Donner Pass

We traveled to Donner Pass and it rained and snowed the entire time we were there.  It's absolutely beautiful there, but I couldn't help but think about those early Pioneers that were stranded there in the cold unforgiving winter.   We were in a very nicely insulated van, out of the weather completely with a nice heater to keep us at our preferred temperature.  

Outside it was miserable.  We had bikes readily available yet neither one of us thought - even for a second, about getting on them with the rain and snow coming down.

We spent the night near the train tracks in a very spacious parking lot, meant for people exactly like us.  Accommodations were perfect for parking our self contained van.  It was not terribly crowded with only a few families or couples so we were spread out enough we didn't even hear each other.  It seemed like we were out by ourselves, with a train pulling through here and there.

It felt like 26 degrees when we woke up to snow on our vent cover.

Although we we're excited to go for a walk in this weather, we did drive around a bit and see the sites and then we allowed the weather to decide we should travel instead. 

Through all of this beautiful country and have one eye closed most of the time.  I have a crazy eye infection, and it is red like a slice of a pie.  It feels like I have hard contacts in and is really starting to put a damper in my trip.  Wanting to go on this trip for so long, has been pushed a side a bit, while I try to heal this crazy eye.  I don't know what I did to cause this!

It snowed most of the time it took us to get off the mountain the next morning.  It is twisting and steep and my eye is screaming.  Dean has been a trooper to drive all of the time.