Sanderson's Road Trip in Northern Sacramento Vally, California

I wanted to share some of the photos taken on our January 2-4, 2018 road trip.  All of States, and the rest of the World in fact, have something that is absolutely beautiful.  But, California has a bit of many of these features within its state line.  Majestic mountains, sunny sandy beaches, foggy coast lines with ancient redwoods and elk, deserts with crazy blooming flowers every few years, major cities and miles of agriculture land.  

We drove north from Fresno   to Sacramento, east to Roseville, then north hugging the foothills.  I didn't know this unique area existed.  Lots of pond, marshes, ag land, orchards and cattle grazing. Some folks were clearing their properties of extra trees and underbrush and deadflal.  Others haven't done anything to their property to reduce the risk of devastating fire.  It's not if there will be a fire, it's when.  We stopped at Yuba City for the night. (not shown)


Oroville Dam Spillway repair   Word has it that the spillway has already shown signs of instability and the Dam has some small leaks.  





Paradise and Magalia - Camp Fire

This area was sobering.    Some of these photos are similar to the ones shown in the news.  Houses burned to the ground and then a house untouched.  The Flag as a sign of spirit.  Some of the larger trees are being logged.    Crews installing new power poles and lines.  No food facilities were open as the water and power have have not be restored in all areas.  Packaged food, only.  Melted plastic fences.














Whiskeytown Lake, west of Redding (Countrynaturals home spread) Carr Fire.  We spent the night in Redding.  Next morning we drove west to Whiskeytown, site of the Car Fire.

Glory Hole before the rains this spring.






Shasta Lake (north of Redding) Camp Fire, Hirz and Delta Fires North of it.  Next we visited Shasta Lake. It's big.    Water levels before the spring rain.




North to Mt. Shasta near the Oregon state line.  This is before the road-closing snow this spring.  There was some snow!!  






Yep, another fire.  

I-5 to and from Mt. Shasta

Moving the tree line back from the highway.  

Using wood chips from tree removal as hill side mulch.

Signing off with a bright note.  The poppies and other wild flowers as seen from outerspace!  3-21-19  Roads are actually closed and some shuttle services have started operating with 30-120 minute waits.

Thanks for the photos and descriptions. It must be heart breaking to drive through the areas devestated by the fires.

Breathtaking views. 
Thanks for sharing your trip pics, including the ones that show the recent devastation. 

I visited California for the first time last year.  I should have done it earlier.   We drove from S.F. to L.A., and dropped our son off at Caltech for the summer.  What a beautiful state!
We are going back in June to drive from San Diego to Newport Beach, to Joshua Tree, and back to Caltech.  Can't wait!

Mikesgardn wrote:I visited California for the first time last year.  I should have done it earlier.   We drove from S.F. to L.A., and dropped our son off at Caltech for the summer.  What a beautiful state!
We are going back in June to drive from San Diego to Newport Beach, to Joshua Tree, and back to Caltech.  Can't wait!

My favorite road trips in CA are the 395 and the 101. Breathtaking views and you'd swear you were in 2 different countries -- not part of the same state. Then there's Death Valley -- now you think you're on another planet.

Mike, What highway did you take from SF to LA? I-5, Highway 1, or Highway 101? Congrats on your son going to Caltech.

Thanks for sharing. I love roadtrips

sanderson wrote:Mike,  What highway did you take from SF to LA?  I-5, Highway 1, or Highway 101?  Congrats on your son going to Caltech.

I drove the Pacific Coast Highway 1 for as long as I could.  We passed the Bixby Bridge area, and then had to turn around due to landslide repairs.  The detour took us along highway 101 for a while before we got back to highway 1 near Ragged Point.   The detour was a pretty nice drive through farm country too.

Mikesgardn wrote:

sanderson wrote:Mike,  What highway did you take from SF to LA?  I-5, Highway 1, or Highway 101?  Congrats on your son going to Caltech.

I drove the Pacific Coast Highway 1 for as long as I could.  We passed the Bixby Bridge area, and then had to turn around due to landslide repairs.  The detour took us along highway 101 for a while before we got back to highway 1 near Ragged Point.   The detour was a pretty nice drive through farm country too.

Some of our photos from last summer's drive:

I took the same photo of the bridge! We also had to detour and it was the first time I traveled on that stretch of 101. Ag to the left, ag to the right.