Day 31

 

July 17 - Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA

What a glorious place to start the day. It was a bit cold in the shade, but all you had to do is find a sliver of sun and you'd warm up right away. There was a significant temperature contrast between the sun and shade, similar to our experience at Crater Lake - the high-elevation sun is just absolutely amazing! The wind was a bit rough in the morning, but it still felt like paradise in comparison to Redding and Lake Shasta!

The little boy that Ev and Til made friends with yesterday kept on coming by the campsite to see if Tilda was awake so they could hang out, which was so adorable (Tilda is awesome, after all) - he even lent a book about the solar system for Tilda to read last night. They didn't wake up until after 8am, which shows they were due for some good rest.

 

Cassandra and I had to figure out our camping location for the next two nights, and I felt the pressure of that throughout the morning until 9am when I headed to the camp host to see what was available. Fortunately, the campsite directly next to us was available the next two nights, so I quickly reserved them and immediately felt any tension release through my body. It was such a relief to know we could stay here without moving far until leaving for Donner Memorial (moving next door is hardly a move at all!). We spent a casual morning around the campsite and moved around noon. We travelled to the camp store, which was pretty weak: small and crazy expensive. We bought a postcard to send to Matt and Lucie, since we hadn't been able to chat with them since we left their farm. I hoped they were getting better and better as quick as they could.

After lunch, Ev, Til, and I decided to go tubing on Summit Lake. We hiked about 1/3 mile to the southern bank of the lake, then dropped in our tubes and let the wind (and our legs) drift us back to the other side. They were both so pumped to be in the middle of this lake, Evelyn somewhat independent on her tube and Tilda hanging out with me on the other. This was the best use of our tubes so far on the trip!

While we were tubing, Cassandra set up her easel and painted the lake-landscape. She had a great vantage point and painted for over three hours straight! She seemed so much more confident and bolder in her painting than I can remember - trusting herself and rejected self-doubt - and this was the best work I've seen her do on this trip (if not in general). She is so cool, and my love for her grew and grew as we continued this trip. 

The rest of the afternoon we spent around the lake, enjoying the breeze and refreshing water licking our feet and ankles. After a delicious dinner of beef and brocolli, we played games at our huge camp table and enjoyed a big fire. Cassandra made brownies over the fire, which were such a glorious treat (my favorite desert since Tone's Cones!)! We saved 1/2 for tomorrow night, and Cassandra gave some to our new next-door neighbor.

This was a complete day of restoration and revitalization - I look forward to repeating this again tomorrow. We needed to do some preparation for our next leg to Donner and getting back on schedule, but we have all day tomorrow!). What a wonderful day and a marked mood at the end of the day compared to just two nights ago!

 

In the middle of the night, I woke up to use the bathroom and saw the Milky Way in all its glory! I woke up Cassandra, and we went for a short, dark stroll to get a full view of it. Wow: what a sight!