On the Road: Weed (June 2009)

June 9, 2009. Drove north today from Santa Rosa on Highway 505 and then Highway 5, to Weed. Weed, California. Is that a good name for a town? There’s surely a story behind it, but I’ll let you decide. [I enquired: It's a person's name, so, I guess there's not much they can do about it.]

Didn’t see that much along the way, except for good views of Mt. Shasta. Did find two pretty blue-violet penstemons by the roadside--distinct species (See photos. I think the bluer one may be Penstemon heterophyllus). Sulfur buckwheat was blooming in profusion in one area. Found a nice chunk of pumice, along Highway 97. Later, along Highway 161, from 97, north of Dorris, east to the town of Tulelake, we passed the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw many birds.