We have a chilly 3C (36f) at 8:30am as we head south
down I-5 looking at the blue sky ahead, we have sunshine! . Our
destination is
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| Sunny skies south of Red Bluff, CA |
This area south of Red Bluff is the Sacramento
Valley and I-5 bypasses several small
towns for many miles before we get to Sacramento . Another route that we have used at times when
travelling later in the year is Hwy 99, which visits several towns and offers slower
travel with a different vista.
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| Rice mill in Sacramento Valley, CA |
California has been growing rice since the Gold Rush days
and has found the most ideal locations is all within 100 miles of the State
Capital, which is Sacramento,CA. We see
several rice fields lining the highway and many locations like this one to
store the rice, a big industry in California .
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| Waterfowl visit the rice fields of California |
The rice farms also provide habitat, food and breeding
grounds for 230 species of wildlife. It
is estimated that between 10 and 12 million waterfowl visit this area each
year. We did see several ponds covered
with what we believe to be snow geese, although just too far away to see properly. Other rice field were covered with zillions
of birds.
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| Unique pattern of rice fields in California |
This shows an area that we believe to be more rice fields that we
cross using a very long span of bridge adjacent to the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Bridge Sacramento airport. We are now 10 miles north of the State
Capital.
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| State Capital, Sacramento, CA |
Saturday morning is a quiet traffic time for Sacramento so always a
good time to pass through the city. This
next segment of I-5 has seen much needed improvements over the past few years,
and it continues, making it a better drive each year. I have taken a picture of the water tower
every time we pass but this is the best one yet!
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| Stockton, California |
City of Stockton in the San Joaquin Valley
on I-5 is located on the Stockton Deepwater Ship Channel This is 75 nautical miles east of San Francisco and it is
quite surprising to see the size of the ships that are moored near this inland
highway.
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| Maggie says, "are we there yet?" |
RV travelling with pets is much easier than most
other forms of travel. Maggie made her
first trip to California
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| Rolling hills of southern I-5 |
Our high temperature of the day reaches 14C (57f) and
although that doesn’t sound very warm, our stops at the Rest area for lunch and
fuel stops are great. We pass miles of
rolling hills continuing down I-5 and feel the nice warm sun through the
windows most of the day.
By the time we leave I-5 following Hwy 46 through Wasco and Bakersfield
for the end of our travelling day, the clouds move in and darkness soon
follows. We are ready to stop for the
night and get a good rest before continuing on our travels tomorrow, which we will share the as we make our way through Tehachapi and onto Palm Springs. CA.
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