I normally drive to Humboldt Bay via Highway 20 and 101 in Northern California. I decided to try I-5 to Highway 299 to stop at a pottery store in Weaverville in search of a ceramic pie plate to replace the 37 year old plate that developed a crack after much use.
It’s been over 20 years since I spent significant time in Weaverville. I’ve been to the Joss House and to other historic landmarks on previous visits. This time I had Lulu the adventure dog and I was looking for a pie plate at Olson’s Pottery and outdoor dining for lunch with Lulu. It was way too hot to leave her in the car plus she’d been cooped up just as long as I had!
We did not find a pie plate, but we did find a delightful western main street with well marked crosswalks and a super yarn shop. We ate a delicious and fresh lunch at La Casita Mexican Food. Lulu was welcome to join me on their back patio dining area.
It is about 30 minutes faster to go this route, but there has been a lot of roadwork in the last few years. There still was between Weaverville and Blue Lake (about 30 minutes worth); however, CalTrans is doing a great job of ironing out some of the windy bits and it is a much more pleasant drive now. Once they are done with the project it may be much faster, especially as you can drive (over) 70 mph on I-5.
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