Soda Springs to Reno
After seeing the sights of San Francisco and the Bay Area, the Johnsons start their trek back home. Heading east toward Reno, Nevada, they spend a night in Soda Springs, CA at the Rainbow Tavern, built by Herstle Jones in 1927.
It boasts 32 “cool comfortable rooms” with “wonderful meals – wonderful scenery.” The South Yuba River meanders behind the tavern, and visitors could catch fish and have the dining room cook them up.
Fortunately for us modern day travelers, the Rainbow Tavern – later known as the Rainbow Lodge – still stands! It is located at 50080 Hampshire Rocks Road in Soda Springs, and can be visited. It can be found off the Highway 40 Scenic Bypass. Here is their web page!
One of the postcards on this page is of Donner Lake and Pass, which is close to Soda Springs.
Joan writes next to the postcard; “This lake is 35 miles west of Reno. It is 3 miles long, 1 mile wide and is one of the most picturesque alpine lakes in California. The Southern Pacific snowshade and summit of the Divide are not far from this.” It was hard to read the last line, so I’m not sure if snowshade is what she wrote – doesn’t seem to make sense here.
Donner Pass is well known for the tragedy of the Donner-Reed party (not to be confused with the Donna Reed party) -
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| Donna Reed - NOT a cannibal! |
- who became stuck in that area in the winter of 1846-47 and had to resort to cannibalism to survive. Luckily, the Johnsons avoided eating each other during their 1937 road trip.
Joan also pasted this article into the scrapbook;
Next stop; Reno Nevada! I'm not sure if they stayed here, I believe they just drove through, since it is not that far from Soda Springs. Also, there's not much info on this page, other than the postcards.
Top postcard is titled; Center Street Looking North, Reno Nevada
Middle postcard; Washoe County Courthouse, Reno Nevada
Bottom postcard; Post Office, Reno Nevada
The little cartoon clipping says, "900 miles of wire are required to connect the control equipment at Boulder Dam."
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