Days of assiduously monitoring the roads and weather indicated one possible window of opportunity to make it over Donner before the next atmospheric river descended on Truckee
so soon after moondown Thursday we packed up and headed for 447
south to Gerlach,
ditto through Empire,
Nixon and,
after gas in Wadsworth, 80 west.
Skies were clear until nearly Truckee, the highway
dry with light traffic moving briskly
for the most part
until west of Sacramento but
in Benicia said skies unloaded. We were happy to substitute Benicia enchiladas* for the deluge
on the hill and although the storm here brought down a huge tree at the Capitol
behind us the upside of that was a showering of the grounds with free grapefruits from the Fisher-Hanlon House gardens [the tree in the center of the second photograph actually].
*also, as pictured, a relleno.
I think you have hit the right combination for dealing with our future: luck and information, and the luck it might take to get the best information down the line. So far it seems that the dissemination of official information has been excellent. Let’s hope that will remain the case.
Fred K
Great relief upon reading and seeing this account!