Klamath Falls, OR or bust...

Nope, not busted, just cringing from massive mosquito attacks. I haven't been surrounded by so many mosquitos since I left Indiana in 1970! We're cowering inside Big Mac, windows closed, A/C on. Nuff of that though. I have to tell you about our trip here from French Camp. We left at precisely 8:45 am and decided to try US 99, since we were so close. Road was full of 18-wheelers and pretty rough so we decided we should go back to I-5 and continue north on it. Good idea. Better road, actually less crowded.

We saw thousands of acres of rice fields, walnuts (or some kind of nut) and a whole lot of olive trees. Add in grazing cattle and enormous alfalfa and oat and wheat fields and you will be aware of the landscape. As we passed through Redding, we could see the promise of what was to come - foothills California style, golden brown speckled with green sagebrush. But... throw in what looked like pine trees and we're getting closer. Closer to the Mount! Shasta that is. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by green pine, and a brush with some white knuckle co-piloting. The co-pilot would be me. And the white knuckles would be mine. I didn't even take photos of Shasta Lake, a beautiful, enormous body of water... why? cuz the curvy downhill uphill road left me kinda nervous. My poor husband had to listen to me all the way. SLOW DOWN!!! DONT PASS SO CLOSE!!! YOU'RE TOO FAR TO THE RIGHT!!!

Finally, I calmed down and looked up and saw this HUGE TRIANGULAR SNOW COVERED SHAPE looming before me, tucked between other less significant ranges. Of course, it was Mt. Shasta herself. Wow. Beautiful. I did take photos. I'll share some here, but you really have to see it to appreciate it. The photos, taken through the front window of the RV, have a tint to them and of course, aren't too sharp. You'll have to remember that DH had the petal to the metal. We were moving on.

We proceeded down several 6% grades, white knuckle all the way, going through Shasta City, Dunsmuir, Weed, etc. until we hit the Butte Valley floor - a stunning high desert landscape filled with fields of wheat and some lucky bovines who got to live alongside.

As we neared the Oregon border, we passed the CA Inspection Station in Dorris, where all cars must stop and relinquish all plant materials. We'll have to eat up all the produce we brought with us from CA when we reenter on our return trip. How would we prove it was 'Made in Santa Ynez'? We thought of labeling all the tomatoes and nectarines, but forgot the label maker, so no go on that. LOL. Just kiddin'.

Anyway, Dorris looked like an old gold mining town nearing extinction. Not quite like Bodie, as 1000 people still live there, but you get the picture. Very interesting. It was nice to go through towns instead of roaring by them on the interstate. Local color and all.

As we approached Klamath Falls, we could see canals full of water on both sides of the road. Water for all the farmers to access. We expect to drive around (read ON THE EDGE) of Klamath Lake tomorrow morning when we head for our destination in Bend. Talk about white knuckle. My good friend Peggy suggested I close my eyes through that portion! Oh no!!!!! Deep breath.

Here's a few photos from the past two days... they don't do justice to the places we drove through, but they suffice as a memory or two.

See ya tomorrow.
Bonnie Jerry Leslie Lucy