Shasta

This sundial casts a LARGE shadow

The surface of the "Sundial Bridge" is thick glass

Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, Mount Shasta (the snow covered one).............this hasta be Shasta

Small and medium sized towns and cities in the US seem to have access to many more infrastructure dollars than do their Canadian cousins. We are now in the small northern California city of Redding, in the shadow of Mount Shasta and the Cascade Mountains, in California’s Central Valley. This city of 90,000 souls has wonderful parks, trails, gardens, fountains, museums and, a huge modern conference and arts centre. We saw the Harlem Gospel Choir there last night. A wonderful show in a great venue! It seems they always have great entertainment available.

One bridge over the Sacramento River is a pedestrian suspension bridge designed as a working sundial. The sundial arm is so tall it has aircraft collision avoidance lighting on its top. A LARGE artwork!!

All of this pales as you drive out into the mountains. We motored out to Shasta Dam, the second largest dam in the US. (We drove right by #1 without stopping – the Hoover Dam near Las Vegas). Even at #2, there are 6,270,000 cu. yd. of concrete in the dam, enough to build a 4 foot wide sidewalk around the equator!! The surrounding mountain countryside offers picture-taking vistas everywhere you turn. We’re almost in Oregon.