Day 5: Oregon

On Saturday, Grampa Neil drove me and the children up to Oregon to visit my mom's twin and dear auntie, whom I hadn't seen since Joseph was born. The drive went so much better than had I been alone. The five-hour drive took us five hours and 45 minutes, which is excellent for making about four stops.

Little Margaret kept us entertained by talking nonstop the entire time. 

The entire time!

The . . . 

entire . . . 

time . . .

Running off energy at a rest stop

I so much enjoyed the view of driving through the California mountains--a drive I used to make several times per year to visit my aunt--even if the visibility was much reduced by smoke from one of the many forest fires (the nearest culprit being Oregon Fire, 580-acres burning in Trinity County). The smoke was so thick, one often couldn't see the surrounding hills and mountains, and it certainly produced a strong smoky smell.

It was shocking to see the result of a three-year drought: Shasta Lake is at 29% of its capacity, with something like 40 feet of water line visible and dry. There were parts of the lake, still used by recreational boats, where I could almost see the bottom.

This lake view from the rest stop was dry all the way to the bottom.

We were one happy gang to make it to our hotel in Oregon and go out to dinner with Auntie!