Saturday, July 14:

(Note that you can click on a picture to enlarge it.)

Everyone (except me) got ready to climb Cinder Cone volcano, and the climb is made more difficult by the fact that it is a volcanic sand you are climbing on - 2 steps forward, 1 step back. I walked over to the trail head with them and by the time we got there Arianna (the youngest) didn't want to go. She gets tired of walking and wants to be carried, so I said she could come back to camp with me. We hadn't walked very many steps back when I heard "Mom!" being shouted, and Autumn running toward me. So I took the two girls back and we had a nice couple of hours. I was glad Jeannie & Donald could get away on their own, and that Jeannie could go at her own pace, which is fast!

I've dragged out some photos from when I worked at Lassen and my family came to visit for a few days. Jeanne, Donald, and son Steve climbed Cinder Cone, while Steve's wife Meg and I stayed with the kids. Arianna was just about 9 wks old and Jeannie was carrying the weight from two pregnancies plus some extra pounds she picked up along the way. She actually climbed the mountain and had Donald & Steve huffing and puffing to keep up with her. She agreed to let me post the pictures.

Look who's resting:


Jeanne with the caldera behind her:


A view of the trail up Cinder Cone:


Jeanne & Steve:


Just one more from the old days - I had the best job of all! Look where her hand is - even sleeping she needs to stay close to her food supply, although she sure didn't know this grocery was long ago sold out!:



That was in 2009 - now she has lost 88 pounds and looks and feels terrific!


I asked her how she did it and she said it was exercise combined with eating less, and counting calories. Being insulin-dependent diabetic, she is very disciplined when it comes to counting carbs and wearing the insulin pump, but it must have been difficult. She says she fills up on things such as green vegetables that don't have the calories, plus small portions of everything else. You can see that she eats such things as S'Mores, and adjusts her insulin for it, but she still counts her total calories every single day. And wow, does she ever exercise! I might also add that she avoids processed and packaged foods, as well as meats from animals that have been given growth hormones and antibiotics. Those growth hormones don't just fall off and disappear when the animal is slaughtered.

Having reached the top and heading down into the caldera:


The Big D with Lassen Peak in the background:


Later in the afternoon we all headed off to see Crater Lake - the one in Lassen National Forest. I knew there was a campground there which is totally free, and I hoped the lake was large enough for Lady to be able to take a swim, which it wasn't! There were a lot of people around the lake and swimming in it, and I didn't see one dog in the entire area. When I worked at Lassen in 2009 I met many fishermen who drove over to Crater Lake to fish.





From the lake we drove back to Old Station to visit Subway Cave, which is a tunnel formed by lava flow many years ago. It is about 1/3 mile and is totally dark, which made the kids cry and not want to be there even though everyone had a flashlight. As for Lady and me, she refused to even descend the steps to the tunnel entrance, so I took her back to the parking area and sat on a bench while we waited. It wasn't long before they returned and said the lava floor was so bumpy that Lady probably would have had a difficult time walking it.




Back in camp with Grandma:


I really enjoyed the day and was glad to get back and relax, eat dinner, and light the campfire for the S'Mores. They knew I don't like the marshmallows and graham crackers so they brought me some special European chocolate which was delicious. I could get addicted to that stuff!


A note from Thurs., Jul 19:
I bought a Tracfone prepaid for $10 and today I cancelled my Verizon cell phone service. I had intended to port my old number over but didn't do it right so I will just have to learn a new number, plus call the doctors and others who have my old number on file. I have 250 prepaid minutes to use within 90 days, so if I don't like the Tracfone I can always get something else or go back to Verizon.

I'm debating when to take off for a day or two in the El Dorado Forest, hopefully finding a site off the grid and back in the woods. I've always been a bit nervous about doing that, especially in a tent, but the time has come for me to declare that I fear nothing and will be stopped by nothing! Hope the bears don't come too close. The weather right now is getting worse every day, but I really need to wait until garbage pickup on Tuesday so I can pull the cans back into the driveway. When I was at Lassen someone pushed the can off the street and up over the curb, but that was all. If I didn't really like my house I wouldn't tolerate living in a park with such folks who are here. Many of them are nice enough to wave, but many would just as soon stare you down and walk on. But back to camping in El Dorado, I need to wait until at least Sunday to allow the weekend crowds to leave.