Our Labor Day Adventure

Matt and i got a couple of days off together for Labor Day SO we decided to take a much needed mini-vaca and went CaMpInG! Surprise, surprise! :0) We decided that we wanted to try fishing in bigger rivers and lakes so we bought some cool float tubes to try out! We decided to camp at Lassen Volcanic National Park because its really pretty and there are plenty of places to fish and hike.

I think everyone who owned a tent went camping that weekend because all of the campgrounds were packed!! I was kind of worried that we'd get a ghetto camp site but we were really lucky and snagged an awesome spot down by the river! We set up camp and decided to crissen our new float tubes :0) Manzanita Lake was nearby and we heard that the fishing was pretty good there so thats where we decided to go first! Matt did a good job setting up the tubes!

We hiked around the lake and found a good spot to get in the water and get started :0)


The water wasnt very cold and the tubes kept us pretty dry. As we paddled around the lake it was hard for me not to notice the creepy weeds underwater..(stuff underwater creeps me out for some reason.)
The weeds brushed by my legs a couple times (which caused me to freak out) but for the most part they were too deep to bother me :0) We weren't the only people out on the lake..We saw some canoes and a few more float tubes as well. Our legs got a good work out as we explored the lake! This is me changing my fly :0)

It was so incredibly pretty and nice to be out on the water that i didnt care if we caught anything...
...which is a good thing becuase we DIDNT!!! :0) We fished all day though and got to watch the pretty sunset paint the lake.

It started getting cold so we got out and i left with a nice sunburn..big surprise ;0) We went back to camp and gathered some wood for a campfire! We were hoping to eat fish that night but the hotdogs were great :0) We made smores and popped popcorn on the fire. We were exhausted and slept like rocks...and not ON rocks either because we finally got an air mattress! yesss :0)
So the next morning we woke up, ate some oatmeal and pop tarts and then hiked to a cave that wasn't too far away from camp. It was called the Subway Cave and it was made by tons of hot lava underground years ago.

It was pitch black and freezing in there! We had fun walking through it and learning about lava caves :0) We hiked back to camp and packed everything up..not my favorite thing to do ;0) Then we set up our poles and went fishing in Hat Creek with a million other people..also not my favorite thing but Matt managed to catch a nice Brown Trout! He's got skillss ;0)
It started getting really hot and we were getting hungry so we decided to go..We ate a quick lunch consisting of junk food and hit the road..Since we payed 10 bucks to get in Lassen and 16 bucks to camp there we decided to get our moneys worth and do a little exploring ;0) We had a map of all the cool stuff to see there and we covered alot of it..We hiked on a few trails and saw a bunch of pretty meadows and lakes...

..thats where we caught this little snake! :0)We also went to see some of the active volcanic stuff..it was pretty cool..it smelled like sulfur.

This is a boiling mud pot..it was really loud and stuff was squirting out but you couldn't see inside of it because it was up too high and fenced off..im sure it was fenced off for a reason but my curiosity got to me and i just had to go look inside!I wanted to sneak a peek before a bunch of people showed up so i bolted for the mud hole! It was really steep and i was wearing flip flops (not a good combination :0) I scurried up on my hands and knees and got a quick peak inside the boiling mud hole before i slid down the hill..it looked like bubbling wet cement..It was pretty cool and im glad i didn't fall in :0) After all of that we left Lassen Volcanic National Park and headed home..We stopped at Lake Almanor for some grub. There was a huge cloud of smoke in the distant mountains (a forest fire) We saw alot of planes flying over there with fire retardant to help fight it..it was pretty cool to see. Anywho we drove for a couple hours and finally made it home! Our animals were still alive and happy to see us :0) I love camping... i hope it will always be a tradition in our family :0)