We got up early today as we had the longest drive of the week to do and the one I had been least looking forward to of all the ones this week. We left Grant’s Pass by about 7.30, got back on the 5 and headed towards California. The drive today took us over four hours and almost the whole way we were climbing the mountain then going down the other side; at least it was Saturday and there wasn’t too much traffic on the road.
Just before crossing the border into California we crossed Siskiyou pass, which at 4,310 feet is the highest point on the I5 freeway; I tried to take a picture as proof but some silly trucker was parked in front of the sign. After the climb, which wasn’t all that bad really, we dropped down about 2,000 feet, entered into California and started the drive towards Shasta Lake. The lake, which is actually an artificial lake created by the construction of Shasta Dam, is California’s largest reservoir, and only Lake Tahoe and the Salton Sea are larger bodies of water in the state. We drove right over it and it was pretty impressive as it extended to both sides of us for what seemed like miles.

Mike: I wanted to stop off and see Bubba's place (we stopped there 2-1/2 years ago on our way to Canada) but Becc didn't think we could get our new larger rig in to the space! Oh, OK!

Lake Shasta

As well as having a beautiful lake here, Mount Shasta also dominates the skyline. At 14,179 feet it’s the 5th highest peak in California and it loomed over us as we drove along the freeway with clearly visible snow drifting down it’s sides.

Mount Shasta

After leaving Lake Shasta behind the next miles we easy, through Redding and into Red Bluff, where we easily found the park we are going to spend the next two nights at. We are staying at Durango Resorts here in Red Bluff and it actually feels and looks like a resort.  We were shown to our space, everything is paved, the grass is green, and all the utilities work perfectly, even the wi-fi is speedy. What more could we want, oh and it's right on the Sacramento River.

Durango RV resort

Xena waiting patiently to do some more work

Sacramento River

So now we are back in California for a few weeks. We had a good time up north, and especially enjoyed the coast of Oregon. The only disappointing thing over the past 7 weeks that we have spent in Oregon and Washington is that in all that time we only had rain one time, and that was for half an hour during the night. I was looking forward to seeing some of the wet stuff!

Mike: Can't prove it by me!