Wordless Wednesday 07-18-18

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Catch up photos 05-23-18

Guess I might never catch up.  Wonder how I did this on all my past Road Trips.   Here are pictures from 05-20-18 and 05-21-18. 

When I drove into Alturas the first thing that caught my attention was a Starbuck's sign.  A Starbuck's out here in the "wilderness"?  Yes, it is located in a very old hotel right on the main street.  Of course, I stopped and ordered a venti latte to carry me through the miles ahead.  

Diagonal across the intersection is this wonderful mural of sandhill cranes flying in front of the snow capped peaks.   Unfortunately this guy parked his car in front of it and had to be in the picture!  One odd thing, notice the raggedly corner of the building in upper left.  Odd. 

One street over is this elegant Modoc County Courthouse.  In the past this town must have been much larger, mostly closed up now. 

In Alturas and further on in Lakeview, OR, there were many lilac bushes/trees in bloom.  And someone had planted red poppies in between the highway and their fence. 

The wind was giving them quite a whacking, but they seemed to be holding up.

Lilacs in pale lavender....

... old fashioned lilac color.....

...and pure white.

Whenever I am traveling in the springtime and see lilacs blooming along a fence line, not in someone's yard, I stop and pick a few to perfume the car.  I use a water bottle for a vase and put a stone in the bottom to weight it into my cup holder.  What a heavenly fragrance!  We cannot grow lilacs in SCalifornia where I live, but a sometimes I find them for sale at TJoe's and buy some to perfume my entire house.  

They cheer my entire self. 

There are places along the highway where many large rock formations are exposed, this was probably blasted away in the early 20th Century. 

I have never seen a road cut that is an actual cut, but I think this had to be cut rather than blasted.  What kind of a saw would they have to do this?  Very startling, I turned around and went back for a photo, but there was no place to pull off so I just slowed down to a creep on the highway and snapped this one.  Couldn't see a vehicle in front or behind.  

I hadn't passed any towns or buildings for quite a while when this greenhouse structure appeared.  Wondered if it is a "weed house".  There are lots of bug spots on my windshield. 

I believe this is Arnica growing wild.  A medical plant used for pain relief for centuries. 

The very long and large Goose Lake.  And the clouds are looking threatening. 

Even worse out the other side of the car. 

 OOPS!

Uglier and uglier. 

But still blue sky to the west. 

Oh, no!  Here it comes. 

A downpour near Lakeview, OR.

And then NW on Hwy 31 - the start of my low gas experience. 

And more rain, but not as heavy. 

Ahhh, the clouds moved SE and the sky cleared. 

And finally checking in to the Hampton Court in Bend where these pinks are planted along the foundation.  Very bright and very fragrant. 

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Driving break - Redding, CA 11-30-09 Post 12-15-09

As I have said several times, I cannot drive as long at a stretch as I once could. Now I try to stop every two hours and walk around a bit - sometimes I find something interesting which requires a longer driving break.

When I exited I-5 at Redding, CA., my intent was just to see the Sundial Bridge, but while I was looking for it I saw this old building, or part of a building, beyond the entrance signs and was intrigued. To the left you can see a pile of gravel and sand topped with a huge rusty "bucket" used to move the material as it was excavated.


By looking at the old pictures posted (see some on either side of the door) and the somewhat sketchy signage I learned that this is part of an old quarry that was used in the 1940s to acquire the necessary sand and gravel to build Shasta Dam. There is a museum nearby which is closed on Monday and Tuesday, so I wasn't able to find more info. However, the remains of the building are interesting just on their own.

I believe this is a sculpture (on the right) composed of hard hats like those used by heavy construction workers. The repeat on the left is a shadow on the concrete wall.

A closer view of the hard hats.

This roughly round hole in the wall is apparently where something was removed - a large pipe, perhaps.

Looking the other way through the same opening shows a pile of gravel/sand which has the huge old "bucket" on the other side which shows the size of the equipment used.

This is one cubic yard of concrete.

This is another side of the same cubic yard of concrete.

On the top of the cube are inlaid all the many different types of minerals found during the "dig".

The museum has changing exhibits along with the permanent ones and at the time one of the exhibits was "Poop" - showing the excrement of animals. I don't know how interesting such a display would be to anyone but guys with the mental view of a 10 year old. However, I was very curious and thought I would stop on my way south, but I was trying to out race the storm, so I didn't stop. I will undoubtedly regret it for the rest of my life - wouldn't you?

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