Last pictures of I-5 South & home 06-06-09

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I apologize for confusing some of you. I am home now and just going back through my pictures to bring you up to date. I left on Thursday, June 4, spent a night in SJB w/Mary, the next night at a motel in Redding, then a night at Holiday Inn Express in Yreka ( which was so comfortable and luxurious I'm going to find out what mattress brand they use) and finally another night with Mary and Joe before driving home on Monday, June 8. I didn't talk about my trip while I was gone because I wanted to be footloose and fancy free to go wherever my mood took me. That was the basic reason for taking such a whirlwind trip.

Such a common flower, a weed if you have to dig it out of your lawn, to make a lovely display along I-5 between Philomath and where the mountains start. I find it hard to believe that these grow naturally in such a perfect line along the pavement. They may be seeded, or they may be just wild - coming up wherever the wind blows their floating seeds. The area right along the pavement edge receives more water due to the runoff from the roadway, so things do grow more lush and last longer when the summer heat begins.

They make a colorful border.

This is the first place I could stop to photograph my first glimpse of Mt. Shasta on this trip. She was shrouded in clouds on the way up the day before. I have traveled by auto and train up and down Oregon/California enough that I feel a sort of possessiveness about her and somewhat resent it when she won't show her sculptured sides.

I stopped again in Weed for gas, latte and piddle. Shasta as a little hazy, but there was more snow that I expected. Some years there is almost no rock showing, even in August, but we all know how low the rain and snow has been the last few years.

Turning around I could see the clouds moving in from the southwest and covering the ridge of mountains to the west. Before I drove off these were completely covered and Shasta was wearing a cloud boa. (Love this red building in all the green, grey, blue, white.)

One thing that surprised me and I have never seen this before. Pastured in fields along the highway in both California and Oregon there were herds of goats! The only thing I can thing of is there is so much more goat cheese and goat milk available commercially. This backyard grouping of chickens, goats and burro was next to a Rest Stop. Unfortunately, the burro has his head now behind the white goat, but I couldn't wait any longer for them to line up and say "Cheese!" If you recognize the tree - yes, this property and the Rest Stop are located in what was surely an olive orchard. The trees line up perfectly.

After I left Mary's on Monday morning I scouted around her area for some fresh local cherries which are in season now. But it was too early for the roadside stands to be open. I had to drive past I-5 to Dos Palos on Hwy 152 before I found an open stand - but the cherries were worth it. Almost like eating them right off the tree.