It wasn’t easy to leave the Lassen area, but we headed north toward Crater Lake National Park. The drive along CA-44/89 North took us past MacArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, where we paused to admire the falls and have lunch. There wasn’t much in the way of a hike and we needed to get moving to reach our next destination. Parking more than 50 feet of truck and coach along a very small parking lot was the big challenge. Parking two such configurations was darn near impossible. But despite the drought effecting much of California, Burney Falls continues to flow.

CA-89 connected us with I-5 and circled around Mount Shasta before joining with US-97 up into Oregon. Shasta asserted itself around every bend in the road or break in the fir, spruce, yew and pine that ran up to the very edge of the freeway. We stopped in Klamuth Falls for groceries (and a Wiffle Ball set), before landing in Collier Memorial State Park just north of Chiloquin.

When we arrived at Collier Memorial State Park, we immediately noticed a very curious thing – many of the trucks, RVs and tow vehicles were parked with their hoods up. We debated among ourselves what it might mean. The answer: the park is filled with thousands of Klamuth Chipmunks and they like to hop up into the warm engine compartments of vehicles and gnaw on the sundry hoses and wires. Apparently, an open hood discourages this behavior? Anyway, we set up camp near the river, where we found proof of beaver activity.

We had dinner at Melita’s Motel & Café and were served by Izzy, an excellent waitress/cook.