Well hello again! Thanks for joining us on our American Adventure homeschooling across the country in a motorhome. We're so glad you stopped by. If this is your first time here, be sure to drop a note and say hi in the forums.
We left San Francisco Monday morning and wouldn't you know it the skies started clearing up! Just our luck.
Driving out over the Bay Bridge into Oakland to pickup I-80 east, it wasn't too long before we reached our first stop. Just a few miles up the road in Fairfield, California is the Jelly Belly Bean candy company. We just had to pull over and take the tour. A quick stop to take a photo outside on the bench with the Jelly Belly mascot and inside we went. In just a few minutes the factory tour began and we watched as Jelly Belly's went from creation to coloring then polishing and packaging. There must have been a kazillion jelly beans!
After the tour, we headed over to the Jelly Belly Cafe to grab some lunch. Wouldn't you know they served jelly bean shaped hamburgers and pizzas.
Ok, we're back on the road and headed for California's capital in Sacramento. While I continued up I-80, Cricket located a Wal-Mart about 10 minutes from the the capital building. We pulled in there and noticed a Supercuts and Payless Shoe stores, something the boys and I all needed. We each picked out some shoes and the boys both got haircuts.
Getting back to the RV, I unhook the Blazer, lock up the motorhome and off we go to the capital building. Parking out front on the street, we put three quarters in the meter which gives us 45 minutes to look around. The first thing we noticed on the lawn was a huge tent for special event. This didn't allow me to get a full photo of the outside, but it didn't come out too bad. We headed inside for the self-guided tour and found that neither the Senate nor the House were in session. We also didn't find Governor Arnold walking the halls. But from the looks of security outside his door and some people who have just exited, I'd say he was probably inside. Anyway, we quickly walked around, saw the displays, and headed back out to the Blazer with about 10 minutes to spare.
Back to the RV and on the road again down I-80 east. Before we reached the Nevada border, we crossed over Donner Pass and there was still snow on the ground. We quickly pulled over at the rest stop to play. After a quick snowball fight and some cold fingers, we drove on.
It wasn't too much farther when we reached Lake Tahoe. We did not know if we'd make it back, so we pulled over for a look. It was already getting late so we couldn't spend much time on the lake. A couple of quick photos and then we walked across the street to this little Chinese restaurant for some take out. The place didn't look like much, but the food was excellent.
At about 9:00 p.m., we finally arrived in Carson City, Nevada and set up camp for the night.
Yesterday it took a while for us to get going, but we finally went out to visit the Nevada state capital building. Carson City was the first capital we've visited where the Legislative and Executive branches have separate buildings, similar to Washington DC.
When we returned to the RV, Cricket stayed there for some alone time while the boys and I went bowling. We had a good time.
Today we left Carson City, Nevada and drove up to Mount Shasta in northern California. Actually, we chose a campground in a small town called Weed, CA. Mount Shasta rises to a peak at 14,162 feet and is still covered with snow. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating. Very cloudy and raining on and off.
The biggest problem we're having here is not the zero phone coverage, but with the low cloud cover and rain we are also without satellite internet. Microwave technology doesn't work well with too much moisture. This comes at a bad time since phone communication is crucial right now. I can't say why right now, but should have an announcement soon.
Because of this, we'll probably be heading down to Redding tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get phone reception there.
Until the next update,
Mark
Mt Shasta:
