bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday- We went to downtown town arriving around 9:40. We parked at a meter for $5.50 for 2 hours. We walked over to the Capitol building. Below is the side of the building.

Below is the front. The entrance was on the “N” street side on the weekend.

We had to go through a security screening. Of course, my bionic knees set off the machine, so I had to stand with my arms raised to the side while the gal ‘wanded’ me. We asked the guards where to go for the 10 AM tour. He sent us to the statue of Columbus in the rotunda on the first floor. On the way we saw this interesting floor covering. This is actually made of mesh tiles.

We walked past the 1906 Governor’s offices. Below is his secretary’s office.

The next office to the right was a larger meeting room where the Governor met with folks.

Turning the corner was the actual Governor’s Office. The table is a dining room table that he used as a desk.

Not in the picture, to the left was an ice box where the Governor kept his beer!

The next room to the right, was a history of California room. They followed the history through the dawning of the automobiles and their impact on California society.

We moved along past the Secretary of State’s office, then the Attorney General’s office. We finally reached the statue of Columbus.

In the statue, carved in the 1800’s, of one solid piece of marble which weighs 9 tons, Columbus is asking the Queen of Spain to sponsor his trip across the Atlantic. The queen is holding her pearl necklace to demonstrate that she will pay for the trip. The statue was donated by a rich Californian who was thanking the state for his making his money.

The gal who was in the lobby to direct us, told us about the statue and sent us all, about 10 of us by now, downstairs to the Tour Office. Okay, now we were late for the 10 AM tour only because the gal kept us telling us info we would discover on the tour.

We arrived at the tour office, were counted and sent to the gift shop where the tour, with only one lady, was already in progress. Obviously, they did not have their act together!

Our tour guide, Dick, was excellent. We met up with Dick at the statue of Ronald Reagan in the area under the rotunda.

Here is Dick pointing out the original Capitol building.

The first capital of of California was in a small town elsewhere. Sacramento at this time was a larger city with lots of hotels and restaurants. The businessmen bought the land and donated it to the legislature, if they would move the capital to Sacramento. So that is what they did. Below are the light fixtures.

Originally all of these were gas. There was a guy who would arrive at 4 AM and he would light all of these. He would barely get them all lit when the employees arrived, so they were converted to electric as soon as possible. Below is the spectacularly designed ceiling.

Now we walked back up the 40 steps to the first floor. Below is looking up into the rotunda.

Here is one of the ornate doors. These are original.

Below is the Great Seal of California. It, and bears where everywhere!

Along with the American Eagle.

Below is the Assembly room. The picture in the center is of Abraham Lincoln. Since the state is so large, and so densely populated in some areas and less populated in other areas, the Assembly districts are designated by population, not by counties.

Here an example of  the Assembly room ceiling.

We moved to the other end of the building to the Senate.

The picture in this room is of George Washington.  The story of the state is that it had its governmental structure, based on the English system, as is our national government. Because they were already set up to go when they requested to join the US, they did not have to wait, like most states, by becoming at territory first. They were admitted as the 35th state. Below is the ceiling in the Senate. The entire room was pink and red.

We returned to the picture gallery. Below is the official portrait of Arnie.

Here is Gerry Brown. This is the picture from his 1st time as Governor. There is no  picture from his current tenure, yet.

Here is Ronald Reagan.

We walked back down the steps from the 3rd floor.

We walked thru the rotunda and down to the current Governors office. In front of the office is the ‘”bacteria bear”. That is what the staff call the bear as kids love to pet it!

The office is on the first floor. The bear was donated by Arnold Schwarzenegger, using his own money.  We walked back out thru security. We still had some time on the meter, so we walked over to the Cathedral  of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Church was originally built in 1886 a block away from the Legislature. It was renovated in 1946.

There was an interesting Baptismal Font, it had a small water pond behind it.

The two chairs in the front of the church were for a wedding. The bridal party was just arriving, so I ran through the church, leaving just as the ushers were entering the church.

We left and went to the Gold Bridge. In 2002, the residents in the area voted on the color of the bridge, choosing the gold. This is a vertical lift bridge over the Sacramento river with the Capitol building in the background.

We crossed the bridge and went to Old Town Sacramento. This area was much larger than we though it would be. Most old town areas are smaller. It was 4 blocks long and 2 blocks deep.

The buildings were all labeled with their original names/uses, but now there are shops and restaurants in each of the buildings. There was  ‘boardwalk’ side walk along the streets.

Below is the Firehouse, which is now a restaurant.

We walked the length and then the width of the town. We stopped for lunch at a hamburger restaurant and both had excellent burgers. Bob had a nice beer.

We stopped for ‘dessert’ at Rocky Mountain Chocolate. They had these cool signs.

We returned to the MH. Roxie was licking her paw, the same one that she had the issue with about 3 weeks ago. She was licking the same spot. There was also a hard knot under the fur. We think that when she was groomed last Saturday, that they might have accidently shaved the scab off and started another infection.

So I started calling trying to get a reasonable Vet appointment. VCA, where we took her the previous time, in southern California, wanted $149 just to walk in the door! I started calling the Banfield’s. Finally, I found one who would take us as a walk-in, at the usual price of $49 for an exam. Since she had been to one or two before, we got this price.

They said come in around 5 pm, and they would work us in. We drove over there through the horrible traffic. What was supposed to be a 23 minute drive, was almost 45 minutes due to traffic delays. The delays were not accidents, they were just heavy traffic. I think Sacramento area traffic is worse than LA traffic!

We arrived and had to wait a short time, then the Vet saw her. He did not think she had another foxtail, but he put her on antibiotics. So total, the price was a more reasonable $69, including the medication.

There was a Buca de Beppo about 1 mile away, on the way home, so we ordered carry out. It was almost 6:45 by now. So we stopped in and picked up the order. Bob had a $25 off offer, so that was really nice! We returned home.

Sunday- Because of the horrible traffic, we decided to leave today. So did our neighbors! We went to breakfast at the lodge at 8:30. This was the only meal that they were offering that we were interested in eating. They had Chicken fried steak one night and pub food another night.

They were not ready at 8:30, as this was the first time that they had done this breakfast. They had a nice buffet and a waffle bar. We both had the buffet and were done by 9AM. I stopped at the office to return the key to the electric box and get our refund of $25. Bob returned to the MH to work on disconnecting our utilities. We were mostly ready to go.

We drove out of the park at about 9:35, traveling on I-80 west to I- 5 north. Still lots of traffic, especially on I-5. We could not change our reservation at the Casino, so we went to the Elks Lodge in Red Bluff CA. We pulled in and set up. $18 for 30 a /w. It was very noisy, as it was located right next to I-5. We set up and ran around town, just taking a look. We stopped for gas, $3.49/gal.

Monday- We left around 10:30 and drove the 27 miles north to Redding CA. We turned off just south of there and drove to the Win-River Casino. The RV park was empty at 11:30, which was good. We pulled in and set up. One of the employees arrived with a golf cart and drove Bob over to the Casino to pay. $26 per night for 2 nights, FHU 50 amp..

We ran about 7 miles south to a sandwich shop. This had really high ratings on Yelp. It was located attached to an AM/PM gas station. The restaurant, BLSS- Best Little Sandwich Shop, lived up to the ratings. Excellent sandwiches

We stopped at the Post Office and dropped off a letter, then returned to the MH to relax. I needed a nap, as I did not sleep well the night before due to the noise. I was up at 4 AM. On the way back, we pulled over at the exit to take this picture of  the south side of Mt. Shasta.

We had a quiet evening at home, except for the two German Shepard’s in the Class C next to us who barked a lot.

Tuesday- There is not a lot to do in Redding. Plus, the temperature is to be 106 today! We left early to go to the Sundial Bridge.

The bridge is over the Sacramento River which is a very fast moving river!

These are starling nests under the sundial fin.

Above, at the far end of the bridge they had this rock. There were a few of them, showing what that the sundial would cover them on June 21. We walked back over the bridge and returned to the car.

We had filled a milk container with syringes from Bob’s every 3 week Vitamin B12 shot. So we needed to dispose of the sharps. Bob had found an app which shows where there are places to safely dispose of the sharps, so we went in search of the spot. It was located behind a grocery store in a recycling center. The center was closed, but the bin was unlocked for depositing small containers. Ours fit!

We returned to the MH. The temp was 84. We left again at 11:45 to drive into downtown Redding. It was a typical city with nothing interesting. We stopped for lunch at the Brasserie, a crepe restaurant for lunch. We had excellent crepes. We returned to the MH and the temp was 88.

We had been unable to wash our towels so far this week, , so we drove south to Anderson and to a Laundromat. We washed/dried the towels. We stopped on the way back at  Parlor Ice Cream Puffs. We did not know what that was either! It is a scoop of ice cream, mashed inside a solid doughnut type puff. EXCELLENT! So glad there are only 3 of these ice cream stores in this area!

I had the strawberry shortcake ice cream. Bob had the mint with Oreos ice cream. You can also add toppings, but we did not see any reason to…. they were super yummy!

We returned to the MH. It was 100 degrees! We had a quiet evening at home with all three compressors running!

Wednesday- We did some tasks around the MH and got ready to leave. We drove out at about 10: 40. We traveled to I-5, then north on I-5. Once we left Redding, we started to climb. What beautiful scenery! We could see Mt. Shasta approaching. We saw it for most of the day, first from the south, then the west, then looking back at the north side.

We stopped for lunch at a Pilot in the town of Weed. I ate the left over half of my sandwich and Bob went to make his and found that the bread was moldy. So he walked into the Pilot and ordered a sub from their Subway. While he was eating, I ran to the grocery store across the street and purchased bread and bananas. The bananas were 4 for $1. Below is our view of Mt. Shasta at lunch.

At the next exit, we turned north on Hwy. 97. OMG, this was one of the most scenic drives that we have ever taken! I was driving the car, so I could not take pictures. To the left side was a beautiful valley, full of lots of color. To the right was Mt. Shasta. What views!!!

At one point, all the fields to the left were orange, yellow and green. To the right of the road, the prairie grass was all green.  We continued north on Hwy 97 to Klamath Falls OR. We celebrated getting out of very expensive California!!

The road ran right next to the very, very large Klamath Lake. We followed Hwy, 97 to the little town of Chiloquin, and Collier Memorial State Campground.  We had a reservation for site 23 B and went directly to our site. $33 per night with the ridiculous $8 Reserve America fee.( you pay the fee for each reservation, no matter how many days you stay). This the reason we do not stay in very many state parks!  We have FHU 50 amp. We could not get satellite. Oh well! We sat outside as the temp was 72! After the heat that we have been experiencing, this was heaven! This was a very nice state park. We grilled some chicken for dinner and watched some DVD’s that we had a a drawer.

Thursday- We left around 10 driving to Crater Lake, about 35 miles away. We took the dogs with us on this field trip. The gate was way into the park when you take Hwy. 62 from the south. We stopped at Annie’s Falls, and saw through the trees what looked like cascading water. Not worth taking a picture. We continued onward and upward to a pullout overlooking where fossilized steam vents had formed the formations below when the mountain was erupting. It is hard to see in the picture, but the depth of the formations is really huge.

We showed our Geezer pass at the gate and saved $25 for the day. We stopped at the Steele Visitor Center. We used the facilities, walked the dogs, and left the dogs in the car. We do not usually do that, but the temperature was 57, so we did not think that they would get overheated.

The movie was 22 minutes long and pretty interesting. The volcano erupted numerous times over around 4,000 years. Finally, 7,700 years ago, the activity about 1.5 miles below the surface became so intense that around the bottom of the mountain the steam vents, like in the picture above, made a circle around the base of the volcano. The steam escaped, and the mountain fell in on itself creating the caldera which is now the lake.  All of the water in the lake is from melted snow. There is no water entering or leaving the caldera.

The lake’s surface elevation is 6,173 ft. The lake is 6.02 miles across at the longest part and 4.54 miles at the shortest. It is 1,943 ft.deep. The lake holds 4.9 trillion gallons of pristine water. They get a lot of snow here. The last time we were in the area and had planned to visit the lake, the only part of the lake open was the visitor center, and you had to walk thru a tunnel dug thru the snow. This was our first visit to the park and only the west rim was open. 4 miles of the east rim was open, the rest was closed, due to snow.

We continued to the Rim Village Visitor Center. We were looking for the picnic area to eat our lunch. Bob went to the Ranger and asked where is was located and was told that it is still snow covered. So we ate in the car.

Then we went and walked along the rim of the Caldera.

Above is Wizard Island. It is a volcano in the lake. There are several more, but they are under the water. Yes, the water is really that blue! It is hard to see, but there is still ice on the water!

We returned to the car and drove over to the Crater Lake Lodge. It was built in 1915.

It is not as ornate as the inside of many of the other National Park Lodges. Note the décor, with the stone and wooden walls. Plus the very large fireplace. On the side of the building facing the lake, there is a deck and people sitting outside having drinks from the bar and viewing the lake.

This was their view!

We walked back to the car, and turned onto the west rim drive. We stopped at an overlook. This brought us closer to Wizard Island. We used the binoculars to see some of the island.

To the right side is a boat dock. Along the shore what looks white, is actually yellow tree pollen which has accumulated along the shore. At the inlet the water color was more aquamarine.

In this next picture, you can see the ice still on the water.

As we were driving along the rim of the caldera, we passed a lot of snow covered areas. The road was clear, and some areas were clear, but there was still a lot of snow coverage.

Below, it is not showing up, but someone had skied down this hill.

We could only go as far as the north entrance turn off, so we back tracked and went up the 4 miles of the east rim, that were open. We arrived at Vidae Falls. The falls was much steeper than it appears in the picture.

We continued to the barrier and parked. Two snow plows left while we were parked there. This was the Sun Notch area. Bob hiked up the 1/2 mile, moderate trail, to take pictures of the Phantom Ship.  From Wiki:”Phantom Ship is a small island in Crater Lake in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is a natural rock formation pillar which derives its name from its resemblance to a ghost ship, especially in foggy and low-light conditions.”

Below was part of the 1/2mile walk.

It had gotten warm, so I stayed in the car with the sleeping dogs.

We drove back to the State Park and sat outside until it clouded over. We grilled some pork chops and ate dinner.

Friday-  We left a little after 9, traveling north on Hwy. 97 to Hwy 58 and traveling mostly downhill, to Eugene. We drove through town to the Elks Lodge. We arrived to find only 1 site, out of 6, available. First come, first serve. Wow, are these sites narrow! Bob went in and paid the $15 each for 2 nights. That was a whole lot less expensive than all the RV parks in the area.

We backed into the site and the large motor home on our right had all his slides in. If he had not, we would not have fit in the site. We maneuvered so that we could open the bedroom slide and the living room slide only about 1 foot. That at least gives us room to move around. It’s only for 2 nights! We ate a quick lunch, as it was now after 1.

We walked out of the MH and met our neighbor on the left, Polly, and the people just past her, Lisa and Larry. We went to Costco for gas. $2.99! What a difference from California. It might be even cheaper if we could pump our own gas. Oregon requires attendants pump gas.

The Costco was wild, and this was a Friday! We lucked out and found a parking place. We shopped then left and went to Walmart. As usual, we had forgotten our bags, like we kept doing in California. In California they charge you for the plastic bags, which we never purchased. In Oregon, there were no plastic bags, just paper bags that you could purchase. We chose not to, put the items into the cart, and went to the car and put them into bags in the back of the car. I am starting to run short on plastic bags that I use in the trash can in the bathroom!

We stopped at a Napa on the way back to replace the light bulb for the Edge rear light that Bob had just replaced.

We returned to the MH at the same time that the folks on our right arrived back at the Lodge. They took one look at the situation and decided to move their MH over to their right. There was a lot of room to do that, so now they were able to open their slides.

We decided to go out to dinner. The dinner at the lodge sounded good, shrimp in an alfredo sauce, bread, salad, drink for $8. There were 5 cars in the parking lot. Never a good sign! So we decided to go out to a seafood restaurant. We wanted to go somewhere for beer, since this is a craft beer mecca, but could not find a place with a decedent menu. We finally decided on McCarthy’s Sea Food. I had the shrimp and scallop skewers and Bob had the fried fish plate.

We stopped at ColdFire Brewing Company on the way back for Bob to have a nice beer. Bob had the “Beans of Wisdom” Imperial Coffee Porter. The brewery was very busy. They had a 3 person band, who were very good, even is they were too loud!

We returned and watched some TV. Bob called Direct TV and changed our ‘address’ to Portland and off of Fresno. Up until here, we had been watching Fresno local channels. The next change will be in Seattle.

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