Miles from Houston: 2460.4
Red Bluff California
We left Reno early enough this morning to make sure that we could spend a good long time in Lassen Volcanic National Park. (another stamp for my passport!!) The park is located sort of northeastern trail California. The story behind this volcanic wonder. It is once o the Cascade volcanoes and Lassen is the southernmost volcano of that chain. Lassen belongs to the same chain of volcanoes as Mount Saint Helena ( Washington). You might remember that it blew in 1980. Two other more well-known volcanoes in that chain are Mount Rainer and Mount Shasta.
Mount Lassen erupted in 1915. Probably not a big deal you are thinking but what was spectacular is B.F Loomis managed to photograph the eruption. His name is all over this park.
One of the effects of the volcanic blast is that there is a huge boulder field that was created after the eruption and the volcano spewed and belched anything in its path down the mountain side. Some of them are glacial erratics.
Another amazing result are the thermal sulphur pots that still gurgle and throw off steam. They stink, I have to say. It is a strong and pungent sulphur that hits your nose hairs almost as soon as you get out of the car. But on approach you see that they are not think like mud, rather very dirty bubbling water. Every now and then they steam up really heavily and cloud your glasses, and vision, blanking everything out on a mist of odoriferous steam.
It is still early in the season – a lot of northern national parks just opened a couple of weeks ago and so, a lot of the ashes in Lassen were close to the public because of snow another other seasonal dangers. We had our fill however and got back in the car heading for Red Bluff.
We arrived in the early evening and stopped to get gas and found out that a lot of places in California like to charge service fees for using debit cards., The trick they don’t accept credit, only debit cards or cash. Well I don’t know what set us off more the unexpected service fee or the explanation the clerk gave us as though we were from another planet. We left the gas station and looked for some place to eat.
We discovered a local pizza joint called Luigi’s and had the most amazing pepperoni pizza. I don’t know how tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni and a thick crust can taste so good, but have to yet to find a pizza in Houston that could match this pie.
Red Bluff looks like a nice small town, vintage type of buildings and this fabulous clock tower. It was early after we ate so we drove around, found a car-wash and then headed to the Holiday Inn Express.
We are glad to be this much closer to Graham, Washington. We will be staying with family there. It will be nice to get off this road for a few days before we make our final trek into Canada.
I sometimes forget that we are on the way to a burial and a memorial service for dad.
The Writer's Block 