The next stretch of I-5 is the funnest one for me to drive. The freeway threads it's way downhill through Dunsmuir to arrive at Lake Shasta. The road surface is fairly smooth with great traction. The corners are slightly banked and Cal-Trans has left plenty of "margin" on both sides.
Butters makes me feel like a driving super-hero. The little rear engined car grips the road as tenaciously as Rosie O'Donnell holds a cheese cake. I gotta say, when German engineers get it right, it's right the way nothing else in the world will ever be. Other people can have their new cars because a 911 is what perfect feels like to me.
Redding comes and goes. The drone begins. My favorite stop is Corning, CA at the Olive pit. I always buy olives and olive oil here. Most of the stuff is grown locally, even processed locally. Tastes great! Plus they have free samples of their more exotic olives. They vary from fabulous (mexican) to "aquired taste" (beer olives). There's usually a few local vendors selling fresh fruit, but clearly it's a bit early in the year for this.
Well, at this point, it's time to start making time. Traffic speed begins to pick up and I blend along as the miles roll away. Steve put a stereo in Butters a couple of months ago. The car had some weird old cassette player in it but now has a decent little CD player. I've got a nice eclectic group of music. Lynard Skynard, Alice in Chains, Neil Diamond, Juice Newton, 38 Special. Whatever flipped my switch on the way out the door this morning. Now that I think about it though, some would say I should be committed for that particular grouping...
I openly despise the section of I-5 between Stockton and Lebec (just north of the LA basin) and that part is next...