4th of July trip to Nevada......

Over the 4^th of July weekend I had a few days off from my new job so we decided to head for Nevada and visit my mom and family.  Thursday afternoon, June 30^th Lorelei and Cody came by and picked me up from work and we pointed the car south down Interstate 5.

We had a good jump on the weekend traffic but there were still plenty of people on the road as we made our way through Salem. Our destination the first night was the town of Medford about 200 plus miles away. We got to the hotel around 8:00 p.m. Lorelei had made sandwiches that we ate along the way. After settling into our room, Lorelei and I went for a short walk while Cody hung out in the room.

Friday morning we were up early (ok Cody and I were up) and we hit the breakfast room at the Best Western. We ate our fill and brought some coffee back to Lorelei. We made good time getting up and out and headed for Lassen National Park.

The miles rolled by as we made our way through southern Oregon and into northern California.
Below is one of Lorelei's shots in Northern CA along I5

At Weed CA we turned onto hwy 98 and skirted around Mt. Shasta. I saw an interesting looking side road so we made a side trip in hopes of getting some good pictures of the mountain. I got a pretty good shot but as you can see some tourists were in the way.

We made Lassen about lunch time and we were disappointed to find that although the park was open, we could not drive all the way through because of snow! We pulled into the park and pulled over near Manzanita lake. Lorelei pulled food from the ice chest and made us some great sandwiches. We decided to do the 2 mile hike around the lake. We all grabbed our camera gear, the temperature was around 70 degrees and blue skies overhead. What an awesome hike! We saw fish, ducks and ducklings, geese, and beautiful mountain vistas. We snapped several hundred pictures.

Lorelei and Cody are turning into very good photographers. Below are two more from Lorelei. Click on the image to view larger.

In the afternoon we headed for our next nights destination, Susanville. Cody and I were excited because this Best Western had a pool! After a great pizza dinner at the local Round Table, Cody and I got into our swim trunks. The air temp had warmed considerably  to about 90 degrees, as we were now in the high desert on the edge of the mountains. It was strange that no one else was at the pool??? Cody always gets into the water slowly……Me the dad, I need to show him how it’s done…..”Cody” says I, “this is the way to do it” as I dove into the deep end of the pool. As I entered the water, I feel the breath being sucked out of me as I realize why no one else was in the pool…….the water was freezing! It took about 10 seconds after I surfaced to casually utter the words “it’s not too bad”. We still swam for about a half hour until Cody’s teeth were chattering. By the time we got back to the room and cleaned up it was time to hit the hay.

On Saturday it was time to make haste to Hawthorne NV to see Mom, Floyd and family. We were cruising through Reno and getting low on gas. Lorelei was going to make sandwiches for lunch when off to the side of the freeway I see a IN AND OUT!  I announced “no sandwiches for us”.

As we headed out from Reno the temperature was in the mid 90’s. As we headed out across the desert it began to climb, 95, 98, 100……then 102! Yikes, we left 75 degree weather for this? We rolled into Hawthorn NV around 3:00. We hadn’t seen my mom or Floyd in about 10 years! We sat and visited, my sister Kelli and her husband Chris came by along with my nephew Kyle and his girlfriend Candy, also my  niece Beth. Wow it was great to get caught up on all that everyone was doing.

Mom and Lorelei looking over old pictures.

Cody wanted to play Pinochle, clockwise from bottom: Me, Kyle, Candy, Cody, Beth, Kelli (Mom in back)

Kelli and Chris

Floyd asked what we wanted to do the next day and we said something about wanting to go to a ghost town. Immediately everyone said “Bodie”. So Sunday morning we got up and headed out. Floyd drove his big Ford truck and along with my mom, Cody, Lorelei and myself, we headed out for the hour drive. The more you study Bodie the more fascinating it becomes. At it’s height some 10,000 people lived out in the middle of nowhere at 8,000 foot elevation in some of the harshest weather in the upper 48. It boasted 65 saloons! Most of the town has burned down more than once but enough remains for a wonderful look back in time.

Lorelei's picture of the Caine's House

Below another one of Lorelei's  pics

And below are a couple of mine from Bodie

Below the intrepid adventurers, Me, Lorelei, Floyd and Cody

On Monday morning we headed back towards Oregon. We stopped in Susanville so Lorelei could meet up with an old friend. 

 Lorelei and Carolyn

Wow....what a fun trip, the last night (4th of July) we stayed in Mt. Shasta, had a great dinner at the Black Bear Diner . Cody and I swam in the INDOOR HEATED pool at the Best Western while Lorele was working out in the Fitness Center. We finished up the drive home on Tuesday the 5th. Awesome scenery, great weather, wonderful company with family and friends.

Glynn Jr.