"For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth, over and around us lies. Christ our God to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise. For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale and tree and flow'r, sun and moon and stars of light. Christ our God to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise."
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." We pulled out of Truckee and back onto 89N instead of diverting over to I-5, which would have been a faster drive, and drove through Plumas National Forest. What a great choice! We were surrounded by beautiful, towering, majestic pines and myriads of mountain flora. There were unique red flowers that seemed to only grow in the thick shade of the forest, while other purple and yellow flowers thrived along the more open roadside. We even saw what appeared to be a dandelion flower that was the size of a saucer and evidence of forest fires through this area. Nathan loves the pines out here. Some have a deep red hue and the fingerprint of the bark is monstrous. We have seen some with a circumference of 10-12 feet and some as skinny as only a few inches. As the elevation changed so did the types of evergreen, each with its own distinct coloring and structural patterns. The roads were quiet, and we were able to stop randomly along the way for pictures. Though cool and breezy, the sun was shining down on us today. I truly needed today! I think I was becoming frazzled due to the lack of living, thriving plant life. I’m sure it helps that green is one of my favorite colors, but it was SOOO very refreshing to soak up the beauty of the tree covered mountains and all the brilliant colors peeping out from the forest floor!! AAHHHH, SERENITY! Nathan seems to have found it therapuetic as well. He was taking in the views at one overlook and commented that it takes getting away from everything and seeing the magniture of all that God has made in order to realize just how small we are and just how BIG God is!!
As we left Plumas National Forest we entered Lassen National Forest home of Lassen Volcanic National Park. Now on Hwy 36 we decided it might be fun to drive on up into the park to see what was there. We encountered our first up close snow as we drove towards the entrance. Along the mountain side, patches of snow were still dotting the ground. Once to the entrance we were told that the park was closed to car traffic because t.hey are doing renovations. So we headed back down the mountain and stopped to let the older boys run the mountain side, stretch and play in the snow. As we were driving out of Lassen Natl. we noticed that both sides of the road were peppered with lava rock, and we could see the mountain that it had probably blown from hundreds of years ago. Lassen Volcano’s last eruption was 1914 and was active for 3 years. Nathan said that we were probably even driving within an old volcano because we had part of a mountain rising up all around us, and there appeared to be a cinder cone surrounded by lush green meadows that the road was encircling.
We were now pulling into Red Bluff to get on I-5 by around 3 p.m. It was here we became even more thankful we had been on 89. From the interstate there were so many buildings and exits and significantly less trees and plant life to be seen. Fortunately this was only true for about the next 30 miles. As we drove through Redding, Mt. Shasta became visible. What a glorious sight!! Towering at 14,162 feet, its peak was bathed in snow and wrapped in fluffy white clouds against an azure sky. This magnificent mountain kept us in awe and entertained all the way into OR. We arrived to Lake Shasta which sits at its base just in time to catch a setting sun sparkling across the water. THIS is my kind of scenery! I absolutely love tree covered mountains, babbling brooks, large green meadows filled with grazing cattle or horses, and beautiful reflective lakes!! Now THIS was "worth the drive!"
As we entered OR, there were strawberry fields to our left and right. Each row, had low lying plastic covers running the length of each row to protect them from frost. It was in this area that we also found a herons, swallows and a pelican! (The pelican required a few turn arounds in the highway to finally capture a picture, but Nathan got it!)
We pulled into Klamath Falls and bedded down for the night at the KOA after dining at Big Bear Diner. This place was recommended to us by a lady at the KOA. Apparenltly it's a chain along the west coast that has 58 locations. We have a very nice server that reminded Nathan a great deal of his former boss, Larry Lemon - in his height, hairstyle, mannerisms. His name was Richard, and he was so very helpful and full of suggestions. Nathan inquired about cherry picking here in OR, and he let us know that around her they grow potatos and strawberries. However, he suggested that we drive through Zillah on our trip up through WA. He said he hasn't lived there in 20 yrs., but they used to have orchards and the farmers were very nice people who would usually let you pick if you let them know you were just traveling through and wanted the experience. So our plan is now to drive up 97 into Zillah before heading into Spokane.
No comments:
Post a Comment