Six Lights

That's how many red, yellow, green traffic signals I could count in our whole county of 45,000-plus people (readers, check my math: Mt. Shasta has three and so does Yreka). Some of the other communities have blinking red signals or stop signs but that's my count for the three-color variety.

Which is fun to explain to people from larger areas. Visiting from places with six lane freeways takes some adjusting. Kind of what happens to me when I go to white-knuckles right around where the Nut Tree was (is it still there?) at the juncture of eye 505 and 80 if we're on the way to the Bay. What scenery? I'm scared to look anywhere but at the cars around me.

It's entirely possible that a veteran Highway 80 driver might feel spooky on say our Highway 3 with no traffic to watch. Since our cell phone service is spotty here that may add to the anxiety. Here all you will get is one bar and two lanes.

So enjoy driving again. Dodging a deer (a real issue, actually) may not be as challenging as six lanes at 80 mph but then you won't be wasting gas idling at traffic signals much.