On our way…finally

May 26, 2025

A late start but we made up time on the open road

OMG! Look at all of these cars trying to leave Napa, just like us!

A late start was a given since our housesitter wasn’t able to arrive until 10:30 am. Then we needed to get gas and the new Costco is right on our way out of town. But who would have thought-Costco was closed for Memorial Day and the gas pumps were cordoned off! Change of plan-we got gas in the industrial park. We could see a huge traffic jam of cars on the adjacent highway heading out of town. Fortuitously we bypassed the jam by going into the industrial park for gas, and then taking the frontage road out beyond the jam. Whew! Thank you Costco for being closed!

Once we turned onto I-80, we could see a column of smoke up ahead. As we got closer it appeared to be coming from Lagoon Valley. As we got really close, we could see the grass fire and deployed firefighters near Cherry Glen Road. But it was a full 90 minutes before my Watch Duty app alerted for the “Cherry” fire. (For those of you that are unfamiliar, Watch Duty is generally a great little app for keeping track of wildfires in your area.)

Coming into Fairfield, the smoke column is visible ahead.

We are almost to Lagoon Valley. The next exit is Cherry Glen Rd. and the fire is just on the other side of this hill. You can see the tiny figures of the firefighters if you look close.

Another view from just past the burning hill.

Once we got past Vacaville, traffic eased up and we made great time. In Williams we stopped for coffee (me), iced tea (Jim) and a snack. The bathroom in this Starbucks was disgusting- the worst I have ever seen in any Starbucks and in almost any place in recent memories. Would not recommend! Gross!

Our worries about Memoral Day traffic were unfounded-we blew through Redding no problem. Our next stop was for gas and was recommended by our hostess in WA from her experience driving between Kitsap and Napa over many years-the”Solar Shell” off Wonderland Blvd north of Redding. Thanks Mary, it was a good stop and their bathroom was 500X cleaner than the Starbuck’s.

The hills north of Redding bear the burn scars of the Carr fire from several years ago. This was a tremendous fire that burned for months. The last time we drove north toward Oregon, we were diverted off I5 to the east because of the Carr fire and the air quality was about the worst I have ever experienced.

Further north we began to see views of Mt. Shasta. The top of the mountain is socked in but its sheer enormity is undeniable. It dwarfs everything else around it!

Jim drives fast and before long we were approaching our destination for tonight - the Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville, OR. This is our first time staying at an Indian Casino. We checked in, took the bikes up to our room on the 3rd floor and found the apparently only luggage cart in the hotel in the hallway right outside our door. So we took it down in the elevator to bring up our luggage. No less than 3 people asked where we got it!

Jim’s bike already has an issue and we haven’t started riding yet. His back tire valve is leaking; the tire was flat when he took it off the rack. After a bit of cursing, he discovered the valve seat was loose so he tightened it up and reinflated the tire so we’ll see if it holds air overnight. Jim is pretty fed up with tubeless tires at this point though.

Jim inflating his tire. I liked the neon accent in the background, this being a casino and all.

We finished up the evening having dinner and drinks with Amber and Rich in one of the 5 restaurants in the casino. The food was good and pretty reasonably priced by today’s standards. We will hit another restaurant for breakfast in the morning prior to driving north to Mary and Sandy’s house.

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