Yesterday we celebrated Bev’s birthday and today, Day 7 of our trip, July 15, we began by celebrating mine. After checking out of our beautiful timeshare near Klamath Falls, we began our drive to Redding on our way home. But we took a detour to the Lava Beds National Monument in northeastern California. Before reaching the park entrance, we encountered the house of the Devil.

We had packed a lunch and enjoyed eating it at a picnic table in the shade near the Visitor Center. Next we climbed down the steps to the Mushpot lava cave nearby, where the natural air conditioning provided respite from the surface heat. Eruptions occurring 30,000 to 40,000 years ago formed more than 900 lava tube caves in the park. Lava tubes form when streams of hot, flowing lava start to cool. The center of the stream stays hot and continues to flow as the outside begins to cool and harden. The hot lava drains out, leaving a pipe-shaped cave. Here are several scenes from the Mushpot cave.

After walking another trail in the park, we headed toward Redding, which is a bit less than halfway home from Klamath Falls, savoring our seven-day driving trip to celebrate our birthdays — our most significant trip since the pandemic began well over two years ago. I hope you have enjoyed one or more of my blogs about this trip.

Before posting about Days 5 and 6, I want to share 4 more pictures of Crater Lake from Day 4. The first shows a little bit of snow still around here and there.

On Day 5, July 13, we drove to Ashland and parked at the Hargadine Parking Structure downtown to engage in some sight seeing. The roof of the structure provided a nice view of Mount Ashland over the tops of downtown Ashland.

After strolling up and down the hilly streets, having lunch, and yes — stopping in a shop or two — we enjoyed spending some time in Lithia Park, a 100-acre City park adjacent to downtown with grassy lawns, gardens, ponds, waterfalls, wooded areas, and trails.

I have to mention dinner at Harvey’s Place on Main Street. We ordered an assortment of appetizers and salads as small plates topped off with Harvey’s four-layer carrot cake, made by the owner’s wife, Anny. The meal was superb, the carrot cake the best I have ever had, and the service by Bella (who was new) oustanding.

Why were we in Ashland? I thought you’d never ask. To see The Tempest at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We enjoyed a perfect evening at the outdoor Elizabethan stage. It was sunny, but most of the seating was in the shade by performance time. No jackets or blankets were needed — the temperature went from about 83 at the beginning, down to 74 by the end of the performance. Here are two pictures in the lobby before the doors opened, followed by two inside the theatre. The performance was excellent, as expected.

Day 6, July 14, began with a celebration of Bev’s birthday, followed by a return to the timeshare in Klamath Falls. But on the way, we took a detour to the Grizzly Peak Trailhead, which involved about 2 miles along an extremely bumpy, mostly gravel road. The name, Grizzly Peak, came from the fact that the last known grizzly bear in Southern Oregon spent about 50 years in the area before being shot in 1890 by a 17-year old. We enjoyed a portion of the trail, but did not go to the top — partly because we had not thought to pack a lunch.

On Monday, July 11, we departed Redding and headed north on Interstate 5. We enjoyed the variety of scenery, especially when we started seeing glimpses of Mount Shasta with a little snow still at the peak.

After leaving I-5 and taking US 97 we came to a scenic turnoff where we got a full view of the volcanic peak. The signage reported the elevation at the peak — 12,330 feet. It last erupted about 9,400 years ago, 300 years after the first eruption.

We checked into our timeshare in the early afternoon, when we learned that our 4th floor suite has a wonderful view of the golf course on the grounds.

Near the grounds of the WorldMark Running Y was a trail called, “Skillet Handle Trail.” We end today’s recap with two pictures — one at the trailhead and one looking toward Klamath Lake.

And then, the encore from our balcony!!

As I write this at 2:30 pm on Sunday, it is already 103 degrees in Redding, headed toward 105. We took advantage of the “cool” morning to walk along the Sacramento River starting at the Sundial Bridge. The City has provided plenty of benches and picnic tables along the trails in a free area adjacent to the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, which has entrances at both ends of the Sundial Bridge.

Here are some of the scenes along our walk.

As it warmed up, the indoor museum at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park became quite attractive — in one way that was expected and a couple that were not. First of all, it was “Five and Dime Day,” which we learned meant that the adult fee was only $10 and the children/senior fee was only $5. Secondly, the special exhibit, “Pterosaurs, Ancient Rulers of the Skies,” was quite interesting. These flying vertebrates were cousins of the dinosaurs.