We spent a month at Woodson Bridge for several reasons. We had access in nearby Chico to all the shopping we could want. After months along the Pacific coast it was a treat to visit a Costco again (love those "store d'oeuvres") and real grocery stores and all those tacky chain restaurants (sausage, egg and cheese Croissan'wiches - our favorite breakfast).
We were able to cat sit while Kate and Mike visited Georgia for a couple of weeks. Rolling Hills Casino was only a few miles away with a fantastic half-price buffet on Tuesdays and Thursdays (we hit that too many times!). Our exit, exit 630 on I-5, had a Speedco where I was finally able to get the oil changed in the coach.
Finally, Corning, CA (exit 631) was the olive capital of the world. It seemed like every direction we drove was through orchards of mature olive trees. We only managed to visit one olive oil tasting room but we learned quite a bit about harvesting and processing olives.
We had quite a string of rainy or cloudy days, but today's forecast showed promise, so we headed north to spend some time in the shadow of Mt. Shasta. It was more of a drive than I thought (just over 100 miles), but what a view! We learned at the visitor center that the clouds that often hover above the peak are called lenticular clouds. Sometimes they can stack in distinct layers and sometimes they stay in place for days at a time.
After a quick lunch in the small tourist town of Mt. Shasta we visited City Park where the headwaters of the Sacramento River flow from a large underground spring. We drove up the mountain - at least as far as it was plowed. We reached the 8,000-foot level before the road was closed. There was a large parking area where everyone seemed to be off-loading their snowmobiles. It looked like it could be a lot of fun as long as you stayed away from the wrong slope.
Consider this a close-up view of Mount Shasta.
Large clumps of snow would fall from the trees and roll down the steep hill building into larger snowballs as they traversed the slope.
The clouds started to thicken giving us some of that cloud drama we like so well. It didn't even matter that we never saw the peak of Mt. Shasta we had beautiful views in every direction.
The photos that follow are views from Mount Shasta at around 8000 feet up.
We were struck by the near perfect conical form of the trees along the roadside. You would almost think they were trimmed to their shape.
The view from Lake Siskiyou would have Mt. Shasta above and its reflection on the water if not for the thick cloud cover that blew in during our visit.
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