Zannee’s Blog at BargainsLA.com

Yep, we’re finally back from a 3500 mile road trip. Yes, we paid thru our noses for gas. This is a BIG country. We drove up to Sacramento and then to north Nevada to take care of family stuff. From there went up through Idaho, over to Oregon and then finally back down through California.

We went to Nevada through Donner Pass on Highway 80. Though Truckee is fun a stop, Nevada for the most part is visually dull with the most vibrant areas being around casinos. In North Nevada, outside of Elko we made our first destination stop, an old mining/ ghost town called Tuscarora that now hosts an artist community of ceramicists. http://www.tuscarorapottery.com/

This is the only time I made a purchase the entire trip. I was vacationing from everything, including shopping. I bought a signed ceramic basket by Dennis Parks. I wanted to get a piece from this unique, highly accomplished artist.

We went initially to Tuscarora to bury Kevin’s dad’s remains at the local working cemetery, (he passed away at Christmas). But we also visited with long time family friends from all over that Kevin hadn’t seen in many years. Though the people and burial service were wonderful, we were accosted by a bug called a Mormon cricket.

This creepy bug arrives in swarms. Hopping in large swaths, millions strong across the landscape. Now I know what a biblical plague looked liked. Apparently it’s a common feature to the area. Our car was a battered with millions of them. The crunch of their bodies being run over by our car was unbearable. Really! Unbelievably gross!

Southern Idaho is more visually interesting than Nevada. The people are incredibly nice and helpful. We tramped along the Snake River canyon gorge, marveled at the Shoshone Falls, wondered at a large herd of Elk. We later found out that there is an elk farm right next to the river. We climbed around at the volcanic landscape, went through tourist trap ice caves, hiked lava tubes and visited Kevin’s old Alma Mater, The College of Idaho.

Oregon was stunningly beautiful. We went through Newberry Lava monument and walked for over a mile in a dark lava tube with only a lantern to guide us. We went to the top of volcanic cones and hiked around a huge obsidian lava flow from 2000 years ago. Two particularly nice towns with good shops and restaurants were Grants Pass and Bend, Oregon. Both are worthy of a visit again.

We drove up to and through the Cascades Mountains along an incredibly scenic highway with dozens of lakes, rivers and ponds finally ending up at Crater Lake which is, in short spectacular. There was still 4-6 feet of snow in the area around the crater.

Oregon though beautiful and friendly should really improve the signage on its highways. We made a lot of U turns cause we missed poorly marked exists and often did not see highway markers, one way signs or maximum speed signs. This of course gained us the interest of the local highway patrol that eventually nailed us with a ticket.

We finished up Oregon by visiting Oregon Caves Monument. They have a landmark hotel there that had super reasonable rates. One of the National Park’s Great Lodges, the historic Chateau is a six-story hotel located on the Monument. It has 23 rooms and the large lobby on the fourth floor of the building contains a huge double fireplace of marble construction. The lodge is scheduled to be open late April through late October. These dates are subject to change. The Chateau is operated by Oregon Caves Outfitters, a non-profit organization. If you like old lodges and hiking this place is for you. For information and reservation, phone (541) 592-3400 or visit their website at oregoncavesoutfitters.com.

We took a hour and half tour thru the large cave and then drove south through incredible forests and river gorges arriving at California’s northern most city, Crescent City.