We left Tracy and headed a few miles west to Carnegie State Vehicle Recreation Area.  An SVRA is an area of public land set aside for OHVs (off-highway vehicles) like motorcycles, dune buggies, etc.  We decided to stay here for Shabbos as it was close to where we were and it’s only $10 a night.  On the way there, we passed Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Site 300 and stopped to ask the gate guard for directions to the SVRA.  It was pretty clear from our brief glance that this site does not have a Junior Ranger program.

When we arrived, the ranger told us that there were only a few sites left, as adjacent to the campground there was a motorcycle competition slated for the weekend.  In that area, there were easily 50 RVs parked, and every RV had at least one or two motorcycles next to it.  The SVRA had a variety of off-road tracks as well as an extensive trail network, and folks staying both in the campground and in the adjacent competition area were driving their off-road motorcycles on the tracks.

In the afternoon, I went for a ride from the SVRA over the mountains into Livermore, CA.  I rode into town before turning around, and I saw the guard station at the main campus for Lawrence Livermore National Lab as well as signs for Sandia Labs.

On the way back I passed vineyards on the outskirts of Livermore:

On my way up the hill, I passed an oncoming Tesla Roadster, which was ironic because I was riding on Tesla Road, both of which were named in honor of Nikola Tesla.

Here’s the crest of the range than stands between Livermore and the SVRA:

This promises to be a somewhat noisy but interesting Shabbos!

  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.