June 13: Modesto to Castle Crags State Park
Nothing particularly interesting about heading north on I-5, unless one likes jockeying for position between the slow and fast lanes to get ahead of, or stay out of the way of... so we took some alternate routes.
Thorton Rd out of Stockton offers two lanes through wildlife preserves, vineyards and rice fields. But it was back to 5 at Elk Grove Blvd., through Sacramento. Just north of Sac, you reach a fork in the interstate, where 99 takes you through the old highway style of road travel, slowing down through Yuba City, Live Oak and Gridley and lots of historic stops along the way. The fire burning the hills east of Chico clouded the skies for miles and was still burning as of this writing.
99 merges with 5 in Red Bluff, but the scenery improves as the interstate climbs to 2000 ft at Castle Crags State Park...
Where we secured a campsite on a warm evening with mosquitos waiting in the pines for my arrival. But I did a find a cool little utility knife under the picnic table...
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