We were scheduled to leave Carson City, NV at 10:00am this morning to head over to Santa Rosa, CA. But about 8:30 Greg informed us that the bad weather over the mountains was coming earlier than expected so we were all going to leave at 9:00am. That was no problem for us as we were pretty well ready to go anyway. They had filled up with gas yesterday but we were going to fill up on our way out of town so we headed out a few minutes before they did.
When we got to the gas station it was packed with semis. When we pulled in we noticed the station had all their pumps blocked off. So Mike went in to see what was going on. Turns out they had lost power. Not good as this was the last station with diesel before going over the pass. Mike found out from them where another station was a couple miles back. So we drove over to the station exit but there were semi trucks blocking it and just sitting there. Trucks were honking and others where trying to back up. We were wondering why they didn't just leave. Turns out this particular station as an automatic gate - but since there was no power the gate wouldn't open. So you couldn't get out the exit and you couldn't go out the entrance as trucks kept coming in. What a mess!! To keep this from getting too long, just suffice it to say that by the time we got out and got gas we were leaving town over two hours later than planned! Fortunately, even though it was snowing over the pass we made it over before it started sticking to the road.
Since we didn't really have to be to the fairgrounds until tomorrow evening, Mike decided to take the scenic route even though my cousin, Greg, warned us that it was narrow and windy. He was correct that's for sure. But it was very pretty. We went through Napa Valley and saw many beautiful vineyards. My pictures didn't turn out very well though since our windows were really dirty from all the snow and rain we went through. But I'll share a couple of them with you anyway.
When we got close to our destination we got out the directions that were supplied to us. From what it seemed like, we should have been very close once we got off the highway. But we couldn't find the next turn. We kept going and going and going. And as we kept going the road kept getting narrower and windier. It was obvious we were going the wrong way. But the road was so narrow there was no way to turn around. Heck, we could barely even get past the cars coming the other way. The road was lined with huge trees that were scratching the side of the RV the entire way. All the noise from the trees hitting us was scaring the dogs tremendously - especially poor little Slugger, he was shaking like a leaf. There was nothing we could do but to keep going. About an hour later we finally got back to the exact same road we had come on originally. So now we had to go an hour back the other way. Arg.
Just as we were getting to the exit off the highway (for the second time), our friends called to see where we were. We were so lucky they called just when they did as we would have made the exact same wrong turn again. They hadn't taken the scenic route so came from a different direction but the directions from that way were wrong as well. They were kind enough to stay on the phone and lead us to the fairgrounds.
What a day! Our friends, who left just minutes after us, got to our destination over four hours before us. It just wasn't our day - tomorrow is bound to be better!
Debbie
4/19/07
No comments:
Post a Comment