Day 2: Redding to Benicia: 190 miles, 3 hours

Went out to dinner last night with everyone and discovered that the Redding name for "artic blast" is "Alberta Express."  So far we are keeping ahead of it.  Last look at Bend temperature was 5 degrees.  Burrrr.

This morning as we were looking out at the view of the river, J pointed out several hospitals and told me the story of when her daughter was born in one of them.  Her husband was out of work because his union was on strike when she went into labor.  They went to the hospital and she had the baby, but couldn't pay the bill.  The hospital told her that she couldn't take the baby home until the bill was paid!  The union had to take up a collection so they could get their baby home.  This must have been in the early 50's.  I hope times have changed. Would Obama Care cover this??

T and I decided to take a walk along the river to the Sundial Bridge.  On the way we saw an eagle nest with a pair of eagles busily working.  We passed a photographer with a very long lense (about 2 feet) pointed at the nest.  She told us that the pair were preparing for eggs that would be laid in a couple of weeks.  Futher on the trail we passed a stand with a telescope pointed at the nest from the back.  They were still there busy at work.

We made it to the Sundail Bridge named because of the tall white support sticking well into the sky that supports the bridge as well as tells the correct time (on June 21) with its shadow.

On the way back we noticed a fire on a nearby mountain.  T said it looked like a "controlled fire" that escaped.  By the time we got back it was growing in size and spewing a blanket of smoke over the mountain top.

We left at 11:51 and got back on I-5, but did not escape fires.  We ran into multiple grass fires along the freeway (looked like controlled field burning) that grayed the sky.  We smelled smoke all the way to the junction with I-505.  The fields were brown and mostly barren all the way.  More drought evidence.

The first green we saw was the reststop right before the junction.  The grass was green and trees in full bloom. Then a little green along the highway, then brown again by the time we got to Vacaville.

We got to R's house around 3pm.  It was cloudy, but warm.  All the trees in the neighborhood were in full bloom.  R said this was another result of the drought. Her lemon tree was full of wonderful Mayer lemons and it was 60 degrees. 

We are busy plotting the rest of our trip.  Tomorrow we have a long drive to southern California.