I continued to monitor conditions over Donner Summit via the live webcam provided by Caltrans and NDOT. Our decision to not go on Thursday was a good one. The conditions weren’t good and Friday wasn’t any better. I watched as snowplows worked to clear the road and snow piled up on the shoulders.
On Saturday morning though, our window of opportunity to travel west on I-80 looked good. The webcam showed the Interstate clear and dry. Winds were only 15-20 mph but expected to gust higher in the afternoon. Snow was also supposed to return later in the afternoon. We pulled out of Sparks Marina RV Park round 9:30am. I wanted to get over the summit around noon when the temperature would be warmer, but still beat the gusty winds and snow in the forecast.
We planned to top off the fuel tank before leaving the Reno/Sparks area so we could enter California with a full tank of fuel – fuel costs are higher in California. At first I thought about hitting the Maverick station by the RV park, but I decided against it as I didn’t want to get trapped in their lot if too many cars were there. I filled the tank at the TA Travel Center near I-80 at McCarran Boulevard.
We headed west on I-80 and crossed the summit at 7,239 feet above sea level around 12:15pm on a dry road. There was plenty snow all around though. On the steep slopes near the pass, we saw signs of avalanche damage. Tall trees we’re piled on the slopes like a box of spilled match sticks.
We left I-80 at Yuba Pass and hit CA20 westbound through the Tahoe National Forest south of Lake Spaulding. This is a two-lane highway with reasonably smooth pavement for the most part. The area is heavily forested with towering Ponderosa pines trees lining the road.
We hit a few twisty bits and road construction in a couple of places, but traffic was light on this route and it was very scenic. As we dropped through the foothills near Grass Valley, we encountered farm land and finally cattle country. Near Yuba City, we drove through flooded rice fields.
We made a shortcut through farmland on Woodruff Lane which took us to CA70 northbound. Our original plan was to boondock somewhere along this route, but we decided to press on through Oroville. CA70 eventually merged with CA99 and took us through Chico. About 12 miles north of Chico, we turned west on CR-A9 near the Abbey of New Clairvaux – a winery we visited when we were here three years ago.
We drove through Corning and stopped at the Rolling Hills Casino. We had reservations to stay at their RV park beginning on Sunday, May 19th. We were a day early and knew the park was full on Saturday night. But, they also have a truck stop on the property next to the RV park and we knew we could dry camp for the night there. By this time it was raining.
We found a fairly level spot on the lot and set up. We popped out the bedroom slides but opted to leave the living room slide retracted. A few other RVs were there along with some tractor-trailer rigs when we arrived around 2:30pm. Soon several other RVs arrived and parked by us. A woman pulling an older travel trailer with a a late model Mercedes SUV parked next to us. I was in the trailer when she came over and asked me if I had a spare battery. I asked her what kind of battery? She said the battery for her trailer had fallen off and she had no electricity in the trailer.
I didn’t have a battery to lend her. Later she asked me if I thought she could hook up to her car battery for power. I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea. Car batteries are not intended for deep-cycle use and she would have bigger problems by morning. She wanted to run an electric heater all night. I told her she would have a dead car battery by morning and be stuck. I guess she opted for extra blankets because we didn’t hear from her again.
This morning we had to wait until noon to check in. We found a long pull-through gravel site and set up in site 18 – and didn’t have to drop the trailer. We’ll stay through the Memorial Day weekend and celebrate Donna’s birthday on the 27th. We did that here in 2016 and found the steakhouse in the casino was very good.
This morning, I checked the Donner Summit webcam again. It was snowing and the road was covered with packed snow. We made the right call to cross when we did. Rain showers continued to pass through here most of the day. The temperature is cool with a high of only 60 degrees. Tomorrow should be warmer – 70 degrees and dry. We may have a few showers again on Tuesday but the long-term forecast looks great with highs in the upper 70s to 80 degrees and overnight lows in the high 50s. We plan to stay here for 10 days.
My bucket list involves travelling across the USA in an RV [route 66] with a stop at Las Vegas.
Having followed and read every word you have ever written [and Donna] I wondered if you have any advice? We plan to do it next May, as we are told this is the best month weather wise?
Thanks for any advice and if you can point me in the right direction for Rv hire etc…
Diana in chilly England
Hello, Diana! That’s a big question! So much to consider. First, it’s a very long drive and you may want to consider a one-way trip in the RV and fly back home from Las Vegas. That way, you wouldn’t just be driving all the time. Our speed limits are much lower here than in England.
Knowing that you want to travel on Route 66 is good because you can choose some must-stops along the way to better plan your trip. But don’t overplan. If you make all of your campground reservations way in advance, you’ll lock yourself in and perhaps have to bypass something you would have liked to see.
I think May is probably a good time, though weather can be fickle! It’s a big country with lots of different weather across the board. You’ll need to pay attention to weather forecasts along the way. We use the Radar Express app.
We follow the 2-2-2 rule – no more than 200 miles in a day, arrive by 2pm, and stay at least 2 days in those places you really want to see. I also recommend the AllStays app (paid version) for finding campgrounds – the app includes private as well as state and national campgrounds.
As for rv hires, the ones we see most often are Cruise America and Road Bear. There’s also a program called RVShare.com where owners rent out their RVs. That might be worth a look. Don’t get any bigger than you think you can live in for a month – these vehicles are much bigger than you’re used to driving! And the smaller the unit, the easier it will be to pull into a gas station, park at a supermarket, and explore. Plus you’ll get better gas mileage.
Will Las Vegas be your final destination? Or do you plan to continue through to the coast? Las Vegas, as you probably know, is not on Route 66, but you can veer off in that direction from Kingman, AZ.
Please keep us up to date on your travel plans and let us know if we can help! Perhaps our paths will cross on the road.
Thank you for your help. Our thoughts at the moment are fly into Chicago, rent a RV for 4 weeks, 66 to LA and then catch the train back to Chicago. I have travelled a lot in the USA, 31 different States!, even spending two weeks with friends in a 5th wheel many years ago. Grand Canyon and Las Vegas are places we want to see. I’ll get the apps you suggest and check out Road Bear as i have not heard of them.