(Special thanks to Linda Abrahamson for recapping the tour and sharing these photos.)

     The Silver State Tour is held every 3 years and hosted by the HCC of Nevada regional group.  We met in the old sierra town of Truckee, CA.   There were 38 horseless carriages, 2 trouble trucks, and 90 people checking in on a clear and breezy Sunday afternoon.   After settling into our hotel and saying hi to old and soon to be new friends there was a short tour through town, past Donner Lake, and up a short “hill” to Rainbow Bridge.  This was part of the original Lincoln Hwy.  We were treated with our first view of the majestic Sierra Nevada and Donner Lake.  As we shot dozens of digital pictures historian Dave Larson told us about the history of this beautiful area:  the ill-fated Donner party, the building of the cross continental railway, the Chinese laborers, etc.    As we returned to our hotel many of us stopped at the Donner Memorial State Park.  There is a very impressive memorial.  The base of the memorial is as high as the snow was deep back in 1846-47…22 feet.   That evening we had a very fine “Donner Bar-b-que” and we were visited (not too closely) by a curious bear.

     Monday we plunged right into an impressive roundtrip drive of 116 miles.  We traveled to Verdi, NV for a historical HCCA style coffee stop at the castle-like home of Dave and Sandi Larson.  Sandi is renowned for her vintage costume collection, but she and Dave have other collections, as well.  Everywhere you turned there was something fascinating to look at.

     From Verdi we traveled down into Reno for lunch at the National Automobile Museum, Harrah Collection.  It lives up to its reputation as one of the top 10 auto museums in the country. Our ride back to Truckee took us by Lake Tahoe.  Calm, big, DEEP and very blue.

     Tuesday dawned very chilly (as every morning was while we were there), but sunny and clear.  By noon we were consistently able to relieve ourselves of the top two or three layers of coats and hats.  Our day was challenging, to say the least, 118 miles of mountains and summits to climb.  We traveled up and down Mt Rose Hwy 431 and Geiger Grade Hwy 341 to wild and wooly Virginia City.  A mining town resting on the very side of a mountain.  Mark Twain once ran the newspaper here.  The Bucket of Blood Saloon had a very nice lunch to offer and the shops were fun.  

     Along comes Wednesday and a “shorter” day.  We had an absolutely wonderful lunch cruise on the M.S. Dixie out onto Lake Tahoe.  The Dixie is one of two paddle wheelers on the lake.  We traveled across the lake and into Emerald Bay.  So beautiful!  After returning we set out to drive the rest of the way around the lake and back to Truckee.  We traveled through a number of little villages on the west side and even passed by the entrance of Squaw Valle , the home of the 1960 winter Olympics.  Total miles this day was 92.5.

     Thursday arrived bright and beautiful and a little bit warmer.  Planned this day was a trip north to a small community called Graeagle.  This drive up highway 89 had not been done on a HCCA tour for many decades.  We traveled through mountains and ranch country.  It’s hard to believe there is still open, quiet country, like this, left in California.  The history of this area was primarily associated with the lumber business and the railroads hauling it all out.  We had a fun time in the many shops and a tasty lunch served to us in the community center.  Our alternative route back to Truckee took us along a high mountain road with sights of the rugged Sierra Nevada.  There was a vista point, not far from where our mountain road loop ended, where we could look over the whole ranch valley we had come through that morning.  I, for one, love “aerial” sights like that.  

     This was our last day of touring and we had a big evening planned for us. Our miles that day totaled 87.  ….And what an evening!!!   We were treated to two surprises …#1 HOMEMADE ice cream and #2 a visit by the one and only Mark Twain!  His sense of humor was fabulous and had us laughing and applauding from the moment he set foot on stage.

     Every one of our evenings in Truckee was fun.  Besides good food we were treated well by two enthusiastic “beverage engineers”.    They kept us happy and relaxed.  We all left Truckee with many new friends and a new appreciation for the history and flavor of the Sierra Nevada.  Thank you to all the good folk of the HCC of Nevada who helped to put on the latest Silver State Tour.

Return to top