Day 7: Reno to Eugene (via California)

Leaving Reno we stopped at a service station to refuel and wash the bugs off the windscreen, which we had to do two or three times a day. The Denny's we ate at is in the background. We had considered goign home via Sacramento and staying there for an night, but by this stage we were tired enough to want to get home, see our cats again, and start preparing the house for a family visit. 

Driving through the northeast corner of California, we were passing through the Lassen National Forest. We stopped to get a shot of this remote valley. The early explorers came here and found it almost impossible to get a wagon into or out of. Happily for us the road is a little more amenable to fast travel these days.

Driving on routes 44, 89 and finally the I-5, we saw Mount Shasta from several angles. Shasta is a dormant volcano which last erupted in 1786 and erupts on average every 600 years, so we're probably safe.

US roads often lead directly towards a mountain or prominent peak in a straight line.

This time it's Black Butte, a parasitic satellite cone of Mount Shasta.

A friend who travels the I-5 every year to visit relatives in Washington State had told us the best views of Mount Shasta were from the car park of a Taco Bell near Weed. Here we went, and indeed the views were spectacular.

To give a bit of perspective, here's Beth crossing a quiet road for a better shot.

Some sheds are more than just sheds.




And so... home.