Day 1, October 2, 2016

     Early start to beat the weather, if you call 9:30 early. We would have left at the same time if we had the 6-7 hours on the road to our original destination Visalia, CA, but Ma Nature forced us to leave early for a mad dash over Donner summit before snow happened. We arrived at the Placerville Kampgrounds of America (KOA) early enough, though we still had to set up the tent in the rain. The weather has mellowed out nicely, and we are settling in for a cool evening.

     We had a nice, albeit cool, ride over Donner summit, with the main concern being everyone wanting to get where they were going very quickly. Lissy even had a car come within 6 inches of her bike during the trip (luckily she is not one to lash out at such people, or she could have kicked a nice dent into the door of the offending car). We made it safe and sound to our destination, and we are enjoying the peace and quiet of a campground on a Sunday night.

     As for the expenses; I said before I am assuming leaving with a full tank of gas and all other pre-trip expenses being taken care of before we start out. We packed our lunch, so we were able to snack as we went along our way. We stopped in Placerville, CA to get groceries, beer, and gas before we went to the campground. We spent $24.42 on beer and groceries, $22.75 on gas for both bikes, and $35.10 for our campsite for the evening. That adds up to a grand total of $82.27 for the day.

     Granted we have invested money over the years in our camping gear. Time will tell what works and what does not. We have found that you get what you pay for, and paying the price to buy gear from a reputable source makes for easy warranty fixes and returns of gear that does not meet expectations. I highly recommend REI and Costco for their return policies.

     Now for the inexpensive dinner (more than half of our grocery bill was for beer). We brought some leftover steak, and I bought one package of Top Ramen, crimini mushrooms, a red bell pepper, a bulb of garlic, and green onions; easy road soup with noodles. I also bought sausage, and orange juice to have with the eggs and hash browns we brought. I could add the cost of the dehydrated hash browns ($1.20) and the eggs (2 eggs at approximately 33 cents apiece, if you buy 18 for $6). And the breakfast items should really count toward tomorrows count.

     We used the Kamp Kitchen to make dinner, so we did not use any of the White gas we brought yet (about $7.00 worth).

     Time for bed, so we can ride highway 49 to Oakhurst tomorrow. Stay tuned...