Day 4 Stage 3

We left this morning with a banner and balloons in the entry way wishing Brad and our friend and fellow racer, Sawyer a Happy Birthday! The morning was beautiful and we took off a little later this morning. We drove up 395 where the desert meets the mountains. We slowly climbed the pass and ended up at 8300 feet. There was snow on the ground next to us and tons of people enjoying the beautiful view of the lake and valley floor.

The day did not go as smoothly as we would have liked, but despite a bit of chaos and brief moments of panic, which is never a good thing, we made it through. The transit from the hotel to our start had the road shut down to one lane and we felt like we were in LA traffic. Fortunately we made it to the start on time, and we ran our rally. As we were driving we ran into some more road construction. I think as a group we may have really irritated some asphalt guys.

We compared stories with some of the other teams, and they all said that they were yelled at. It was somewhat amusing after the fact, but a little frazzling in the heat of the moment.

We made our way to Grass Valley after a full morning of rallying around The Donner Pass and Donner Lake. It is such a pretty Lake, and definitely over shadowed by Lake Tahoe. Donner Lake is much smaller, but there is something very quaint and appealing about its size and beauty.

We did not stay long in Grass Valley, but were very impressed by the turnout of people who came to greet us. It was Monday at noon, and the streets were full.

Grass Valley is a 1G town, I didn’t even know what a 1G town was until today. Brad explained to me, that while in populated areas we receive 3,4, and 5G, these people are so limited in their technology that they only have 1G. . The interesting thing about the 1G town, is that all the store fronts are full, and appear to be doing good business. Amazon doesn’t really deliver there, and they have a very traditional old style town.

After lunch, we headed East toward Chico. We seemed to be driving much cleaner and felt pretty good about our progress. We had one more turn to make and Brad told me to turn, but I didn’t see the sign until we passed the street. We timed our loss and were ready to recover our loss, but as we continued 100 yards we saw the check point, and ugh we had 10 seconds to make up. Impossible! It was a bit deflating.

We had a brief stop in Oroville and then continued on toward Chico. We passed by the Oroville dam and then headed out of town. We had at least one more leg. We started that leg at 20 miles an hour and probably drove for a half hour or mor at 20 miles an hour on beautiful backroads lined with Oak trees that canopied the road. There were ranches along the roads, and the roads curved,twisted and undulated the entire time. It was super challenging to hold speed, but also very fun driving.

Our day came to and end in Chico, where we arrived to a Birthday cake and balloons for Brad. It was so kind and thoughtful, Sawyer’s mom Susan had everything for a Birthday party. We enjoyed the evening at a nice dinner with friends and of course Birthday cake.

After dinner we were happy to find out our friends Brad and Daniel Epple, won the day. There car was moved from high flood waters a few days before the Jefferson City Tornado last month to a warehouse safe from flooding. Unfortunately, the tornado hit the warehouse. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the cars damage was repairable.

Thank you for all the kind words, we appreciate the time you take to share your thoughts.

More to come!

Author: emcniff

This is not really about me, but about an adventure we are lucky enough to take each year. Each trip provides new discoveries, and the opportunity to see this beautiful country we are so blessed to live in. View all posts by emcniff