Day 2, Friday, September 11, 2009 Truckee, Donner Memorial State Park, and Moody's

As we received our morning announcements and were looking forward to a day of new experiences, we paused to remember the 9/11 attack on our country, those who lost their lives, those who are serving our country, and give thanks for the freedom we have to pursue our dreams and travel throughout this magnificent land.

Carpooling into town, we assembled at the Old Jail in downtown truckee where a local historian gave us a 2 1/2 hour tour of the town.


Stones from Masonic Building that blew up were used to build the arch in the Memorial Garden behind the museum




Truckee California has always been a place of connecting the east to the west. The original settlement was a way station providing provisions for freight wagons and later grew when the railroad came through. There were other names for the town, but it eventually became Truckee named for a friendly, honest and helpful Paiute Indian guide named Trokay (the white men thought is sounded like Truckee and that's what they called him). In 1844 he assisted thousands of emigrants migrating west through the Sierras. It was once a lawless lumber and railroad town that still has much of its Old West Charm remaining. Many events caused Truckee to grow including the discovery of gold in California and silver in Nevada,

Bill Beckley in Jail and looking at extensive exhibits


The Old Jail was built in 1875 and was in continuous use until 1964. Built from native stone, the building is one of the few remaining original structures. Most of the town burned down several times before they began to use stone and brick for rebuilding. The Jail now houses a museum with an impressive collection of artifacts and photographs which tell the wonderful stories of this town's past. Besides the railroad other important industries included logging and lumber mills, box manufacturing, ice harvesting, the film industry of the 1920's, gambling and bootlegging.

By 1868 there were two churches, 10 stores, 11 restaurants, three hotels, a school, a newspaper, 2 theathers, a red light district and 25 saloons. If you are interested in learning more about the colorful history of the area which includes opium dens, vigilantes, tar and feathering, the second largest chinatown where thousands once lived, gunfights in the streets as well as the people who made the town what it became, go to http://www.truckeehistory.org/.

From the Jail we walked up Jibboom Street which used to be the main street until the highway came through. There we saw the Gray House and learned about one of the first families who built the first mill. Our guide pointed out other building that were restored originals and explained how many of them were moved from different parts of town, some more than once.

Following our walk down Jibboom and onto Bridge Street, we had a tour of the Truckee Hotel. It is a restored Class A Historical Hotel that has been in operation for 125 years. The proud manager guided us through the four stories showing us the various types of rooms available with their quaint furnishings,


A mill worker lived in this room for 37 years

We particularly found the toilets in the hallway bathrooms of interest as there were no sinks and the top of the commode serves as a hand washing station.

Enjoying Coffee at the Hotel

As we walked down Donner Pass Road (now the main drag) our guide told us many stories and showed us photographs of what the original buildings looked like, what types business were housed there and the people who lived and worked in them. Now the street is lined with many shops and restaurants. After the 1920's there was a period of little growth and development in Truckee until the Winter Olympics in 1960 at Squaw Valley 10 miles from Truckee which put the Truckee-Tahoe area on the map as a major destination resort for year round recreation. Tourism has become the area's lead industry.

Jim Law and Wayne McCray checking out antique gas pumps.

When our tour was over we all spent our free time exploring the town, having lunch in the various types of eateries and shopping.

After lunch we reconvened our carpool to travel a few miles down the road to Donner Memorial State Park on the site where the ill-fated Donner party was stranded trying to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains during the severe winter of 1846-47. In the visitors center we watched a movie telling the sad tale of the 89 person party that began the journey. Only 47 were rescued and they had to resort to cannibalism as some of the others died in order to survive.


George, Gene and Jim on the Nature Trail in Donner Park

The Emigrant Trail Museum has exhibits about the railroad, natural history, and the people who decided to travel west for a better life. There is a Pioneer Monument near the museum, the natural stone base of which is 22 feet high depicting the height of the snow that fateful winter,

Many of us took a ride to beautiful Donner Lake which is lined by a beach area, docks for boating and homes.

Evening came and back into town we went for our first "gourmet dinner" which took place at Moody's adjacent to the Truckee Hotel.

Owner Mark Estee explained the philosophy of the restaurant is to celebrate local, fresh and seasonality of the foods used to develop their menus.

(Moody's General Manager and our leaders Tom and Dee Irwin)

They use local and nearby farmers and ranchers to provide everything prepared and design the menus around the available produce of the season. The four course dinner paired with wines was excellent. From a specially prepared menu for us we chose an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert. Each course was delivered first to the ladies all at once and then to the gentlemen. Everyone agreed that everything was "heavenly" as we waddled home for a good nights sleep.

Jim Law and his Gourmet Meal


On very full tummies we went to sleep thinking about what was to come tomorrow.