Saturday 21 November 2009

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Awake: 7:14am Temp 33 sleep 6+58 mostly sunny overnight @ Redding, CA.

So many campgrounds don't allow self washing of the RV's, but the owner of this campground, Ron, said: "it's alright if you use a controlled spray & don't get water on the nearby neighbor's rigs."

So after breakfast, even though the temp was cool, I started washing, rinsing & using the squeegee @ 10:00am.

Kathy was doing (2) loads of laundry inside; about (1) hr later, she came out & we worked together to finish the job in about (3) hrs total. With all the heavy rain up in Everett, Woodland, & some in Silverton, our roof needed no cleaning what-so-ever; that saved me an hr or more right there.

Next, with Mother Nature providing sunshine & calm winds, we cut each others hair. I was happy to get a gentleman's trim again.

Using the Suzuki & our GPS, we found our way to St Joseph Catholic church in Redding & attended the 5:30 pm vigil Mass.

Afterward, Kathy talked me into visiting the "Sundial Bridge" about (5) miles from the church. Our GPS had some difficulty getting us there, probably due to the road changes made recently, but with luck, we found it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The Sundial Bridge is a cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge for bicycles and pedestrians that spans the Sacramento River in Redding, CA. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2004 at a cost of US$ 23,500,000."

"Similar to Calatreva's earlier designs of the Puente del Alamillo in Seville, Spain (1992) and the Puente de la Mujer in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This type of bridge does not balance the forces by using a symmetrical arrangement of cable forces on each side of its support tower; instead, it uses a cantilever tower, set at a 42-degree angle and loaded by cable stays on only one side. This requires that the spar resist bending and torsional forces and that its foundation resists overturning. The bridge is 700 feet (213 m) in length and crosses the river without touching the water."

"The cable for the bridge totals 4,342 feet and was made in England. The dial of the sundial and a small plaza beneath the support tower are decorated with broken white tile from Spain. The bridge's deck is surfaced with translucent structural glass from Quebec, which is illuminated from beneath and glows aquamarine at night. The steel support structure of the bridge was made in Vancouver, Washington and transported in 40-foot sections by truck to Redding."

According to the local news literature, this bridge has put Redding, CA on the map. It was challenging trying to take a respectable photo of this masterpiece in the dark, but after several tries, this is what we were looking at. However, Google can really educate you a lot more.
DSC07924.JPG
We walked over the bridge, noting that the huge support cables were of different diameters & the lowest one vibrated the most.

Dinner: hamburger topped with shallot & chive Boursin cheese & acorn squash.

Evening movie: "GoodFellas" with Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Franki Sivero, etc. A boy grows up in an Italian-American neighborhood of Brooklyn and dreams of becoming part of the Mob. Fascinating look at the allure.....& the reality...of day-to-day life in a Mafia family, based on experiences of Henry Hill (Liotta), who wound up in the Federal witness protection program. 1990. Based on a true story, this movie mesmerized us; Kathy didn't even consider closing (1) eye. Not recommended for children.

Lights out: 12:47am.

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This page contains a single entry by George Monte Kirsch published on November 24, 2009 1:44 AM.

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