December 1, 2024 - Go to Fresno

 Title: December 1, 2024 - Go to Fresno

Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type: Car

Car Mileage: 713 Miles

Car Travel Time: 13½ hours

 

 Description:

Last night was the last night at Andrea and Lawrence's place. I do not think I have gotten used to the light in the northern latitude. I slept well, but woke up at 7:18-I was hoping to get up about 6:30 for a relaxing morning. Not that this morning was rushed.

Steven and I got most of the car packed by a quarter to eight, then we had breakfast. Mine was left over pancakes from yesterday. Then we got the rest of the stuff into the car. For having a lot less than we brought up, the back is still packed to the brim. But we have four people going back with us as well as the two dogs. Plus we have the third seat up.

We say our goodbyes, which when you have had a good visit, there is a bit of sadness in parting,a good deal of gladness in being there, and the profound hope that our next time together is soon.

Rachel starts us driving about 8:40. But we quickly stop at Bentley’s which at least Rachel prefers to Starbucks or Dutch Brothers. Then another short drive to Costco to fill up with gas. The $3.10 is a lot cheaper than California. By 9, Rachel has gotten us onto I-5 and we are on our way home.

One thing about traveling with Rachel is that it is not boring.She brings on the soundtrack of Wicked. Then sings along with it-the singing non-Uber driver. She drives about two hours when we get to the Cabin Creek rest stop.

Steven takes over driving. The road is a bit more mountain-ish. But so far no ice on the road. We hit some fog or maybe clouds. This is a lot better than I feared. Maybe a combination of leaving a bit later along with conditions having improved.

Steven drove to Medford to get gas at Costco and then I took over driving. My destination is Yaks in Dunsmuir. This is about an hour and a half drive. This goes over some of the more hilly parts of our route, even though both Rachel and Steven would say they also drove through the mountains of Oregon. On my drive, we got into California. Not much really happens. Some of that is because there is a cloud cover which blocks the views, particularly of Mt Shasta. There is one place where the clouds part and we get a glorious view of Shasta.

It seems like Yaks has become a sought-after place for us. It is a burger place where the burgers almost exceed the size of one’s mouth. And you get a load of fries. If you order garlic fries, you may not be able to go on a date for a week because there is that much garlic on them. Steven ordered the Smiley Riley, Rachel the VA VA Voom, and Sherri and I had a couple sliders of an Arnold Alfa. All brought smiles to our faces.

We get on the road again about 3:30 with Rachel driving. The first part of her drive is the last of the mountains. The highway slopes down with some pretty decent turns before crossing Lake Shasta. Shortly afterwards, the road enters the Valley and goes more level, even though there are some curves. She drives until we reach the Dunningon Rest Area.

There we change drivers with me taking over. I go through Sacramento and on to Elk Grove. There we cut over to Costco where we fill up with gas and then are on. My drive is uneventful. I take us to the Turlock Rest Stop.

There Steven takes over and drives us home.We get there at 9:30, a bit tired. But all in one day, about 13 hours of driving.It takes us a half an hour to unload the car-not that we got things cleaned up. I am in bed by 10:30 and ready for sleep.

November 26, 2024 - Go to Medford

 

Title: November 26, 2024 - Go to Medford

Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type: Car

Car Mileage: 489 Miles
Car Travel Time: 10 hours 

 

 

Description:

I woke up around when I wanted to get up: 6:10. This will be a long day as we are aiming to go to Medford today. At least I have reserved a hotel room there. We had planned on going the day before, but with the storms which went through, I was concerned about snow and ice on the road.

I had my breakfast, then finished getting the car packed. It is stuffed. I thought we said after the last two times of going to Andrea’s that that was the last of the car being stuffed. Sherri said this was the last time.

We left at 8:45 with Steven driving. Korra and Friday, the dogs, are with us. They both travel well. Friday is with us because Rachel will be flying into Portland Wednesday night. The trip is uneventful with Steven driving. Sherri takes over driving when we reach Livingston where she gets a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Sherri drives to Costco in Elk Grove. Then I took over driving to Leatherby’s.

We get there about 11:50, a ten minute drive from Costco. Here we have lunch. We decided to take advantage of their Two for Tuesday’s special. Sherri and I share a chicken pesto sandwich while Steven has a four piece chicken strip. While the sandwiches and fries are good, it is the sundaes which are the main attractions. Steven gets a sundae and Sherri and I share a sundae-a good size one. Two scoops of ice cream-chocolate chips and cookies and cream, along with two syrups-peanut butter and fudge. This will fill me up for today.

I drive past Sacramento to just north of Red Bluff. Both Sherri and Steven slept for part of the way.I have been trying to break up the driving into two hour segments for each driver. Even though I felt good enough to drive further, it is time to break it up.

Steven drives past Redding and into the mountains north of Lake Shasta. We noticed the snow on the mountain sides. I think I see Mt Lassen-not sure. But Mt Shasta is very evident and very covered with a coat of white. Christmas card material-unfortunately the pictures from a moving car did not come out great.

At the Collier rest stop, I take over driving. I do not think this is my driving, but I think I ticked off one trucker. I was passing him, not quickly, but moving past him. He wanted to move over. Once I passed him, he moved in right behind me and honked and flashed his lights. There was a truck right beside me, so I have nowhere else to go, so I kept driving at my speed and moved over when I passed the truck. The truck behind me took off . By the way, I was going 65.

We get to Medford, actually Central Point, a bit before 7pm. We quickly checked into the La Quinta hotel and moved our stuff in. It is a pet friendly hotel and we bring in Korra and Friday. Once settled in, it is time for dinner. When in Medford, it means Kaleidoscope Pizza. So we left Korra and Friday in the room and got our eats. They have a 10” special which sounded good. So we ordered that for the three of us and a salad. All around content.

Then off to get gas at Costco before heading back to the hotel by about 8:30. Apparently the hotel has been trying to reach me because Friday has been barking all the time we have been out. I guess now we know that we need to take the dogs with us. The rest of the night we read and did stuff. By 10, it is lights out.

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.

 

Place: CA-Shasta

Mt Shasta-14,117' (Mount Shasta)   
(41.4093201, -122.1950090)

From Up and Down California by William Brewer

Description:
The valley ran nearly straight toward Mount Shasta, and at times we got most glorious views of that peak. Its snow-covered head rose magnificently far above everything else—with what wonder and awe we regarded it, the goal of our trip! The many stories we heard of the terrors of ascending it—many declaring that no man ever had succeeded in reaching the highest summit, although many had nearly succeeded—were fiction, as we shall see farther on.  From Up and Down California: The Journal of William H. Brewer, 1860-1864, Book III, Chpt 4

2. In a note contributed to The American Journal of Science and Arts (2d series, Vol. XXXVI, No. 106 [July, 1863], 123), Whitney says: “A careful and elaborate series of barometrical observations by the State Geological Corps of California, made in September, 1862, has fixed the elevation of Mt. Shasta at 14,440 feet. Previous to this the height of Shasta had been variously estimated at from 13,905 to 18,000 feet. The number 13,905 was the result of a barometrical observation made by Mr. W. S. Moses, August 20, 1861; 18,000 feet was the height as estimated by the Pacific Rail Road expedition, under Lieut. Williamson [Lieut. H. L. Abbot in Pacific Railroad Reports, Vol. VI, Pt. I, 36]; Frémont’s estimate was 15,000 feet [ Geographical Memoir Upon Upper California (1848), p. 25], which is much nearer the truth than Williamson’s. It is a very curious fact,  that the height of Mt. Shasta, as given by the author of Colton’s Atlas and author of the article on California in the New American Cyclopaedia is 14,390 feet, which is a very close approximation. Where these figures were obtained, I have been unable to ascertain. [Footnote: “Wilkes says ‘it is said to be 14,350 feet; but Lieut. Emmons thinks it is not so high.’”] It is pretty certain that they were not the result of any actual measurement, as it is known that Mr. Moses was the first person to ascend the mountain with a barometer.” An account of the ascent of Mr. Moses and party, from the journal of Richard G. Stanwood, one of the members, is published in the California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. VI, No. 1 (March, 1927).

3. The first ascent appears to have been made in 1854. Between that date and 1862 a considerable number of people had been to the summit. Several ladies accomplished the feat in 1856 (San Francisco Bulletin, September 23, 1856).

6. The route described is, throughout, the one followed by a majority of climbers today.

7. Recalling his experiences on Mount Shasta in addressing the members of the Appalachian Mountain Club at its tenth anniversary, in Boston, March 5, 1886, Professor Brewer said: “When we got to the top we found people had been there before us. There was a liberal distribution of ‘California conglomerate,’ a mixture of tin cans and broken bottles, a newspaper, a Methodist hymn-book, a pack of cards, an empty bottle, and various other evidence of a bygone civilization” (Appalachia, Vol. IV, No. 4 [December, 1886], 368).  From Up and Down California: The Journal of William H. Brewer, 1860-1864, Footnotes, Book III, Chpt 5

October 9 we came on to Shasta Valley, over the pass on the east side of Shasta Peak. This pass is about six thousand feet high and very gradual. The views of the peak were the most sublime we have yet had. We were up to within two thousand feet of the lower edge of the snow, in the sparse timber and pure air of this height. The peak rose over seven thousand feet above us, a  very  sharp cone, against the intensely blue sky. At times light feathery clouds condensed and curled around the peak, but soon dissolved in the warmer air beyond.  
From Up and Down California by William Brewer, Book 4  Chapter 7


From GNIS:

• Designated a National Natural Landmark in 1976.
•  Other names:
• Bo-Lem-Poi'-Yok: 
  Bo-lem-poi'-yok *:
  I-eka: Gudde, Erwin G. California Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1949. p397
  Mont Saste *: Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Mont Saste' *:
  Mount Chasta: Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Mount Chasty: Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Mount Jackson: Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Mount Sastine: Salley, H.E. History of California Post Offices. 2nd ed. 1849-1900. Lake Grove, Oregon: The Depot, 1991. p143
  Mount Sastise: Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Mount Sasty: Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Mount Shaste: Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Mount Simpson: Zanger, Michael. Mt. Shasta: History, Legend and Lore. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts Publishing, 1992. p24
  Mount Tsashti: Zanger, Michael. Mt. Shasta: History, Legend and Lore. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts Publishing, 1992. p24
  Mount Tsashtl: Gudde, Erwin G. California Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1949. p327
  Pit Mountain: Zanger, Michael. Mt. Shasta: History, Legend and Lore. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts Publishing, 1992. p24
  Sasty Peak: Zanger, Michael. Mt. Shasta: History, Legend and Lore. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts Publishing, 1992. p24
  Shasta Butte:
  Shaste Peak : Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Shatasia : Salley, H.E. History of California Post Offices. 2nd ed. 1849-1900. Lake Grove, Oregon: The Depot, 1991. p143
  Snowy Butte: Zanger, Michael. Mt. Shasta: History, Legend and Lore. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts Publishing, 1992. p24
  Wi'ke * :
  Wy-E-Kah: Miscellaneous Sources - A brief description and the year of publication (if known) follow: 1969/CA Place Names/Gudde
  Wy-e-kah: Gudde, Erwin G. California Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1949. p327
   
  

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