Day 22 - Redding, CA

This morning after breakfast, we walked down to the Sundial Bridge which crosses the Sacramento River. I had stopped here earlier when on a trip with my sister and her family. Returning from Sacramento, I believe. This place is the biggest tourist attraction in Redding, CA, and it is a pretty cool structure.

It is a cantilever spar cable stay bridge and was completed in 2004. The glass and metal bridge decking is only for pedestrians and bicycles but I imagine that it would be pretty slippery when wet. We noticed that some people were carrying their dogs across as the surface was pretty hot by the middle of the afternoon. The glass decking was frosted not clear and there was a strip of granite where the cables passed through to support the bridge.

This is just looking up the spar which serves as the sundial post. It turned out to be a beautiful day to be outside. Not too hot until mid-afternoon.

This picture was taken at 1:57pm PDT and the stone marker is at the 2:00pm position. The sign in the museum said that the time is only accurate on the Summer Solstice and at this point, it appears to be about 5 minutes fast.

The bridge site also has a small museum highlighting the fauna of the area and the history. Such as almost all of the aggregate for the construction of the Shasta dam came from this area. Geologists at the time said that it was "perfect" for building a dam. We also saw a live animal show but from where we were seated (in the shade!) picture taking opportunities were limited.

There was a butterfly enclosure that you can walk through and it was pretty cool but pales in comparison to the one in Singapore.

The last part of the Turtle Bay Exploration Park was the McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. By the time we started to walk through, it was around 86°F and the sun made walking feel pretty tiring. Bridget called an Uber to take us back to the RV park. Plus the dogs were probably getting pretty tired of waiting for Bridget to get back. We left the air conditioner running in the RV so they wouldn't get too hot and had them in their kennels to insure that they didn't bark. 

I stopped in the office to pay for another four nights.