We set the alarm clock pretty early this morning because we wanted to be on our way to Sacramento to visit our friends Hal and Maria.  Yesterday there had been a pop up fire right off of I-5 in Northern California and they closed the interstate.  The news footage looked very scary with people abandoning their vehicles and running for safety.  A few semi trucks burned to the ground! Very sad.  We heard on the news they were detouring traffic and we didn’t know if that would still be the case today.  Why yes, yes it is.  We drove to Yreka and stopped for a delicious breakfast at another really good local restaurant called Poor George’s.  I had a waffle but David had the best artichoke and Swiss cheese omelet!  At the restaurant we talked to a couple who had to take the detour coming North and they said it was a pretty drive but bumper to bumper traffic and lots of trucks.  They were pulling a 5th wheel travel trailer and when they were ready to stop for the night, all the trailer parking was full.  The local casino set up an area in their parking lot for the trailers who could not find anywhere else to park.  Aren’t they nice and I wonder how many people went into the casino to gamble when they had no where else to go???  Smart marketing for sure!

It wasn’t far from Yreka when we took the detour and we are still on it at 4:07 p.m.!  Yes, it’s a pretty drive, but I don’t think we are going to get to our friends’ house for the planned 5:45 p.m. dinner.  We haven’t even made it to Redding and I think it’s about a two and a half hour drive from there on I-5.  And is I-5 going to be bumper to bumper traffic too?

Update:  my sister just texted me about another fire in the area.  I just looked online and it appears that the very route we drove on I-5 — Ashland, OR to Yreka, CA this morning — is now closed.

No, we did not make it to dinner with Hal and Maria.  We stopped in Williams, CA for a quick dinner and then continued on our way. Look at this beautiful sunset from the restaurant parking lot.

Around 9:00 p.m. we finally rolled into Hal and Maria’s driveway.  Hal was standing outside probably wondering where in the hell we were!  But it was great to see them and we arrived safe and sound so that’s all that matters.  We visited for awhile, met their two cute puppies, caught up on all of our lives and climbed into bed.