June 8, 2022 - Fresno

 

Title: June 8, 2022 - Fresno

Hike Info : Description 

Hike Info:

Type:Car

 

 Description:

We got up pretty well rested. There is a pretty good hotel breakfast served. So we leave Redding at 8:45, satisfied. Sherri starts driving. After an hour, Sherri cannot pass up a Starbucks in Corning. She continues to drive until we are a little north of Woodland, here I take up driving.

My drive is short. We will cut across Sacramento to go to the REI store there. Why you might ask? Those boots I could not find in Salem, I will try to find here. I tried several boots on, but the boots in my size have limited availability. But I got a lead on where I could get my boots repaired.

 

Inside Gunthers

 

Once we wrap up there, it is only a block to get gas at Costco, but there is a long line. So the wait is a lot longer than the drive. But once we get fueled up, we go to a nice park, Woodlake Park, about half a mile away. There we have lunch. It is pretty pleasant because it has lots of trees to sit under. This is a good thing as the day is getting warm.

There is one more stop to make in Sacramento: the North Sacramento-Hagginwood Library. Why you might ask? Not because I have an overdue book from when I lived here 40+ years ago? No. Most libraries in the State will allow any California resident to obtain a library card. So Sherri and I filled in the application for one. The librarian has a curiosity question, why? Are we moving? Nope, we are collecting library cards. She gets a big smile and points to the other librarian. She has 22 library cards-much better than our five cards. But this goes to instant bonding. We talk for a little while and then we are asked where are we going to next? Back to Fresno, but first stopping at Leatherby’s for ice cream. They suggest Gunther’s. By now, you know, we are always interested in new and good places for this frozen delight.

Gunthers is right off of Highway 99, so it takes us about 20 minutes to drive there. We ordered a black and tan sundae. The sundae was OK as a sundae. But the ice cream was really good. So we will stop here again when we are in Sacramento. The librarians had recommended a half an half.

Time to get going again The only stop we made was at the rest stop in Turlock. We get home around 5:30. We order out for dinner and watch the Warriors game. A great way to come home. We even get on the Zoom call. By 10:30, I am in bed, content from a long and good trip.

June 7, 2022 - Redding

 

Title: June 7, 2022 - Redding
Hike Info : Description :  Extra Photo's : : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type:Car

Description:

Rest Stop Flower basket

Today we leave Salem. I am up before most of us-Lawrence being the exception once again. We have breakfast and then get everything packed. Evidently we will not make Fresno today as we leave Salem at 9:40. Sherri is driving. We need to stop close to 11 so that Sherri can take an online class at Kaiser. We stop at a Starbucks, close to Eugene where Sherri grabs a cup of coffee and a pastry. And then we wait and wait and wait.

After waiting about 20 minutes, we decided to go on. Sherri continues to drive. She gets a call and which explains the situation. It turns out that Kaiser forgot to send out an email with the link. We continue on for another hour when we spot a sign for the Canyonland rest stop. This is close to Seven Feather Casino, just south of Myrtle Creek. So we have lunch which Andrea made and use the facilities. Also Sherri is fascinated with the flowers hanging from the light poles.

We are heading to Medford for gas, but we have also talked about wanting to do some exploring on our travels along I-5. We had seen reference to some falls on the Rogue River close to a place called Gold Hill. And lo and behold, there is Gold Hill. So we turn off about 10 miles north of Medford. and head along the Rogue River. After a couple of miles, we see where the web site said to turn off and park.

There is a paved bike trail which we follow up the river for a short way before it ends. But there is a path which continues. We go up another couple hundred yards before we decide that the falls are not this way. Still it has been a good walk so far. Then we turn around, going beyond where we parked, There is a sign announcing we are at Ti'lomikh Falls. The walk is more impressive than the falls. It seems like these falls have a drop of two or three feet. Still it is a nice place to stop.

We take some back roads to Medford. This gives us a view of a mystery mountains. We still are not know what it's name is. The problem with going this way is that we seem to be approaching Costco through a maze of roads which are confusing our GPS’. But eventually we got there. It certainly feels good just giving the attendant our car and have them fill up the car.

One disadvantage of going down like we are is missing my cousin in Grants Pass and our friends in Roseburg. But we have been in communications with Bonnie and Dennis. They are returning from visiting one of their children, going up I-5. Looks like we can meet up just before Yreka at the Randolph Collier rest area. It certainly is good to visit with them. We talked for about half an hour before each of us needed to continue on our way.

We go only a short distance before stopping in Yreka at Carl’s Jr for a bite to each. After leaving, we made reservations at Travelodge in Redding. Evidently there is an event going on in Redding. We got the last room. We manage to come in around 7:30, tired and ready just to drop into bed.

Extra Photo's

Mystery Mountain

Rogue River

Rogue River close to falls

Gary

Sherri

 
Flowers and Plants

June 2, 2022 - Salem, OR

 

Title:  June 2, 2022 - Salem, OR
Hike Info : Description : Background 

Hike Info:

Type: Car
Start: Redding
Destination: Salem, OR
Car Mileage: 374  miles

Description:

At our hotel

I got up a bit before seven and did my normal stuff-lightning report and quiet time. Then I was debating about going for a short walk, decided to take a shower and read instead. Sherri gets up and takes her shower as well. Then a good, filling breakfast, served by the hotel. By 9:40, we are off.

 

 

 

 

Mt Shasta

The drive up is pretty uneventful. Shortly after crossing Lake Shasta, there is a vista point where Mt Shasta exhibits her glory-we stop. But we also stop about every hour and a half at rest stops, otherwise, just enjoy the Northern California scenery. Going into Oregon almost seems anti-climatic.

 

 

Mt Shasta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pizza place

When we reach Medford, we stop for gas, actually at Central Point. I think we could make Salem on this tank, but why? Following the GPS takes us on a bit more of a tourist route, enabling us to see some of Medford before arriving at Costco. Gas is about a dollar cheaper here than the last time we filled up. By this time, it is 1:00, so we stop at a pizza parlor-Kaleidoscope Pizzeria. If you want a visual, think of the Grateful Dead making pizza. We actually eat inside-since COVID times, we hardly ever eat inside. But we are placed in a booth which isolates us well. We feel relatively OK about it. The pizza is good and filling. For the record, we have a 10”, half a Jerry’s Italian and a half white pizza. Sherri adds in a Rogue Ranch Salad. We have plenty of pizza and salad left..

 

 

 

 

 For a good part of the journey, I am left to my thoughts-Sherri sleeps for an hour or more. So I am contemplating two segments I heard on Mars Hill Audio. They deal with beauty and love, separately. The dialogue on beauty was with a sculptor who noted that over time, the idea of creating beauty by artists has devolved into presenting reality. A separate scenario with a history teacher talks about how love and religion are no longer considered in much of the thought when talking about liberal plurality. This has me thinking of several questions, which I will concentrate on beauty:

• Where and in what do I see beauty?
• How do I recognize beauty? (Mars Hill Audio conversation talks about how art used to try to mimic beauty. Sometimes artists stopped pursuing beauty since like many human activities, rules were being formed about what beauty is and isn’t.)
• Where do we humans get the thoughts that beauty even exists?

I think a similar progression could be made for love as well. Good things to keep my mind on when driving.

Heading to Oregon

When we get into the Willamette Valley, the terrain changes from long curvy roads to a straight shot down I-5. We see fields of land which look like they will be fed for livestock. Then at 5:30 we enter Salem. After going around on a few streets-a lot more direct than in Medford, we end up in front of Andrea and Lawrence’s house.

Andrea is still at work, but Lawrence is there. We unload the car of their stuff. There is a combination of thoughts on my part-is that all? And I got a lot of stuff packed into the car. After getting everything out, I am ready to rest awhile.

The Warriors basketball game is today and Lawrence and Andrea have a new TV. While it is on ABC, their TV does not have a tuner. By this time Andrea has come home and we cannot figure out how to get the game on. After greeting us, Andrea works through the process and finally gets a free trial of YouTube Live. The things which a loving daughter will do for her old father. Unfortunately the Warriors decided to lose the game in the final quarter.

In the meantime, Lawrence bar-b-que’s some hamburger-very good tasting-to fill our inner needs. After the game and dinner, Andrea and Lawrence take us on a short walk in the neighborhood. Nice area. When we get back, we talk for a while and then off to bed, after all Lawrence needs to work tomorrow. Wonder what this thing, work, is?

Background
Kaleidoscope Pizzeria. Think of the Grateful Dead making pizza. That is the vibe which Kaleidoscope has. And before I go further, the pizza is good. Also filling. A 10” pizza and salad fed the two of us with a box to take with us. Not only that, each of the staff we came into contact with was over the top friendly and helpful. . And back to the Grateful Dead, take a look at the garden and the murals.

 

June 1, 2022 - Redding

 

Title: June 1, 2022 - Redding

 Hike Info : Description : Background 

Hike Info:

Type: Car
Start: Fresno
Destination: Redding
Car Mileage: 334 miles

Description:

Today is a driving day with time to meet a couple of friends. I got up around 6:30, and inquired about lightning from yesterday-none. Then went for a short walk before having breakfast. Sherri is up earlier than I expected, but is still getting packed. I was aiming for a loose 9:30 leave time and was ready about 9;30. We actually do leave about 10:50 for our first adventure to Oregon to see Andrea and Lawrence. Not sure how long we will be gone-between 7 and 9 days. I have a dentist appointment on the other end.

Sherri starts off the trip driving. This is a familiar trip with her. Our first stop will be to see our friends, Margaret and Joe in Turlock. We could not make it to Turlock for Margaret’s 70’s birthday because Sherri was still recovering from her surgery. In the meantime, Margaret has been hospitalized and got sent home recently. So there is added incentive to see them. We got there before 12:30, having brought lunch with us for them. We stay until 2:00pm with Sherri and Margaret catching up on life. The 2:00pm time to leave is the cue for Margaret to take her nap and for us to get on the road. Of course, I am missing my afternoon nap.

It is a bit hard to nap safely while I am driving. But Sherri manages to do that while we travel northward along 99. That is until we reach one of our favorite spots on earth, the Elk Grove Leatherby’s Ice Cream Parlor. We stop and order a peanut butter cup sundae between us, that is a peanut butter cream sundae with a brownie. Yummy. By this time it is after 4:00pm and we need to be on our way.

I cross over to I-5 and then just go up that. There are a few places where traffic slows down, but nothing really bad. It is clear sailing going up. We stop in Woodland for gas-should be the last time until we get Oregon gas, and its cheaper prices. Now the question is where do we stop? Sherri starts to look for places to stay around Redding, but they all seem a bit expensive.

We joined our Wednesday evening family Zoom call a bit late. Everybody is already on it. But we managed to get in. Fun driving along listening to the conversation. Rachel, who I think could get a job as a travel agent, helps us locate a hotel in Redding-the TraveLodge. About 30 minutes later, still on Zoom, we arrive and get into our room. Looks reasonable. We flop down on the bed and continue the conversation for another 15 minutes, before everyone signs off.

Now the question is, What to eat? In-N-Out sounds good, so we go there and grab a to-go meal and come back and eat in our room. We lay around for another hour and a half before calling it a night.

Background

TravelLodge-Redding. Reasonably priced, particularly when you look at the other establishments around there.. They only had one king sized bed left, a special needs room. So we took that one. The room was clean. How the hotel is situated, parking is surrounded by the hotel, so there is a feeling your vehicle will be secure. Our room was quiet and we were able to make it pretty dark. The next morning we had a very filling breakfast with choices of waffles, cereal, eggs, pastries and other items. The only negative to our stay was the mattress felt it had been well used, so the sides were significantly lower than the middle. But it was a good stay and we got a good night’s rest.

As a note: we liked our stay enough that a week later on our way back, we stopped in again. This time we got two queen beds. Everything was the same quality, except the mattresses on the queens were a lot more comfortable.