Day 81:
We didn't really intend to go this far today, it just happened. We got up early, had breakfast, got gas .... not like that, I mean we put fuel in the car, and turned right up the ramp to I-5 North. It was a foggy morning, cold, and a guy I talked to who was on his way south said that there was ice on the summit north of Yreka and to be careful. And it was certainly cold enough for that, and high enough.
The beautiful view of Mt. Shasta that teased us the evening before was lost in the fog, in fact we didn't even know which way to look. After about an hour the fog started to burn off and when we went through the high pass of Siskiyou Summit (4300 ft) between Yreka and Ashland Oregon, it was mostly clear and the frost was limited to the shady spots beside the road. From there right through Oregon and the evening drive north to Olympia we had clear skies. The vegetation south of Redding Ca was flat valley bottom, lots of grapes and other crops, and cattle. North of Redding we started up into the mountains and the vegetation changed to pines plus brown grasslands and meadows, no crops but lots of cattle. In the evening, driving into Weed, it was too dark to see much, which is why we quit for the night. More changes north of Weed this morning, real mountain country looking very much like BC near the rockies, and once in southern Oregon the countryside looked much like Penticton, Osooyos, and the BC interior. Very very pretty. We did catch sight of another dormant volcano, this time Mt. Hood. Jan renamed it Goat Mountain. Why not, she likes goats, I do too, and there's got to be some goats up there somewhere below the snow line. Oh, one further item of note, we passed the 10,000th 'Bear Creek' sign of our trip.
We are feeling the need to get back now and get on with the next phase of things. It is only a short phase, till the middle of January, but it is crucial to keep the business activities going during that time. Then we are gone again for six months. I suppose this is the best of all worlds, happy to go on the holiday, happy to be homeward bound, and happy to be off in January on the next adventure. Life is full, so we had to forego some of our plans like highway 101 and the coast road home. We'll have to get them on the next trip.
Tomorrow, some appointments in Seattle and then one more stop in northern Washington State. The next day and two days following we plan to be in Vancouver, with a full agenda of tasks for the cruise. Then hopefully home on the farm for Friday night.
