Lassen Volcanic National Park and a pleasant surprise

We decided to take the drive to see Mt. Lassen today as a storm was suppose be coming. We stopped at the Visitors Center and had a nice discussion with a ranger and the gift shop docent. The gift shop docent said he recognized John. After some discussion, it was determined that he had seen John and I at the mall the other day. Strangely, John remembers him because he was looking at John so intently. It seems that John looked like a friend of his. Strange and funny world we live in.

John and Melissa climbed to the top of Mt. Lassen with members of her 7th grade class in 1995 so it brought back memories for John. It certainly didn't look like a mountain I would like to climb. John has fond memories (Melissa not so much) and he said the views from the top were spectacular.

The backside of Mt. Lassen still had snow on the mountain top. This is a view of Mt. Lassen from across Manzanita Lake.

We hiked around Manzanita lake (1.8 miles). We stopped about half way and sat on a log to eat the lunch we had packed. It was very nice and peaceful. The other lone person in the area was a fisherman. He said that there was a local eagle that liked to terrorize the ducks on the lake. No such luck today. All we saw were crows and stellar jays. This was our view from our log . . . pretty darn nice.

Here is another pretty shot with Mt. Lassen in the background and my honey in the foreground.

We stopped in Redding on our way home so that we could pick up goggles at Leslie Pool Supplies. We definitely made a big circle today.

When we got home, I checked our email and saw a reply from one of the campgrounds where we submitted our resume. They gave us the low down on the job and the requirements./benefits I gave them a call and spoke with the owner/general manager, Paul. John and I had a nice conversation with him. After John and I discussed the position, we called him back and said we would happily take the position. We are totally stoked. We love the Custer area and this should be an interesting way to spend the summer of 2009. Three days of "work" and four days of play for our site with full hookups, cable, wireless internet in an area we love. What will John/we be doing? . . . maintenance stuff (lawn mowing, painting benches, etc.). I will also be able to learn the workings of the office.

After dinner settled, we again went to the pool and tried out our new goggles that worked great. Finished it up with a soak in the spa. Ah, what a great life!