This post come almost a month after our trip and I'm certain I'll be leaving out the finer details.
But let's get started :)!
We started our drive Thursday morning from Foster city. Our first stop was at Sacramento.
The roads of Old Town were completely empty and all shops closed! so we strolled down the streets for a bit, took a few clicks and then hit the road to our second stop for the day - MacArthur Burney Falls.
En route to the Falls, Google Maps told me 'Madras' was close by, which got me excited!
The falls is nothing but breathtaking! We hiked the Falls Loop trail after having lunch that we've packed from back home. The water falling down the rocks slopes looked like so fine, you could mistake them for Gossamer's thread. There is a theory that the falls was much smaller in height before, and that the layers of rocks through which it ultimately flows are of increasing strength bottom up. Over the years, the water finally found its way through the tougher rocks and the falls now stands taller now! I definitely recommend this place, it's one of he most beautiful places i've been to in California. I particularly liked the poetry and writings on the seats, and felt it compounded the beauty of the place, albiet in a very subtle way.
We drove from Burney falls to Klamath Lake, Oregon. There was some goof up with the hotel booking, and we had to end up making another booking at Shilo Inn, klamath Falls. We knew we'd have a tough time finding food on thanksgiving day, but luckily found an american place close to the hotel - Elmer's place. The waiter there was so overworked that he forgot to serve us water or cultlery :) We had to sympathize with him! Had a couple of sandwiches and were ready to hit the sack at the end of Day 1.
Day 2 was about the beauty of Crater Lake. Snow bordering its sides, and magnficent, it's bluer than blue! We watched a documentary about how the area was initially inhabited by the Klamath indian tribes, and how Mount Mazama erupted one day to form Crater Lake. While the volcano eruption did give us such beauty in the crater Lake, so many people of the Klamath tribe lost their lives, and learning about it made us feel very uneasy! Nature always reminds our that we are always at its mercy, and Crater lake today stands testimony to the fact. We did not have much to do in Crater Lake, walked in the snow for a bit - had sandwiches at a place ( we had to wait 2hrs for an extremely ordinary sandwich), and began our drive south.
We drove about aimlessly and chanced upon undoubtedly my most beautiful drive this date, while trying to get to another Lake (the Name escapes my memory at the moment). Snow clad pine conifers at both ends of the roads, it felt like early Christmas! We continued driving into snow, and that became bit of an adventure for us and we forced to trace back our route to more safer roads.
We stopped at a Thai place, Pongshri's kitchen in Grants Pass. The ambience was aesthetic, the people, polite and the food, delicious. We then retired at Shilo's Inn that night. We had to put in an actual key to enter a room(yes, an actual key, not a card!). It was a very old hotel, but good enough for a night's rest for our tired legs.
Day 3 - Began our drive at Grants Pass, and our first stop of the day was at Jedediahs Redwood State Park. The place was serene and awe-inspriing at the same time. We went to the campgrounds at first and walked for a bit. We then made our way out to drive further into the State Park for the Strout grove River Trail. It was beautiful to hike and breathe in the unpolluted air there.
Our next stop was at Crescent City, CA. A quiet and small city, we had lunch at a Thai restaurant again - which was quiet good!
We began our drive down to Willits, CA. The drive was through the mountainous redwood terrain, and though it started out well; we began getting sick of the winding narrow roads leading us to Mendocino. It was a harrowing drive towards the end, and we were glad to retire at the Old West Inn at Willitis. the owner happened to be an Indian, and our TV had the indian channels that I'd grown up watching :) We had dinner at Old mission Pizza, it was good!
We spent the night and Willitis, and began our drive back home early the next morning!
But let's get started :)!
We started our drive Thursday morning from Foster city. Our first stop was at Sacramento.
The roads of Old Town were completely empty and all shops closed! so we strolled down the streets for a bit, took a few clicks and then hit the road to our second stop for the day - MacArthur Burney Falls.
En route to the Falls, Google Maps told me 'Madras' was close by, which got me excited!
The falls is nothing but breathtaking! We hiked the Falls Loop trail after having lunch that we've packed from back home. The water falling down the rocks slopes looked like so fine, you could mistake them for Gossamer's thread. There is a theory that the falls was much smaller in height before, and that the layers of rocks through which it ultimately flows are of increasing strength bottom up. Over the years, the water finally found its way through the tougher rocks and the falls now stands taller now! I definitely recommend this place, it's one of he most beautiful places i've been to in California. I particularly liked the poetry and writings on the seats, and felt it compounded the beauty of the place, albiet in a very subtle way.
We drove from Burney falls to Klamath Lake, Oregon. There was some goof up with the hotel booking, and we had to end up making another booking at Shilo Inn, klamath Falls. We knew we'd have a tough time finding food on thanksgiving day, but luckily found an american place close to the hotel - Elmer's place. The waiter there was so overworked that he forgot to serve us water or cultlery :) We had to sympathize with him! Had a couple of sandwiches and were ready to hit the sack at the end of Day 1.
Day 2 was about the beauty of Crater Lake. Snow bordering its sides, and magnficent, it's bluer than blue! We watched a documentary about how the area was initially inhabited by the Klamath indian tribes, and how Mount Mazama erupted one day to form Crater Lake. While the volcano eruption did give us such beauty in the crater Lake, so many people of the Klamath tribe lost their lives, and learning about it made us feel very uneasy! Nature always reminds our that we are always at its mercy, and Crater lake today stands testimony to the fact. We did not have much to do in Crater Lake, walked in the snow for a bit - had sandwiches at a place ( we had to wait 2hrs for an extremely ordinary sandwich), and began our drive south.We drove about aimlessly and chanced upon undoubtedly my most beautiful drive this date, while trying to get to another Lake (the Name escapes my memory at the moment). Snow clad pine conifers at both ends of the roads, it felt like early Christmas! We continued driving into snow, and that became bit of an adventure for us and we forced to trace back our route to more safer roads.
We stopped at a Thai place, Pongshri's kitchen in Grants Pass. The ambience was aesthetic, the people, polite and the food, delicious. We then retired at Shilo's Inn that night. We had to put in an actual key to enter a room(yes, an actual key, not a card!). It was a very old hotel, but good enough for a night's rest for our tired legs.
Day 3 - Began our drive at Grants Pass, and our first stop of the day was at Jedediahs Redwood State Park. The place was serene and awe-inspriing at the same time. We went to the campgrounds at first and walked for a bit. We then made our way out to drive further into the State Park for the Strout grove River Trail. It was beautiful to hike and breathe in the unpolluted air there.
Our next stop was at Crescent City, CA. A quiet and small city, we had lunch at a Thai restaurant again - which was quiet good!
We began our drive down to Willits, CA. The drive was through the mountainous redwood terrain, and though it started out well; we began getting sick of the winding narrow roads leading us to Mendocino. It was a harrowing drive towards the end, and we were glad to retire at the Old West Inn at Willitis. the owner happened to be an Indian, and our TV had the indian channels that I'd grown up watching :) We had dinner at Old mission Pizza, it was good!
We spent the night and Willitis, and began our drive back home early the next morning!
