Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Traveling

As I headed north on Interstate 5 from the SF Bay area it seemed different then any other year I had done this. Farmland didn't look right even the wild oats along the way looked short and too dry and stunted from the drought. Fruit trees looked very unhappy without enough water and I wondered how many of them would still be alive next year this time including almonds and olive trees alongside of interstate 5. I noticed that it was starting to get a little smoky as I neared Red Bluff and Redding in the distance to the North. I saw a map online tonight after I stopped for the night and there are fires in both Oregon and Washington along both sides of Interstate 5. I came through a year or more ago through Grants Pass and Medford and the smoke was so thick I couldn't afford to even stop the car and I had to leave the recirculation button on for about 200 miles so we weren't coughing the whole way from the smoke. Finally then, by Ashland I could open a window and breath regular air again without problems. I felt very sorry for any people or animals in that 200 miles stretch then.

I might be in for this tomorrow again this year.

Also, Shasta Dam and the Sacramento River are lower than I have ever seen in my lifetime which means since I was 5 in 1953.

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