Goodbye Montana, Hello California

Sunday, September 20 was my last day working at Whitefish Lake State Park. It was a bittersweet kind of day – glad I don’t have to clean bathrooms any more, but I will miss the great fun I had at the lake. I took one last picture of the lake – the level has considerably dropped from when I arrived.

The people I worked with were fun – I probably laughed more with these people than I have in a long time. Working with Ron was fun. Cecil, Larry, Grace, Tommy and Dave were interesting to talk to and to have some weird conversations with. I will miss them. Do I want to go back? Yes, as long as I don’t have a train running over my head every couple of hours!

On Tuesday, September 22, I left Whitefish Lake State Park for my trip to California. I went down 93 until I got to 28 and took that to St. Regis to join up with I90 into Washington (Spokane). I was glad I was going that direction, since I-90 in my direction was a lot more down than up. I couldn’t even imagine going uphill because there was a long stretch of downhill on my side that would have stressed my poor truck to no end going the other direction.

Just before Coeur d’Alene, the sky filled with smoke. It tasted like smoke and irritated my eyes. After a half hour or so, the smoke went away.

I stopped at a small “RV park” near Sprague (south of Spokane) and spent the night there. It was an open field with water and electrical hookups. The bathroom was inside the building and closed around 8:00 pm or so. No TV signal and no dump available. Oh well, the hash browns were freshly grated and tasted great.

I left early in the morning and made it to John Day, OR, where I camped at the Grant County Fairgrounds.  Full hookups and an available bathroom.

Oh, BTW, did I mention that neither site had internet? I was having internet withdrawal symptoms for a while.

Thursday night, I made it to Klamath Falls after deciding not to continue on 395. I went through Bend and made it to Klamath Falls early enough to relax. There was internet, but intermittent.

I decided to stay a few days in Red Bluff, CA to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park. I was last here in the winter of 1977 with a group of cross-country skiers. We spent the weekend in a small motel and skied through Bumpass Hell and some other areas. Previously, a boyfriend and I drove through the day the road opened (May 31). The snow drifts on the road were 5 feet high!

So I went to Lassen after arriving fairly early (around 11:30 am) and drove to a sulfur pot alongside the road. It was really stinky! The hillside had some other holes farting out their sulfur smells. Not a pleasant way to explore, having to hold your breath!

After I leave here, I’m not sure what I will be doing, but I’m thinking a trip to the coast would restore my spirit like just about nothing else would. Right now it is hot and smoky in Red Bluff, so I think I need the change. It depends on what I might have to do to find a job!