04.01.26
For realsies though. We arrived in Oregon sans any dead oxen or dysentery.
This time last week was my first night in Oregon with a chaotic but lovable new landlord, a safely delivered Batmobile, and my East coast bestie. 💜
Our drive last Wednesday started in Reno, NV and ended at my new little apartment in southern Oregon. I was determined not to get stuck in any mountain passes after dark which meant we had to hustle a little. It helped that there aren’t a ton of towns between Reno and southern Oregon, ESPECIALLY when you cut through winding, woodsy northern Cali.
Leaving Reno, I was pretty surprised by how much desert-y and plains-y landscape we seemed to still be encountering. But oh the cows! So many cows. And even a little diversion through a little station that asked if I had any plants or fruit or firewood or exotic animals in my car.
Excluding Appa?
Needless to say California is not eager for an imported infestations and invasive species, and I am 100% here for that.
After crossing into California, we made our first of very few pit stops at the Honey Lake rest area. We’d both been weirdly excited to see this lake — I’m still not sure what. Maybe because we hadn’t really done the whole lake thing on our journey thus far. There were plenty in the mountains of Colorado but none that we stopped at. And Utah’s lakes were just salt so …
We didn’t actually go to the lake shore, but we took our time admiring the area anyway.
Honey Lake is fascinating in that it will mostly dry up come summer. Similar to the Great Salt Lake, it also creates an alkali flat when it dries up. It was far from being dried up when we were there so it’s hard to imagine it looking like Utah, but the Google Maps image of it does have it looking less lake-ish and more dried up salt puddle.
I really loved the tumbleweeds we encountered in this area too. Very smol. Very cute. Also there were so many doggos at this rest stop. We were spoiled, truly.
After Honey Lake we ran into a little construction that slowed us down. It wasn’t terrible, just a smidge annoying. But the annoyance would be forgotten as soon as we hit Lassen National Forest.
Mountains and forest and trees.
We took route 44 northwest and wound through miles and miles of forest and volcanic mountains and signs for lava tubes we desperately wanted to check out despite us having zero spelunking gear. Some of the curving roads had me white knuckling it a little, especially when they did a hairpin turn a few times, but there was still just so much forest. And wherever there was a break in the trees there would either be a lake or a tree-topped valley or at a few points, cattle crossing signs that had me concerned. Snow still covered parts of the ground which was baffling given that the car’s dash was telling me it was in the 50s. Baffling but also still really pretty.
I’m sure I took pictures or LK did but I’ll have to put them up later.
What I definitely took pictures of and was definitely jazzed about was our super late lunch in Mt. Shasta.
I’m happy to report that no one tried to offer me colloidal silver, I didn’t see anyone from Telos or Lemuria, and there was no secret door that Bigfoot came out of. (That last one is actually disappointing.)
Mt. Shasta is a really vibrant little mountain town. It seemed really alive as we hit the Main Street and there was a lot going on for a late Wednesday afternoon. We chose one of the tap houses to eat at and with such gorgeous weather, also chose to eat outside. The back of my neck regrets the sunburn but I definitely didn’t regret those duck fat fries and goat cheese burger.
Being that we were less than 2 hours from our destination, we didn’t linger for super long after. I’d love to go back when I’m less pressed for time.
As we drove north I continued to be surprised by just how huge Mt. Shasta is. It kept popping up behind other mountains in my rearview and startling me.
The last stretch of our trip was up and slightly down some inclines. We reached Oregon without incident, but the views …
The valleys were just too gorgeous. I’m not 100% sure if this area has an official name, but from the maps I can gather that were were adjacent to the Klamath and Butte Falls National Forest and Plains, and the Cascade-Siskiyou valley? Preserve? Wilderness?
Either way, straight up gorgeous and I can’t believe I’m going to be so lucky as to live in the midst of all this.
We arrived at our destination later in the evening but before dark – yay! – and got as settled in as we could before hitting up the local laundromat. Boring, I know.
But the most important part was that we made it. The Batmobile made it. And I had a place to sleep and kick back.
😎
More to come as we went on an adventure to the Pacific the following day. 🌊
Stay fresh, cheese bags,
Ames
Oregon Trail: Ames Edition 
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