13 days and 3,410.9 miles *Part IV*

It was time to leave the coast. This was tough to do, but it would have been easier if I’d known what roads we’d end up on later.

We headed to Medford, OR and from there down to Yreka, CA to visit my Grandpa’s grave.

Bandon, OR was a cool town and we hated leaving. As we headed inland the whole area was foggy. You can imagine how slick the roads were.

There are some massive lumber mills here.

We took some side roads, but unfortunately we had to do a fair amount of I-5. Snow was moving in and we wanted to get over the pass between Medford, OR and Yreka, CA before it hit.

Mt. Shasta looked amazing.

We made it to visit Grandpa. He’s still saving a spot of Grandma. At least he has a good view.

Yep, you sorta have to go in and have a beer at the bar you know your Grandma sung at when she was younger. I wonder if my mom ever snuck into this place?

We headed for Redding, CA for the night and in the morning we crossed our fingers and took the lowest pass over the beginning of the Sierra Nevada’s to Susanville and on to Reno. It’s highest point was at about 4,000 feet...

It started looking like that may be too high...

Well, it’s not sticking THAT much.

Okay, there is slush forming on the road. Come onnnn summer tires, you can do it.

We made it... to the highest point. I have to grab a photo. Then we can get out of here.

We got off of that pass and kept plugging along towards Reno. At another spot we pulled over for some more pics. The sun was shining and the storm had moved to our west. Thankfully.

About the time we thought we were good to go... there was 1 last high spot before Reno I hadn’t taken into account. There were clouds just around the area so we drove in not knowing what to expect. This was one of those “Stereo off” times where you just listen and feel for any slippage or sliding.
Eventually we found a semi and drove in his tracks. There was snow all over, but at least in his tracks it seemed to be a bit slushier and wetter.

It was hard to see much of anything.

Well, we made it to Reno. I don’t hate Reno, but it’s not great for photos so we’ll just skip that. Once we checked the weather and saw that the storms seemed to be gone we did something mildly stupid. We decided to head for Tahoe. The wife had never been and it showed all sun for the next few days so lets go for it!

Made it! The road were nice and dry.

Tahoe is one of those places that’s pretty from any angle.

We spent the night, not camping, and decided we’d head for Gold Country tomorrow and hit the 49er territory, Yosemite and Sequoia National parks. The best roads were still to come.