03/31/14 What's this about a drought?

The day actually started pretty well, we left the hotel about 9:00 knowing that we had a full day of driving in order to get to Mariposa California and be ready for Yosemite tomorrow. We left Oregon and crossed into California

Shortly into California there was a Discount Liquor Store so we stopped and walked out about 30 minutes later with a large box of really great deals. It is a good thing this store is in California or we might be bigger drinkers.





Continuing South we entered the Shasta Valley and although it was cloudy the scenery was beautiful. This was a place for pioneers to settle.

After this vista we started to climb on Interstate 5. Heading toward Mount Shasta there were flashing signs warning of wind gusts for the next 20 miles and it started to rain. This is where our day went bad.

My poor rental car got hit by a car who either hydroplaned or got caught in a wind gust. Thankfully, we were alright and our car is still drive-able. There was  a young former firefighter who saw the whole thing and told us and the cops that the other car was going way too fast for the conditions.

The car in the median looked like it was totaled. The ambulance came but we saw people from the other car walking around. The cops never let us exchange information . . . I guess that is how they do it in California . . . the cops do the report. We were there about an hour in the cold wind and rain and then the cop gave us a collision # and said we could go. Al took over the driving from here but it didn't get any better.

 We were driving South right through the center of the heaviest rain bands. A couple of hundred miles down the road we gassed up and switched back to me driving; by this time it was getting dark. We thought we were out of the rain but it started up again too. We finally arrived at our hotel around  9:30 after some slow driving on a very twisty road and a wrong turn. It must have been my day for talking to the CHP because when I stopped at a little grocery to ask directions there was a CHP there. Hoping for a break in this weather tomorrow so we can see Yosemite but it isn't looking good.