We set out early from Pinnacles since it was about a four hour drive (without stops) to Lassen. Traveling with the RV and the kids and the dog and the cat means that a four hour drive is likely going to be closer to an eight hour drive.
After spending most of the day to cover the first 3.5 hours of the drive, we decided to make a pit stop at a The Rolling Hills Casino on the interstate near Corning. They offered RV parking and free pet sitting and restaurants. It is entirely possible that Scott and I spent the two nights there as date nights at the casino. Those two nights might have even paid for our food, drinks and parking fees. The kids were happy to chill in the RV with cable tv and movies for the couple of hours both nights. It was a fun and unexpected stop.
The miniature horse show was just the icing on the cake.
The rest of the way to Lassen Volcanic the next day was ridiculously short. As soon as we pulled into the national forest surrounding the park, we took a gravel road for a ways. We crossed a scarily small and narrow bridge, a washout, and a small pond in the road before finding an amazing boondocking spot right next to a creek. Everyone was pleased.
The kids played in the stream every day.
Until the trip, none of us had even heard of Lassen, so we only budgeted three nights total. Once we arrived though, it became apparent that we would need to extend the time there.
The first full day, we went into the national park. The visitor center had tons of information. While the kids completed their junior ranger badges, we learned all about volcanoes (including that Lassen is one of the only places in the world that includes all four types of volcanoes).
Caden and the hat.
There was quite a bit of geothermal activity around the park. The first day we were able to catch the one closest to the ranger station.
A boiling mud put that reeks of hydrogen sulfide.
The kids were over the moon to find some melting snow that they may or may not have eaten.
SNOW!
A day or two later, we took a 4.5 mile hike to Devil’s Kitchen which was very similar to Hell’s Gate in New Zealand.
Keali was happy to see the geothermal sites, but the otters, young buck deer, and ribbon snakes made it especially exciting.
I was just impressed with how beautiful the scenery was.
We found out that the Bureau of Land Management had a corral nearby with wild mustangs that were up for adoption. Keali and I had learned quite a bit about the mustangs while we were in Nicaragua via documentaries. We were all keen to see what the place looked like. After a very long 1.5 hour drive, we arrived. We checked in at the little office and learned exactly how laid back the place was. The woman told us where to go to see the various horses (young fillies, mares and foals, geldings, jennie’s, etc).
The extra bonus was getting to help one of the cowboys do a morning feeding of some mares that were about to be moved to Napa for adoption.
We left after adding an extra day or two on to the trip. If we didn’t have a deadline to get to Portland for Scott’s work, I suspect we would have stayed an extra few days. It’s a must-do for national park goers.