Saturday, November 16, 2013

In Red Bluff, Northern California

Today started out with rain and ended with sun!  Better yet, there was an increase of 20+ degrees of heat once we arrived in Red Bluff, CA.  Canyonville, Oregon, offered temperatures hovering around 45 degrees.  Here in Red Bluff, CA, temperatures hovered around 65+ degrees.  Nice change!  And that's why we (and so many others) head south for the winter months.
Last night at Seven Feathers RV Resort - moments before we left for the Beatles Revival band featuring "A Hard Day's Night". 
For Pacific Northwest RVers who are heading south before December 1st, we highly recommend taking in the 'Hard Day's Night' show at the Seven Feathers Casino Show Lounge.  It is a class act!  Although  only one hour in length, that band emulated The Beatles note for note.  There is a two drink minimum but a glass of wine and a coffee each did the trick. Non-drinkers can order a couple cups of tea or soft drinks and that will keep the serving staff happy.  It was well worth it to watch the talented musicians.

We Weber Q'd some chops for dinner....and they were Oh So Good.
We chose to walk to the casino but the shuttle van drove by - half way down the hill - and we did the 'thumbs out' hitch hiking hand signal and the driver stopped to pick us up.  Good thing too!  We would have been a tad late for the show.
Very early this morning....
I was up early this morning and, when Jeanette got mobile, we had some breakfast before closing up and rolling out of the Seven Feathers RV park by 8:30 am.
Soon to button up and heading out....
It rained most of last night, in southern Oregon.  The patter on the roof was comforting and we slept well.  It was wet, wet, wet this morning though.
We drove through several low lying clouds, on our way through the numerous high elevation climbs and downhills.  At one point, we drove straight into a cloud and, once out, it was bright sunshine.  Interesting weather.  No snow though!
The taxing six mile high climb to reach the top of the Siskiyou Summit went well.  There was little traffic.  The road was mainly bare and the views were, as always, awesome.
Although it seems we were surrounded by transport trucks, the Saturday drive saw far fewer trucks than on a normal weekday drive.

Approaching the California State Inspection Station.
Yep....the State of California has inspection stations to monitor whether the fruit or vegetables we have are illegal in the state or not.......!!!!! We slowed to a near stop when the inspector waved us on and shouted a "have a good weekend folks."  Hmmm....that was easy!  We did have some bananas, and several vegetables that we had purchased in Oregon....but our drive through was seamless.
Our rest stop at the very first rest stop in California.
We took a brief walk about at a very nice rest stop in northern California.  It felt good to walk around the place, following a bathroom break.
Before long, Mt. Shasta faced us and offered its full view - with a cloud cap - with bright, sunny skies in the background.  Gotta love the blue skies and sun.  And that's what our drive was like from there going forward into Red Bluff, CA.
A stunning surprise for us was some serious bridge construction happening over Lake Shasta on I-5.  One large body of water has been completely emptied.  Hard to fathom....but true!  The deep lake was completely dry.  We have never, ever, witnessed that before.  It looked ominous.....and surealistic!  Upper Lake Shasta's water level was low too.  What's with that?????
Islands are showing on upper Lake Shasta where they normally would not be seen - from I-5 - above.
We topped up our fuel tank a few miles north of Red Bluff.  That way we don't have to unhook and fuel up, or look for fuel, before we head due east on California Highway #36, from Red Bluff, through Susanville, and further east into Reno, Nevada.  We're opting to change things up this year and travel some different routes.  We'll overnight somewhere in Northern Nevada tomorrow (Sunday) night.  I have motorcycled through these Sierra Nevada highways and, about six years back, Jeanette and I drove through the Sierra Nevada mountains and into Reno. It will be nice to drive that road again. Although very windy and twisty, it will be different. We just watched the Weather reports on television and the weather is looking great for crossing the mountains into Nevada.  Good thing too......cause I washed our truck, fiver and motorcycle this afternoon.
Pulling into our RV spot at Durango RV Resort in Red Bluff, CA.
Jeanette and I arrived at another five star resort - Durango RV Resort - in Red Bluff, CA this Saturday afternoon.  To arrive nice and early affords me the time to seriously wash our rig.  We had lunch before I got to work.  Two hours later, I had cleaned all the grime off the truck, 5th wheel and the motorcycle.  We're bright and shiny once again.

Jeanette returning from the local discount food store.  While I busied with cleaning, Jeanette walked to the local discount food store to purchase some food stuffs she knew would be available here.  The prices are great....and she returned with a backpack and more full of stuff. We won't be starving, I assure you!!!!
I cleaned up, following the rig wash, and once Jeanette put her food stuff away, we left for a nice long walk around this most pleasant RV park.  Jeanette captured the photo above before we re-entered our 5th wheel to organize some dinner.  Nice full moon.....in the clear northern California skies tonight.
The heated pool looks inviting....but the heated spa is far more inviting....and that may well be where we will end up after dinner.
That covers things from here for now.  We are enjoying the drive....and we look forward to heading east and into Nevada tomorrow.

Thanks for dropping in.

8 comments:

  1. Another great day on the road for you! The Beatles are one of my favourites!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your photo of Mt. Shasta is beautiful.

    Glad you had a nice drive over the Siskiyous.

    Sure is a nice feeling to get that first blast of warm weather.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So glad to hear you didn't run into SNOW going over those high elevations. Been there - done that !!

    BTW, Just curious as to why you don't have the bike covered ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sassy,

    I covered the motorcycle two years ago and truly regretted that. The sand grit found its way under the cover and with wind gusting and flapping, our windshield was completely trashed. It got totally dulled out. Even the paint on the front fender and rear fender got dulled out from cloth rubbing with sand grit. So.....no cover for our motorcycles. I prefer to wash them when we cross into northern California. I learned my lesson.

    ReplyDelete
  5. the two of you are moving right along!!!! safe travels as you continue into Nevada!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like you are enjoying your travels south and the warmer weather sure makes it nice.

    ReplyDelete
  7. When we were hauling a motorcycle I asked Michael the same thing, "why not cover the bike"? and got the same answer you gave! Beautiful park, I used to have a great aunt who lived in Red Bluff--as a teenager, I found her wood burning cook stove fascinating.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like you are making great time. Safe and enjoyable travels!

    ReplyDelete