Today we had to say goodbye to another dear friend as we continued on our family and friends road trip. The scenery was just spectacular as we traveled through northern California into Oregon.

Heading out of Chico on US 99, the east and west sides of the highway were divided by a beautiful wall of oleander bushes. As the road narrowed to 2 lanes, the sides of the road alternated between oleander bushes and various types of orchards. At one point, it was like being in a tunnel of orchards that was open to the blue sky. We saw orchards in all stages of maturity from seedlings to post mature trees and cleared orchards.

The further east and north we went, the orchards were replaced with farmlands and the Sierra Nevada Moutain Range.

At Red Bluff, CA, US 99 Joins I5 which we followed up to Redding, CA where we picked up CA 299. CA 299 (formerly US 299) takes you across the Sierra Nevada Mountain through beautiful valleys and brought us back to US 395 Near Alturas, CA. (CA 299 is a fascinating road and is the third longest road in California next to CA 1 and US 99. It goes from US 101 near the ocean across the Coastal Range and the Sierra Nevadas all the way to the Nevada border. If you ever have a chance, it’s truly a magnificent drive.)

Having returned to US 395.we proceeded north Into Oregon where it is also known as the Oregon Scenic Byway, and World War I Memorial Highway. It borders Lake Abert, near Valley Falls and the Abert Rim which rises 2500 feet with a fairly steep slope to the lake’s edge. Peggy felt like she was back in Wales with cliffs dropping down into the Irish Sea and the Lake District with the mountains slopes at the lake edges there as well. It was very windy today creating some white caps on the lake which also reminded her of the sea bordering Wales.

After 7 hours of traveling, with several pit stops, we were happy to stop at the comfortable Rory and Ryan Inn in Hines, OR. We had a quick dinner and then settled into our room to relax and do a little work on the blog before tucking in for the night.

Sign for the day

Buzzard Roost Road