LAVA BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

 At the last minute, we made a decision to head east and visit the Lava Beds National Monument.  I'll have to admit I didn't know anything about this park previously.  But, Darrell did a little research and was intriqued.  So, off we went this morning. It was about a 3 hour drive, 150 miles winding through the hills and forests.

There had been a fire through here 2 years and 3 years ago.  There were definite signs of that.  But, the park is beautiful in an austere way.  The focus is on the lava caves and the site of the Modoc War. 

I was not at all interested in going into the caves.  But, there were some beautiful openings going down into them.  I did go into the ones with hand-rails and steps.  There are beautiful and colorful in their own way.

Darrell was a bit more adventurous.

A Mountain Bluebird

A wonderful park - go see it for yourself!

We drove through the park and left on the north side and headed into Oregon.  We stopped in Klamath Falls Oregon for lunch.  We lucked into another great Thai restaurant, Thai Orchid Cafe. I sketched another of our meals and I couldn't resist including the knitted 'snake' that was living in the tree in front of the cafe.

We left there, with me driving, and headed into Eugene Oregon for the night.