On Betsy's birthday we moved to our next "home" at the Sacramento River RV Park in Redding, CA. Along the way we passed many rice paddies and nut tree orchards making us believe that California is still a "growing" state as in a good producer of food. This park was situated on the banks of the Sacramento River and was quite lovely with a nice long pathway around the park, a section of it along the river. We walked it several times while we were there. Across the river from the park was a lumbermill which was not really very lovely but was interesting. It had tracks along which moved a large contraption that (we think) moved the lumber and was fun to watch.
Redding always seemed to me to be a place to pass through while traveling the I-5 but after this stay we are certain that we'll return to see all the sights that we missed this time. Redding sits in a central place to many national parks and forests areas. To the west is the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area, to the east lies Lassen National Forest, north is Mt. Shasta and the Klamath National Forest. Since Whiskeytown Lake was closest and Lassen was still closed because of snow, we headed for Whiskeytown. We began our day with a stop at the Visitor Center on J.F. Kennedy Memorial Dr. Pres. Kennedy was in the area in 1963 (two months before his assassination) to dedicate the Whikeytown Dam and praise the area for its outdoor recreation.
Learning that there were several hikes around the lake that led to gorgeous waterfalls, we chose 3 to hike to and set off. Our first waterfall, Brandy Creek Falls, was accessed by a mountain road that required four wheel drive and Bruzer easily handled it. We arrived at the trailhead and set off on the moderate 2 mile trail "up" towards the Falls. It was a marvelous hike, so beautiful, lots of greenery and plentiful water to view and listen to (it's been a good winter and spring in California). It took about an hour and a half to reach the lower falls with lots of stops for taking pictures, admiring the view and catching our breath. The upper falls was a 1/4 mile further and a little trickier to reach. It took us along the water's edge, with handrails and steep steps carved in rock but all 3 of us made it (with wet feet!). We did a rubbing of the monument that was at the top and signed our names in the book to show we were there!! The return hike was much easier, being downhill, and we made it in about 45 minutes. Because of our late start in the day (noon), the long drive up to Brandy Creek Falls trailhead and of course, our slow ascent to the lower and upper falls, this was the only hike we were to make that day. Our promise to ourselves is to return and make the other hikes to the rest of the Falls. It was about 4pm when we returned to the visitor center and turned on the highway to see the area called Whiskeytown. It turned out to be a closed store and boat launch so we were a little disappointed but we eased the disappointment by deciding to stop by the Ono Store & Int'l Cafe on Platina Rd. in Ono for their famous "best burger you'll ever eat". The secret of the best burger is the homemade buns and they were fantastic!! The drive in the hills to and from Ono is a real treat also and while at the store we were invited to a meeting at the Ono Grange. We stopped in for a short time to look at the old pictures on the walls.
The Sundial Bridge in Redding is another attraction that we just had to see. We stopped by it at night and were amazed by the beauty of the lighting under the glass deck and the engineering artistry. The bridge is located at Turtle Bay Exploration Park and there are many activities to partake in there such as the Sacramento River Trail system, the Turtle Bay museum, the McConnel Arboretum & Botanical Gardens and Paul Bunyan's Forest Camp. Because of torrential rain on our last day in Redding we didn't go back to hike and check out the museum as we had planned so we will return for this also. On to Oregon!!