Monday, May 4, 2009

IT'S RAINING...IT'S POURING...



Okay, so Auckland NZ isn’t the only place to get rain! We arrived in Sacramento – actually – Elk Grove - -on Friday to heavy rain which continued most of the weekend. Staying with a cousin who married here 27 years ago, but he still sounds pretty much like a Kiwi. It was great staying with an American family, getting to see how others live here, and really you know, we’re no different. We work hard, want the best for our kids etc.
You know this travelling is hard work and so Sunday with continual rain we found ourselves relaxing which was really nice. Another thing that was good was not having to do the driving or navigating for a day! My nerves got a rest!
But the girls did go shopping again. The economy is really telling. Sales everywhere with discounts up to 70 and 80% in some cases. So good for us Kiwi’s with our rotten exchange rate (US readers 1US$ costs us $2NZ and hit the pocket hard!) But heck what are holidays for?
We took the relations out to dinner at a family restaurant, great food, lots of it and cheap. So happy campers all around after dinner.
Then i had my first experience of hearing frogs in the neighbour’s pool. Very loud! Didn’t get to see my first frog though.
Today (Monday 4th) we drove from Sacramento north with the aim of ending up the night at Grant’s Pass, Oregon but rain set in just before the Shasta Trinity National Forrest. Great highway, but a winding road and terrible rain. The cars didn’t seem to mind and raced passed us, over the speed limit. Scared the heck out of me. What we did notice was the change in landscape again. The mountains of course were beautiful with redwoods towering skyward, and Shasta Lake where there is a dam also. We stopped to take pics, the soil quite red/coppery. It was also REALLY cold. When we got back in the car, the temp gauge said 39deg F which for this Kiwi is chilly!
After passing through the mountains the landscape was quite barren again (kiwi readers, think of the Desert Road/National Park area) and there were visible signs of forrest fires in the past/trees blackened etc.. But today no fire would stand a chance the rain so heavy. In fact we decided to stop earlier than planned and are holed up in a motel at Yreka (Pronounced Why Reeka) which is in northern California.
They tell us the rain is badly needed and should be falling all week – oh joy!
Anyway, all is well, we’re having fun, fed well, sleeping well, and the girls loving the shopping!

Happy days everyone
Jane Beckenham
http://www.janebeckenham.com/

2 comments:

  1. I love seeing your trip through your eyes. Thanks so much for documenting it. I'm really enjoying keeping tabs on you.:-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Debra.
    In Coos Bay, Oregon today. A lovely drive through Redwoods and mountains, along the coast where islands bulged out of the ocean right next to the freeway, the fog and sea haze wiping out everything for miles, only to deliver sun as we arrived here in Coos Bay. A great day.
    Jane

    ReplyDelete