MILES
262
STOPS
3
ORIGIN
Reno, NV
DESTINATION
Palo Alto, CA
DRIVE TIME
4.5 hrs
TOTAL TIME
8 hrs
We were eager to leave NV and get into California and our final destination. Because today’s drive time would be approximately 5 hours we opted to take our time and spend some time in Truckee at Donner Memorial State Oark where we would venture out on our last hike of the trip and in Old town Sacramento and the California State Railroad Museum. After a quick walk around the outside of the Casino we had a quick breakfast at Starbucks before our drive.
🛑 Stop 1: Shortly after entering California we ventured into Donner Memorial State Park (Truckee, CA). This would be our final hike of the trip. It turned out to be a gorgeous morning for a walk along Donner Lake. We got to the park early enough to see the mist rise from the lake. It was a fantastic way to start the day and the last leg of the trip. This is also where I started to not feel all that great. By the time we reached Palo Alto my wife had to take me to the emergency room. “glad” it began to happen here and not in the middle of Nowhere, NV along US 50.
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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: Since we had already experienced Planes in Dayton, OH, and Cars in Carmel, IN and Effingham, IL, it was only fitting to now see trains, so we made a stop at the CA State Railroad Museum in Old Town Sacramento. After our visit we walked around Old Town and had lunch at Bali Kitchen. By now I was beginning to feel considerably worse and the pain in my back was growing more severe. After lunch we hurried back to the car so we could get on with the final portion of the drive and arrival at our destination in Palo Alto. That last segement took forever, unlike the rest of the trip, this was the first time we encountered “traffic,” heavy for virtually 100 miles. Instead of an hour and a half it took us nearly double that to complete this last stretch. Coupled with the pain and discomfort I was suffering from, it made for a long drive…
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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: We made it to our hotel in Palo Alto safe and sound at around 4:30 pm; well sort off. No more than an hour after arriving the pain I was having during our morning hike and later in Sacramento turn into brutal back and kidney pain. The subsequent visit to the emergency room confirmed it, I had a 3mm kidney stone. Phenomenal way to finish the trip…
That said, even though I spent most of that evening and night in the hospital, I did feel much better the following days and was able to enjoy Palo Alto and San Francisco.
A few things I would have done differently along the way.
Given my health condition (or even if I was 100% healthy) I should have scoped out hospitals and emergency rooms along the way. I was tremendously lucky. I arrived in Palo Alto and shortly after, my wife, who had flown in earlier that day to meet us, had to take me to the emergency room. I had a 3mmm Kidney Stone. I can’t imagine dealing with the pain I experienced in the middle of nowhere KS, UT or NV. Knowing where to go if I needed to, would have been good.
Given our interests I think we should have allocated an extra day and stayed in and around Lake Tahoe instead of Reno.
I would have skipped the Casino hotels; the cigarette smell outside our rooms was a bit much, as were the overstimulating slot machines all over the place. I would have preferred a lake view or mountain view with a quiet restaurant.
Next time I’m not going off-road. Getting stuck in the sand was an inconvenience, but if we did not have cell service we would have been screwed.
If I ever Drive through CO and Fruita is along the way, I’m spending an entire day (or two) and renting a bike so I can ride at least one trail in the area.