AUSTRALIAN USA

POST # 78


If someone would have plunked me down in the area I have just recently visited, I could have sworn that I was travelling somewhere in the Australian outback. One thing that made me think this, was the proliferation of *gum trees, and the other was the extreme heat.

However I was nowhere near Australia. I was in California, of all places, on the continuing journey with my friend Mary, after delivering her piano to Bend, Oregon.

Our trip from Bend took us past the spectacular Mount Shasta which towers some fourteen thousand plus feet above sea level. From there we headed south through the town of Weed, and eventually we decided to spend a night at Redding, CA. On the journey south, the temperature in Redding was 113 degrees F ( 45 degrees C) and when we passed through Redding again on our return north, the temperature hit 115 degrees F ( 46 degrees C ) with a hot westerly wind blowing.

Everywhere we travelled in southern Oregon, and northern California, the landscape looked extremely parched. This is the condition for much of the southern USA and the wildfires have been taking their toll as the days of summer roll on.

Mary and I spent a couple of days with a relative of hers in the Portola Valley which is about forty miles or so south of San Francisco. Driving through San Francisco was interesting to say the least. I am glad that I don’t live in such a populated area as that, and it was pleasant to arrive at our destination, which is a very rural area that again reminded me of Australia.

Eventually we made it back here to the Pacific Northwest and the temperature was lower by 45 degrees F. This was a big relief.

Soon, I will be back in Vancouver to take care of my dog friends, Jackson and Peach, and so that is where my next blog entry will take place.

Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

*http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/who-eucalyptized-southern-california.html