Month: June 2022

Bob and I went through a few ideas of what to do today before Bob found us a couple of close-in hikes that let us both explore more of the area as well as continue to learn about the dams and bridges in Redding (importantly distinct from learning about the damn bridges in Redding).

Anyhoo, back to our beginnings in Redding. The night before we did our transition with our homeowners, we spent the night in the Sheraton Hotel here that is quite nice and located near parks, the Sundial Bridge, and the Sacramento River Trail. We thought we had explored the area while there, but it’s still lovely, and Bob found a short trail around the property that he thought might have some good views of the area. Not really so much, but we did have a surprising find that connected to our Shasta Dam trip yesterday.

We began our short, 30 minute walk near the Turtle Bay Museum which is next to the Sheraton. We did not go in but snapped a photo of the city’s famous Sundial Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava, a Spanish architect whose works we enjoy. We have seen a number of his works — buildings and bridges around the world from Buenos Aires to Milwaukee to Valencia, Spain to New York City. The shadow cast from the mast of this bridge allows you to accurately tell time between 11 am and 4 pm in the summer months.

The rest of the walk was fine. We got to see another hydroelectric plant. Lots of those here. But the real find for us was what the locals call The Monolith, and it looks like a partially destroyed old building, which is pretty much what it is. It is the shell of the old Kutras Tract Aggregate Plant which supplied the aggregate for the concrete in building Shasta Dam. So, the aggregate was loaded onto a conveyor belt at this site and traveled the 10 mile length of the belt to the dam construction site. They have added a bit of artwork and information pieces to the site. See below.

After this little walk, we headed to a local park to do a 4+ mile walk out to another cool bridge near the Keswick Dam. The hike took us out of town along the Sacramento River to near the dam and then back to where we started. I guess loop walks are like that, so no news there. Didn’t learn anything on this walk but had lots of lovely views.

Bob and I planned a scaled-back day today, as it was to get to 98. Still can’t believe that we’re chasing cooler temps than our family in the Midwest. We’re only to get to 85 tomorrow. The cooler temps are helpful here to help ease the fire risk.

We decided to check out the Shasta Lake Dam and then walk around the downtown area of Redding. The Shasta Lake Dam on Shasta Lake (funny how that works) is about a 20 minute drive or so from where we are staying. They used to give daily tours but now it’s just a self-guided walk across the dam with material to read about the dam. We lucked out, however, and got to see a film on the making of the dam, which was just starting when we entered the visitor’s center. The dam was built from 1938-1945, and one of the things that I found the most interesting is that during the construction they built a 10 mile conveyor belt to transport aggregate from Redding to the building site. The dam was needed to control flooding, store water for agriculture, and create electricity, with the first 2 being the most important. It is the 2nd largest dam in the US after the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state. The lake is currently at 40% capacity, which is apparently better than what it was in 2021.

Redding, California has a current population of about 92,000. It feels smaller to me, but it is pretty spread out. The downtown is very small and feels like it is being redeveloped. There isn’t a lot there now, but we were struck by its cleanliness and the fun artwork.

We have been getting settled in Redding — laundry, grocery shopping, establishing daily routines, finding running routes, etc. We even interviewed with a homeowner for a nearly 5 month housesit starting next January in North Carolina. She chose us, so fingers crossed the world doesn’t turn upside down so that can happen

But there is so much to see here, that today we headed out for a little excursion. (We’re trying to figure out the best balance between seeing sights and not going crazy with the driving since gas is so pricey right now.) We headed west out of Redding for a 20-30 minute drive to Whiskeytown National Recreation Center. No real whiskey involved for us, though when the nearby community was established during the Gold Rush, I’m sure there was plenty.

We started at the Visitor’s Center, which isn’t open on Tuesdays. We knew this but wanted to see if we might get a site map. We could and did. As you can see, it’s a beautiful entrance to the large (42,000 acre) national park in the foothills of the Klamath Mountains.

After looking at the map, we saw that there was a JFK memorial, so we knew we wanted to see that before starting a hike. It turns out that JFK dedicated the Whiskeytown Lake Dam at the exact site of the memorial in September of 1963, just a couple months before his assassination.

Prior to driving to Whiskeytown we had read that some of the hiking trails remained closed due to being impacted by the Carr fire in 2018. Sadly, you see evidence of burned trees all along the drive to the park as well as in the park. We started with a hike along the Mount Shasta Mine Loop Trail before driving further into the westernmost part of the park to see some historical structures and one of three waterfalls.

When we got back, we enjoyed the pool a little bit. Bob braved the cold water and got in. I sat and dangled my legs. We also played a bit of ping pong, which we’ve been enjoying— just to see how long of a volley we can do, not really to play. I’m enjoying trying to improve my eye/hand coordination.

Chef Bob is creating a veggie pizza for us tonight. We may start including some photos of his creations.

Today’s high 89, low 59.

And. . . we’re finally back.

Bob had a great baseball trip with his nephews and brother-in-law, visiting stadiums in Chicago (Cubs), Detroit, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. I had a productive birthday party planning visit with my mom, who will be turning 80 in July and who thankfully had a short stay in the hospital. Then I did a quick house sit in Rochester, Minnesota before a lovely visit with my aunt and her husband near Madison and a visit with my aunt in Chicago. Always good to see family and many thanks to my Uncle Dick for storing our car until we return to Wisconsin in July.

Yesterday we had a lovely transition with our home owners in Redding, CA, for house sit #105. They picked us up about mid-afternoon, and we began our visit with a wine-tasting at Moseley Family Wine Cellars, which is owned by their neighbors. The tasting was free, as our home owners are wine club members, and the wines were very good. We also met the winemaker, and he poured us a taste of some Grenache that they are just getting ready to bottle. Also, yum.

You’d think after the liquid start we might not have had a great walk-through of the house and pet care needs, but we got through all of the requirements— including Bob’s list of questions — before getting settled in our room, having a lovely dinner, and relaxing before an early turn in due to a 4:30 am ride to the airport by Chauffeur Bob.

We love the area, as we are surrounded by mountains. There looks to be lots of trails to explore, and we have already walked and run on the the great Sacramento River trail which follows the river in and out of town, including by a number of dams. Our house has a pool that we may use at some point and we had a lovely sunset last evening.

Cheers, wherever this may find you!