Good and Bad

Well, we're in Redding, CA, which has the reputation of being Hot, Hot, Hot (bad). However, we are staying at the Elks Lodge which has hookups so we can run the air conditioner (good), but we're jammed in here like sardines (bad). The lodge is right on the river with a wonderful bike path right behind it (good), but we figured it would be too hot to bike (bad). Well, you see how it goes. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it's $20 a night. Wow! Very bad.

So we left the rig to swelter and ran up the hill to Shasta Dam. On the way, we had some great views of the dam, lake, and Mount Shasta.


The volunteers there claim they have the best dam tour, but I've heard that one before. Personally, I have no desire to walk around inside a giant block of concrete holding back a massive amount of water, so we just watched the video at the visitor center. It was pretty good and I wasn't even claustrophobic.

I don't mind standing on the dam, though. Here's a shot of the very pretty Sacramento River coming out of the dam and the power plant.


By the time we came back to Redding and went out to dinner, it was cooling off and we took a walk on the bike path. I've never seen anything like this railroad trestle. It not only crosses the river, but runs quite a way up the hill.
I wanted so badly to get a picture of a train on the bridge. I even sat for an hour waiting for one to come.

I tried to make a friend along the way, but he just wasn't interested.


The next day we awoke to clouds (bad for pictures, but very good because they kept the temperature down to less than 80.) We took off to see the famous Sundial Bridge.
Well, I don't get it. It's not a sundial and the architect designed it to represent a goose in flight (the pylon is a wing.) So why isn't it the Goose Bridge?

Adjacent to the bridge is a nice botanical garden. Here's Ron admiring the yellow garden.


I go for the unusual like the odd blue/green color on these flowers (which is a Blue Puya from Chile.)


And the interesting Monkey Puzzle Tree.


How about a purple fire hydrant? I never saw one of those either.


This butterfly was kind enough to pose.


And they even had mosaic in the children's garden which I love.


What a sweet lady bug. You can tell she's a lady bug because she has lipstick on.


Then in the afternoon we took the bikes off the back of the rig and rode the whole bike trail. It's about 7 miles of the second most beautiful bike trail ever. (The first is the Hiawatha trail between Montana and Idaho. You probably remember it from Diana's blog. Click here if you want to refresh your memory, but not until you finish reading this post. Ha!)


It runs along one side of the Sacramento River, crosses this bridge (which Ron is on), and comes back the other side. A very pretty ride on a smooth, paved path.


While we were riding, we did come upon a sundial and it was human powered. Since it was cloudy we had to make a quick trip back in the morning to check it out. Ron was the acting human and stood on the indicater for June. As you can see, his shaddow points to between 9 and 10, indicating 9:30. It was actually 10:30 because of the daylight savings time adjustment. Cool, huh?


And miracle of miracles, a train came by just for me. We were a little far away, but that's what cropping is for.

Come to think of it, there were way more 'goods' than 'bads' and I'm so glad we make Redding a stop. Next we'll be jumping up the hill for cooler temperatures.