The Impossible Tahoe Turn and Burn - Day 5
The Impossible
Tahoe Turn & Burn is an 8 part series,
so be sure to start with Day 1
We retrieved the fabled cookie jar first thing in the morning, and I promptly shot fotos. Now we'd have to get it home safely, which may yet prove to be a challenge, but that remains to be seen and I'm optimistic.
We had coffee then said our goodbyes to Papa Ron and Sherry and hit the road westward again, this time to Vacaville to pick up an airplane motor. Josh received the call while we were in Durango, last Tuesday night, asking if we could grab it since we'd be relatively close and it seemed fitting to add this to our crazy list of things to do.
It took longer than either of us had hoped, dealing with three old pilots on a Saturday morning, and the pain in my neck was as bad as it could get, so nothing was really pleasant for me at that point. Turns out, the best way to move a small airplane motor is to place it inside of a tire and strap it down. We didn't have either, so we made a quick run to a local tire shop and talked to a guy behind the building who, although suspicious at first, gave us a free trash tire. We quickly returned, got it loaded up and were on our way once again.
Today our destination was Lake Tahoe, so we snaked through the northern California mountains along wild and free rivers and it was great. There were several stretches along the way that had been recently hit by the wildfires we've all heard about. It was surreal to see it firsthand. Nothing smoldering, but it looked like a nuke hit it. Somber mood.
Traffic was thicker than we've been used to for the first 2000 miles of this trip. It was Friday and lots of people were on the road, getting out of town, heading to the same places we wanted to stop and see, and it was weird being around so many folks. For me this mostly meant that I’d have to work a little harder to get fotos without people in them. Not typically my style, to shoot the easy stuff from the road or along the paved walkway to a viewpoint,
but one of my goals for the photography on this trip was to shoot fast and often to make a set that truly translates the frantic pace of our Turn & Burn.
We’ve stopped so many times for snacks or provisions or foto ops, but we’ve covered so much ground. Today is the lightest day of driving so far and will be for the entire trip. It hasn't snowed anywhere up there yet, so rooms at the casino are cheap.
We got into town early, checked in, then went for a walk to grab food and a beer, and ended up at Stateline Brewing. I had a delicious passion flower IPA and their classic IPA as well.
Good beers, full bellies, back to the casino.
We called Terry again on our way back and asked him for his lucky number, told him we planned to bet $5 on it on the first roulette table we came to. He said he didn't have one, but 13 or 17 ought to do. We walked in, Josh put five on 13 and won $180.
Shitdang.
Needless to say, we had a few drinks, lots of laughs, some videos that may not make it to the internet, etc. Two long time friends cracking each other up with years old jokes and the occasional fart. Pretty basic shit; nothing about our current situation is very ordinary, if much at all.
