California! From Rocks to Trees

Mommy had 2 chances to get a pic of the California sign - good thing, too since she missed the first one!

We've made it!  From one coast to the other, in one piece and still smiling!  The drive yesterday was another long one - 11 hours.  But with new tires on the camper it was very smooooooooth.  It's been 1,500 miles since Daddy felt a smooth ride.

The kids opted to eat in the shade...

Mommy made some yummy sandwiches for lunch so once we hit California we stopped at a nice (but hot) little rest area nestled in amongst the pines.  Not at all sure why they couldn't have put these picnic tables under some of these pines for shade, but sitting there in 98 degrees wasn't ideal.

Our lunch rest area in California

A big Ponderosa Pine

Northern California is pretty dry

Snowy slopes on Mt. Shasta

The transition from Nevada to California went from dry and hot with no trees to dry and hot with trees. Northern California is pretty darn dry.  It was very odd, however, to be driving in 100 degree weather and see snow on the slopes of Mt. Shasta.  We hit two mountain passes - Siskiyou Pass which wasn't too bad.  The pass on I-5 was another story - gigantibeast handled it well but the attrition on the side of the road was nothing we'd ever seen.  On the southbound side we counted 6 tractor trailers and 3 camper rigs pulled over and overheating.  One camper rig's radiator must have burst since water was just pouring out from underneath.

Our adjusted route took us up into Oregon and then back into California from the north.  Our weather channel app was still telling us that the temperature at our destination, Crescent City, was 59 degrees.  30 miles from camp we were still at 97 degrees.  We wondered when it would get cooler so we checked the temperature every 5 miles and sure enough - as we descended into the Klamath National Forest the temperature dropped steadily, sometimes more than 5 degrees in 5 miles.  Getting out of the Suburban at camp was shocking.  And the drive at the southern end of Rt 199 (Redwood Hwy) was stunning.  It was tight with the camper and we got to see our first giant redwoods - one of which had to be notched so campers could fit around it.  I ran out of battery with the Go Pro yesterday, but we're about to head off in that direction to hike in Jedediah Smith State Park where we'll get to see some giant  redwoods up close!