Yes, I'm still here

Lassen Volcanic National Park
Originally uploaded by mercoop.

I took a drive today to a national park about two hours north of Chico. Lassen Volcanic National Park. Wow.

The first thing I noticed when I pulled in was ... SNOW! I knew it got cold there, but surely hadn't expected snow in August. It was so beautiful, though. And not cold in the least. Mount Lassen erupted in the early 1900s. So there are rocks scattered all over the place and all sorts of "geothermic" phenomena--like hot springs. Pretty awesome.

A little history: Apparently Mount Lassen is the oldest "lava dome" volcano in the world. Lava dome volcanos are made up of layers of volcanic ash and lava.

The ride up to the park was almost as spectacular as the park itself. Chico is in such a funny place. If you drive 30 minutes south, you hit farmland and open fields as far as the eye can see. Go 30 miles in the other direction and you're deep in the forests, whipping around mountain passes.

Another funny thing I noticed today ... I think this was the first truly touristy thing I've done since coming back from my trip. (I did Napa, but it was Father's Day and hence empty.) And after visiting other countries and noticing all of the foriegners around, it made me curious as to how many foriegners I would meet while traveling around the States. Well, there were quite a few out-of-towners at the volcano. Some even speaking other languages ... it was great. I've got to do stuff like that more often.