[Itsed65]

So rather than spend the day trying to get a space among thousands to watch 20 minutes of fireworks, I grabbed a buddy of mine and we hit the road. Dinner at Lake Tahoe was the goal, and we decided to take the path less taken. We drove California Highway 4 from one end to the other. It begins near my house in Hercules California, and ends in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains at the junction of Highway 89, which runs up the western side of the Lake Tahoe. Here is the route we took in the X1. The photos mostly come from the area between Arnold and Lake Tahoe.


4th Road Trip Map by lennycarl08, on Flickr

Please note that the car started off fairly clean, but crossing the central valley through the delta, I picked up approximately 1 billion bugs. As we started climbing it seemed to get a bit less buggy. Soon the heat of the valley was replaced by cool mountain air after we started climbing out after Angels Camp (Where Mark Twain wrote about the frog jumping contest).


20130704-IMG_7832 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

This rode is not open in the winter, and you can see the snow marker poles here.


20130704-IMG_7833 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

The road narrows to less than two full lanes for a quite a distance. It's a fun road, but not one to go bonsai on as there is NO room for error.


20130704-IMG_7906 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

But what a view!

20130704-IMG_7835 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-IMG_7825 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-IMG_7842 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-IMG_7840 by lennycarl08, on Flickr



20130704-IMG_7862 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-AQ4E9111 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

Watch out for wandering milk cows!

20130704-IMG_7882 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

The sign used to say 7,080 FT.

20130704-IMG_7875 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-IMG_7889 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-IMG_7911 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-IMG_7978 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-IMG_7974 by lennycarl08, on Flickr


20130704-IMG_7940 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

Got a little off road in at the location of a long gone mining boomtown from 1864. Used to be 3000 people here.

20130704-IMG_7996 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

You can see how dirty my poor baby is here!

20130704-IMG_8003 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

One last pit stop


20130704-IMG_8030 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

It was getting late when we hit Highway 89, so it was time to let the turbo do its work for a bit on the way to Tahoe.

20130704-AQ4E9137 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

The lake was packed with people celebrating the 4th. It was a bit slow going through the tourist areas, but we made it.

20130704-IMG_8086 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

Ended up eating at Alpine Village, then it was a short blast to Truckee and the freeway home. We ended up seeing a lot of fireworks from the interstate as we went through the Sacramento area, and I was ready for bed when I got home. After all, Friday was another day, and I had another trip planned. This time toward the coast and Fort Bragg. I will have pics of that journey as well.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and hope everyone in the US had a nice 4th.

[ddk632]

Great way to spend the holiday, love the route and views. Thanks for sharing!

[M_Six]

Nice shots, Ed. California does have its redeeming qualities.

[remmib]

Nice pics.
How long was this trip?

[Mr Tonka]

Beautiful country!

Is the X1 similar in size to the Mini Countryman? I haven't seen one in person.

[Itsed65]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Nice shots, Ed. California does have its redeeming qualities.

Every now and then

Originally Posted by remmib

Nice pics.
How long was this trip?

It was about 12 hours from start to finish, including two meals and many photo stops. Luckily a large portion of the roads are very sporting and fun to drive

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

Beautiful country!

Is the X1 similar in size to the Mini Countryman? I haven't seen one in person.

Yes it is a very beautiful area. The X1 is similar in size to the Countryman, but has a longer wheelbase and more cargo room. Not to mention it is based on a rear wheel drive 3 platform, so it drives completely differently.


20130704-AQ4E9117 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[Chewy734]

beautiful photos... I bet it was really fun in the twisties.

[N 5 4]

beautiful journey and pictures, I would love to explore the same route you've mapped out!

[comar1979]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

.

Thank´s for a 10 Minute Vacation

Very nice Pics and a scenic Country

Lookin forward to see the other Pictures

[dcstep]

Nice.

Looks like you had reasonable traffic. I stay out of the Rockies on holidays, but it looks like traffic was light for you.

Dave

[Weebl]

Looks like a good long day. I like the perspective of these two, just like a car ad.

Originally Posted by Itsed65

So rather than spend the day trying to get a space among thousands to watch 20 minutes of fireworks, I grabbed a buddy of mine and we hit the road. Dinner at Lake Tahoe was the goal, and we decided to take the path less taken. We drove California Highway 4 from one end to the other. It begins near my house in Hercules California, and ends in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains at the junction of Highway 89, which runs up the western side of the Lake Tahoe. Here is the route we took in the X1. The photos mostly come from the area between Arnold and Lake Tahoe.



Please note that the car started off fairly clean, but crossing the central valley through the delta, I picked up approximately 1 billion bugs. As we started climbing it seemed to get a bit less buggy. Soon the heat of the valley was replaced by cool mountain air after we started climbing out after Angels Camp (Where Mark Twain wrote about the frog jumping contest).






20130704-IMG_7911
20130704-IMG_7940 by
Hope you enjoyed the photos and hope everyone in the US had a nice 4th.

[Itsed65]

Thanks again everyone

I have some pics from the next day's drive but it will be a bit for me to get them up, as sadly, I am back at working overtime this week.

It's a great drive, and so are the other lesser popular highways across the Sierra, CA 88 and CA 108. The only trick is that most are only open during the summer, as they don't plow them after the first heavy snow. That goes for Tioga pass (CA 120) through Yosemite as well, another spectacular drive. Even on a major holiday though, traffic was pretty light last week. I'm sure the story was quite different on US 50, the major road to south Tahoe.

I do hope to make the drive on 50 across Nevada in the X. It is remarkable in it's own right for the sheer open space you cross and feel completely alone. But that will be a post for a different time

[BenTrovato]

Great photos. Looks like a fun drive - thanks for sharing.