Vacation 2017, Trip #2

[DonnaR57]

DAY 2 – WOODLAND CA to ALBANY OR – 493 mi - 9-1/2 hours

We left a little later than we usually do on a 2nd day, just at 8, after getting ice for the larger cooler at the mini-mart next door to the Best Western. We drove to Willows, about an hour down the road, before stopping for breakfast at a cute little place right next to the airport. The place was called Nancy's Airport Cafe, and they served some wonderful food.

Then we drove and drove, stopping at a couple of rest areas. The one near Lake Shasta, just north of Redding, had a full parking lot, so we parked with another car in a long slot meant for RV's or trucks. (I hate to do that, but what else were we supposed to do?) At the rest area near Weed, which was located next to another airport, we waited as 4 cars pulled out all at the same time, so we had our choice. At that rest area, hubby and I took about a 13 minute walk, down to look at an old CDF plane which was obviously there as a “show-and-tell”.

I-5 crossing Lake Shasta:
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The lake level has come up in the past year or so:
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Mt Shasta:
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Once across the Oregon border, we fueled up in Medford at a Fred Meyers. That was an adventure in itself, as the Gas Buddy map said one thing and the directional sign said another. Fortunately we believed the directional sign, which took us to the right place.

Back on the freeway, we stopped at one more rest area. Oregon seems to go on and on. It seems to go up and down. While the morning's CA mountain passes heated up the transmission a bit, the ones in Oregon didn't even make it blink. We forgot how much you go up and down in Oregon.

Pulling into the hotel at around 5:30, we had to wait in line for the one check-in gal to get through two others, then when we got up in line she said she didn't have a king room ready for us. Would we be okay with a double queen? Well, no, not really, we wanted a king. So she offered us a complimentary upgrade to a king spa room. No problem! It's a lovely room, with a jacuzzi right in the room.

We took a brief dip in the indoor pool, which felt really great again after a full day on the road like that (9-1/2 hours). Then when we went back upstairs, I pulled out the cookware and dinnerware, and we had Chicken Alfredo in the room. Sort of wished we had a salad to go with it, but neither of us had wanted to stop at a store today!



Donna