Lassen Volcanic National Park
This morning I went to the dentist to get a crown. It cost more than $900. I feel like my mouth has been through hell. My gums ache, there's a bad taste, and the temporary crown feels strange and dirty. Being responsible is really unpleasant. But I know it's better than the alternative.
Yesterday Erik and I went to Lassen Volcanic National Park on a whim. I was feeling down, and it was a good way to get me out of the house. The best thing about the trip was seeing a geothermal vent that looked like a crater, filled with bubbling mud, making a strange grumbling sound and spewing warm steam that smells like sulfur. The crater is about four feet across, and there are other geothermal vents nearby, but not the mud pot kind. I had never seen anything like this before, and I had worshipful feelings--I had to restrain myself from some strange worshipful act. I think the smell was pleasant, though Erik finds it disgusting, and we agreed to disagree.
So that was the first stop. Then we drove through the rest of the park. We visited a small green lake called Emerald Lake where I leaned against a nice warm rock. Emerald Lake is special in that it doesn't have any streams coming in or out, and it's green from algae that lives there because the water is warmed geothermally.
We saw other lakes and stunning views of peaks and ridges and lots of conifers. I bought postcards near Lassen peak. We were at a high elevation--the road went up to more than 8000 ft. We took a walk at Manzanita Lake, and I was patient while Erik took a lot of pictures.
Then it started to rain. It had been months since we'd seen any rain, and it made us very happy. There was thunder and lightning--lightning in flashes. On our way out of the park, we stopped again at the Sulfur Works. I was very cold and wet with rain, but we paid one last visit to the geothermal vent that had so impressed me. I stared for a long time so I could see little bits of mud being thrown into the air by the spewing gases. Then some other people showed up and I moved away to let them have their time alone / sacred fun with the mud pot.
We tried to think up a name for it--Erik had some good candidates, including Cal the Cauldron--the one that made me laugh a lot, Scaldie--and my favorite, Thermie. I rejected all of the names as disrespectful.
Our diet was poor--we ate potato chips from the gift shop, granola bars, and tortilla chips for dinner. The drive home was long, and the rain had lasted for only a short time within the park. We got home at about 10.
Today there's a fire. The light is orange, and there are little bits of ash in the air. It's been a comfortable morning, but it's supposed to get up to 95 today and 98 tomorrow. Tomorrow we're planning to go to Berkeley for free day at the botanical garden.
Yesterday Erik and I went to Lassen Volcanic National Park on a whim. I was feeling down, and it was a good way to get me out of the house. The best thing about the trip was seeing a geothermal vent that looked like a crater, filled with bubbling mud, making a strange grumbling sound and spewing warm steam that smells like sulfur. The crater is about four feet across, and there are other geothermal vents nearby, but not the mud pot kind. I had never seen anything like this before, and I had worshipful feelings--I had to restrain myself from some strange worshipful act. I think the smell was pleasant, though Erik finds it disgusting, and we agreed to disagree.
So that was the first stop. Then we drove through the rest of the park. We visited a small green lake called Emerald Lake where I leaned against a nice warm rock. Emerald Lake is special in that it doesn't have any streams coming in or out, and it's green from algae that lives there because the water is warmed geothermally.
We saw other lakes and stunning views of peaks and ridges and lots of conifers. I bought postcards near Lassen peak. We were at a high elevation--the road went up to more than 8000 ft. We took a walk at Manzanita Lake, and I was patient while Erik took a lot of pictures.
Then it started to rain. It had been months since we'd seen any rain, and it made us very happy. There was thunder and lightning--lightning in flashes. On our way out of the park, we stopped again at the Sulfur Works. I was very cold and wet with rain, but we paid one last visit to the geothermal vent that had so impressed me. I stared for a long time so I could see little bits of mud being thrown into the air by the spewing gases. Then some other people showed up and I moved away to let them have their time alone / sacred fun with the mud pot.
We tried to think up a name for it--Erik had some good candidates, including Cal the Cauldron--the one that made me laugh a lot, Scaldie--and my favorite, Thermie. I rejected all of the names as disrespectful.
Our diet was poor--we ate potato chips from the gift shop, granola bars, and tortilla chips for dinner. The drive home was long, and the rain had lasted for only a short time within the park. We got home at about 10.
Today there's a fire. The light is orange, and there are little bits of ash in the air. It's been a comfortable morning, but it's supposed to get up to 95 today and 98 tomorrow. Tomorrow we're planning to go to Berkeley for free day at the botanical garden.
posted by Laura-Marie @ 11:18 AM
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