Driving to Oregon and Burney Falls

Russell went to Oregon on his mission and ever since coming home, has wanted to go back and visit.  We have been planning a trip up there since before we were married in fact.  We thought about going to Oregon on our honeymoon but then Russell decided a cruise would be more fun.  Every year we tell each other that we are going to Oregon but something always changes our plans.  Well this year we FINALLY did it! We drove to Oregon and spent a week visiting all of the awesome sites, touring some of Russell's mission areas, and even visiting one of his converts!  We had so much fun we didn't want to come home.  I told Russell I would move there if we didn't have to drive through Nevada to get back to St. George.  (That drive is so boring and nothing but sage brush and a few cows for 7 hours!)  Any way, Oregon is so beautiful!  There are trees and forests and rivers everywhere you look.  I asked Russell why tourists come to Utah to see red rocks when they could come to Northern California and Oregon and see so many more beautiful things.  It was amazing. 

Emily had been looking forward to the trip for a long time too.  For like a month or more before we left, she would tell everyone she saw that we were going to Oregon.  She told the cashiers at stores, everyone in the Primary, and our family members many times.  We were all really excited to go on this trip.

Instead of taking our own car and racking 3,000 miles on it, we rented a Mazda CX7 and travelled in style.  The car was packed so full of luggage, coolers and food, a stroller, and toys to entertain the kids on our long drive.   By the end of the trip, we had become pros at packing and unpacking the car.  We didn't want to eat out every meal so we got hotels that served breakfasts, and made sure the rooms had fridges and microwaves and we packed food for lunches and a few dinners.  We only ended up eating out 3 or 4 times for fun which saved us a lot of money!

On Thursday, August 16, Russell and I were packing the car and putting the last list together of all of the things we wanted to do so we wouldn't forget anything.  Russell decided that instead of leaving at 5:00 bright and early in the morning the next day (Aug 17), we should leave that night around 9:30 or 10 pm and drive through the night.  That way the kids would be asleep for pretty much the entire long drive.  We were heading to Yreka, CA which was going to take 13 hours to drive from St. George.  I think that was a great decision because we got to spend an extra day in Yreka.  So while Russell took a nap so he could drive, I finished the packing and got the house ready to be vacant for a week.  After baths and pajamas for the kids, we headed out on our big adventure. 

With the help of a 44 oz Pepsi and sunflower seeds, Russell drove all night until we got to Fallon, NV at about 4 am where we stopped in a store parking lot and slept for a couple hours.  We were so exhausted but still excited.  At 6 am we continued on our way to Reno, NV where I started driving so Russell could sleep some more, and then into California.  As we drove through California on Highway 395 and 44 we drove through the most beautiful forest of the Lassen National Forest and the Klamath National Forest.  Even with the thick smoke and haze of the big forest fire that was nearby, the drive through the Sequoias was amazing.  By 9:30, however, I was getting bored of driving and the kids were getting restless from sitting in their car seats for 12 hours so I decided to take a little detour and followed the signs on Hwy 89 to the McArthur-Burney Falls State Park.  This was not on our itinerary but we were so glad we stopped to see it because it was awesome! 

Before heading to the falls, we ate breakfast of muffins and yogurt and changed our clothes.  Emily and Colby were so excited to finally be in Oregon (even though we were really in California) but I think they were more excited to be out of the car!  After eating, we walked down the short trail to the see the falls:

Pictures definitely do not do it justice.  The river above is set on basalt rocks from the volcanic activity of Mt. Shasta.  As the water seeps in through the cracks and lava tubes of these rock, it comes out of the mountain about a third of the way down the falls.  So not only is there the regular falls from up top but the whole wall of the mountain is a big waterfall of what looks like springs spiting water out of the mountain.  It was truly awesome.

We walked down along the Falls Loop Trail to take in the natural beauty and to get some energy out of the kids and we came to this big Rainbow Footbridge over the river.  We continued along the trail to the top of the falls and walked over another bridge and saw the falls from the top.  Then we walked through the visitor center learned about all of the animals that live in this area and how the park can to be.  Then it was time to get back in the car and head on our way because we still had a few hours until we reached Yreka.

We drove through the forests along Mt. Shasta and I wish I would have gotten a picture but I had put my camera clear in the back and we didn't want to stop.  Mt Shasta was so huge and so pretty.  It even still had snow on the top of it in the middle of summer!

We finally made it to Yreka, CA where we met up with Penny Hartshorn.  Penny was one of the people Russell taught and baptized on his mission.  We stayed with the Hartshorn's for two nights and they are the nicest people I have ever met.  We have stayed in contact with them over the years and it was so nice to finally meet them in person and spend time with them. 

 Before we left on Sunday morning, I snapped a picture of Russell and our kids and the Hartshorn's.  I couldn't help but also include some pictures of them and Russell while on his mission to compare after 10 years:  The first picture is of Penny on her baptism day and the other two were taken on Nephi and Penny's wedding day.

The story goes (as far as I know) that Nephi Hartshorn was a member (obviously because of his name!) in fact his dad Richard (or Pres Hartshorn to Russell) had been the branch president in the Happy Camp branch for something like 30 years or more.  I don't know how they met but Nephi and Penny met and she was not a member of the church.  They loved each other but Penny didn't really care for the church at the time.  Then, one day while he was working on wild land fire fighting, Nephi was falling trees and one fell on him.  He had just enough time to jump in a little hole but the tree still landed on his helmet and chain saw.  In fact those two things were the only things that saved his life.  For one reason or another, Penny was there while he was falling trees and when she got to him, he was pretty much dead.  She was freaking out as anyone would do and told him if he would hold on and live, she would join the church and leave all she knew.  A few seconds later, Nephi came to and was breathing and alive!  He was still pretty banged up and spent some time in the hospital but he was okay.  Penny kept to her promise and even though her family pretty much disowned her, she started taking the missionary discussions with Russell and his companions Elder Mecham and Hatfield. She later joined the church and is still so strong in the church .  Truly a miracle.   Nephi baptized her and a short time later, they were married.  Russell had to get special permission to attend their wedding because he had been transferred but his mission president let him go because he knew how important these two were to him.

As we stayed with this family for two days, they were so inspiring to me. Each night they read scriptures as a family, and their kids rooms had pictures of the Savior and stories from the Book of Mormon.  Just the way they treated each other and treated us made you know that they loved each other and loved us.  After listening to their stories and what they do to for the church made me realized that Mormons outside of Utah are very different than Utah Mormons.  We are very spoiled in Utah.  The Hartshorns have to travel 2 hours to Medford, OR to go to the temple and they have to schedule an appointment to go and they drive 30 minutes or more to get to church and there are only about 15 families in the branch so they have multiple callings.  For example, Nephi is in the branch presidency and also the Elder Quorum President.  Nephi's mom has been the Primary president for 30 years and each Sunday does Sharing Time and Singing Time both.  (I will quit complaining now.)  Being with them was a big eye opener for me because I have lived in Utah my whole life.  They were amazed that we had 4 churches just in our neighborhood and could walk to church if we wanted to.

While we stayed with them, they wouldn't even let us help buy food for dinner and they finally let us help with the dishes.  When we left, they even gave us some more food to eat on the road so we didn't have to got out.  They were so nice.  Emily and Colby loved playing with their kids, McKayla, Nephi, and Moroni.  In fact Emily keeps asking when we can go back and see her friend McKayla.  When we left, we told them it was their turn to come to Utah to see us and they said they would seriously think about it.  I hope they do.

I had to add this picture from Russell's mission pictures because I thought it was so funny:

The sign said "Stop Elder abuse!  Elder abuse is a crime!"  Russell and his companion thought it was very fitting as they were called "Elder"!