The Great Northwest Adventure Page 5

Redwood National Park
Redwood State Forests, California
8/7 and 8/8/06

Ever Living Trees

Redwoods have outlived the giant dinosaurs, survived sweeping geologic changes that sculpted mountains and moved continents, and successfully competed to claim a place in modern forest ecosystems. Today, botanists recognize three surviving redwood species: the Dawn Redwood is native to China; the Giant Sequoia clings to life in California's towering Sierra Nevada Mountains; and the Coast Redwood reigns over the costal forests of northern California and southwest Oregon.

Coast Redwoods as we know them today have been present in the north coast area for about 20 million years. Reaching heights over 350 feet, Coast Redwoods live for 2000 years and thrive in the area's mild climate, standing as ever-living examples of the tallest trees in the world.

John Steinbeck wrote "The redwoods, once seen leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always, from them comes silence and awe. The most irreverent of men, in the presence of redwoods, goes under a spell of wonder and respect."

Spend some time in a forest and discover the magic for yourself.

Lassen Volcanic National Park
8/10 and 8/11/06

Turning left from the coast, we travel the Trinity River highway. We land at Lassen Volcanic National Park and camp a couple of days here. In May 1914 Lassen Peak burst into eruption,

beginning a 7- year cycle of sporadic volcanic outbursts. The reawakening of this volcano profoundly altered the surrounding landscape. Before the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens, Lassen Peak was the most recent outburst in the contiguous 48 states. This peak is the southern most volcano in the Cascade Range.

We are staying at Manzanita Lake, a beautiful spot with lots of Black Tailed Deer and other critters.

Gallery pictures below

Blue Heron at Manzanita Lake

Lake Helen

Lot's of snow still in August

Bumpass Hell

One of the highlights of our stay here was a strenous hike to Bumpass Hell. After a 30 mile drive/climb over and through the region devastated by the 1915 eruption, we reach beautiful Lake Helen. The area is still covered with lots of snow, impeding the 2 1/2 mile trail (uphill both ways) to Bumpass Hell, an active geothermal area with hot springs and boiling mud, but no geysers. This is a very beautiful park to visit.

Reno, Nevada
8/12 through 8/18/06

We arrive once again in Nevada this year, booking a location at Bordertown Casino and RV Park located 12 miles north of Reno. This summer has really been busy, and we have seen many locations we had only imagined. This stop gives us much needed rest before the long drive across the vast desert regions of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

A must see in the area is the gold display located in Carson City, Nevada at the Carson Nugget Casino. The housekeeping department was not happy with David, as he drooled all over the glass cases while looking. Gold locked inside native quartz, wire gold, leaf gold, crystal gold, ribbon gold, and huge nuggets of gold, it's all here. Millions and millions of $$$ just out of reach!

Another trip worth a visit is Virginia City. Located in the hills between Carson City and Reno, this town is like the rest of the existing late 1800's western locations. Lots of "museums" and tourist trinket shops, good eats, and genuine old west flavor with gunfights and costumes as well. The slot machine on the left is a hand carved figure of a prospector, only 92 of these unique carved figure machines were manufactured in the 1940's. The pretty lady above is the "Silver Queen", adorned with over 3200 Carson City Silver Dollars. We also visited Lake Tahoe, with a drive around the north, east and south sides, but the day did not produce any pictures.

One thing we try to avoid is staying in a truckstop, but sometimes, when doing long distances, a single overnight is not too bad. Very well lighted and full of noise, but free. This is our camp at the Peppermill Casino lot, Wendover, NV.