392 kms today.
We rose early and were on the road at 7:30. Brekkie was at the quaintly named town of Happy Camp and we stopped at the Frontier Cafe, another classic american diner. Well fed, we stopped to look at the statue of Big Foot before taking off towards the enigmatically named Weed.
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| Big Foot outside Happy Camp CA. |
Fuel was becoming a problem as all the towns along Hwy 96 were unmanned with card facilities that our Aussie cards can't use. Buying fuel in america is a pain as you have to swipe an amount before going to the pump and then come back to get the actual amount receipted. This leads to big queues at busy times. We were helped by a local to find a petrol station we could use. He was having a dander eating a biscuit and came over to help us. We passed another guy just walking down the road with a back pack in the middle of nowhere. Hwy 96 continued to be a classic bikers road with fast sweepers, great surface and little traffic. The towns along it were in serious decline like most of america, once you get off the beaten track. We stopped in Weed for refreshment and to call a bike shop in Astoria to get prices for a new front tyre for my Honda. The tyre was past its best and gave me a few scares with slides on tight corners. Once we had the price we left a message with Jon Dagget who hired us the bikes. We have a few concerns about Mr Dagget but we'll see how he handles the tyre situation. Outside Weed is a very high snow capped mountain called Mt Shasta.
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| Mt Shasta. |
It is a dormant volcano and part of the Cascades Range.
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| Mt Shasta from another side. |
We headed up Hwy 97 but this was busy and boring. Then we went along the state border to Tulelake the nearest town to the Lava Beds National Monument. We found the tourist information office and got some details about the park and incidentally where Winema Lodge was, our lodging for the next two nights. Tulelake was a small town and absolutely dead, but we managed to find a diner that made us a huge chicken sandwich and milk shake. Winema Lodge has motel units and dormitory rooms in the main building. Verna runs the place and most guests are fishermen or visitors for the park. We met some fishermen at dinner and they showed us photos of the biggest trout we have ever seen - about 16 pounds! Our room had no aircon which made it a hot night as it reached 33 degrees during the day and the room had heated up.
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