Confessions of a Hit and Run Tourist - Day Sixteen

[Riverbrian]

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. 

Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter.

Day Sixteen - August 13 - Beverly Hills to Reno

This morning I am starting the long 3 day trek back home. I would have loved to have stayed to watch the entire Twins/Angels series but I got to get back to work.  Arranging the schedule to include the entire weekend was not possible without losing Colorado, Texas and Houston so this is how it had to go. 

I've run a pretty tight schedule throughout this trip but today was going to be the tightest. There were a couple of moments during this trip where the clock made me slightly concerned due to things out of my control but I never started out the day nervous like this morning. I wanted to accomplish everything and still reach Reno in time for the Buffet and a little gambling when in Rome. I wouldn't fully enjoy myself if I pull into the Atlantic in Reno late at night, at the very least I was getting that buffet and this thought was on my mind from the very second I got up. 

Twinsdaily pal Ashbury had given me some great advice for this trip and he knows the area so I trusted him. He suggested that for ultimate Yosemite scenery, that I should drive the east side of the Sierra and enter the park from the east. This was the plan but, I kept thinking about it and thinking about it and if I was going that way, the route would be an additional hour and a half of driving time, plus there was a deli near the park entrance that he highly recommended that would add at least another half hour. I was about 5 miles before the exit I needed to take when I finally decided unequivocally that I was grabbing fast food on the way because I wanted those two hours... for insurance... to allow more time at Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and reach Reno at a decent hour, so at almost the last second I stayed on I-5 toward Bakersfield and Fresno. 

I haven't set an alarm clock in a couple of decades but I did last night because getting up late would have been problematic. Turns out I didn't need it, despite getting home at midnight and a plan to depart at 5:41AM... I was up at 4:30 so I was able to turn off that alarm clock before it woke up the entire place at 5:00. I was on the road a little after 5PM so I gained a little time. Leaving L.A. in darkness brought a new bit of welcome scenery that I had purposely avoided with my daylight driving... City Lights! As I took the 405 up the Santa Monica mountains, I was probably looking at my rear view more than I was looking ahead. Eventually I had to find a spot so I could stop, get out, look back and just concentrate on it. It's hard to describe, the L.A. basin was lights for further than the eye could see. I would rank this scenery in the top 5 of all the incredible scenery that I saw the entire trip. It doesn't take long before you break through the other side of the mountains and then the San Fernando Valley lights take center stage. They sure consume a lot of energy here in Cali. It made me consider that perhaps pulling into San Francisco at night was something that I should have done. No regrets though, it has been a great trip and today I'll get all the scenery I could ask for.   

I told myself that Bakersfield and Fresno would be a bonus of taking this way. You drive through on 99 but they are not much to write home about. Bakersfield is unimpressive but Fresno at least looks like a decent enough town. I reached the Yosemite park entrance a little before 10am.

I have been told by many that Yosemite is the crème de la crème of the National Parks so my expectations were a high bar to clear and the anticipation during the 5 hour drive was not helping to manage this expectation game. As I entered and start the drive to tunnel view... the scenery starts slow. Slow enough that in consideration of the high bar set... I found myself thinking Ash was right... I should have entered from the east. Then the curves start to increase, the land exposes itself more and more and it improves every mile, then you enter a tunnel and when you come out of it, you have reached tunnel view and there it is! El Capitan and Half Dome and other formations that I'm sure have a name. Unfortunately, the Bridal Veil Falls was not falling, it wasn't the time of year for water fall viewing I guess but it was still a stunning sight without . I spent a little while soaking that in, as I drove on, I stopped at all the pull outs, taking my time. I walked to the creeks, the water is crystal clear, you can see the fish clear as day, mostly motionless, some in motion, trout I assume. That was an unexpected bonus because I didn't see any Trout last night at Angels Stadium. Even the scorched earth areas and there was a lot of that, had a beauty to it. I'm no expert, I certainly don't know the process of how the land restores itself after a fire but I assume that I was looking at the aftermath of fires that occurred quite some time ago. The grass was back, lush and green but the trees were mere black poles standing tall with the leaves and branches burned away, the skeletons of these black trees dominate the landscape for acres. I certainly don't know what I missed when I opted not to come in from the east but there were plenty of "Wow" moments coming in and out on the path chosen and I was grateful for the time to not rush through the park. 

I hadn't eaten a thing yet so lunch was a Del Taco in Stockton. I had never been to one before so I'm still knocking important things off my list. Just a couple of taco's to tide me over but still leave me hungry for the upcoming buffet. I've concluded that Del Taco is a Taco Johns, if given the choice, they would be interchangeable. 

I was going to see Lodi, California one way or another on this trip and the only reason... this may sound stupid... but the only reason was because I really like that CCR song. I had it loaded on my Spotify and I played the song at max volume over and over again through my Bose speakers as I drove through without stopping. I didn't stop in Lodi because... Oh Lord... I didn't want to get stuck. I also had Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison Blues" at max volume as I pulled into Folsom just to get a view of the prison and it's surroundings. Folsom is an eastern suburb of Sacramento, the prison is on the north end of Folsom and despite this metropolitan type description of it's location, it has an out in the country feel to it, residential and commercial activity is pretty light near the facility. I did not get stuck there either because I hadn't been to Reno yet, to create the events that led to getting stuck there. As you head north from the prison toward I-80, you run into the real prize of Folsom... and that would be Folsom Lake. A big beautiful lake surrounded by that golden western landscape. Thank You Johnny Cash for leading me here. 

Speaking of getting stuck, my trucker friends have told me many tales of getting stuck for days at Donner Pass. We know that the Donner party certainly got stuck there back in 1846. I've heard about it enough times that I knew that Donner Pass was a must on this trip just so I can see the area in my head the next time I am told a story about it. I'm really pushing my luck with all these famous getting stuck locations back to back to back... Lodi, Folsom and Donner Pass. Obviously, these are winter tales of Donner Pass but on August 13th, 2022 I had no problems at all. In hindsight, it was probably a little silly to throw chains on the Kia. 

Next stop was Incline Village, I have never been to Lake Tahoe and it was time to remedy that. It's not as busy as the Santa Monica pier but on a Saturday afternoon it is apparent that town obviously has a few out of town guests and I get the impression, at least in the area that I saw, that the businesses are geared for the influx of tourists. The only shopping that I did was an ice cream shop, just so I could slow down, have some ice cream and look at the lake while I enjoyed both. Lake Tahoe does not disappoint when it comes to scenery. It is heavily wooded and completely surrounded by mountains, normally that combination would be enough but what puts Lake Tahoe over the top is the water. I didn't see any fish this time but just like the creeks in Yosemite, the water is crystal clear and it is in use. Water Craft of all kinds all over the place, including a healthy dose of sail boats full mast.  

I have always known where Lake Tahoe was on the map, but you don't grasp just how high up in the sky it is until you are there. If you want to experience just how high the elevation is for yourself, just take the road to Reno from Tahoe. It's a beautiful drive and it is straight down hill. I'm not kidding... I don't believe I used the accelerator once. Had to brake a couple of times because it was curvy and I was still gaining speed without use of the gas pedal. I had to resist the urge to go "Weeeee" as I made my way down to Reno. I absolutely loved that drive. I also had to resist the urge to drive back up just to do it again. It's about 40 miles to Reno. When I started my descent out of Tahoe my fuel monitor told me I had 100 miles left in the tank... when I got to Reno... I had a full tank of gas. 

I arrived at the Atlantic in Reno just a hair past 7PM. All the hotels that I stayed at, you are able to park reasonably close to the facility but this was a hotel/busy casino. I was told to park in the back. From the front of the building, you don't know that the back parking lot is massive and also full so I ended up parking a long way from the casino so I was slightly annoyed as I shlepped my luggage through the entire lot and the casino with a difficult to find elevator for a newcomer. If I had to do it all over again, I would have used the valet services that I was offered when I pulled up front to check in. 

The Del Taco and Ice Cream absolutely did not ruin my appetite, I've been keeping it light just to hit this buffet. I have been looking forward to this buffet the entire trip and thinking about it all day. I don't need a Golden Corral... I want a casino buffet with choices as far as the eye can see at this place called Toucan Charlies. The line is LONGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! Not quite Tijuana border size but comparable to the line that stretched around the block for Dim Sum at the Good Mong Kok Bakery in San Francisco. This line wound through the casino almost to the back doors of the facility. If I knew the line was this long, I would have considered skipping Yosemite. The line certainly wasn't moving fast enough for my liking. The website says that it's open until 9PM. I was in line by 7:15. I was gauging the line movement and constantly checking my watch and was able to spidee-sense that it was going to be close and certainly not guaranteed that I would get in. You do a lot of "Come on Already" in your head while you wait. I started thinking about the business operation of the hotel itself...  the buffet was going to cost a little over 50 bucks and I could have lost a lot more than that at the Casino during the time spent waiting in line. You got time to think as you wait in near desperation, you think things like, "why don't they let us in and then come back out to the line to stand to eat" because I would have done that. Around 8PM you get close enough so you can see in the windows, you see a lot of un-bused tables and you think about volunteering to bus tables. You wonder if there was a Del Taco nearby just in case you don't make it... but mainly... you stand in line and you swear to heaven above that IF you get in... IF you indeed get in... you are going to crush this buffet to the point that you will have turned the house advantage on it's head and the casino bosses will have security escort you to a back room to suggest strongly that I take my winnings and leave the facility.  Meanwhile, you look back and you see that plenty of new people were filling in the line as it's just as long as when you started. You KNOW they are not getting in.

I reached the front of the line around 8:45, not many got in behind me. I tried a little of everything encompassing three trips with plates piled to the point that I had to walk slowly so nothing came a tumbling off and a 4th trip dedicated just for crab legs which required it's own sub-trip just to bring back enough melted butter. I  was cracking so fast that crab strings and crab juice was flying into the hair of nearby diners covering about a 4 table radius.  

After the carnage had come to a stop, it was too late for sports betting because the rest of the world was in bed. I have to get up early but, I knew I should walk this off a bit before hitting the pillow. So, I spent a couple of hours at the slots and tables. I mentioned earlier that the buffet cost a little over $50. I ended up ahead $55 starting at the penny slots, the hotel was a little over $200 and I came out $200 bucks ahead at the Craps Table just playing the pass line. That was the perfect time to stop... Thanks to the Atlantis for the free hotel and meal. 

Got to bed about midnight. I'll admit that I wasn't exactly feeling comfortable because I may have over did it at the buffet just a little. The Del Taco and Ice Cream earlier in the day was clearly over the line.  

I am scheduled to depart at 6:30AM.      

 

[Squirrel]

You sound like you could have been very happy as a California guy at some point in your life. I know, not the path you took, or ever knew … but it sounded like you enjoyed California that much

[ashbury]

I was definitely looking forward to learning the details on this particular part of your trip.  Some things are best seen in daylight, other things are awesome at night, and still others need to be seen both ways,  There was no way to pack everything that needed to be seen, into that one day, so that just means you'll have to come back, if only to try some of the other ice cream places en route. 

[Squirrel]

Just now, ashbury said:

I was definitely looking forward to learning the details on this particular part of your trip.  There was no way to pack everything that needed to be seen, into that one day, so that just means you'll have to come back, if only to try some of the other ice cream places en route.

And maybe an indie taco stand or two or three

[ashbury]

2 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

And maybe an indie taco stand or two or three

Bone-in or boneless style?

[Riverbrian]

19 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

You sound like you could have been very happy as a California guy at some point in your life. I know, not the path you took, or ever knew … but it sounded like you enjoyed California that much

I really enjoyed California... every bit of it. There really isn't a state that compares to it.

However... The Central Coast is the only place that I could see myself living full time comfortably. The traffic would wear me down in the cities and the heat would wear me down in the deserts.

Carmel would be just about right until the whole thing tumbles into the sea.   

[Riverbrian]

24 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I was definitely looking forward to learning the details on this particular part of your trip.  Some things are best seen in daylight, other things are awesome at night, and still others need to be seen both ways,  There was no way to pack everything that needed to be seen, into that one day, so that just means you'll have to come back, if only to try some of the other ice cream places en route. 

Almost all of the places that I saw... I feel Hit and Run was the way to do it. 

However, not the national parks or the Ocean. I left them wishing I could stay a couple more days.