A few surprises for what became the final day of this little trip to Portland. At a rest stop on the way south from Eugene, I checked the road conditions one last time, and realized that the I-5 was clear of any snow hazards. So we were able to visit Ashland and head down the middle of the state, after all.
Ashland is famous for its Shakespeare Festival, of course. Since we were there off season, I didn’t expect it to be tremendously lively. But we did manage to find a nice spot to grab a quick lunch, and to walk along Main Street a bit.
Even had some ice cream, despite the 38-degree weather.
After Ashland, it was the beautiful pass over the Siskiyou Summit, which was covered in fresh snow. Once we got into California, our next quick stop was at Mount Shasta City. We considered staying here for the night, but then thought maybe it would be better to push on to Redding, since it was still early. Once we got to Redding and started looking into hotels, another new option came to light. Why not just go home? Considering that Lassen Park was closed for the season, there didn’t seem to be much chance that we’d do anything except sleep in Redding, wake up the next morning, grab breakfast, and then start driving again. So why not just push on all the way to San Francisco? My car’s SatNav suggested we’d be home before ten.So that’s what we did. Ended the trip a day early with no regrets. Got to see both the coast and the beautiful mountains along I-5. Drove 1,401.4 miles in five days. Not a bad way to end the year.
