Our Saturday "Sunday Drive"

I had an appointment in Chester at 1:00 pm on Saturday. I knew I wanted to stop at the second hand store, but I didn't know where we'd end up after that! 

When I was a kid, after dinner, my parents would pile us girls into the car and drive up to the Marin Watershed area just to see the sights. It was almost always in the summer, and the air was cool, with the scent of the trees surrounded us as we drove up the windy road. Sometimes my Auntie Mare and Uncle Hans would join us. 

"I'll give you girls a nickel for each deer you spot." my uncle would say.  My sisters and I would watch, excitedly, out the backseat window to see if we could spot a deer in the forest. And of course, we'd always find a few!

Bon Tempe Lake, Marin Municipal Water District, Marin County

I'm sure, for my parents, it was a time to relax, breath in the fresh air, and spend a few moments together as a family. For us girls, it was a time to watch the great outdoors wiz by, as we drove up Bolinas Road, to the top of the Marin Watershed area. We'd park, run towards the lake, then head back home. 

Our drive last Saturday felt just like my memories of our after dinner drives. 

"Let's head over to Mill Creek Resort (www.millcreekresort.net) for a late lunch," I said to my Faithful Sherpa. He sat there, thinking for a moment. I wasn't sure if he'd want to drive the 30 minutes out there. Then he smiled. . .
​"Sure!"

Fireweed

A beautiful, but unknown to me plant

The forest is so full of color this time of the year, which always surprises me. I  expect it to be dried up, with dead leaves all around. But instead, when you look closely, you'll find flowers blooming everywhere!

Zuzu, the Resort greeter for the day

Lunch was fantastic!

We made it to Mill Creek Resort around 3:00 pm. We sat outside, under the trees, next to a Foxglove patch, on a downward sloping, plastic, picnic table. I couldn't help but laugh over the table.

​See, I had a skirt on, and because the picnic table was plastic, I kept sliding downhill on the bench. I ended up stabilizing myself by planting my feet firmly on the umbrella stand under the table, sitting sideways so I wouldn't slide. We laughed even harder when they served our lunch, on thick plastic plates, which slid down the table as well. "Wet a napkin and place it under your place" my Faithful Sherpa said. He's so smart!

Zuzu's new friend Zack

"Don't go back to work, Zack. Stay and play with me!"

"Where's Zack? Can't he come with us?"

Little Zuzu made a friend at the Resort. The second Zack saw Zuzu, he fell in love. "ooohhhh. . .whoooo's this cuuuuute little puuuuppy," he said as he sat down next to her. 

After saying goodbye to everyone at the Resort, we headed off to parts unknown. We'd only driven Hwy 172 to Mill Creek, so we thought we'd follow the road all the way out to Mineral. 

But we took a little detour. ​Who could pass up a sign like this!

Hole in the Ground Campground. . .that's an intriguing name! "Come on, we've gotta go see the hole in the ground!" 

It was a 3 mile drive down a very well maintained dirt road. And at the bottom of the road you'll find 12 or so clean campsites, right along the water. The creek is beautiful, fresh clear water. creek. It is one of the last remaining waterways in California to support spring run chinook and winter steelhead! 
​​
So. . .what's the "hole in the ground" you ask? It's a swimming hole of course!

We made it all the way to the top of Mineral Summit. Actually it's not really that high (5,266), or even the highest pass near Mt. Lassen (Lassen Park 8,512, the highest road in the Cascade Mountains), but it was an adventuresome drive!  Take a look at what we found, just as we turned around to walk back to the car. 

​Bees!

We slowly made our way back down the other side of Mineral Summit and drove right thru Battle Creek Ranch. Incredible, simply incredible. Look how beautiful, peaceful,  and magical this ranch is. 

Back in the day, though, Battle Creek was anything but peaceful! 

In the mid 1800's Battle Creek was named after a "bloody" battle. Now, which battle they named it for is up for debate but here are some of the leading stories. ​A battle between: 
1. Trappers and Indians, 1849 (Steger)
2. Fremont's troops acting on their own and Indians, 1846 (McNamar) or
3. A great battle between Indians and Whites, (Freida Nul) 

​I'm glad it's peaceful now!
At one point the ranch was also open to fly fishing, but they now have "no trespassing, fishing or hunting" signs posted everywhere. My poor Faithful Sherpa was thoroughly disappointed to find that out! 

It's now time to head home, but not without a few more stops!
"This has turned into a 'stop, turnaround, what was that!' type of day, hasn't it!" 
But there's always a good adventure just around the corner in Plumas, Lassen and Tehama counties!

Stop. . .turnaround. . .what was that!!
We found an old truck bed, down a dirt road. The colors are so inspiring! Well, at least to me!

Stop. . .turnaround. . .what was that!!
Who has two knights in shining armor at their front gate!  Apparently these people do!

​Finally, we headed back down Hwy 89 towards home. 

But not before a stop at Lake Almanor so the puppy can take a dip!

Looking towards Chester.

The clouds and reflection were incredible!

So, did I get any knitting in? Hah, don't worry. . .I always have a knitting project with me. I worked on another knitted shawl. I know, I know, that's how I hurt my thumb, and I shouldn't be knitting with size 4 needles!

But don't worry, I had a project with larger knitting needles with me. So my knitting day went like this. . .a few stitches on the shawl, a few stitches on the infinity scarf, then back to the shawl. I've gotta keep my hands from aching!

We made it home around 8:00 pm, happy and relaxed, just how you should feel after a Saturday "Sunday Drive." 

Don't forget to sign up for our next workshop "The Art of Self-Care for Artisans." I know you'll walk away from this workshop with a "Sunday Drive" feeling, happy and relaxed!