Friday, March 06, 2009

January Swaps with March

My previous post had some pics along the stretch of Highway 299 from Redding to Eureka. I repeated the trip a few days ago. Since we sometimes fly in and out of ports, we offshore helicopter pilots are now required to carry a Transportation Worker Indentification Credential, a "TWIC card." It requires not one, but two trips to the closest TWIC office to complete the process. The second trip is required to actually pick up the card; the feds won't mail it. Thus, 135 bucks, 640 miles of driving, and I now have a federal I.D. card, issued by the TSA, that according to the TSA, cannot be used as as a means of identification when going through TSA-staffed airport security. Did you get that? Ah yes, our tax dollars at work.

Enough of that. I took a few pics again while driving 299. When I drove to Eureka in late January, conditions were spring-like, with snow only seen on the tops of peaks. It was a little different this time.



Here's a shot taken from a vista point in late January.





The same vista point in early March. It's common to see such a scene from here in January, but not so much in March.





The ghost town of Helena, California. It's only 1/4 mile off off 299. According to this web page, Helena was settled around 1849 by French-Canadian prospectors from Oregon. The community, at its peak, had many acres of orchards, two hotels, a butcher shop, a brewery, a blacksmith, and a sawmill.



The butcher shop, maybe?





I saw a lot of snow during my trip, but I didn't have to drive through any until almost home. Here, I'm on the section of 299 passing by Whiskeytown Lake. Snow here in March is really unusual.

11 comments:

Pam said...

Love the photos! Also love the name "Whiskeytown".

My shot at snow this year is history. I got nil, nada, zilch! *sigh*

It was 84 yesterday; today it's 78.

I guess Spring has sprung here in the Dallas area.

Yeah, don't even get me started on our tax dollars being wasted. Government rhyme or reason remains an enigma to me.

Mary O. Paddock said...

Beautiful pictures of the old ghost town. So many untold stories there. I'm glad that the powers that be left them in place.

Donna said...

Hal, I love how you find interesting in a long boring drive! Great photos! Crazy weather for a crazy time, eh?

LOVE Whiskeytown!

Explain to me again about the TWIC card ... on second thought...

Debby said...

I'm assuming the TWIC makes sense to somebody?

Debby said...

Oh, beautiful pictures by the way. I love the ghost town shots.

Bob said...

Great photos and narrative. I love those buildings.

We had an unlikely snowstorm to usher in March here in TN, what I hope is the end of an unusually cold winter for us.

Kelly said...

I loved the photos of Whiskeytown. Bet it was quite a spot in its day!!

Interesting before and after shot, too. Weird weather!

An Unlikely Retirement said...

It just seems weird to me that they have a TSA office in Eureka, of all places. Beautiful pictures...I think we'll be visiting Helena! I'd never heard of it. Thanks.

Algernon said...

I love roads like these -- I would seek them out when doing my coast-to-coast drives. I miss that.

Hal Johnson said...

One of my all time favorite drives is old U.S. 60 through New Mexico and Arizona. I haven't driven it since the '80's, but I'd imagine not much has changed.

MarionL said...

Wow, those are amazing photos and breathtaking landscapes! You really have a gift for "seeing". Thanks for sharing!