We were up at 6:00 AM. It was another chilly morning. I turned the heat on at 4:30 AM and jumped back in bed. Darlie even admitted she was cold. That coming from the woman who likes ice cubes flying from the air conditioner. I am actually getting used to it. The MH warmed up to 64 and I thought it was quite pleasant. Darlie was cold and kicked the heat on again.
We were on the road by 7:30AM. We were alone on the highway. We poked along looking at the changing scene. We would round a turn and a huge valley meadow would spread out before us. Every possible shade of green was displayed. We scanned the horizon for wildlife. We did see four deer grazing on new tender green shoots.
Many of the older trees have a green lichen growing on them. It covers the branches and the trunk with a crispy spiderweb like appearance. It is a light lime green in color. I will have to ask someone what is is called. It adds a special essence to our surroundings like a doily on a table top.
I have never seen trees on the east coast to compare with the trees here. They are magnificent in stature. The truck is as thick near the top as it is near the bottom. The limbs are comparatively short for the size of the tree. I would assume this is due to the heavy snow load they must bear. I counted the annual rings on a stump next to our site. It had 377 rings. The tree was a seedling when the Mayflower landed. There are other much larger trees standing all around us.
We entered Lassen Volcano National Park from the north entrance. It will be several weeks before the south entrance is open. I am sad I won’t get to drive the 8900 foot pass with its switchbacks and shear drop offs. Seriously, I find it invigorating. All of the volcanic activity is in the south end of the park. The bubbling mudflats and hissing lakes will have to wait for another day.
This trip has not been about where we go or what we see. We are on our own time schedule. We make no reservations but always find places to stay. Each day the Lord leads us to our perfect campground. We have met so many people who are stressed because they have to be here or there because they have reservations. All that stress gives me reservations about making reservations.
This trip is about two people who fell in love many years ago. We raised a large family laying aside time for ourselves when their needs demanded it. We did without many things that would have made our lives easier or more comfortable so resources could be used on the little ones.
Our home was the gathering place for the neighborhood. Some days we had up to twenty children playing in our living room, backyard or driveway. We sang children’s Christian praise songs, played games such as hop scotch and mother may I. We taught Bible lessons and stories and made snacks and treats for all. I was a wonderful time in our lives. Those years flew by. They were a flash in our memories. Young parents, enjoy those years. They pass by very fast though at the time you wonder if they will ever end,.
We have always been involved in working in our church doing our best to serve the Lord and our fellow Christians. There are times we felt we did too much and times we felt we weren’t doing enough. But looking back, we were doing what the Lord set before us that day. We would have done nothing had He not given us the time, strength and the vision.
Between raising children and doing what we felt the Lord would have us do with our lives there is a price that is paid. It is like small change dribbling from a hole in your pocket. You may not notice you are losing it until you reach in your pocket for some and find only a hole.
Marriage can be like that. What brought you together in the beginning can slip through the cracks of living. You still love each other. You still enjoy being together but you feel tired and less motivated in your relationship.
This trip started out with the same tension we had at home. Responsibilities, things needing attending too, tasks that must be performed, concern about things and people back home dominated much of our thought life. Slowly, however, the focus began to change. Those things we left behind go on okay without us. We are too far away to be involved anyhow.
We had a series of breakdowns that caused us some stress but looking back those things were the very things the Lord used to make us realize this is about us. Being broken down did not separate us. We were together regardless. We began to live the moment. I think Darlie came up with that. Enjoy each moment regardless of what external thing is going on around us. We even spent our 38th anniversary in the parking lot of a repair facility. We will just drift along enjoying this special time in our lives. For now, everything else we know and love will have to take a backseat.
Lassen Volcanic National Park has two campgrounds open now. We chose the more remote one far back in the forest. We are the only ones here. Darlie is excited that we might get to see a bear. There are big steel boxes at each campsite with signs warning about bears and food. They say you should even take all the food out of your car and put it in the box at night. We will leave ours where it is but I am glad we aren’t sleeping in a tent. Now I just have to keep an eye on Darlie to be sure she isn’t baiting the bears before we go to bed.
You won’t believe this. We sat outside with a small fire going in the fire ring. Suddenly Darlie said “bear!” I said, “Where?” She said, “Behind the MH.” I looked around but didn’t see the bear. She took off running for the MH with terror in her eyes. I figured the thing must be charging us so I took off too. She leaped through the door and ran to close the little bitty bedroom windows. I followed her through the door and pulled it shut solidly and locked it as if the bear might try the door when he got up there.
Out the back window of the MH I got a glimpse of the bear making his way back down into the ravine he came up from. He was laughing all the way. I wish I had a video camera running to record our dash for the MH. Darlie got to see her bear but it was much closer than she thought it should be. He was walking next to a large log at the rear of our lot. He was a very large bear.
This is where the bear was when Darlie saw it.
Earlier in the day I had hiked down into that ravine while Darlie took a nap. We also took a walk out in the woods when she woke up. Good thing we didn’t see the bear then. We had talked about getting into one of the food boxes if need be. You can unlatch them from the inside so it would work.
We drove up to what is called the devastation area. The Lassen Volcano last erupted in 1914. It spewed red hot rocks and ash all over the area. It blew down many of the large trees too. Lassen peak stands 10462 feet high and is snow covered all year.
The ground is covered with pumice rock, black volcanic rock, red cinders and ash. Some of the rocks it spit out were as large as a house.
Most of the park is still closed due to the snow. Few people are up here as there is little to see with the road closed. We will move on tomorrow and begin making our way over to the coast and the redwoods.
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