Road trip diary

Observations from the road...

Here is my first installment of notes from my trip.

I like driving. I like it alot. The first 'day' started at 10 a.m. in Temecula and ended somewhere north of Willows on I-5. It continued with a quiet drive north where I greeted the dawn near Redding. From all I see there is something special about this country. ...

After dawn I did my first exploring. I have driven by Castle Crags many times but this time I stopped. I'm a photographer so I wanted the best shot. The ranger directed me to the vista point high above the park. I drove a long winding one lane road up to near the top of the hill to a parking lot. I was the only one there. I then hiked 1/4 mile to a vista point overlooking the peaks that gave this park its name. The view was worth the effort, but the hike was the best part. A good trail, gentle slope (even my knee didn't complain much), and the quiet. It was a good way to start the day.

After that I explored the town of Dunsmuir. This is a place I will go back to. Great architecture, vibrant colors, rich history. Worth a stop if passing by on I-5.

I went on to Shasta. I have always wanted to see how high up the peak I could go, so after breakfast, I drove up the road to an area above timberline, where the blacktop ends. There is a plateau, a bit of the peak formed when it last erupted, that has the same feel as one has when viewing an infinity pool. On this flat area people have done things with rocks. There are lots of rocks making up monuments, prayer circles, and just stacked. The views are awesome. The peak looms above you and while there were no visible signs of volcanic activity you had this feeling the mountain is still alive. It is a young volcano. Something may happen in my lifetime.

I visited with my niece and her husband. They have their own business in Shasta and live near the base of the mountain. Shasta dominates their backyard. They are doing well, although struggling in this economy. They will be fine. One discussion we had was the lack of interest of young people in learning a trade, There is a lack of young people wanting to learn to be plumbers, carpet layers, carpenters, etc. They said they advertised to find a worker and got no response.

I spent the night on Medford Oregon and spent the next day traveling.

I stopped in Bend to visit a bike shop I was aware of, using the naviigation on my phone to find the place. Technology is nice. It was a nice shop, very neat, some good ideas I'll keep for future reference. I left there and drove north.

Eastern Oregon is semi arid. It is a big contrast to the green we see as Oregon. This are is more rocks and brown grasses. Small towns are abundant. It is also a big farming and ranching area. Large ranches and big farms. Not many trees. You can see how 'big farming' is killing off small towns as many looked virtually abandoned, in fact one town, Kent Oregon has the appearance of a ghost town with maybe two residences and many boarded up or abandoned buildings, many slowly collapsing as they decay. As things grow in scale, the one thing that dies is community.

Finally I reached the Columbia River. It is powerful. The Columbia Gorge at this point (Biggs Oregon) is more lava cliffs and brown hills. Trees are rare. The interstate follows on either side of the river. One observation was that Oregon does not want you to travel fast. The highest speed limit I saw was 65 mph, and enforcement is heavy. I will talk more about this later.

I traveled through more of Oregon heading for Idaho. I finally stopped after midnight in Boise Idaho near the airport. Most of what I had crossed was more mountains with long climbs and steep downgrades. One thing always near was the Snake River.

I followed the Snake River for most of the third day. I finally departed the river as I moved north on I-15 towards Montana. The day was marked by smoky skies. There are a lot of fires burning out west. I broke through the smoke as I approached Dubois Oregon.

Along the way I saw a buffalo herd galloping across the fields and talked to an opal miner. I stopped at a farmers market and enjoyed some ripe blackberries, I finally made it to Butte Montana and stayed at the Motel 6 there.

You can see more entries and get a better feel of my progress on Facebook although many posts are for friends only. If you want to see those just drop me a note and become my friend there.