4/2/13

Shasta Caverns and Camping

 
We went camping at Lake Shasta for Easter weekend.  We decided to check out the Shasta Caverns while we were there.  It was pretty awesome.  Noah is still talking about it.
 
Some pretty amazing views from the top of the mountain.  Lake Shasta has 4 'fingers', and this is a small portion of the McCloud finger.

The babies thought this huge stuffed bear was pretty neat.  It was inside the visitor center just before entering the caves.
 
It was hard to get good pictures in there, but it was pretty amazing.
 





 Kind of blurry, and the guy we asked to take the picture missed the lake entirely, but at least we're all in this picture.
 By the time we were done at the caverns, we went up/down 850 stairs.  It sounds impressive (for tiny tots it's really impressive), but it really wasn't that bad.
 After we set up our tent, we let the kids (and Nala) play in the lake for awhile before the sun went down.  We didn't take the boat this time, thinking the water would be too cold to ski, but it really wasn't that cold.  I mean it wasn't warm by any means, but we've definitely skied in colder water than this.
 I didn't pack swim suits, so the kids just stripped down to their undies.

 
Trying to stay warm while their dad builds a fire.

 Learning the basics of fire building (teepee fire).
 Cooking dinner over the fire - hot dogs.

 Best part of camping.........S'MORES!
Grant's marshmallow just caught on fire.



 We used the Easter marshmallows, so they were extra big.  Yum!
The next morning we took a little drive up one of the mountains to check things out.  This lake really is beautiful.  It's surrounded by mountains and mountains of evergreen trees. 
 Right now there are a lot of these rose bud trees in bloom, so there are splashes of purple everywhere. 
We had a great time.  The kids love camping and playing at Lake Shasta.  We miss going 'Eastering' with my family, but we're having fun coming up with some new traditions.


5 comments:

Mary said...

Oh, I had forgotten how beautiful California can be in the spring! The trees are just starting to green up here. Shasta is seriously a breath-taking setting.

mammasweet said...

What a fun new tradition for you guys. We missed you, of course! There were 15 of us plus Olin for our Easter Dinner. I'll put some pictures on Facebook of the ginormous bubbles we made out back.

The Yoder's Five said...

Cool cave, beautiful lake! How neat to live near stuff like that. You do fun family things that we never get around to.

bethany said...

The pic of Adam with the fire brought back a flood of memories for me. I remember as a kid thinking that if Adam blew on sticks they would ignite. I thought he had a gift. A few weeks back Leenard and I were trying to get some dry branches and leaves to burn in my backyard, to no avail, and confided to eachother how embarrassed we'd be if Adam were watching.

Melissa Scott said...

Fun to see you in pictures! You look so cute, Sum. ANd the rest of your crazy family...