trains

On February 5, 1994, I married my best friend and for our honeymoon we took Amtrak to Truckee and rented a house in North Lake Tahoe for a few days of skiing. It was a big snow year in 1994. We decided that after 24 years, it was time to take that trip again.

This time we took some very good friends and rode all the way to Reno. If you’ve never done this trip you are missing out! The Sacramento Railroad Museum has volunteers that ride the train from Sacramento to Reno and give commentary on all of the places we traveling through as well as very interesting railroad history over the Sierra.

This year the snow levels are pretty low so we didn’t get the epic white that we saw in 1994. But the ride was still a lot of fun, and the lunch and Bloody Marys were delicious!

Also, when in Reno, stop in and see the Car museum and stumble upon the biggest bowling alley I’ve ever seen and we were the only ones there!

I also came back 60.00 richer from playing a few slot machines! 🙂

As a kid, we would travel along I-80 through the Sierra and I was always fascinated by the miles of man-made tunnels that hung on the side of the mountain on the other side of Donner Lake. Back in those days, the tunnels were still being used by trains getting over the Sierra. Today, the tracks have been removed and the trains have been re-routed.

It amazes me how many people never noticed them, even after traversing that stretch of freeway a zillion times! How can you NOT notice these engineering marvels? If you want to know the history of these sheds is fascinating, even if you aren’t a trail buff.

October of last year, we had the opportunity to take a guided tour of the sheds with a knowledgeable train historian. That was very interesting. However, what I DIDN’T expect to see in these tunnels was the unbelievable art! It’s not your run-of-the-mill graffiti art. These are masterpieces in my book! Its dark in these tunnels, so these artists burned up a lot of flashlight battery to get these babies done!

PS, if you are traversing the PCT, you can take a short side tour of the tunnels. It’s right off of the trail. It’s worth it, and very cool temps in the summer months.

Take a walk with me into the tunnel of Art.