Rail city stopover

We are in the RV parking lot at John Ascuaga's Nugget casino resort, in Sparks, Nevada (map).  We've stayed here before; back then I discussed why we chose this spot over the alternatives in Reno.  It did mean a slight backtrack, since we stopped in Reno for fuel -- $4.159 at an independent station in town.  While that's higher than we've been paying lately, it's a lot lower than we will see in California, so we topped off the tank to the tune of 155 gallons.

Stopping here made for a short day yesterday, but we did not want to fly through town without stopping to see our dear friend Julie.  Just by fortunate timing, yesterday also happened to be her birthday, and so we had a celebratory dinner in the steakhouse here at the Nugget, with her husband Jim and son Monty.  The food was excellent and we sat in our cozy booth for nearly three hours celebrating and catching up.  It was a great visit, and we were grateful that they were able to see us on such short notice, even on a special occasion.

In a few minutes we will roll back out onto I-80 and begin our ascent of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas.  My map says we have four and a half hours to Redwood City, but that really depends on how long it takes to climb the grade, which can add another half hour or more.  Depending on how it goes, we might finish the trip today, or we might stop an hour short, in Vallejo, and wrap up the drive in the morning.