Medford to Redding – 6 March 2022
We have at last entered California and what a way to be greeted. The most magnificent view of Mount Shasta which seemed to be floating in the distance on a cloud. Mount Shasta is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of 14,179 feet, it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth-highest in the state.
At this point, Minnie min has taken over the backseat of the car. As soon as we start off Jax is out for the count and once she is out of her carrier, she climbs up on the crate (with a bathmat thrown over it) we have set up next to the window and watches the world go by. Occasionally she will climb down and settle down on Jax’s bed next to him or go in and out of her carrier. But she is now owning it!
I spent most of the trip taking pictures of Mt Shasta out of the window. We stopped for a short break at a rest stop to stretch our legs and then continued on. The Redding RV resort was nothing to shout about but it was certainly was adequate for our needs. Derek made friends with our neighbour and his wife while working outside on the RV. Michael was German and Donna was American. Such nice people but unfortunately we only really got to connect the last day and then we left in opposite directions. Hopefully we will meet with them again somewhere. They have been RVing fulltime for the past 4 years and were able to provide Derek and I with lots of tips.
Redding is a great place to explore. We visited the McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, also known as the Redding Arboretum, which is located within Turtle Bay Exploration Park. It features gardens from all over the world – even South Africa with fynbos. I have never seen so many butterflies and birds! It also features a very unique Sundial bridge. The Sundial Bridge is a cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge for bicycles and pedestrians that spans the Sacramento River and forms a large sundial.
On the second day we drove up to see the Mount Shasta dam. Shasta Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam across the Sacramento River. At 602 feet high, it is the eighth-tallest dam in the United States. It was quite a sight to behold.
We also enjoyed several walks along the Sacramento river. These trails extend for miles and are full of people walking, biking, skating, skateboarding and segway-ing.
We wished that we had spent longer in Redding as there were several hikes we would have liked to have taken. Well – there is always next time.
