The Super8 Motel in Phoenix had a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall. Who’da ever thunk it. A flat-screen TV in a Super8 Motel. Wonders never cease. The bathtub didn’t drain and I’ve seen water fountains with more water pressure than the shower. But we managed to get ready and we left Phoenix at 10:45 – a full 15 minutes before we actually had to.
There were low clouds around the hilltops when we left the motel and the air temp was 69. Heavenly. The further south we got, the more haze was hanging in the SoOR air. The haze cleared when we got into NoCal, so the winds must have blown all the smoke from the fires northward into Oregon.
We stopped for lunch in Yreka. Want to know why? Good. I was going to tell you whether you wanted me to or not. My blog, my stories.
When Dear and I were first married and lived in Mecca (Springfield, MO for any non-A/G readers), he played for youth choirs at Central A/G and I worked at the Blue Goose (otherwise known as the Headquarters of the Assemblies of God) (genuflect, genuflect, hobaba). One of the families we knew via teens in the youth choir and mom who worked at the BG with me had named their daughter Yreka, after the NoCal town.
I told you I see significance in small things – so that’s why we stopped in Yreka for lunch. It’s pronounced “wy-reek-a” and it was a quaint little mining town that popped up during the CA gold rush. Or so they say. Yreka the town for Yreka the old friend. End of story.
Anyway, after a quick lunch we got back on The 5 and resumed our southerly drive toward Anderson. Along the way, we saw Mt. Shasta. There were also several fires burning to the west. We saw one of the planes that drops water onto fires and watched it make several runs to the water hole and then back to the largest of the fires in the area. We took several photos of Shasta, the Dam, the Lake and the fires.
Another interesting little town was Weed. We didn’t stop, but #3 saw the sign for Weed Central Community College and decided that he wants to go there. NOT, but we took a picture anyway.
There was a houseboat rental marina at Shasta Lake with really nice looking houseboats. That might be a fun thing to do sometime in the future. Live on a houseboat for a week. Hmmm, we’ll add it to our “Maybe” list. One of the houseboats had run aground. Kodak moment. Wonder if there’s an extra charge to extricate a houseboat from the shore.
We exited The 5 to check out Shasta Dam. #3 was reading the directional signs by the roadside and then saw that there were directions painted onto the roadway. He read it as Dam To. You know how they paint those signs to be read as you reach them rather than logically? Yeah. Who’s idea was that anyway? It’s very confusing. But we got there.
Shasta Dam was an interesting stop. It’s the second largest dam in the US – I assume the first one would be Hoover – but I didn’t get the chance to ask the dam tour guide because we missed the dam tour by about 10 minutes. Oh well. We’ve done dams before, as you know if you’ve been reading me for any length of time.
Dear and #3 did get their picture taken by a dam photographer who was shooting visitors for a future dam promo brochure. I was in the dam restroom at the time, so the dam photographer didn’t get my picture for the dam brochure.
On our side trip to the dam, I noticed some particular plants that had red branches. I asked a woman what they were and she said they were manzanita trees. I’ve never seen trees with red branches before, but they were really cool. Wonder if they’ll grow in TX?
After the dam, the drive to Anderson was uneventful. It was only about 20 miles, but I managed to get a few more rows done on one of the baby afghans I’m crocheting. #3 had programmed Maggs to take us to what Dear thought was the hotel. But when she declared, “You have arrived,” the only thing close by was a Dairy Queen. Not very subtle, #3, but effective. We all had a Blizzard.
Just behind the DQ was Sue’s Java Café. No DOOL Daniel, but I took a picture anyway.
We’re at the Baymont Inn and Suites in Anderson, CA, and it’s the 4th of July. We’re celebrating by watching the “Dirtiest Jobs” marathon on the Discovery Channel.
Happy Birthday, America!
ttfn
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