March 28 - 29, 2009 - Lava Beds National Park

We traveled a total of 43 miles today to Tule Lake, California. The main reason is that the route we were going to take north is anticipating snow, ice, etc. So we decided to stay in this area until Monday. We are camped at the Tule Lake - Butte Valley Fairgrounds - full hookups at a good price. Our only neighbor left this morning and we are the only ones here.


First the stats:
Miles Traveled: 43 miles
Routes Traveled:
CA: US-97; SR-161; SR-139


Once we arrived, Andy charged the Tracker battery - it was dead this morning. Since we have been traveling, we kept the key in the ignition and the braking system on - bad move. So we will not be doing that again.

This afternoon, we took a drive to Lava Beds National Monument. Our first stop was Petroglyph Point:

From there we took a leisurely ride to the Visitor’s Center stopping at a few places along the way:

As we were leaving the park, we saw four mule deer. This little one didn’t move except to blink her eyes:

The wind started to pick up late afternoon and stayed that way all night - 35 MPH gusts so the MH was rocking and rolling.

We woke Sunday to 26 degrees (brrr), lots of wind, and just plain cold. We made our trip to Lava Beds and checked out the Mushpot Lava Tube:

This is how the tubes are formed (yes I copied): “Lava is about 1800 F when it pours from the volcano. The outer edges and surface of the flow cool rapidly and begin to harden. This outside shell acts as insulating material while the rest of the flow beneath it remains hot and fast-moving. The flow continues on. When the eruption stops and the river of lava drains, a tunnel or tube - the outer shell - is left.”

Mushpot is the only tube that is lit and has interpretive panels. We did not check any other ones out because we were TOO COLD!! So we are hoping to come back and do some more exploring and hiking on our way back down.

With the wind blowing, it has picked up a lot of dust from the fields. So we are seeing dust all over (and all over the inside and outside of the motor home - Yikees!!)

Late afternoon and evening, we just tried to stay warm. The last picture of the day:

Until tomorrow!

Oh! One more thing - I checked the amount of hits that my blog has had and I am now over 10,000 - How about that!!