Oh, The Sights You See!

We left Sutherlin yesterday at 9:10 am and after a long day of driving (well, Chris drove and I read to him, tried to do counted cross-stitch, tried to do crossword puzzles, read some more to Chris, and watched the scenery go by) arrived in Red Bluff about 4:30 pm. This is a lovely RV park and the best part is that it is 75˚ and sunny here! As we left the office after registering, I passed a woman going in who had just arrived from British Columbia. She smiled at me and said, “Now THIS is the weather we’ve been looking for!” I had to agree!

As has been my experience in the past upon heading south, as soon as we passed the “Welcome to California” sign the clouds disappeared and we had sunshine, blue sky and warm weather. This morning I dug out my shorts and tank tops from under the bed in anticipation of wearing them today as we get more into the heat of Southern California. I can hardly wait!

The scenery in Southern Oregon and Northern California is stunning this time of year. While the trees in Portland have mostly lost their leaves by now, as you drive south they are still in the process of turning color. The beautiful yellows, golds and reds against the background of bright, green grass, deeper green evergreens and the blue-green background of the mountains is enough to take your breath away. I attempted to take some photos of the gorgeous valleys we passed but they, unfortunately, turned out blurry. It seems that towing a trailer does not afford you the opportunities to just “pull over” for a photo op the way driving an unencumbered truck does. We did make a stop at a lovely rest area close to Weed, CA and I was able to get a couple photos of Mt. Shasta as well as the vista looking west. At one point, Shasta’s base was surrounded by a halo of low-hanging clouds which made her appear to be floating in mid air, but by the time I got the picture the illusion was gone. Still, she is quite beautiful anyway.

An interesting aside. As we crossed the bridges that go over Lake Shasta we were shocked to see that the Lake is extremely low this year, and, in some places only a trickle of water is present.

Today we are hoping to reach Bakersfield. This means a longer day than yesterday but without the climbing through mountains perhaps we will make a little better time. I am hoping Chris will agree to take Hwy 99 instead of I-5 so we have more unique scenery and a few additional options when we decide to stop for the night.

OK, gang, I am off to take a quick shower and then we hit the road again. Until tomorrow…