Day 1

At the Gold Ranch RV Park in Verdi, NV

Well, we're off! Our departure went smoothly. We've driven the drive from San Jose to Reno dozens of time. It is alway a treat as we head out of Sacramento into the Sierra Nevada mountains and up to the Donner Summit at 7239 feet. The mountain scenery and many lakes we pass are spectacular. This time the mountains were hazy with smoke from the Gold and the Park fires. My truck was averaging 10.5 MPG through the valley but once we began to climb the mileage dropped to 8.5. Ugh! We were getting low on fuel and I considered a fuel stop at Soda Springs, but the gas price for Unleaded was $5.69. I knew if I could limp over the Nevada border the gas prices would drop. We made it to Verdi on fumes and filled up at $4.49. I believe the price for fuel will just get less as we head east and south. Fingers crossed.

Starting mileage on the F150 is 120,855.7 We expect to drive 10,000 miles this trip. Will the truck make it? It's a 2012, so it's 12 years old.

We bought one of these USA maps to track which states we visit with this particular trailer. We've had the trailer since December 2023 and, prior to today, have done local trips within California and one trip to visit the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We got to add Nevada to the map today. I believe we plan to visit 38 states during this mega-trip, so, you'll probably get tired of seeing pictures like this as I add new states.