We left our friends’ ranch the afternoon after the eclipse and decided for family reasons to head directly home, but did not want to drive 8-10 hours to do so. So, we compromised.
Our first night on the trip home we spent at Philips Lake at the Forest Union Creek Campground. We had no reservations so cruised the campground seeking an “open” site. We found a great site with a super, unobstructed view of the lake. The reservation notice on the post indicated that it was reserved, but not until the next night. We quickly backed in and set up camp. The volunteer Camp Host came by, verified that we were fine, took our money and left. We were happy.
Happy…until the Canadians arrived followed shortly thereafter by the Camp Host. The Canadians claimed we were in their site as they had reserved it “six months ago”. The camp Host checked the post and found their reservation tag behind some others: they were correct. After some machinations by us, the Canadians, and the Camp Hosts, the Canadians found another suitable site and we were happily drinking our evening wine. As we began our evening walk, we packaged up a nice bottle of wine and Nancy “scooted” down to their campsite to thank them for their flexibility, which they accepted with surprise and thanks. Happy Canadians. Happy Californians. Happy Camp Hosts!
Forest Union Creek Campground was a very pleasant site, and had we had more time and an open camp site, we would have stayed a couple of days. There was a great boat ramp that allowed us to get Paddington in the water and to play ball with him. 
Our next stop was Lakeview Oregon. We wanted a motel room as it was hot, we were ready to be home, and we wanted a nice shower. Au contraire ! Every place we checked was full – Best Western, Comfort Inn, local chains, etc. Full! No vacancy! Firefighters again…….
We eventually found a room at the Executive Inn (around the corner, down the street, and across from the tire shop)…and a few doors up from the Mexican restaurant. The Managers of the Executive Inn were exceptionally nice….and we were glad for the room albeit not accessible in anyway, on the second floor with no elevator, up rickety stairs, and with an inaccessible shower/bathroom for Nancy. We ordered “to go” food from the Mexican Restaurant, which we were assured was considered extremely good and “reasonably priced.” Though certainly good enough, our food was not ready for pick-up until an hour after placing our order. Sigh….
As often happens, unexpected circumstances bring unexpected surprises. The Executive Inn is also right across the street from the
MC Chuckwagon Western Heritage Exhibit . This small museum so very carefully chronicles the life and times of the cowboys and cattle dynasties of Lakeview County and Oregon. Their exhibits are extremely well done. And, unique among museums, their displays are constructed in such a way (and lighting applied in such a creative manner), that one can enjoy and experience the museum whether the facility is open or not.
So many of the exhibits of saddles, rodeo stars of old, and other cattle ranch accoutrements brought back clear memories for Fran of growing up in Nevada and actually using some of the equipment. It also painted a very poignant picture of the contributions made by the early cattle barons to the growth and development of the Far West. Their refurbishment of the old MC Chuckwagon was particularly well done and the best replica I have seen.
Leaving Lakeview, we made the decision to drive through Lassen Volcanic National Park. While we had certainly visited Lassen many times before, we had never driven Highway 89 through the Park up and over the pass. This added extra time to our push to get home, but we thought it worth it and chose also to spend one night in Manzanita Campground as a last camping stop before pulling into our driveway.
The volunteer Camp Host proved to be very nice and supportive of any site we selected as long as it wasn’t reserved. After three trips through the campground, we settled in. Our camp site was less than desirable and very dirty and dusty. However, it was a camp
site and we had no reservations. However, we used it to explore the nearby lake and to see more of the Park than we had previously.
We realized after returning from our walk that we were about to lose all battery power, which had not happened on our entire trip. No batteries — no awning, no hydraulic bed, no retraction of stabilizers, no tongue jack, etc. A little investigation by Fran discovered that the batteries had been allowed to “go dry” and were in desperate need of a refill of distilled water, which, of course, was nowhere available in the Park. However, our helpful Camp Host had both distilled water and equipment to get the water into the battery cells, which he happily loaned to us. A little time and all cells were refilled and “topped off”. Fran had been able to employ the truck battery to get all electrically-based trailer components in place and ready to hit the road. And, yet another bottle of wine got bundled up and dropped off to a grateful Camp Host. So…off we went with what we assumed were charging batteries.
Sometime later, Fran determined that the batteries were not really charging after all for no known reason. It was not until we arrived home and were cleaning out the trailer, that Fran discovered an obscure light on the front of the trailer, hidden by the propane tanks, had somehow been turned on and was draining the batteries the entire last part of our trip. Live and learn!.
On our way out of Lassen, we took the time to stop at many sites and vistas, and to gain a new appreciation for both the scenery of Lassen as well as 
the geology and history of the Park: one forgets Mt. Lassen “blew its top” in a series of major events and could easily do so again. Reading the history and description of “the blow”, and seeing the boiling mud “pots” up close, certainly reminded us th
at the geology of the earth is anything but stable, even if it is within a few hours of the great Bay Area.
We left Lassen and headed into what we thought at the time was oppressive heat. Little did we know that we were about to experience record-breaking heat for the entire Bay Area the first week we arrived home!
As you may recall, we delayed our trip in early July due to some family and friend health issues. Fortunately for us, everyone held together while we were on our trip.
However, upon arriving home, we received word that Nancy’s older sister, Marilyn passed away in Ohio somewhat unexpectedly. Nancy had taken the time before we left to fly back to Ohio to spend some time with Marilyn and the family. We will be flying back to Ohio for her memorial celebration of life next week. And, while we were dealing with that, our very good friend and neighbor, Lee, began to rapidly deteriorate and also passed away this week. It has been quite a week!