Thursday, March 7, 2013

From San Bruno, California To Grants Pass, Oregon

It was time to head further north and we were ready to NOT live out of our suitcases for a nice long while.


Scootard was getting really excited!


We headed across the San Mateo bridge driving into a big overcast sky.


The city of Oakland, Ca was already buzzing beneath us as we whizzed by.  Not that we got a really early start or anything.  So, I guess that's why! ha


I noticed that the hills seemed to be taking on that "velvet" look that I described in previous post at the beginning of this 6 month long adventure.  Some were still vacationing while others were on their way back home.


We weren't driving that long when the skies starting to look a bit ominous.....


It was cold outside and I hoped that the rain wouldn't last long as me and "cold-wet" are not friends....:-(.


It didn't last very long at all.  However, it was kinda off and on as we traveled onward to Oregon.  These are Cherry Blossom trees.  I didn't know that the trees actually got cherries on them!  I thought that was just a name given because of the pink blossoms......



It seemed that the further we went, the greener things got.....:-).



 I mean, you gotta love that!


And then it rained again.  It didn't last long, but the cold air was really coming off of those mountains.....
sheesh!!  Brrrrrrrrr!!


We thought this was a shot of the Sacramento River.  Turns out it was Lake Shasta.



Seeing all of these mountains was a stark contrast to the desert that we had driven so many mile through...(twice).


And a little while after we came through the rain, we came upon this!  I had NEVER seen a rainbow that big and clear in my life!  I was in such awe that I almost missed the picture.  I tried to get the camera to focus better, but after all, it is just  point and shoot.....:-(.  We were just North of Mount Shasta when we saw it.



a few miles later the skies cleared up and this is what we saw......:-).  Nice - eh?


I almost missed this shot, but these rocks are called Castle Crags. When you are coming up on them they are huge!  But the road side is sprinkled with evergreen trees and it was had to get the camera and get it focused without almost missing the entire shot.  I only managed to get the tips of them though....:-(
 

We didn't know if this was Mount Shasta or Black Butte at the time, but Chris found it on the map and confirmed it to be Black Butte.


We stopped in the town of Mount Shasta to get some gas and use the rest room.  It was WINTER in Mount Shasta!


We were not sure of this one either, but we think it is South Oregon Butte...How in  the world did it get that flat on top?  Looks like a bad hair cut on a Marine! haha

You know you have made it to the Pacific North West when you see truck loads of coffee going down the highway...haha


Several hours later, we finally made it to Grants Pass, Oregon where we found something to eat for dinner and stretched a bit.


Because it was late, we eat light as neither of us wanted to entertain the possibility of "gut bomb" from eating too heavy, too late in the evening.


Getting to the hotel came none too soon as it had been a long day and were tired.  But we had made the first leg of the trip home.....:-)


It was time for a good night's sleep before doing it again the next day.

Stay tuned!