Day 2

Day 1:  drove to Portland, Oregon to visit and stay with my cousin, Kurt Kolkind, his wife Maggie Halvorsen and wonderful daughter, Kate (aka Senora Inez De Suarez, also the topic of her speech for grade 5). We shared a great meal, updated each other on our respective families, and thoroughly enjoyed staying in their superb architecturally designed home with a view of Mount St. Helen.
Day 2:  Today was the second day of our tour on another spectacularly sunny day.  Drove from Portland to Redding, Ca which was enough for both of us, although the drive was easy on dry roads and in sunny conditions.  Counted two dozen fat red-tailed hawks road-side.
It was a day of freebies, starting at Dutch Brothers where as first timers, we were given our lattes free.  A free Coke glass at MacDonald's (guess what you had to buy) and a welcoming gift at The Red Lion Inn--a bottle of water (be still my beating heart).  Marveled at Mount Shasta (see pic below) and are beginning to see a theme in the whole volcano/ geothermal, inside/outside earth thing.  Will pick this up in New Zealand.
Walked into a Mexican restaurant in Redding and had a deja vu experience--remembered being there with Joe and Sam and my parents many years ago on a trip back from California.  Had to be nearly 18 years ago!