California Here We Come...

We were up early the next morning as we wanted to have showers and charge our electronics. Amazing what all we had to charge. 2 phones, a solar charger, a camera battery, and an additional power pack. After we got the dogs fed, watered, walked then stowed away in the car while we pack, we were finally ready to hit the road.  I got to talking to one of the guys there and he asked if we knew where we were going to go have breakfast. I said I didn't know and he referred us to a place up the road in Fernley, the Black Bear Diner.  The food was wonderful and plentiful. The coffee was really good and the service was great. Last but not least, it was very reasonable.  We had no complaints at all, and this place was extremely busy. Imagine my surprise when I got back to Oklahoma that there was a Black Bear Diner just up the road from me in Moore, Oklahoma. 

After we filled up we headed out west on Interstate 80 also known as Dwight D Eisenhower Highway toward Reno, Nevada. Once we got to Reno/Sparks we headed north on highway 395.  One of the crazy things we saw were the lakes in the area, which looked like pure mud.  When asking someone about it they said it was the spring melt from the mountains that made it look like that. It was the darndest thing I had ever seen. It didn't even look like water.  

We got to the California border and had to go through a checkpoint. I thought they would be asking about fruit and vegetables. However, they looked at us and waved us through.  Christie and I discussed it and came to the conclusion they were looking for human trafficking.  

While heading toward Susanville we saw the heavy devastation of the wildfires that had hit the area.  I don't know how long it had been, but there were burnt out cars sitting by the road still.  It was so sad to see all the damage that the wildfires had wrought. 

Once we got to Susanville we needed to gas up. $4.58 for a gallon of gas! Outrageous!  Then try going to the bathroom. None of these places have public bathrooms for their patrons. I finally had to beg the ladies at Subway to let me use their locked bathroom.  I asked why it was like that and they said because of the homeless and transient population. If they (homeless) find a business that has an open public bathroom they will stay in the business all day. 

We pressed on toward Lassen Volcanic National Park on Highway 38. The roads and landscapes were fantastic. It was like being in another world. Beautiful yet sad due to the fires.  We got to Lassen, it was the only National Park that we didn't get our passport stamped at.  We couldn't figure out where to go to get it done as there didn't seem to be an entrance.  

We headed north on Highway 89 to go to Burney Falls. We were traveling on the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway to the McArthur-Burney Interpretive Association and Lake Britton. The surrounding landscapes and vegetation were beautiful.  

We got there around four in the afternoon. After a quick look about, we decided that we would like to stay the night.  We went back up and was fortunate enough to secure a campsite for the evening.  I mean for $20.00 you can't beat it.  As we discovered Christie and I camped in the wrong campsite, my bad, but thankfully no one came in and made us move in the middle of the night.  

I was really impressed as to how the campground was laid out. Each camper had plenty of space and was not stacked on top of each other.   Christie took a hike to the falls and got some great pictures.  Later that night she went again and got the falls and the stars. My little shutterbug!  Again we had a great sleep and are thankful for a safe journey.