Friday Feet 08-07-15

In my old lady shoes in Dunsmuir, CA, on Sep 9, 2011

I wonder who mended the sidewalk crack and when moved them to add the little tiles.



From Dunsmuir to San Juan Bautista 05-13-15

When you drive south down the mountains from Dunsmuir the next "sight to see" is Shasta Lake, which is a reservoir that helps supply water to the great central valley.  After Red Bluff the land becomes flatter and drier and I-5 seems to stretch endlessly.  It was a little over nine hours and 420 miles from Yreka to San Juan Bautista - but I had a  break of about an hour at Dunsmuir, plus a gas stop and a stop at a rest area along the way. 

 

Shasta Lake is very low from the drought conditions This is the I-5 bridge.

Once down in the valley the highway divider strip is planted with oleanders of every color.  Some have grown huge over the years, like this white one.

Other places the pinks and reds are predominant.  They at least provide something green to look at in the brown landscape.

South of Williams the rice fields begin.  When I drove north several weeks ago the fields had not yet been flooded and I wondered if there was a lack of water to start the crop.

But they seemed to all be filled on my way home. 

These are just north of Sacramento.....

....where the road goes up a long man made grade...

...and passes over the Sacramento River -  quite a bit larger than it was in Dunsmuir.

 

Sacramento is the capitol city of California, but the capitol building is drowned by the tall "sky scrapers" of the downtown.

It is always amazing to see a city after all the miles of mountains and flat farm country.

Between Sacramento and Stockton I saw this huge field of wild mustard, more than I had seen, or would see, on the entire trip.

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Southwest of Stockton there are just rolling hills and lonely farms and flat fields and cattle ranches.  I'm sure this place was built before the Interstate, surely nobody would build this close to all the traffic going continuously by.  This stretch of I-5 was built in the late 1960s.

Turning onto Hwy 156 the road goes through rolling hills and over the top into the valley that is the center of "row crops".  Lettuce, spinach, mixed greens, cauliflower, broccoli, and on and on.

The fire breaks are kept cleared all year round.  Good thing as this is the area where I saw the grass fire on my way home to Placentia.

Heading west on Hwy 156 there is a fog bank hanging over the coastal mountains - means that Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel are experiencing fog and cool weather.  When it is hottest in the inland valley it is foggiest along the coast. 

 

It was a great trip - almost 3000 miles and only one night of rain in Washington.  I do need to take three nights on the road, driving it all in three days is too hard on this old gal.

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Dunsmuir City Park, CA 05-12-15

Whenever I drive north or south up I-5 I try to stop in Dunsmuir, a place of pleasant memories and a lovely walk along the Upper Sacramento River.  Down stream of Mt. Shasta the water is cold and clear.   It has been 20 years or more since a disastrous train wreck that dumped thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the river, impacting the ecology and the economy of the area.  Now the fishing is great and other wildlife has returned to "normal" levels.  The town originated as a railroad stop with a roundhouse and repair shops for the Southern Pacific after the trains crossed the mountains to the north, so there are remnants of that early life in this town sort of stuck on the side of a hill.  The slogan for the town has always been "The best water in the world."  with a fountain on the main drag with spigots to access this sparkling clean water.  The fountain was once located next to the train depot, which has long been torn down, but moved up the hill to the present location in the (I believe) 1980s.  There are some shops located at the bottom of the hill across from the old roundhouse and I sometimes stop at Brown Trout, which has changed owners and inventory over the years.  This time I only stopped at the city park along the river which is restorative and provides a bit of walking exercise after hours in the car.  There is a nice playground for children.  I am posting a lot of images so you can have a feeling of taking the trail along the river.

 

Exit I-5 at the northern exit and go south along the frontage road until you see the City Park sign on your right (west).   The road in isn't very well marked, but it is short - just bear to your right at the intersections.

They currently have this lovely scabiosa growing under the sign.

Here is the car parked in the small lot across from the playground.

One thing about traveling alone is that there are never any pictures to prove one was there!  I sometimes use the timer on my camera, but this time asked a couple ladies starting out on a walk with a lovely brown dog.  I appreciate their help, but didn't expect to have a tree growing out of my hat!

 

On the left middle of this image is a train engine, one of four pulling a long line of freight cars up the steep slope.  It was VERY noisy, but soon gone and the sound of birds and the rush of water could be heard again.

Along the way are plaques in tribute to individuals or organizations.

Large stones in the middle of the river create places for little flower gardens.

Setting out on the riverside trail to the south...

...and to the north.

Someone has placed an origami dragon on the top of this plaque.

New leaves on an emerging white oak tree.

The last of the dogwood blossoms.  Unfortunately the Dogwood Daze celebration isn't until May 23.  It is hard to arrange things correctly with Mother Nature.

New dogwood leaves on the same tree.

 

It is a great place to stop and get close to Nature and just relax a bit before hitting I-5 again - going north or south.

 

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Friday Feet 09-09-11

Dunsmuir, CA  August 2011

Whenever I drive through northern California I try to make a stop in Dunsmuir.  As a child traveling by train from Portland to Los Angeles the stop at this forested mountain town with its fountain "The Best Water in the World" was the highlight of the trip.  The wonderful old wooden station was torn down years ago and replaced with a really ugly "box".   Most of the buildings are slowly crumbling as is the economy.  The old train yard and round house are knee high in weeds and the pavement is cracked and broken.  It is all very sad.  Someone patched this sidewalk across from the train yard and added a little color. 
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