Almost to California

Hello, ZigZagAlongs, California here we come. Only about 10 miles from the border but though we only went about 160 miles today, the nearest town in California with a hotel was too far. Rainy today and very low ceiling all the way. Actually, though cold and damp really quite pretty with the mountains and the various colors of the trees and grasses. Amazing the thick, high walls of lava all the way along thpye Interstate, evidence of the volcanic pyrotechnics of the millennia. Barb mentioned that we seemed to be following Interstates a lot on this trip and missing all the small, quaint little towns we enjoyed in 2000 and again in 2014. Unfortunately, I've never been able to get a decent State transportation map from California. They provide a strange tourist vacation map that shows very few roads, primarily the ones that connect points of interest. As a result I'm not easily able to pick out alternate routes but now and then I urge an exploration on and off the Interstate, such at Myrtle Creek. Barb wanted to find myrtle wood items and I thought maybe Myrtle Creek might have some. Well, like so many of the towns of our memory it has either died or, as in the case of Corvallis, it has become a yuppy, boutique-y tourist trap. I'd picked up a mini-tangerine--the only one-- at the motel this morning and it turned out to be one of the best tangerines I've ever eaten. We continued South toward California--will these mountains never end??--over pass after pass after pass. Saw a sign for a National Historic Site to took another loop off the Interstate to see an Inn that would have fit in perfectly in New England. If you ever played The Oregon Trail computer game--one of my favorites-- you will be familiar with the pioneers making their way to Oregon's Willemette Valley, which we were doing in a much more comfortable and rapid fashion. I wish I knew the names of the trees out here, some of them are just so beautiful. Look at the loveliness of that conifer branch--the color, the pattern. Riding down among the mountains on both sides I was much reminded of being in Battery Park in Burlington with the Adirondacks on one side and the Greens on the other. These mountain ranges just refuse to make a single line easily crossed--oh, no, once you are over one ridge another sometimes higher rises before you. Now I can appreciate purple mountains majesty as much as the next guy, but, you know, enough is enough. Eventually, we came to our last stop in Oregon--Ashland. I don't usually stay in Rodeways--they are at the bottom end of the Choice line-up. But this one is a gold medal award winner and had an excellent rating by over 900 customers. Well, the room was tiny but recently updated, clean and comfortable, And there is where my positive comments end. The clerk refused to accept the reservation in my name with Barbara paying--first time we've had this problem over how many days??? Then the internet dropped me mid-blog and I could not reconnect. The breakfast the next day was nothing but coffee, dry cereal, waffles to make and no creamer and nothing hot. In addition, there were at least 50 rooms if not more the the breakfast room had three two person tables so close together they would have done better with one table and six chairs. There will be a very poor evaluation of this property. The positively worst ever. Well, we are in Sacramento tonight until Wednesday. We are visiting friends and will be running the roads and having fun with them so no more internet until we leave to move farther south or east or southeast out of California. I will send today's and yesterday's pix tonight but the blog of our doings will have to wait for a few days. Enjoy the pix, especially of Mt Shasta and the Rainbow to beat all Rainbows. Take care, BarbZig and KatZag