i asked if they wanted to go to Bumpass Hell with us, real romantic, huh?

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Well last weekend I finally did some sight seeing around this area. Although every week I write from the "Lassen Volcanic National Park" location, I don't actually work there. I work for the forest service of Lassen National Forest. It's different, but this site doesn't have Chester as a location option, so I could request it, but who has time for that?

Anywho, my roommate, Shannon, and I went on the hike through Bumpass Hell. Some name huh? Bumpass was this guy's last name who found the place. He called it hell because he thought this place would be similar to what Dante experienced going through hell. Man was this place neat. The entire park is beautiful (well the parts that we saw). We did about a 4ish mile hike through the boiling mud pits and other various geothermic activity of this potentially active volcano (it has about 10 years left before it's considered dormant if it doesn't make a move). It was a really nice hike and this weekend we're going to hike Lassen Peak which is about 5 miles and a little harder. It's also rumored to have a porcelain toilet at the top. I plan to see for myself. I think next weekend we're also going to travel into Susanville to see Batman, since that is the nearest theater, and we have to keep up with the rest of the world.

Well last weekend I also had my campfire talk debut. I rounded up the public at one of the campgrounds by bribing them with smores and prizes. I had a nice crowd of about 30 awesome people. I was required to first lecture them on proper campground etiquette like put your dog on a leash and put out your fire. I had a power point presentation prepared (nice alliteration, leah) about reducing waste and the evils of plastic. People were really surprised about how many plastic bottles are made and not recycled, about how your tap water is a better option, how chemicals leech into your water and how you should replace that nalgene. They were a really concerned audience so it was nice that it was obvious I taught them something. Then we had smores and chatted. Camping people have cool stories. This one group consisted of 2 grandparents and 2 grandchildren. They were on a 2 week trek from San Fransisco up to Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately they didn't make it there, but they went up to some place in waRshington (this lady reminded me of grandma Crowe), and were headed back.

Speaking of San Fransisco, I will be going there in a week and a half to visit my cousin and explore some more California. Yay! I'm excited!

Well back to my campfire talk. Because of all the excitement of me finishing my first talk and then enjoying smores with strangers, I forgot to hand out prizes. Dang me. I could kick myself for bribing these kids and then totally forgetting. Next time I will hand out double smokey the bear merchandise to overcompensate.

Oh and I went to the best dentist I have ever been to. It makes me hate those sons of you-know-whats even more. This Chester dentist said Ohio has the most beautiful soil; the tomatoes and corn were so amazing looking. Holla Ohio.

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Comments

[Aunt Kathie]

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY, LEAH !!!!!