Yosemite lies along the eastern edge of California, hugging the Nevada state line. We were about as far east as one can be and still be in California. When we left Yosemite, we headed northwest via CA-120, which put us back on CA-99 just below Sacramento. It was here, in Stockton, where we experienced our first bad night. If it hadn’t been so late, and we hadn’t been so tired, we would have tried to find another hotel. The Roadway Inn was what young people might describe as “sketch”. In all fairness, the fighting, loud music, crying babies, and visits from the local police subsided shortly after midnight, and once we fell asleep (Ron with one eye open, flashlight in one hand, and bear spray in the other), we slept soundly and woke up refreshed. This was fortunate, as little did we know what lay ahead!
We picked up I-5 in Sacramento, and despite the morning traffic, it felt good to be on an interstate highway again. We made great time heading north to Redding, where we headed west on CA-299 to take us to the coast. On my big map of America, CA-299 was a straight line. The idea was to get back to the Pacific coast just before entering the Redwood Forest. The Redwood Forest is a National Park, but it is more accurately a region, comprised of dozens of state parks and state and national forests. The Pacific Coast Highway conveniently runs through the heart of this region.
We had booked a room at the Trees Motel, situated about halfway through the Redwood region. We had dutifully entered the address of the motel into the nav system when we started, but the nav system wasn’t happy with the route I mapped for us. The entire time we were on I-5 heading north to Redding, the nav system wanted us to turn around, go back to Sacramento, and take a different highway over to the coast. We waited for Jennifer (Ron’s name for the female voice giving directions) to re-calculate. She refused. We ignored Jennifer and continued Linda’s route. Finally, we turned Jennifer off.
As we left the interstate at Redding and headed west on CA-299, I understood Jennifer’s refusal to reroute us. The straight line on the big map was in reality a never-ending doodle of swirls, switchbacks, and hairpin turns. We literally crawled through an absolutely gorgeous landscape. Mountains and lakes and streams and pastures and farms. Cattle grazing in alpine meadows, so idyllic I half expected to see Heidi, and her little friend Peter, playing in the spring flowers!
Trucks were more frequent than towns. Cattle trucks and logging trucks mostly, confidently navigating the narrow highway. A sign advised of a 10% grade descent. Another announced the next town, population 22. The lack of guardrails was terrifying, but also intensified the views!
We stopped for a picnic lunch near Mount Shasta, which we could see in the distance, its highest elevations still covered in snow. At this moment, I actually wondered if we would make it to the coast. The drive was so intense, I didn’t know if we could keep going. Ron must have read my mind, because he commented on the lack of skeletons along the side of the road, so apparently, folks who start this drive must finish it!
And then we were on the coast, the rocky grey Pacific coast of northern California.
We were almost immediately swallowed by the Giant redwoods growing everywhere. They were so huge, and so close to the car, that if seemed I could reach out and touch them through the window. Forest after forest of Giant Redwoods, so tall that the sun was blotted out and we were thrown into perpetual twilight.
It was in fact twilight when we arrived at the Trees Motel, motto: “A place with Paul Bunyan-sized hospitality and style in nature’s splendor!” There was just enough light for Ron to snap this picture. Can you find me?
Car Talk
Distance: 436 miles
Driving Time: 8 hours, 47 minutes
Average mileage: 32.2 mpg
Average Speed: 49 mph
Trip Total: 4,598.2 miles
Bullets fired at Roadway Inn: zero
Number of police officers observed through peep hole: 4
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