Day 18: Olive Lake, Oregon to Susanville, California

Its another beautiful morning and Cutty and I get up early to head to the dock for some morning clarity on the lake. While Cutty sniffs the cracks of the dock searching for the muskrat, I get to enjoy the last fluttering lap of the geese before they descend over the hillside. This morning is as calm and warm as it has been yet and I take my Uggs off and put my feet in the chilly water. I hate to leave today but reality is beckoning us back and this journey will continue south west for the end of its duration. The thoughts of emails, wedding planning and school books are starting to creep into my head so I take one more deep breath and head back to camp hoping to take the clarity of the serene lake with me. We clean up camp and eat up some breakfast, corn, and any other random food items that are on the verge of extinction and hit the road.
Today is a long driving day that begins on the 7 through out the tiny old wagon towns of historic eastern Oregon. The road is still scenic and windy through evergreen pine regions and will soon meet up with the 395, the devils backbone. Long, hot and straight, loooong and hot, Delphina is charging! We start to think maybe we should have prepared with extra hoses because there is nothing out here and a car only passes once every 30 or 40 minutes. We pass a sign that posts experimental testing in a basin over the hill and plenty of posted warning and trespassing signs, we are truly in no mans land. Finally we reach water, it’s a sad looking lake that smells like fermenting cows, and its name bares its aridness, Lake Alkali. The salty sanction of … hwy 395, god only knows we haven’t seen a town in a good couple hours, where are we? Still the drive isn’t bad, I am enjoying myself and Matthew sits in the back making snacks and Mikey keeps me company in the front, he is happy because he can smoke, and thank xm radio for satellite and the options to listen to any genre of music on a whim.
We drive on for another few hours and descend back down into the 4,000 ft range where there are trees and streams. Mostly Alders and Willows until we reach another national park zone than back into the pines. Farm land is our next movie and we see so many beautiful horses and land with decrepit barns and nice houses. We see antelope, a heard standing behind a fence eating on someone’s property and a single reindeer further down the road, pretty awesome! The farm animals are getting more interesting, turkey’s and llamas, pigmy goats and miniature horses. I am fully entertained and want to keep driving.
We push on through the Oregon border and check through border patrol, no fruits and veggies, except for the potatoes in the fridge but I think we actually have had them the whole trip, so I don’t mention its as Matthew sits muzzling Ollie in the back as to not attack the border man, he sends us on our way. Back to California!
The sun begins to set through Alturas and we decide to push through to Rosenville, I think this is where we are, oh, Susanville! My eyes are dry and tired and I don’t want to push Delphina to Reno, even though it is only 70 miles off, she is know driving about 4o mph max and my only entertainment is flashing my lights as the truckers pass in the pitch black, they thank me by running there tail running lights. There is a sign for an RV park a quarter mile down the road and we head that way. Over 13 hours on the road we are all done and I go straight to bed! What a good push and an awesome drive though, Cutty snuggles up next to me and Coco next to Matthew, there is no complaining of cramped twin quarters as we fit into a quick slumber and Mikey reads excerpts aloud from his book down below. Matthews birthday is approaching Saturday and we plan on spending the day and evening in Sac and Davis and driving home Sunday so tomorrow will be an easy drive, one with casinos I’m sure. Another end to a successful leg, this is no Olive lake but we are safe and sound slipping into slumber!