South bound and down...CA here we come!

Monday - departing Eugene
Well, the oil exchange issue only set our planned departure from Eugene back a couple of hours, but it seemed really late when we pulled into our destination: the Elks Club in Redding. 'Could be that we aren't used to traveling 300 miles in one day!

Redding Elks Club

Due to the late departure we arrived much later than our preferred 2 P.M., so instead of cooking we took advantage of their Monday night football get-together and had a hot turkey sandwich and a couple of brews. 'Nice way to relax after a day on the road, and meet a few folks tool.

The Elks' here in Redding in a really nice facility. They have a pool, shuffleboard, a nice club room and lodge meeting spaces, and the location couldn't be better. Backed right up to the Sacramento River there is easy access to the bike/walking path that runs along the river side. It's a really nice walk, and an excellent change from sitting in a truck all day.

Molly and I took two walks along the path and I must pronounce Redding as the friendliest town in California. Almost everyone said "good morning", waved or nodded, and stopped to let all the dogs get acquainted. What a pleasant experience!

Bridges are a big thing here - no surprise since they have a large river to work around. On the river walk I discovered a couple more bridges of interest. The newer Lake Redding bridge, the background bridge in the photo, was built in 1997 and instead of tearing down the old historic Diestelhorst bridge, the one in the foreground, they preserved it for pedestrian use. A rather practical solution!

People we talked to during dinner told us about the Sundial bridge, which is beautifully illuminated at night, and functions as a working sundial during the day. We unfortunately didn't have time to visit it on this trip, so it's on the list of to-do's for the next trip through this area.

Tuesday
Leaving Redding and inching our way toward southern California our next planned stop was San Luis Reservoir, near Santa Nella. There are several campgrounds in the recreation area, but as the temperature was still in the 90's we opted for San Luis Creek campground, the only one that had hookups, so we could use the AC. The website Steve had located earlier listed a fee of $20, when I checked another site on the road I couldn't find a price, but did find a description of the campground stating that several sites would accommodate up to a 35 ft. vehicle. Imagine our surprise when we checked in at the gate and were told the fee was $40! We knew California fees were high, but weren't quite braced for that.

It was late in the day, so we decided we'd take it.... then proceeded to locate a site. I don't know what their idea of 35 feet is, but it's a lot smaller than ours. The spaces were very oddly laid out too, with two RV sites squished in together and the tables and fire rings at the back of the rig, instead of at the side. It would work well if you were camping with friends, but is rather strange otherwise, allowing for little or no privacy. It's only a guess, but maybe the layout and the $40 a night fee have something to do with the fact that, aside from the host, only one site was occupied.

We got a refund on the $40 campground fee and went back to the Santa Nella RV park, right near I-5. $29 bucks a night, full hook-ups, not crowded. All's well that ends well I guess, and now we know why no one on the RV discussion boards has been raving about the San Luis Reservoir as a great place to stop!

Wednesday
Still hot - and we hate to be sissies, but after a long drive one likes to relax and be comfortable.  Our original intent was to stop at Pyramid Lake RV park. We got an early start so thought we would get there early and enjoy the evening. Then, heading down the highway, I checked the rates page on their website.
$39 a night, . . . OK, it's southern CA, what else can you expect? AND there's a $10 early check in fee if you arrive before 3 P.M. I've never heard of such a thing!! - so on general principles we kicked that park to the curb and decided to just go all the way in to our destination, Seal Beach.

We'd stop at the next rest stop along I-5 and have lunch, we said to ourselves.... except.... the next rest top is CLOSED - NEXT REST STOP 200 MILES  (I'm not making that up!) That's alright. I didn't want to stop here anyway. The air is so thick with smog you can cut it with a knife, and I have an aversion to breathing air I can't see through.

2:30 P.M. -  After a mere 3 hours of kidney pounding travel on I-5 and a few hair-raising near-misses as the auto jockeys dash from one lane to the other, I can report our safe arrival in Seal Beach.

Additional reports when my nerves recover.