Day 7 — Wednesday, September 11, 2025 | Nevada to California
Morning light at Donner Memorial State Park
MILES
262
STOPS
3
ORIGIN
Reno, NV
DESTINATION
Palo Alto, CA
DRIVE TIME
~4.5 hrs
TOTAL TIME
~8 hrs
Final push. We were eager to leave Nevada and cross into California for the last leg of the journey to Palo Alto. With a relatively short drive ahead of us, we decided to slow things down and make a few meaningful stops along the way—one final hike in Truckee, a visit to Old Town Sacramento, and the California State Railroad Museum.
After a quick walk around the outside of the casino, we grabbed breakfast at Starbucks and hit the road.
🛑 Stop 1: Donner Memorial State Park
Shortly after entering California, we pulled into Donner Memorial State Park for what would be our final hike of the trip. The timing couldn’t have been better. We arrived early enough to watch the morning mist rise off Donner Lake, creating a calm, almost ethereal scene.
It was a crisp, beautiful morning and a perfect way to begin the day—and to start the final stretch of our journey.
It was also here that I began to feel unwell. At first it was subtle, but by the time we reached Palo Alto later that afternoon, my wife would have to take me to the emergency room. In hindsight, I’m grateful it started here and not somewhere remote along U.S. Route 50 in Nevada.
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Donner Memorial State Park
Our final hike of the trip was a short out and back along the shores of Donner Lake. We got to the park early enough to see the mist rising off the lake. The crisp morning air was refresheing, as wals the pleasent hike.
🛑 Stop 2: Old Town Sacramento, California
Having already covered planes in Dayton, Ohio, and cars in Carmel, Indiana and Effingham, Illinois, it felt only right to round things out with trains. We stopped at the California State Railroad Museum in Old Town Sacramento.
After our visit, we walked around Old Town and had lunch at Bali Kitchen. By this point, the discomfort I’d felt earlier in the day had worsened considerably, with increasing pain in my back. After lunch, we headed back to the car to begin the final drive to Palo Alto.
That last stretch felt endless. Unlike the rest of the trip, this was the first time we encountered sustained traffic—nearly 100 miles of it. What should have been a 90-minute drive took almost twice as long. Combined with the growing pain and discomfort, it made for a very long final leg.
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California State Railroad Museum.
One of the many locomotives in the grounds of the museum. This would complete our “unintended” trains, planes, and automobiles trip theme.
🛑 Final Stop: Palo Alto, California
We arrived at our hotel in Palo Alto around 4:30 p.m.—safe and sound, more or less. Less than an hour later, the pain I’d experienced earlier in the day escalated into severe back and kidney pain. A trip to the emergency room confirmed the cause: a 3mm kidney stone.
Not exactly the ending I had imagined for the trip.
Despite spending most of that evening and night in the hospital, I felt significantly better in the days that followed and was able to enjoy time in Palo Alto and San Francisco.
Final Reflections
There are a few things I would do differently if I were to repeat this trip.
Given my health history—or even if I were completely healthy—I should have scoped out hospitals and emergency rooms along the route. I was incredibly lucky that this happened in Palo Alto, with my wife already in town, rather than somewhere remote in Kansas, Utah, or Nevada.
With our interests, I also think we should have added an extra day and spent more time around Lake Tahoe instead of staying in Reno. Along those same lines, I would skip casino hotels altogether. The cigarette smoke and constant stimulation weren’t for me; I’d much rather trade that for a lake or mountain view and a quiet restaurant.
Next time, I’m also staying on paved roads. Getting stuck in the sand was an inconvenience—but without cell service, it could have been far worse.
And finally, if I ever drive through Colorado again with Fruita along the way, I’m budgeting at least a full day—or two—and renting a mountain bike. There’s unfinished business there.