travel

Freeways, highways, and other roads as we move the coach from one site to another. Plus cat pics.

Travel from Dunlap to Acton, California

We drove our coach 223 miles, about five hours of driving, from Dunlap, California to Acton, California.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map:

I discovered lots of ants coming up the Starlink cable when packing it up; we were happy to be leaving the invasive ants behind:

Ants

Curvy road:

Curvy road

Cutler water tower:

Cutler water tower

Rest area:

Rest area

Road disappearing into the distance:

Road disappearing into the distance

Pipes and vines:

Pipes and vines

I-5 freeway heading into the hills:

Freeway heading into the hills

There were occasional water signs, for water dispensers for car radiators; hadn’t seen that elsewhere:

Water

Another rest area:

Rest area

Lake Hughes; a rare full lake in California:

Lake Hughes

5% grade:

5% grade

Six Flags:

Six Flags

Overpass from I-5 to CA-14:

Overpass from I-5 to CA-14

Tunnel on Soledad Canyon Road:

Tunnel on Soledad Canyon Road

Tunnel on Soledad Canyon Road

Our destination:

Our destination

Check in area:

Check in area

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on the dash

Thousand Trails is first-come-first-seved, so we drove around a bit to find a site, and lucked into an excellent one:

Our site

Travel from Groveland to Dunlap, California

We drove our coach 169 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Groveland to Dunlap, California.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map:

Hills:

Hills

A narrow curvy road; not preferred, but the best route (and it was RV-safe):

Narrow road

Narrow road

Coulterville, a fairly cute little town:

Coulterville

Narrow road

No rest areas, so a brief stop on side of the road, along with a couple of trailers:

Stop on side of the road

Mammoths on a bridge over CA-99, apparently in honor of Columbian Mammoths at the Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County:

Mammoths on a bridge over CA-99

A soft sand parking spot at a TA truck stop:

Sandy lunch stop at TA

Food court at the TA; we had Fatburger for lunch:

Food court; we had Fatburger for lunch

Hills:

Hills

Hills

Hills

Hills

Our destination:

Our destination

Travel from Manteca to Groveland, California

We drove our coach 95 miles, about two hours of driving, from Manteca, California to Groveland, California.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:

Route map

An interactive map:

Thank you for visiting:

Thank you for visiting

Lots of low trees scraped our roof:

Low trees

Narrow road and roadworks:

Narrow road and roadworks

Milk plant:

Milk plant

Oakdale:

Oakdale

CA-120 East:

CA-120 East

Yosemite reservations required weekends:

Yosemite reservations required weekends

CA-120 East

Don Pedro Lake:

Don Pedro Lake

Pipes:

Pipes

Curvy highway (check out the video for this journey with a picture-in-picture of this part):

Curvy highway

Curvy highway

Groveland:

Groveland

Thousand Trails gas station:

Thousand Trails gas station

Campground office:

Office

The site we chose:

Our site

Travel from Red Bluff to Manteca, California

We drove our coach 194 miles, about four hours of driving, from Red Bluff, California to Manteca, California.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Route map

An interactive map:

Rice field:

Rice field

Rest area:

Rest area

U-Haul towing a U-Haul:

U-Haul towing a U-Haul

Yolo:

Yolo

Another rice field:

Rest area

Bridge over rice field

Rest area:

Rest area

Paladin sat on the dash for a minute:

Paladin on the dash

Sacramento:

Sacramento

Lots of tomatoes on the side of the road:

Lots of tomatoes on the side of the road

From trucks like this:

From trucks like this

Sharp curve:

Sharp curve

Roadworks; what kind of crazy road designers would make such narrow main roads? No room for bike lanes or expansion:

Roadworks

Lots of low trees scraped our roof:

Low trees

Arriving at Thousand Trails Turtle Beach:

Thousand Trails Turtle Beach

Info sign, with arrival packets; someone came along and told us an available site, too:

Info sign

Our site:

Our site

Travel from Ashland, Oregon to Red Bluff, California

We drove our coach 165 miles, about four hours of driving, from Ashland, Oregon to Red Bluff, California.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Route map

An interactive map:

Goodbye super-low Emigrant Lake:

Emigrant Lake

Joining I-5, with lots of wildfire smoke:

Joining I-5

“Long steep downgrade ahead”:

Long steep downgrade ahead

“Siskiyou Mountain Summit elevation 4,310 feet, highest elevation on I-5”:

Siskiyou Mountain Summit elevation 4,310 feet, highest elevation on I-5

“Oregon thanks you, come back soon”:

Oregon thanks you, come back soon

“Welcome to California”:

Wlecome to California

A glimpse of Mount Shasta in the background:

Mount Shasta view

Agricultural inspection station, unstaffed when we went through:

Agricultural inspection station

Mount Shasta view:

Mount Shasta view

Mount Shasta view

Rest area with RV parking:

Rest area with RV parking

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Shasta Lake:

Shasta Lake

Shasta Lake

For comparison, a view of the lake when we last went past here in 2021, quite a lot lower:

Low water level

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

The pump said “Dispenser Reserved”, so should have been blocked off; we had to pull around to another pump:

Dispenser Reserved

Our destination:

Our destination

Our destination

Our site:

Our site