Tag: Critter and Clover

Staring into the Fire Void…

Well the weekend was nice but also a challenge…good to sit in a chair and read my book or embroider, without thinking about school, but it rained and we forgot the pump for the air mattress, so my hips are sore from sleeping on the ground. The bed last night felt delightful. We did remember the popup though, so that was helpful for the rain. AND we got the tent up before it started pouring. Another plus.

Friday was Tattoo a Teacher Day…we didn’t get as many as last year.

My arm one is still there. The face one did not last all weekend, but most of it. It was a dinosaur.

We got out of here by 6 PM (we hadn’t really packed and it was a bit of a crazy shitshow after school). We managed a small fire with the rain and the popup…

Short drawing time too. We were tired. I think we ate dinner at 9 PM. It was fine.

The next day dawned glorious. We went on a short hike…

Saw some giant footprints…

Took a few breaks…

Saw a few sights…

Made it to the top…

The Man’s back has been bugging him; I’m sure sleeping on the ground didn’t help. We came back and he rested…

He’s the lump in the tent. I read for a while and stitched for a while…

I’m almost done with this bird I’ve been working on for months. I obviously don’t work on it much.

We then made the insane decision to go into town for dinner…forgetting that it is October, apple season, and the tourists are in full swing. Insane swing.

All the restaurants are tiny and had long lines, quoting 90 minutes plus for dinner. We went to one off the beaten path, somewhere we’ve been before, volunteered to sit outside in the chill, and only had to wait 30 minutes. All good.

Back to a blazing fire, a longer drawing…

Some staring into the fire void. Sleep. Up in the morning feeling somewhat refreshed (I was kinda done with the sleeping on the ground thing, honestly). Packed up with no issues except wet things, came home, made a grocery list, and then had to deal with a second family member in the hospital in the last week. Here’s me grading outside the emergency room.

It’s OK…everyone is going to be fine. Everyone will be home soon enough. I’m just not done grading (shocking) and a little (a lot) behind on everything else. I’ll get there.

Extra dog.

And this is NOT a dog…

That is my front yard early Saturday morning. Ah well. We knew they were out there.

So I am mostly unprepared for this week. I’m taking lots of ashwaganda, so maybe that is helping. My lunches aren’t made, my grading isn’t done. I think I have warmup posts for the week, but I’m not sure. Grades are due in a week. I think I know what I’m teaching today…I’m pretty sure Friday self set all that up. Good job! And I’ll figure the rest out when I get there.

There Are Bugs and They Will Eat Your Face.

I don’t know if you’ve seen those bad National Park reviews made into posters; the girlchild got me one that said something like all there is do to here is walk around, which kind of defines all our park experiences, and we’re totally fine with that (you can find them at this website). That said, Lassen Volcanic National Park has some seriously nasty biting bugs and we both have some serious welts from them. I’m not sure where we saw this comment, but it seems relevant.

We left Sacramento Saturday morning and headed to Lassen. We couldn’t camp on this trip because I needed to carry some art stuff, and the car is full when we bring the tent and everything, so we sort of are glamping. We waited too late to get in the actual park, but were 15 minutes outside in a cabin with a bed, fridge, tea kettle, but also an outdoor picnic table and fire pit. Not big enough to really hang out inside, hence the bug bites.

I’m writing this in the car as we leave Lassen, but don’t have enough bars to add photos yet. So I’m adding the photos this evening at our cabin in Oregon. Not the one in the photo above.

We drove through the park on the way in but didn’t stop except at the visitor center. Also came to the realization that my height-induced anxiety has not improved. Don’t look down!

We did dinner, a fire, and drawing in the dark. My favorite.

The next morning, we had decided to at least hike TO Cinder Cone, although probably not UP it. We got to see the lava beds, which did not look like I expected them at all.

Plus a deer and a lot of people in inappropriate shoes. Hiking on cinders is a challenge. I did go part way up, and realized the bigger issue for me (and my decrepit knees) would be coming back down, so I quit. I was right…the down was painful. Sliding rocks galore.

See where the trail curves? I got maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up from the curve. We did about 4 miles total at 6300 feet elevation, in the heat, and that pretty much was the day. That and 12 miles on a washboard dirt road. Nice lake though and beautiful view of the cone. I think I had it a lot easier than the Man…his ears weren’t popping like mine the day before, but the elevation seemed to affect him more.

We also saw some cloud iridescence near the cone…

Showered (lovely), read, embroidered.

Drew by the fire…

( I really need a better picture of that one).

The next day was Monday and we were hoping there’d be fewer people (there were) than when we drove through on Saturday. When most of the park is closed except for the summer months, everyone comes in the summer. So we did the west drive through, after meandering through the countryside for 90 minutes to get back to the beginning. We saw (and smelled) Sulphur Springs…

Then headed out for Bumpass Hell…this hike was harder and felt longer than we’d thought, mostly again probably elevation related (8300+), but was definitely worth it.

Fumaroles, bubbling mud, stupid tourists stepping off the trail…all the good things.

Loud too. And then we hiked out to Cold Boiling Lake, which might be bigger and more impressive? Some time? Unsure. But we saw another deer and a chipmunk taking a dirt bath, which was cute as hell. Plus a baby chipmunk.

And a lot of burnt trees. The Dixie Fire did a lot of damage.

We skipped another hike (gotta leave something for next time), but did do the Devastated Trail for info about the 1915 eruption. You know, I used to teach volcanoes when I taught 7th grade, and we labeled them as active, inactive, or extinct. All through the park, there’s nothing about the status of the volcanoes. There’s obvious geothermal activity everywhere…

Then we walked some more (the Man under extreme duress) but we saw a fawn and mom…

And then got most of Lassen Peak with Manzanita Lake…

Apparently the extra 1/4 mile (plus round trip) to get a better photo wasn’t happening (next time!)…we had been gone 8 hours at that point and needed to stop. Back to camp, shower (bliss!), reading, stitching…

Although I missed 2 1/2 lines of instructions, tried to find them online, failed, and made shit up. Then found the instructions and ignored the fact I used the wrong thread (it’s still green; it’ll be fine), then drew again.

(Another blurry photo).

We left this morning for areas north…more on that later this week. We did things today too. Can’t handle that right now. It’s hot and humid and I’m in a house with A/C, a bathroom, and no bugs. Life is good.