all what you would expect of California. We had a very chilled day and in the afternoon we drove up a dirt track which climbed fairly high and offered even more stunning views. Later that night we enjoyed another campfire and glass of wine!

We were in two minds whether to stay or move on as the location was so fantastic but then California seemed to offer a never ending flow of beautiful countryside, so we decided to move on and head towards Shasta lake. Shasta lake is one of the most northerly parts of California and had been described as exceptionally beautiful.

We headed off around lunch time and drove through Redding. Whilst we were driving through Redding we saw a temperature panel which said the outside temperature was 118°F. Rob was having none of it, saying that the panel was

wrong and the there was no way it could be that hot! At that point I reminded him that we were actually in an air conditioned car and that he could see for himself in a minute as we needed to stop for petrol. As soon as he opened the car door and stepped outside I heard an ‘oh my god’ and guessed that the temperature panel had been right!!! We had descended from the mountains into Redding, and the altitude had made all the difference!! It has to be said it was stifling and the hottest place we had encountered so far, even hotter than the 3 deserts we had visited along the way! California was in the middle of a very big heat wave, there was no doubt about it! Suddenly the campsites around Shasta Lake that had swimming pools were sounding very attractive! We checked out the campsites on the lake but they were all sold out due to it being full holiday season. So we drove a little bit further away from the lake and found a great campsite with swimming pool! So we spent a very hot afternoon, reading by