerry got there a day early on Wednesday to settle in and scope out the campground, were even able to slip into the group area a day early. The early penalty was putting up with a little rain. Thursday’s weather was cold, wet windy and miserable to quote John. Many of our rally guests arrived that day to set up, settle in and plan the weekend’s activities; Diane & Bryan, Anita & Gary, Carmen & Gene and Joan & John. Friday brought clear,sunny, cooler weather after the front passed through. Joan and Johnmade good use of their time on Friday touring some of the adjacent Humboldt Valleyfrom Rye Patch westerly to the Majuba Mountains and Antelope Range with their 4X4 Ram. I suspect it was a relatively tame excursion since John didn’t brag about the off road performance of the Ram! Gail and I, in typical fashion, arrived a day late, just after Friday’s potluck concluded and thus ate on our own. These late arrivals need to stop but I see no end in sight: late in March for extended service on our truck; late in April while some of last years wheel well repairs were redone correctly; we’ll be late to Walker River for deferred maintenance on me!Saturday morning dawned early (0700),bright and clear, albeit a little cold in our trailer, 45°. One of us had failed to notice that the other propane tank was empty when the auto switch-over valve was moved on a previous trip (maybe Death Valley?)! I got up early to turn up the heat and with some basic troubleshooting, error on refrigerator panel, stove won’t light and furnace won’t come on, determined we were again out of propane. I retrieved our two 30 lb. tanks, substituted the small 10 gallon tank we carry and headed to the fairly well stocked Chevron at the freeway; ACK! 20lb. tank exchange only! Okay, Lovelock is only 25miles and 20 minutes away; I’ll head there to the local LP vendor. Turns outthey don’t open for another 1/2 hour! Saved by the Conoco, at 50¢ more a gallon. I didn’t have to wait but saving time costs money. By 0830 I was back home in Rye Patch, tanks in place, appliances running and ready to have breakfast. John made the mistake of mentioning their plans to visit a friend’s summer campsite near Unionville, a somewhat ghost town and site of previous SNU rallies. I wrangled an invitation for Gail and I; we walked the dogs, packed a light lunch and left with Joan and John. Unionville wasn’t much like Gail and I remembered on the drive over but we instantly recognized the town park with the Unionville School House and cabin once a temporary home to Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain). We spent a few minutes walking and photographing the area and then visited the town graveyard about 1-1/2 miles east. We can tell there has been some recent activity to improve fencing and maintenance at the cemetery but some gravestones are beyond repair or even lost. Still, it was interesting to see that some graves reflected a wealth of their buried patrons Thoughts now turn to lunch, is Winnemucca too far to drive for Basque food? Deciding it was,we lunched along the Humboldt River near Mill City ad returned to Rye Patch to ready our contributions to the evening’s potluck dinner. Sunday dawned somewhat clear but quickly clouded over and cooled as we packed and readied our Airstreams for home or other parts in the west.
The one advantage of being retired is that you can “sometimes” adjust one’s schedule. With a one-way trip of 550 miles from home Gail and I didn’t want to just drive to Rye Patch and return home. I planned a route to take advantage of our Nevada All Access Permit for all state parks and recreation areas. We headed east to Battle Mountain and then south to Austin, NV; home of the Stokes Castle overlooking the western US-50 route. Sunday’s cloudy and cool weather set the stage for a perfect trip across the empty valleys and mountains in Nevada’s Great Basin, especially the65 mile stretch of the old Lincoln Highway, now NV-722, over Carroll Summit.W e connected with US-50 for a couple of miles before turning south towards Gabbs and Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park. Snow along NV-722 headed west to Carroll Summit My fears of too few large campsites at Berlin-Ichthyosaur SP were quickly allayed; there were only two other RVs in the park. We scored the best view lot at the top of the campground loop. Not only did we have a view but the Ichthyosaur fossil exhibit was only a ½mile walk from our campsite. NV park’s dog friendly culture meant we, Mongo and Bruce could get a little exercise Our Monday morning walk turned into 2-1/2+ mile hike as we returned on the roads through the historic Union town site and back up to the campground. Mid afternoon brought several heavy rain showers but stopped in late evening before it could lull us to sleep Tuesday morning dawned clear for our visit to the many buildings remaining in the Berlin town site. The rest of our trip home might have been uneventful were it not for a Bald Eagle sighting (we were visited by one at the Washoe Lake Rally on our last day) and the rain as we entered Death Valley in mid afternoon. The surprises were short lived, clouds but no rain at our Stovepipe Wells campsite.
The weather still played with us at our Walker River Rally, cool temperatures, sprinkles and wind but relented for Friday and Saturday night potlucks; both were held outside at our rally central picnic area
The Walker River State Recreation Area consists of several ranch units along the length of the East Fork Walker River from Yerington upstream to areas northeast of Bridgeport. Our rally was held in the newly opened park facilities at what was once Pitchfork Ranch with 6 rigs in attendance plus a guest.The unusual winter and spring weather followed the SNU into its May rally weekend; Weather Underground’s predictions were accurate, no real rain but cool blustery wind, cloudy followed with periods of warmth and sunshine, nighttime 40-47, daytime high 50s to 60s. As a result, the weather had some affect on our rally activities. Thursday’s dinner was held in Dyann and Jerry’s motorhome but the wind abated on both Friday and Saturday for our evening potlucks held under the campsite cabana. Gail and I arrived on Friday afternoon. We had hoped to arrive in the morning but they were dashed by a 1-1/2 hour traffic stop on US-395 for high profile vehicles because of “significant”winds south of Bishop. Caltrans and the CHP never did adequately define what high winds are (? mph, # rigs blown over) nor why they considered our 9’ high Airstream amongst the slab sided box rigs; I guess we were supposed to trust them! That trust “blew” out the window so to speak when I saw that they had let a 1980s vintages VW camper through! In any event, we ended up stopping at our standard Fossil Falls BLM Campground above Pearsonville. That left about 260 miles for Friday’s travels; we did get in well before dinner and were able to contribute Gail’s Chicken Fiesta Casserole
Saturday dawned with a clear blue sky and found us enjoying Bryan’s coffee and various breakfast snacks. Our contributions to solving our Airstream and the world’s problems were interrupted when another Airstream drove in the campground. I rushed over to invite Larry and Sarah, from Lake Tahoe, CA to have coffee and share our remaining breakfast snacks. Our new Airstream friends said they like to boon-dock and came down off the mountain to get away from the wet weather. With breakfast over our guests headedoff to explore and we got back to rally business; those staying in camp headed over to the Visitors Center for the Ranger program on Dutch Oven Cooking while Jerry, Bob and I headed out to check rally sites. I normally would have been at the Dutch Oven program with 20-questions but we were concerned about access and site conditions on the playa at Sweetwater Summit; the road in has deteriorated from this and past year’s extended winter/spring weather to the point where decided we needed an alternate site for our June Rally. The Walker River State Park staff thought that the “Elbow Unit”offered some dispersed camping opportunities that we might like. It was just 10 miles south of Sweetwater Summit so we headed there next. It didn’t take long to conclude that NFS-028 along the East Walker River was not very Airstream friendly. Gail and I will check out campsites in the Bridgeport area on our way home
Crags Campground near Twin Lakes and Points South(photos atsierranevadaairstreams.org/memories/rallies/19ma-wrsra/19ma-wrsra)by Don Williams 14207Gail and I joined Bob and Nancy Kirksey to caravan back towards Southern California; we took our time packing up, topping with water and visiting the Dump Station since while Gail and I would be out three days, the Kirksey’s planned to camp at Bridgeport and Crags Campground for a week or more. We were surprised when light hail, 1/8” in diameter, started falling while we finishing the final hookup at our site.Crags Campground wasas we’ve seen it before except;it snowed! In May!Okay, it didn’t stick and temps only approached freezing that night but still, in May? Monday dawned fairly sunny and clear, providing enough sun for us to recharge from thefurnace use Sunday night. We celebrated the good weather with a shared meal with the Kirksey’s. It’s a good thing we ate early, that afternoon we got a phone call that Gail’s mom had fallen and was taken to the hospital for treatment. With little word on her condition we made plans to head home on Tuesday where better phone service would help us check on her and make plans. We did have the opportunity to check out several campgrounds and dispersed site on the way home. A couple might be close enough to use for SNU rallies, the more southern onesjust give Gail and I more camping opportunities as we travel the East Sierra Nevada: Upper and Lower Virginia Creek Primitive Campgrounds (NFS~ 135 miles); Dunderberg Meadow dispersed camping areas (north of Virginia Lake Road~ 135 miles); Aerie Crag, Silver Lake, Gulls Lake, June Lake and Oh Ridge Campgrounds on the June Lake Loop(NFS +/-150 miles); Keough Hot Springs, Baker Creek, Tinnemaha, Taboose Creek, independence Creek and Diaz Lake Inyo County Campgrounds(220 –265 miles) Goodale Creek Campground,our favorite of the bunch below Bishop (NFS ~ 235 miles).Lastly, a caution, we stopped at the Ranch House Cafe below the Crystal Geyser water bottling plant. Our meals were mediocre and we found mold on the piece of pie we brought home for Tuesday evenings dessert!
The SNU rally at Crocker - It just doesn’t get much better! We had the lower campground all to ourselves, cool evenings, comfortable days, enough breeze to keep things pleasant and to provide the beautiful sound of whispering pine trees, minimal bugs and as always great company and great food. Might take a little skillful maneuvering to get in and parked but so very much worth it!
Great weekend at the dispersed site near Blue Lakes. Beautiful scenery, comfortable temps and great company. There were carpets of wildflowers everywhere. Thursday night a full moon lit up the whole meadow. The Lake Tahoe Hi-Lo’s were having their 29th Gambler's Poker Run on Saturday. At least 20+ Jeeps went by our campsite on the way to the trails southwest of Blue Lakes. A highlight of the weekend was meeting Glen and Tiffany who were camped near us. We couldn’t have asked for better neighbors. They joined us for dinners and coffee and filled us in on their recent travels back East. We shared stories of all our favorite rally sites. Thanks Eric and Don for recommending this site
September’s Lassen Rally Our Sierra Nevada Unit Lassen Rally brought the great food and great weather we typically expect at Lassen RV Resort & Bistro, and with full hookups! Daytime temperatures were moderate so no need to run the AC even though we could and nighttime temps didn’t warrant closing all the vents (mid 40s). Gail and I actually got there mid afternoon on Thursday, plenty of time for the evening’s potluck dinner Friday dawned clear and allowed us to linger over coffee and some small breakfast cakes before heading to the resort Bistro for our luncheon of organic side salad with honey/sesame dressing, Brunswick Stew with smoked pork, Chicken, turkey, corn and vegetables in a smoky broth with garlic bread. Dessert was buttermilk/brown sugar cake topped with pecans in a bourbon sauce with a scoop of ice cream. With such a large lunch, Friday evening’s pot luck was lighter than normal, followed by sitting around Russell’s propane fire pit. Our rally goers stayed busy on Saturday starting with the SNU waffle breakfast hosted by Trustee Randy Grossman with Jasmin providing bacon, sausage and working space in the Bistro; tours to the local Fort Crook Museum Pioneer Days; window shopping in the local communities; and our Bistro catered lobster bisque, wild salmon, grass-fed sirloin with roasted potatoes and local vegetables followed by cheesecake mousse with fresh local peaches and a cinnamon cashew crumble! Does it show I like the Bistro food? We closed out the evening with Russel serenading us with voice and guitar at the resort fire pit/table.
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