The day started out with me getting information that I was taking Peg out for breakfast. It seemed an excellent plan so we hopped into Charlotte and drove south into Redding. On the internet we had found a place called Lumberjacks that seemed to be the type of joint we were looking for.
I found an item on the menu called an Extreme Breakfast and ordered one. Peg chose the Reuben. The Extreme Breakfast turned out to be no idle boast; a couple eggs, hash browns, two slices of French toast, four tubby sausages, four slices of thick bacon and about a half pound of ham. I believe it is the most massive breakfast I have ever been served and, like a crazed hog, I threw it all down the grocery hole although progress towards the end was pretty slow. Peggy’s Reuben turned out to be something other than advertised, possibly containing roast beef. My breakfast, on the other hand, was great although it should surely be branded as heart death.
After my turn at the trough, we took off for some aimless exploring. We drove by Shasta Dam and the now-full Lake Shasta trapped behind it. We have passed up and down I-5 by Lake Shasta many times over the last 40 years and, as far as I can recall, this is the first time the Lake was full. We found a nice spot south of the dam where we could check out the Dam, the Lake and Mount Shasta, a massive volcano, on the horizon. On the way down from our viewpoint, we got a glimpse of Mount Lassen, another massive volcano, to the east. The spectacular clear skies helped us enjoy the views of distant stuff.
We found our way to CA-299, California’s version of the Highway of Death. The road runs from Redding to Eureka on the coast. The western half of the road is famous for spectacular car and truck wrecks so we stayed on the east end, traveling only as far as Tower House near Lake Whiskeytown. A guy named Tower built a road and toll bridge and some lodging structures here back in the 19th century. He was also mining for gold and he and his relatives did well with the gold, bridge tolls and rooms for travelers. Unfortunately for him, he croaked when he got typhoid fever while visiting San Francisco. His sister, who had come from back east to help her brother, had married Tower’s partner named Camden and together they built a gorgeous house and made additional site improvements after Levi Tower had his Frisco vacation derailed. By 1900, the family had moved south to Oakland for winters returning in summers. In the 1920s, the hotel burned down.
Lake Whiskeytown is pretty, the terrain is gorgeous and, since this area is a National Park, there is a good chance it won’t get turned into a fetid stinkhole surrounded by condominiums. We are glad we took a spin through this area today.
We took a few photos you can see if you click here