Loomis Museum

There’s no Verizon signal in Manzanita Lake Campground so first order of business this morning, right after our caffeinated beverages and breakfast was a drive out of the park and into Old Station, California, a dozen miles to the east. There we gassed up the truck and not only sent Lou a text message but called her to let her know in which campsite to find us. And since we found some signal we also took the opportunity to download the audio highway tour of Lassen Park. It’s the newest technology for a narrated driving tour, supplanting the cassette and CD recordings we’ve purchased for various locales in the past! Then back to C-28 where we cranked up the generator to replace the battery power we used overnight since there are so many wonderful trees here our solar panels aren’t effective. And we set up the Coleman stove so that we can cook up a mess of meats to feed us for the next few days. Then Lou arrived! Big hugs all around. We cooked up a two packets of bacon and used some of it for her first meal with us, an Iceberg, Bacon, Blue Cheese Salad with Tomatoes and Green Olives. To officially kick off her visit to Lassen we hiked over to the Loomis Museum to peek in at the Seismograph, watch the park video, and learn a little about the geologic and cultural history of the park. Back at the campsite we were bringing out some libations and thinking about getting dinner ready when Jack and Dottie came by for a visit and to let us know their first night in their A-Liner had been warm and comfortable. They stayed for a bit of a visit and witnessed Lou adding the California sticker to our map. Then because it was getting late we quickly threw together an Oatmeal and Leek Soup for dinner. Warm and filling food at the end of a good day!