Goldfield to Reedsport by Greg

We made it to Reedsport at 6:30 last night. Five days of pretty solid driving. I posted photos at the gallery.

The change in the climate after Reno was dramatic. We made it from Goldfield to Susanville on Sunday. Then from Susanville to Weed Monday. We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Weed and met my son, Andrew there for lunch. He was on his way to San Jose to be a paid signature gatherer for a variety of California ballot initiatives. It was good to see him. He and a friend will be staying at a campground in Saratoga Springs for a couple of months while they are working there. Andrew did this a couple of years ago and it is amazing how much money he is able to earn via this work.

Our overnight in Susanville was at the Indian Casino just outside of town. A nice casino. Von actually hit a $50 jack pot on the slots so she is down only about $10 for the trip. Big gambler!

We stopped at a casino in Bordertown just north or Reno for a “linner” (lunch and dinner) break. I had been there in something like 1975 on a free plane trip out of Eugene. They paid for a charter plane and bussed us from the airport to the casino for a 12 hour stint at the tables. I did that trip with Jimmy. It was the weekend of the NFL playoffs so I was able to kill a lot of the time watching games. The casino is a far cry from what it was then. It used to have a full pit of table games including craps and all the blackjack and Pai Gow poker but now it only has slots so I didn’t gamble at all while there this time. The food was good though, I had a Reuben and it had a half pound of pastrami. NOT good for my waistline!

The drive from Susanville on Hwys 45 and 89 is a beauty. Lots of snow this time of year but the roads were clear and dry with very little traffic. We got quite a few pictures so check out the gallery link above.

The drive up I-5 to Sutherlin and the cutoff on Hwy 138 was not too bad. There are a lot of climbs to slow down the Airstream though.

I got pulled over in Elkton by a county sheriff. Only a warning thank god. I was clocked at 51 going through the 20 mile an hour school zone at 5 of 5. The Sheriff was really decent about it. I am so used to pushing the old diesel to the limit to maintain 55 mph that as I exited town I floored it and he caught me. He told me the fine would have been $800 with the Oregon law doubling traffic fines in school zones. So many of these counties and towns look at traffic citations as revenue that I was damn lucky not to get written up. Must have been my shiny smiling face and the age of the Airstream!! Or maybe the shiny airstream and the age of my face.

I think we will be staying for at least a few days at the Umpqua Lighthouse campground. It is a very nice park and only a few minutes from Kim and Jim’s place here in Reedsport.

It was good to see Jimmy. He was awake when we got here even though he is sleeping some 20 hours a day.

We will be hanging around the next ten days or so with at least one trip to Salem in the middle. Will keep you posted.

Greg