CHASING FALL LEAVES TO LASSEN – Day 5

The push home:   We left a little later this morning so as to miss the morning commute and it worked out well.  Still sticking to the backroads, we took 113 to Rio Vista.  Good wind a blowin’ and near as I can tell, it blows all the time.  We drove along leaning over and then realized everything else was leaning over also.

On the Rio Vista Bridge, “Stop, stop, stop, the bells are ringing!!!!!”  Slammed on the brakes just short of the hinge as the gates came down.  It was a false alarm, Caltrans was doing something, the bridge never moved and finally the gates went back up and we proceeded.

I guess it was a day for bridges,,,,

And the back to the real world,,,,,

You know how you can tell it was a good trip??????

Couldn’t stand it, had to clean the car.

We had fun, where now?

CHASING FALL LEAVES TO LASSEN – Day 4

Breakfast at McDonalds and headed west, and it is mostly downhill to Redding, so we went like gangbusters.  First stretch a leg stop was at the Sundial Bridge in Redding. This is a really neat footbridge across the Sacramento River, single mast, cable stayed, glass plate walkway.

Before we ventured onto the bridge, we had to be sure we met the dress code.  The first line on the sign pretty well tells the story.


We had our bottoms on so it was okay.
Hopped onto I5 for a 31 mile run to Red Bluff and a visit to the Salmon Viewing Plaza, which we found has been unused for 5 years.  Apparently the website that lured us here has not been updated for those 5 years.   It was interesting anyway, because a very knowledgeable park docent came by and gave us the real story about judges and fish and the corps of engineers.   So in the end, it was well worth the stop.   Gotta contact the web people and let them know their site is sadly out of date.  You know what?  That docent could be Fred Wilkinson’s doppelganger.

In the afternoon we stopped in at the Mitchell Overdrive shop in Colusa.  Steve Mitchell showed us around the shop and explained a lot of the fine points of making a synchro transmission and overdrive.  The men were fascinated.

And the ladies were vitally interested as they chatted with Sue Mitchell.

From Colusa to Woodland should take one hour by Model A,  if you can follow the route.  Actually 19 out of 20 cars missed a subtle little turn where route 45 takes off from route 20 just south of Colusa.  Result:  most people did a tour of Yuba City, some even went to Marysville and so it took 2 hours and more to get to Woodland.   Bunch of red faces.
But, food will solve all conditions, and the group descended on Ludy’s BBQ in Woodland for dinner.   Ribs and Tri-tip all around for the Model A Food Club!!!


Apparently someone told the staff that it was Patti’s birthday and a birthday cake appeared.

Total surprise!!!!

We are stuffed and ready for bed..      ZZZZZZZZZ……
Okay, I looked up the missed turn on Google street view and here is the sign that everybody missed.

Only Kelly saw it and made the turn.  

CHASING FALL LEAVES TO LASSEN – Day 3

Started the day off with a big buffet breakfast at the St. Bernard Lodge.   The Model A Food Club is now in session.

Guess where we are?

 

8100 feet and climbing,,,,,,,

Lizanne hanging on the downhill side of the truck to get a winding road video, holy jumping catfish!!

The intrepid hiking group to Bumpass Hell,,,,,

Mary rescuing the Ipad after Bob climbed out on this point of rocks……

This then required that Bob and Bill also climb out on a point,,,,,,    “Don’t look down!!!!”

All these folks made it all the way to Bumpass Hell,  now the hell part is climbing back up this mountain to the road at 8000+ feet.   They ain’t enough of the oxygen molecules available here.

Could not pass up the Lava Tube, I think this is the same one we explored when our kids were little and we squeezed past the fence into the forbidden part and discovered that it was starting to descend down at a rather steep angle.  Anyway, we all took our flashlights and tried the tube.  You know it’s real black when you turn them all off.

Finished the day off at Burney Falls, some folks kept the doggies company at the top,,,,,

and some hiked to the bottom,,,,,  Falls were beautiful and no lack of water.

 

Goodnight,  more tomorrow.

CHASING FALL LEAVES TO LASSEN – Day 2

Early departure, darn cold.   Little morning inspection turned up a loose fan on Mark’s car.

While this was going on, the ladies were feeling a little frisky.

First stop at Inspiration Point.

 

Struck out on the Tahoe Maritime Museum, and moved on to the Fanny Bridge (Lake Tahoe outlet), captured a few fannies.

And this is what they were looking at,,,,,

Stopped at the old train station in Truckee,,,,, Loved it when a real train came by close up.

On to the Nakoma for lunch,,,,  If you are in the area, don’t miss it. Frank Lloyd Wright design.

Teepee motif inside,,,,

Model A Food Club in session,,,,

This view of tomorrow’s destination coming into Chester,,,,    Mt. Lassen

Just happened to hit this event.

For a donation, you got a beer glass and could go on the beer walk, up and down the street, sampling different beers at different establishments.  Live music included!!!!

The three beer samplers,,,,,,

At one of the establishments there was a yodeling contest, we did auditions among ourselves and decided we needed to enter Jill, but she did not make it into the lineup in time, and was much relieved!       Tomorrow, Lassen Park.

CHASING FALL LEAVES TO LASSEN – Day 1

Come on guys, let’s go!!!

We liked Chuck’s little bumper sticker.l

Milpitas to Livermore to Stockton to Jackson to South Lake Tahoe.  19 Model A’s, 5 moderns with 48 people and 4 dogs at the start.  At the end of the day we now have 18 Model A’s and 6 moderns.  And how did that happen?  Rodger’s A decided it did not want to climb the mountains, not sure whether it is a head gasket or ?  Anyway, went home on the big yellow truck and retrieved a modern car and will catch up late tonight.  Did have one other non-fatal casualty, Chuck C threw a fan blade.

That is the bad news, the good news is that it did not touch anything on the way out and Chuck had a spare.  Other minor stuff, 680 is so damn bumpy, that Ray’s fuse departed the fuse holder,  Mark C doing a little overheating on the steep parts, maybe we should keep track of the gallons.

Our route was mostly back roads, and the drive up route 88 was quite enjoyable, especially as we began to see some fall color.   

We have a little game going, where the ladies are looking to see how many wildlife they can spot and who can spot the weirdest sign.   The men just get to drive, “keep your eyes on the road!” 

Got a partial group picture at Carson Pass,,,,,,,

And at the Bear River Overlook, we met up with John and Judy Guzzetta and 5 cars from the Sonora A’s.   And here in Tahoe, John and Nancy Jorgensen drove up from Reno to have dinner with the group. 

Tomorrow, more leaves,  stay tuned.

CHASING FALL LEAVES TO LASSEN

October 10 – 14, 2014

Tomorrow morning, we are off to the Sierras in search of Fall Color.   We will be tracking CA Hwy 89 from Hope Valley thru Lake Tahoe and on to Lassen National Park and Burney Falls.   It will be a 5 day trip, we have 24 Model A people signed up, weather is looking good, there are reports that the Fall colors are developing nicely.   Stay tuned.