North to Oregon

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  Roseburg, Oregon
Thursday, August 28, 2008

Today the plan is to travel to southern Oregon.  After taking advantage of some more of Tom and Lisa's graciousness and hospitality in the morning I leave Cool and put about 400 miles on the bike over mostly freeway miles.  Passing through Chico (again) I note that all my sweat glands seem to be in good working order.  It's 111 degrees F!  Whew!!  I'm very grateful to start up into the mountains, traveling past Mt. Lassen, a dormant volcano, which is now a national park and looks a lot closer than it really is due to its size, and through the forested Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity Recreation Area.  Those are actually three separate lakes with surrounding recreation areas and I pass through the Shasta Lake area.
 
Not much farther north and I cross the border into Oregon.  Initially it's still mountainous but the landscape soon levels out and I'm passing through lush farmland.  One of the joys of riding a motorcycle is the fact that you're much more a part of your environment instead of passing through it in an insulated bubble.  The varying smells of forest and field add to the enjoyment of the ride.  Soon I'm exiting the freeway at Roseburg, winding my way through town and following a road that parallels a stream to my cousins Larry and Marie who live on the top of a hill outside town.
 
Their home is a real getaway and you start to get that feeling just driving up their driveway through the tunnel of over-hanging tree branches.  I'm not sure how much land they have but it's several acres a good part of which is forested.  Larry and Marie and their three kids are open, loving and generous and seem to enjoy the steady stream of friends and relatives that take advantage of their idyllic home and their gracious hospitality.

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