Before we got there, geocaching took us to an interesting and strange sight in the mountains...
Do you see it? Right below Lassen Volcano, coming out of the trees, is a pyramid! A full size building that a man chose to build for his personal residence after reiring from his own company with pyramid in the title. Very cool viewing from its clear top from what we read on the internet.
We also passed by the famous Folsom Prison where Johnny Cash came to sing to the prisoners. There was a cache near the prison with a beautiful view of this historical prison (one of the oldest in the nation)...
Lassen Volcano NP
We planned to make this stop several times over the last year but weather always seemed to be an issue. However, we were determined to make it there and see some part of the park before our eastward trek began.
When we arrived, most of the roads were closed due to snow. The main park road opened for vehicles up to the visitor center.
The weather on this particular day was actually sunny and warm...we were surrounded by snow but were able to wear shorts and t-shirts! Anyone who knows me will realize that I do not like snow...it is COLD!!!! However, I do like geocaching and I braved the weather to take a look for one as we were entering the park!
Some of our crew even thought the weather deemed flip-flops! AND...once they walked through the snow, they choice to remove shoes altogether and have a snow ball fight! Quite a scene!
After a quick trip through the visitor center and playing in the snow, we eventually made it up the trail (road closed off to traffic became our trail!) to see the thermal vents. This was very interesting but smelled terrible...so we did not stay long. 
A few naturally occurring snow sculptures we discovered along the road side...
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| Ape head |
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| Skull |
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| Sea Turtle |
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| Sea Monster |
The thermals...
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| Snow melt due to the thermals |
The children were also able to become junior rangers before leaving. We now have over 100 badges and I am hoping to organize them for display when we are settled into our new home. The walk up and back was still quite time consuming so we were at the park for a couple of hours before making our way toward Reno.
A few other interesting items along the way...
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| Stellar Jay |
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| Mountain view |
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| Helicopter Crop Dusting |
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| Statue in the middle of nowhere |
The trip to Reno was long and windy. The worst part...we were not even stopping in Reno...we still had over an hour in the van before making our way to Lovelock for our hotel. Lovelock is famous for its round Court House. A major draw is the Lovers Lock Plaza in the shaded area at the back of the Court House where couples symbolize their love by attaching a padlock to an 'endless chain', a practice begun on Valentine’s Day, 2005.
We were really just thankful for a place to make dinner and a clean bed to fall asleep in for the night. We were glad to actually find this as well as a friendly family who ran the hotel.
Day one...ended well...still more to see as we travel through unknown territory over the next few days.
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