California

Got a great night's sleep last night at the motel. Everything was cool except for one point where we had some pranksters knocking on our door and then running away when Mike answered. We also found this weird book in the nightstand...

...hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come. :/

Anyway, Mike took the opportunity to shave one last time and then we hit the road again.

I like him with the beard better, but he always insists on starting these hikes with a "fresh face", so I guess I'll let it slide!

Afterwards we packed up and hit the road again. We were excited by the fact that we would finally make it to California today where we'll be spending the next couple of months as we make our way home. 

The weather was crazy during the drive today with periods of rain in southern Oregon, getting heavier as we neared the border. We were surprised by how similar a lot of the landscape in southern Oregon was to places in western NC and SW Virginia with the small but prominent forested mountains and verdant valleys. The one noticeable difference though was that all the trees were draped in whitish/green moss.

Pretty much immediately after we crossed into California we noticed the difference in terrain. The landscape became more shrubby and arid.

We drove through more extreme weather going through the passes where we encountered hail a few times and some light snow flurries as well. None of it lasted very long which we were very glad about. The weather may not have been ideal but it did make for dramatic photos:

We'll have to be sure to save some photos for the actual trip, lol.

A highlight of the drive today was driving by Mount Shasta. It was huge. Living in the PNW surrounded by volcanoes, it made us feel more at home in this increasingly foreign landscape. We're definitely looking forward to getting a longer look as we walk past it on our way back.

We've stopped for the night in a motel in West Sacramento and we're about to be total weirdos making soup on a canister stove outside our hotel room. Hey, it's filling and cheap, what can I say.

Until tomorrow!