You can't always get want you want......

 8:01 am - Saturday - June 3rd - LPG&RVR - 56° F, humidity 56%, wind 0 mph out of the north......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 80° F.  On this date in 2012, our first year on the road, we were riding our bikes near Spokane Falls in Spokane, WA.....↴

"You can't always get what you want".....Rolling Stones

Just before we left Thursday afternoon to drive the first leg of our trip back to Redding I got a call from A-1 Smog in Redding advising they had finally found the correct hose which connects the airbox with the smog pump, but it would not be in until noon time (via UPS).  We had reservations again at Shasta Pines Motel in Burney, and it was too late to cancel them, so we left anyway at 4:15 pm for our drive to Burney, and arrived there safely as I reported in yesterday's missive.  Our original plan, had the hose arrived before Friday, was to leave Burney at the crack of dawn Friday to be at A-1 Smog by 7 am, their opening time, get the emissions stuff installed by 8 am, get our smog certificate, and be back on our way home shortly thereafter, but you don't always get what you want, according to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but sometimes you get what you need.

That's the hose A-1 had a hard time finding, but finally did after I sent them this picture

Since we didn't need to be at A-1 by 7 am we slept in Friday morning until 7 am, had a leisurely cup of coffee, got dressed, and drove back 4 miles on Highway 299 to where it intersects with Highway 89, then another 6 miles to Burney Falls State Park to see Burney Falls.  We arrived there around 8:30 am, paid $10 to enter the park, found a parking spot, then walked down a short hill (lots of steps) to view the waterfall.....

See how long my hair was?  Check out the 'usie' down below

....we spent about 30 minutes enjoying the falls, which were flowing at maximum due to the heavy snowpack melt going on right now.  We've wanted to stop here for years, but it is about 20 miles out of the way, so we never did until Friday.....sometimes you get what you need.

We left the falls around 9:15 am thinking we would be in Redding just after 1o am, but two long construction zones undid those plans.  Our plan had been to be in Redding around 10 am to get our shopping out of the way before we arrived at A-1 at noon.  We didn't hit Redding until after 11 am, but we still wanted to get our shopping done.  Our first order of business was to stop at Trader Joe's to retrieve our $120 bag of scotch and vodka we left in the shopping basket the week before, then it was over to the local Supercuts where I got a haircut whilst TLE did her grocery shopping at the Safeway across the parking lot.  We both got done at the same time!

Next up was a stop at COSTCO to fill our now depleted gas tank at $4.13/gallon for premium.....the best we've paid in California in a while!  On a side note, ever since I replaced the four ignition coils, and 4 spark plugs in the VW the mileage has increased.  We used to average around 27 mpg on the highway, but now we're getting over 31 mpg consistently...even in the mountainous terrain which separates Alturas from Redding.  TLE needed to exchange some clothing she had bought at COSTCO the week before, so we took care of that next.  By the time we were back in the car it was 12:15 pm, and we were already late for A-1.  We arrived there at 12:25 pm, gave our keys to Sarah, one of the front desk ladies, and took our seats in the waiting room.....

Check out that haircut....much better!

.....TLE always has a ready smile....me, not so much....lol.  I was really happy we were there, and our car was being fixed, but I guess my face did not show it....lol.  Gabe said the work would take about an hour, and once the new emissions stuff was installed they would retest the car, and we would be on our way home......providing it passed.  Well, a few minutes after taking this 'usie' we got the news the car did PASS!  We paid our bill, and were on our way home by 1:30 pm....perfect! A big shoutout to the folks at A-1 Smog for getting our car fixed, and our smog certificate......BIG thanks to Brent, Sherry, Sarah, and Gabe for your efforts in making this a successful trip!

We stopped at the local Starbucks to get two Frappuccinos (a vente mocha for moi, and a grandé vanilla bean for TLE) for the drive home.  The total mileage home is about 164 miles.  We knew we had two construction zones to pass through on our return trip, but by the time we got to the second one the workers had quit for the day, so there was no delay!  At about the 105 mile mark we stopped at a burger place in Bieber, CA called Old Mill Grill (5 stars on Yelp on 40 reviews) for a couple of burgers....we hadn't eaten all day, and we were both getting a little peckish, or 'hangry', if you will.  We both ordered their Cross Cut Burger with onion rings....very easy choice when you read the description.....

It is just that tall, and it definitely takes two hands!

.....there are probably 8 tables in the dining room...the ambiance is reminiscent of the long past logging days in Big Valley.....

.....I also had a chocolate milk shake....OMG.  If you ever find yourself in, or near Bieber, CA check this place out....amazing comfort food!

After our hour interlude we continued on our way home, arriving back at LPG&RVR around 6:30 pm.  What a delightful trip, and even though we did not get what we wanted, we got what we needed, including that elusive smog certificate, and a visit to Burney Falls....lol!

Thanks for stopping by!