April - May 2013 CA to WA

From Arizona we drove to Southern California to check out Lazy Daze RV and Airstream trailers. At Knox Berry farm, I realized maybe I’m getting a bit too old to do these thrill rides. We backtracked to Joshua Tree NP and Palm Springs. A local shopkeeper helped us find Elvis’ Palm Springs House. We headed north through eastern CA and camped at Lone Pine. We visited the Rodgers Film Museum, which contained memorabilia from many of the western movies that were filmed in the area. We also toured the Manzanar NHS.  This was the site of one of ten internment camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII. The City of LA purchased the water rights to most of central eastern CA, and this had a devastating effect on the area. Mono Lake was practically drained until local action committees found a compromise with the City of LA. The lake is still recovering as its level slowly rises.

Further north in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lake Tahoe continues to be a gem. This is where advanced wastewater treatment was first implemented full scale. All waste discharge was treated and removed from the basin since the early 1970’s.  Back in 1928, Mrs. Lora Knight bought land next to Emerald Bay and then had a Nordic castle built on the property.  Her Vikingsholm is now a State Park.

Marilyn and Pat in Palm Springs

Lucy with Pat

Tufa towers in Mono Lake

Mono Lake

Vikingholm

Eagle Falls

Mt Shasta Dam, Lake and Mountain

Multnomah Falls

Chihuly Glass

Pat, Don, Cornelia and Tom

On April 15, our attempt to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains was delayed by a snowstorm. We finally made it to Redding, CA and enjoyed exploring the area. We toured Mt. Shasta Dam and did some hikes at Whiskeytown NRA and Crags Castle SP. We found a great logging museum at Collier Memorial SP in OR. The Columbia River Gorge had numerous waterfalls, including the very picturesque Multnomah Falls. We spent a week with our friends Tom and Cornelia in Renton, WA. We found the Chihuly Garden and Glass show in Seattle outstanding.  We put our RV in storage and flew back to MD.

We spent a very busy week, rushing between Dr. appointments, visits with friends, trips to see family and getting ready for our trip to Switzerland.