16-19APR10 - Various, CA & Bend, OR

Friday, 16APR, we departed Laughlin, NV, enroute Seattle, WA. We have decided to drive pretty much straight thru because Dan has job for LSU/NCBRT 26APR, in NJ. Getting to Seattle will allow us to check on our property, & Dan to fly out of Seattle, while Corrie has a place to stay she knows & is comfortable with. That night we made it to Mojave, CA. Other than California Poppies (as opposed to Mexican Poppies) being in full bloom, there was nothing else of note on our drive thru the Mojave Desert.

Saturday we make it to Patterson, CA. While driving on north on US 99 we stopped at Bravo Farms Cheese Factory, where we stopped previously almost one year ago. Once again we bought some cheese, along with jalapeño olives, & shared a great tri-tip BBQ sandwich.

http://www.bravofarms.com/

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2009/04/07-10apr09-coarsegold-ca-via.html

Sunday we hit the road early so we could make it to Redding, CA, arriving right after lunch & have some time to sightsee & relax. After setting up camp we headed to Damburger where Corrie had a damburger & Dan had a damthing. Why Damburger? Because back in 1938 when the Shasta dam was being built, an 18 year old Bud Pennington sold burgers (hence the name damburgers) from a tent to the construction workers. For a quarter you got a damburger, pie & coffee. Their burgers are different in that they squish them almost flat & crisp both sides. Very good! If you don’t like them crisp, order the Helen burger.

After a little rest back at the RV we headed to the sundial bridge. The bridge has a glass deck you walk on & the main support tower supposedly tells the time during the summer solstice. The bridge is now the center piece of a giant river park called Turtle Bay Exploration Park; that includes an arboretum, museum, trails & bike paths.

http://www.turtlebay.org/sundialbridge

Monday, 19APR, we drove into Oregon to spend the night in Bend before our final days drive into Washington. Bend, OR, used to be a small farming community, but now appears to be full of young professionals. At least that is our guess, since the first things we saw on the main road into town was Mercedes dealership, Porsche/Audi dealership, & BMW dealership, & not one tractor dealership. This was confirmed when we walked around town and found a restored shopping district full of boutiques, & dotted with parks & walking trails. Tomorrow, onward to Washington.