We weren't able to use our rooftop satellite dish due to the surrounding trees, so HeM successfully refreshed his tuning skills with our carry-out dish. We were glad to have the trees, though, as the area experienced record high temperatures (several days in the 90's) while we were here. (That seems to be a recurring theme wherever we go. Could it be us? Surely not.)
When people in San Francisco asked us where we were heading from there, and we answered 'Redding', they reacted with a confused, almost incredulous, "Why Redding?" Our answer was that it was just a convenient distance to make a stop before heading into Oregon. What we've found, though, is that the area around Redding has a lot to offer. For outdoor enthusiasts there's hiking, boating, fishing. There are lovely areas to take scenic drives. There are a number of waterfalls in the surrounding forests and mountains--in fact, Burney Falls was described by Theodore Roosevelt as the "eighth wonder of the world", and was originally on our list of sights for this area. But it's a 150-mile round trip from Redding, and would be the only reason for making the drive since the road through Lassen Volcanic National Park (the other sight on our list) won't be open until Memorial Day. After our extended and somewhat frenzied exploring at our previous stop, we were ready to slow the pace for a bit. We decided that we were content to just checkout a couple of local attractions, and use the rest of the week to recharge. Yes, it's a hard life we've chosen but someone has to do it.
Probably one of the biggest attractions in Redding is the Turtle Bay Exploration Park along the Sacramento River. Its Sundial Bridge was completed in 2004.
The pylon that holds the bridge support cables and acts as a sundial is accurate only on the summer solstice.
Across the bridge is the McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens and it's a popular place for pleasant walks. The city has done a nice job with this 20-acre area combining attractive plantings with some artistic works.
After walking around the Turtle Bay Park, we headed to Shasta Dam, 5 miles north of Redding It's the 2nd largest dam in America. It was built between 1938 and 1945. It's 602 feet high and its base is 543 feet thick. We walked the 3,460 feet across and back, and enjoyed the views.
They offer free tours of the dam, but we've toured Hoover dam so were satisfied with just the external viewing. There were several family groups there enjoying picnic lunches in the surrounding park after having taken the tour--what a nice, not to mention economical, way to spend some family time together.
We're leaving California in the morning and moving into Oregon. The weather forecast there is showing cooler days and a low of 39 tomorrow night. It'll be interesting to see if our arrival changes that. If they start reporting unusually warm weather suddenly, we're going to have to accept that somehow we're to blame.
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