I love Redding, California.  I’ve probably spent at least a month or so of my life there, but never for more than 24 hours.  But for some reason I feel comfortable there.  I stop there on every trip to and from LA or Vegas and I get stupidly excited to go there.  I stay at the same Red Lion every time I go there.  They have this great charcoal soap that’s worth whatever the stay costs.  I always go to Cattlemen’s down the street from the hotel for dinner.  It’s a dumb little routine that I absolutely love.

My first stay in Redding I didn’t even see any of it.  It was on a last minute trip to Vegas about 3 weeks after college graduation.  My buddy Ryan and I pulled in at like 2am.  Crashed at the motel 6 and were awake by 7am and it was still kinda dark.  I completely missed seeing Mt. Shasta or Lake Shasta or any of the other beauty of the surrounding area.

Mt Shasta from the passenger seat.  

But on the way back from that trip we stayed in Redding again.  Only this time we played a round of golf in the early morning and I got to see the glory of Mt. Shasta, and even it’s tiny sidekick Little Shastina.  The red clay that surrounds lake Shasta is such an amazing color, especially when the sun illuminates it.  I even pulled over on a bridge just to snap a photo.

Nobody was coming behind me, don’t worry it was safe 🙂

I also always go down to the park area by the Sundial bridge.  A great place to take a walk and look at the beautiful river that goes through town.  Here’s a video of me enjoying a walk on the bridge and eating a bug (fast forward to 4:38)

I’m gonna stay in Redding in a couple weeks when I go back down to Las Vegas and I’m weirdly excited for it as I always am.  It’s one of those strange little traditions we pick up in our lives.