California: Taking It From The Top

When I drive through California, I start at the  top. Mile 793 is the northern border with Oregon, deep in the heart of the Siskyous Mountains.

 The views are dramatic and sweeping at every angle, and the expressway winds and weaves between the peaks for over 100 miles. 

The layers and muted colors of the range are classically Californian yet I feel quite at home in this rugged landscape. 

Then, somewhere around Mile 690, after careening down the steep pass, Interstate 5 delivers me to central California. 

Redding. 

Red Bluff.

Sacramento.

Stockton. 

The landscape radically changes to irrigated farmlands and distant brown hills. 

Rice. 

Almonds. 

Grapes. 

Tomatoes. 

We sleep tonight among the fields of plenty, somewhere around Mile 472. 

    

Tomorrow, we keep driving south.