A Break From The Automotive World - Camping At Lassen Volcanic National Park

After leaving my personal blog dormant for over a year while I focused my attention towards my business pages, I am returning to it with a post that has almost nothing to do with my passion for the automotive world.  Instead, I will be sharing some family photos from a recent camping trip.  Faithful followers of this blog that would prefer content focused upon the world of custom cars and trucks (both of you!) may feel free to pick up where I left off by visiting bcfab.blogspot.com - I update there much more frequently.

This past week, we packed up our Ford Excursion and tent trailer and headed up the highway toward Mount Lassen.  For us, the trip was just over 4 hours, including a couple of pit stops for our dogs and the boys.  Victoria does an excellent job of packing our food and clothes, so setting up once we got to the campsite was a breeze, and we were quickly able to relax and enjoy some family time.  The weather at our camp ranged from the low 80s during the day to the low 40s overnight- perfect for wearing jeans and a t-shirt most of the day.

In the past years we've ventured away from camp to hike many of Lassen's trails, but this year we decided to mostly stay in camp and just hang out.  Aaron and I actually drove down to Redding on Friday to see the new Batman movie at the theater- not something one would typically associate with camping, but what the heck?  My grandpa actually drove down from Oregon and stayed in one of the cabins near our campsite, and it was great to be able to hang out with him- we don't speak enough, so it was nice to catch up.

All good things come to an end, and yesterday we packed everything back up and rolled back home.  Sacramento welcomed us with 100+ degree weather as we unpacked the car and trailer, but the air conditioning inside the house quickly had us relaxing again comfortably.  It was nice to get away from the real world for a few days, and we look forward to doing it all again next year!

I'm always bad about taking pictures when we're having fun- I guess I just live in the moment!  But here are some shots from our trip.  Click on the image to view a larger version.

Manzanita Lake- a little cloudy today, but it was sunny for most of our visit

Max venturing onto a fallen tree across the lake

This lake is COLD- even in July.

But that didn't stop Aaron from jumping in!

He made it out with only mild hypothermia.

Nate hanging out on another fallen tree...

...and getting in trouble for riding his bike off the trail!

Max kicking back around camp

Nate just lounging.

Aaron being his regular cool self

Chipmunk with his cheeks full- probably found some food at our campsite

Jay swiping Sun Chips- caught in the act!

This time, we left food out on purpose.

Aaron trying to get a good shot

Henry just enjoying nature

Our dogs stayed on their bed without tethers- for the most part!

Victoria on our hike around the lake

Nate and Great-Grandpa just hanging out

Max jumping off the picnic table...

...Nate doing the same...

...and of course Aaron getting in on the fun!

Victoria wanted to get a shot of all the boys- after 30 tries we got this one:

But not before we got THIS one!

Thanks for looking- maybe some of you can make it up next year!