We arrived at Lava Beds National Monument today. It was a short drive, but a long time… does that make sense? I mean it was only 150 miles or so, but it took us over 4 hours. The roads were slow and the entire trip was on 2 lane country highways through towns and communities.
Actually, it was a wonderful drive. 🙂 The weather was fine, a little cool but just fine for driving. We drove through a number of nice little communities, stopped for lunch at a local burger joint (called Chatty Cathy’s, LOL), stopped for groceries at a small store in a small town. It was great!
We didn’t know it before we came, but this area was part of the Caldwell Fire that burned up over 80,000 acres in Northern CA, in July 2020. Where we’re camping was in the fire but it’s amazing how much is growing back in only a year. Of course I say ‘how much’, there is a picture of our campsite below and it looks green and growing, but it’s just grass. No bushes yet, and of course all the trees are dead and/or gone. We’ve seen some birds, and one or two deer tracks, but that’s about it. It’ll be a long recovery time I think.
For more information about the fire and the park, check out his video: The Caldwell Fire at Lava Beds National Monument: “This is a place that has seen change”
