Driving out of California
Pacific Northwest Travelog 2
Ashland, OR. Saturday, 1 July 2017. 1:30pm.
We rolled out of the parking lot of our hotel in Corning, CA this morning shortly after 9am. We only stayed for " 8 hours and a shower" as I noted in my previous journal. Take a look at this view from our hotel room window....
Yeah, there's no reason to stay longer than strictly necessary.
About an hour north of Corning we paused for a late breakfast/early lunch in Redding, California. From there we climbed into the mountains, leaving the Central Valley behind as we passed Shasta Lake. Having been past it in recent years and seeing the lake level pitifully low from drought, it was nice to see it at full capacity after this winter's record-setting precipitation.
As we continued our drive north from there we rose ever higher into the mountains. Soon Mt. Shasta itself came into view.
Shasta dominates the skyline for hundreds of miles around. The peak rises to 14,179' (4322 m) making it only the 5th highest in California but it stands an impressive 10,000' over most of the land around it. It reminds me of the mis-heard lyric, "As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like an empress above the Serengetti."
Global Warming?
Shortly after taking the picture above we pulled off for a snack. It was such a hot day we wanted cold drinks. When we came back out we saw that all the snow on Shasta had melted! Just look at this:
...Okay, ha ha, that's a different mountain. It's Black Butte, a bit north of Shasta. If you turned 120 degrees right from where I took the picture of Black Butte you'd see Shasta looming behind you.
State of Jefferson
Far up into northern Calfiornia you start seeing signs and banners for "State of Jefferson".
The movement to create a new state named Jefferson (wikipedia link) from parts of northern California and southern Oregon has been around for several decades. For most of that time the only thing a typical traveler would see of it is the slogan painted atop a hay barn alongside I-5 near Yreka, shown in the picture above. In recent years the sloganeering has increased, with such signs becoming prevalent in front of homes and stores. It's spreading further south, too. We've seen them not far outside of Sacramento.
Along with picking up more fans the movement is also tilting toward extreme, "alt-right" politics. Years ago it focused primarily on breaking free of California's environmental regulation to bring back the timber industry. That was a misguided notion as it's not really environmental regulation that gutted timber jobs, it's modernization and global competition. But today many of State of Jefferson advocates are basically racists and bigots of various stripes. Just read/listen to what they say about why the movement is important (I've read several of their tracts and spoken to a few of them)... it's a lot of the same stuff Dixiecrats were saying in response to the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s.
Leaving California
We crossed the border into Oregon earlier today. Per the odometer on our car we'd traveled 361 miles from home. Take that as a reminder about how large the state is. In other parts of the country, driving 361 miles in one direction would take you through several states. And to most people we live in "northern" California already... 361 miles from the northern border!
Ashland, OR. Saturday, 1 July 2017. 1:30pm.
We rolled out of the parking lot of our hotel in Corning, CA this morning shortly after 9am. We only stayed for " 8 hours and a shower" as I noted in my previous journal. Take a look at this view from our hotel room window....
Yeah, there's no reason to stay longer than strictly necessary.
About an hour north of Corning we paused for a late breakfast/early lunch in Redding, California. From there we climbed into the mountains, leaving the Central Valley behind as we passed Shasta Lake. Having been past it in recent years and seeing the lake level pitifully low from drought, it was nice to see it at full capacity after this winter's record-setting precipitation.
As we continued our drive north from there we rose ever higher into the mountains. Soon Mt. Shasta itself came into view.
Shasta dominates the skyline for hundreds of miles around. The peak rises to 14,179' (4322 m) making it only the 5th highest in California but it stands an impressive 10,000' over most of the land around it. It reminds me of the mis-heard lyric, "As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like an empress above the Serengetti."
Global Warming?
Shortly after taking the picture above we pulled off for a snack. It was such a hot day we wanted cold drinks. When we came back out we saw that all the snow on Shasta had melted! Just look at this:
...Okay, ha ha, that's a different mountain. It's Black Butte, a bit north of Shasta. If you turned 120 degrees right from where I took the picture of Black Butte you'd see Shasta looming behind you.
State of Jefferson
Far up into northern Calfiornia you start seeing signs and banners for "State of Jefferson".
The movement to create a new state named Jefferson (wikipedia link) from parts of northern California and southern Oregon has been around for several decades. For most of that time the only thing a typical traveler would see of it is the slogan painted atop a hay barn alongside I-5 near Yreka, shown in the picture above. In recent years the sloganeering has increased, with such signs becoming prevalent in front of homes and stores. It's spreading further south, too. We've seen them not far outside of Sacramento.
Along with picking up more fans the movement is also tilting toward extreme, "alt-right" politics. Years ago it focused primarily on breaking free of California's environmental regulation to bring back the timber industry. That was a misguided notion as it's not really environmental regulation that gutted timber jobs, it's modernization and global competition. But today many of State of Jefferson advocates are basically racists and bigots of various stripes. Just read/listen to what they say about why the movement is important (I've read several of their tracts and spoken to a few of them)... it's a lot of the same stuff Dixiecrats were saying in response to the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s.
Leaving California
We crossed the border into Oregon earlier today. Per the odometer on our car we'd traveled 361 miles from home. Take that as a reminder about how large the state is. In other parts of the country, driving 361 miles in one direction would take you through several states. And to most people we live in "northern" California already... 361 miles from the northern border!