Day 1 – Prep and Step

Packing, snacking and tracking where we’ll go. Koby is planted in Mill Valley at a job today and I need to ensure we pack what we need. Traveling was much easier before we got “old” – Now there’s meds and meters – no more packing light. This is our first long road trip together. And definitely my first one with my father-in-law.

Packing plans shifted when the weather did a detour. So much for a warm spring day to commence the sojourn – instead we’re trippin’ in the rain. Weather apps are about as accurate as media news meteorologists – frequently wrong.

I’ve invited Nathaniel the Geographical Navigator – aka NatGeo (one of my Real Musgrave Pocket Dragons) on the journey.

There were some awesome cloud formations as we left town.

We arrived in Redding and finished our day.

Day 2 – I-5’ing to Happy Valley

Breakfast of Champions = Mochas and pastries (and we split a blood orange mimosa) at From the Hearth Kitchen and Pie Shop in Redding and faced the long non-sunny day ahead. The clouds had met the mountains and settled into a peaceful co-existence

Further up the road, I finally persuaded Koby to stop so I could get a picture of Mount Shasta. Alas, Lassen Peak was covered in those co-existing clouds so nada on photo ops on that one, but here’s Shasta – still cloudy, but not obscured.

Then off to Grant’s Pass and lunch at Food Studio. Across the street from where we parked was a “mixed message” set of signs..

Now I’m not one to argue that candy, fudge (even furled up fudge) and popcorn might have some nutritious value, but House of Nutrition is a stretch.

The rest of the trip to Happy Valley was uneventful, except Koby’s GoPro had de-juiced (he’ll be adding GoPro stuff to this – eventually – maybe), so we had to detour to Target for an extra battery and memory card.

Dinner with Koby’s sister and dad, a much more restful night sleep… then

Day 3 – Happy Valley to Caldwell, ID

Anybody who knows me knows I’m not a fan of snow. Or long-time cloudy skies. Today had both until near the end of the sojourn. Snow is way prettier when there is some contrast, so these were late in the day when we saw the 1st blue sky – all taken from the back seat of the Xterra between bumps, shakes, and other road hazards. Locale was US Hwy 26.

Settled in at Caldwell, ID for the night after dinner with family friends.