Loomis CA to Phoenix OR

Today’s trip takes us from Loomis, CA to an end point in Phoenix, OR.  Another long day’s drive.  We are hoping for cooler weather, but our hopes are not to be.  We quickly reach the active Sacramento River that seems to be maintaining a normal water level.  Storm clouds off to our west may assist with that and hopefully they will continue easterly to the forest fires behind us.  The fields and hills on either side of Interstate-5 are golden blonde, strikingly framed by the dark gray of the sky.

 The highway is busy.  We start the climb from the valley and ultimately see the first glimpses of Mt. Shasta.  Eventually the road curves along and over the reservoir near Mt. Shasta and we are pleased to see the water level is higher on its reddish banks than when we last passed over it on the highway here in 2009.  Several boats with their occupants enjoying the water pass across the water below us.  Still though the reservoir has plenty of room to add more reserves of precious water if the predicted heavier winter rains cooperate.  The area here at the reservoir and stretching northerly toward our clearer views of Mt. Shasta has always been one of my favorite sections of this highway in northern California.

Here Castle Crags State Park’s mountain reminds us of the granite-composed mountains we viewed around Mt. Whitney as we glimpse its multiple peaks from the highway.  Mt. Shasta has little snow compared to other times we have passed it providing an interesting opportunity to see its rock formations.  A second mountain to the north of Mt. Shasta bears no snow at all. 

 We spy another realistic looking metal sculpture of a cow with her calf, maneuver through some road construction, cross the Siskiyou Summit and wind up the day in a little town called Phoenix, OR happily stopped in an RV park just off I-5.  It continues to be warmer (in the 80’s) than we expected, but the air conditioning in the coach is able to keep up with it and we kick back and rest after a second day of long driving.