Coffee in Soda Springs

On August 1, 2023, I wrote that while my twin seven year old boys and I were sleeping at our campsite on Donner Lake one of my boys woke up at 3am to say I love you and I thought that was really cute.

We slept until nine that morning. I gave them chocolate milk, and an apple and then tried to pack for a trip to Donner Summit later in the day. We were going to have dinner in Truckee also.

My older sister arrived from Reno at 10:30am with her daughter and the five of us headed up i80 around 11 o’clock. Old 40 had had a landslide over the winter so we had to go the long way.

I got coffee in Soda Springs and gave the boys a mini tour as we closed in on the original transcontinental tunnels over Donner Pass, which are now abandoned. Once there, we took a selfie at the entrance next to the dedication and historic marker. Everyone dealt pretty well with the first spooky tunnel, which is basically a raw bore through granite. We had a bunch of flashlights.

The boys got way ahead of us. The next tunnels, numbered Seven and Eight, went quickly. We climbed through a bunch of holes in the side of Tunnel Eight to look at the view in the canyon. My sister bruised her shin so had to take a break, but that section contains my favorite gallery in all of the tunnels so I continued on with the boys.

We made it all the way to Tunnel Nine and I got some great pictures before we rushed back. The boys really enjoyed it. We saw climbers and I noticed some new graffiti I had never seen before.

Later we drove i80 back to Truckee and I noted that there was a lot of traffic. At the campsites we went to the lake for a short bit and hung out at the picnic tables to have lunch. My sister had made us a great picnic. I enjoyed a walk through the taiga near the lake too.

We took a swim and then we drove to a brewery on the east end of Truckee for dinner. Eventually my sister and niece had to go and they dropped us at our campsite before driving home.

I was feeling exhausted then and we started getting in our sleeping bags by nine. I noted that they were still making noises in their tent as I was writing.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Donner at Twilight

On July 31 I wrote that the day before, I had boarded the California Zephyr to Truckee with my seven year old boys. I tried to keep them in the observation car as long as possible but the trip dragged on after Colfax so we returned to our seats in coach. We eventually returned to the observation car to enjoy the Yuba Canyon with the tunnels. I chatted with some of the other passengers until we again returned to our seats for a rest.

Much of the problem with our trip was the fact that the train was stalled behind a broken cargo train for an hour in there, and when that cleared, we rode through Soda Springs. I pointed out the lodge, the road and the tunnel - all places we had been together. It was at that point that I had to get the three of us off the train. The sun had just gone down and here I noted that I had left stuff in the observation car so I retrieved them.

I should’ve made a sanity check in there to make sure I didn’t lose anything. We stood in the wheelchair room until we pulled into the station (I got a great picture of Donner at twilight). I realized after we had gotten off that I had left a few things in the baggage area of the train. One of my boys was displeased with me about that since I had misplaced a book of his.

We arrived at the station at around 9:40 that night. I got the boys some popsicles and waited for the local rideshare. When they finally arrived, the driver was really nice and helpful. They knew where the Donner Campground was and helped us unload. Setting up the tent and getting the kids to bed took a long time and the summer night was actually pretty cold. I had to put in a lot of work to get our campsite together myself. The boys were really helpful though.

At 7:15 am on the day that I wrote this, I woke up on my tarp under the morning sky. I got the boys up and aired out their tent. Then I got us ready to go into Truckee. I made backpacks, collected items for the trip and put everything away. The boys ate pretzels and drank their power drinks.

We walked to the boat rentals and then to the ranger station. The boys were in good spirits. I had a can of coffee - an innovation I had discovered on previous camping trips. We had to run for the TART bus but the website was wrong by about 10 minutes, so it turned out OK. The boys took their jackets off at that point.

We first went to CVS and picked up some hats and sandals. Then we went to a sports shop, and I got a mini backpack for myself. We also went to the laundromat and I got tacos next-door because it’s impossible not to.

After that we walked to the coffee shop and the natural food store on the far side of interstate 80. We looked at the new Tahoe Truckee bike share system but the seats were too tall for the boys. I told them that we would get bikes the next time we visited. We went to Safeway and bought a lot of food before catching a bus back to the laundromat

Once we were done at the laundromat we caught the highway 89 bus to the Amtrak station and I took the boys to the pizzeria. Harry Potter was playing on the TV and the boys’ brains turned to mush. I had a salad and the boys ate pizza and we say out front enjoying the view on the main street. I took the boys to an old timey ice cream parlor – that was cool.

We caught a local Truckee bus which was on the wrong end of its route-I couldn’t even figure out how that had happened or the way it worked. When we got back to Donner State Park ranger station got tokens for the showers and then we walked to our campsite.

The boys had a late snack and then went to bed. I started writing.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Foresthill Bridge

On July 16, 2023, I wrote that the previous day I had just left the town of Foresthill on Foresthill Road. The air was still only a bit warm but I knew the ride would be difficult. As I rode to a place I noticed on the map called Everybody’s Inn, the ride was easy enough with the singular exception of a pick up merging with traffic near the end.

I had a beer at the tavern and took in the aged interior. Apparently, the owner Cynthia had stopped offering rooms years ago and mostly catered to the breakfast crowd.

As Foresthill Road runs along the narrow Foresthill Ridge heading west from town. As it trends downhill for the most part, I knew that my ride was not going to be that difficult. However, there are occasionally segments which go up and in the areas approaching Foresthill Bridge the dips and rises become more prominent. I did this cycle about three times and on the way got photos of Monte Verde – a local landmark. I also spoke to two utility arborists.

I was low on water, and after a little walking and riding I made the Auburn Recreation Area bike trails. Sadly, it was too hot and complicated so I returned to the road. The Upper Clemintine toll house staff gave me water – but I don’t think they were very accommodating.

I rode to a trail parking lot on the south side of the road and ate most of the rest of my food. Then I went to lower Clementine and Old Auburn Road. Every mile or so I would stop to catch my breath and it was almost entirely because of the heat.

When I got to Foresthill Bridge, California’s tallest, the wind was slowing me, even as the grade downward increased. I also found my skin was a lot dryer when I was riding because of it. I stopped near the bridge and went over both sides of the roadway for photos. I was burning up and dehydrated. I finished my water.

Looking at the bridge from the east side only enhanced its prominence. Built as access to the canceled Auburn Dam, it connects the Foresthill Divide to populated areas near i80 and essentially made my trip possible.

As the trails below and adjacent to the bridge were obviously insufficient for my tastes, I rode straight across and the situation for water was worse. I also noticed anti-suicide notes on the bridge. There were two trails connected at the bridge but they descended into the canyon before heading in the direction of Auburn and therefore not great.

Climbing to Lincoln in Auburn was really hard and once I was at the top, I knew I only had minutes before I would die of exhaustion. There was no shade and I took a wrong turn but made my hotel fast enough. I noted too that the front desk staff was really nice. They gave me water and offered friendly assistance.

Over the rest of the afternoon I floated around in the pool and jacuzzi, had a burger at the restaurant and did a bit of laundry. Then, when the sun had set I rode to downtown to visit the California Club. The drunks were rude, but I had a good time.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I woke up around 615 and managed to get on my train easily enough. At the train station there was no ticket machine so the conductor gave me a discount. I sat on the train writing and drinking coffee. The train was full. There were older people talking, toddlers with their moms. They were reclusive table mates. I was getting off at Richmond station.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.