h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We're off soon. As usual, I've left a lot of stuff till the last minute. Well, if I want to leave the house in some semblance of order, that is.

Leaving for California on 7 June. Ten days to go.

Glad I'm not passing through the UK, what with baggage chaos in Gatwick earlier this week and the BA problems yesterday at Heathrow causing huge waits for people leaving.

Are you taking Lufthansa?

No, United. Frankfurt to San Jose.

Keep us posted!

Have a great trip. If you see weird things take pictures and submit them to the 'The Post' , save us from kitty pics.

Let me know when to wave southward

But who's going to save Kitty from those pics.

Just a short entry dashed off on my phone. We have seen trees, lakes, volcanoes and snowy peaks, one of which is ztill in sight as I sit here in over 30°C at the Sundial bridge in Redding, California.

Did you see Shasta Caverns?

Yes, we went there this afternoon. We've seen plenty of that kind of cave in Europe, but the boat ride and the bus ride plus our lovely guide made it special. And with today's outside temperatures over the maximum (for me), it was nice and cool in there.

Shasta Caverns? Never seen them, but I see Shasta daisies in my garden.

The first caves I'd ever been in (out of a whole 3) and where I learned that I don't have any claustrophobia. The exit, however, is quite a ways above the lake, and I *am* afraid of heights...

Do they have steps from the exit down to ground level?

It's a long switchback path, if I remember correctly (it's been a dozen years), with no railings at the cave exit and an impressive view for anyone not freaking out...

That might have changed because we went mainly down steps between trees. Less scary!

I could be misremembering, too.

So I've been back a week, but, unfortunately, I was taken ill quite soon into our road trip, with a horrific bout of the runs which I managed to keep at bay only by not eating.

We stuck to our programme, however, and saw nearly everything we wanted to. The Cascade mountains are a beautiful area and you could spend ten holidays in a row there and still see something different every time. We had stopped for 2 nights in Redding, intending, for example, to spend the day in Lassen Park. But on arrival, we decided that, rather than drive the 100 km to Lassen, we would stay right nearby and see a couple of sights around Shasta Lake. Which is when we went to the Caverns etc.

On the last night we stayed in Sacramento, where we had also booked a room for our son and family. On that day the temperatures were way too high, but, as our little grandson couldn't be dragged away from the lovely Railroad Museum, we stayed in there all afternoon and didn't have to suffer too much from the heat.

The next morning, we went back into town to have a little look at the "historic" old town, which is like a candy-coloured version of a Western film set, and then set off back to San Jose (which is where they now live).

I carried on with the not eating, and made the flight home OK. On the following Monday (following the concert - see other journal) I went to the doctor and he explained that the bacteria on other continents can be slightly different to the ones we are acclimatised to here in Europe and that's why I was so badly affected - it was probably something relatively harmless I had picked up on some fruit or salad at some point.

My son has since confirmed this and says that other illnesses hit "foreigners" more seriously that way, too.

So the holiday was rather tainted, for me, by my feeling weak and unsettled for much of the time, but we still did and saw a lot.

One thing we didn't see was Crater Lake, for which we had taken a 5 hour detour through Oregon. When we got there, it was totally shrouded in fog, there was a cold, bone-invading wind, and rain right in your face. Visibility nil. We had to make do with looking at the postcards in the gift shop.

Whilst preparing the trip, although everything was then booked, I had decided that we didn't really want to do this detour - I would rather have spent 2 days in Sacramento at the end and explored the Gold Rush country to the East of there. If the weather had been better and we had had those spectacular views of the Lake, it wouldn't have mattered so much, but as my husband hates the driving, it was particularly annoying.

Sorry, Oregon.

We finished off with a couple of gentle days with the family, and our son took a day off work. This was quite a sacrifice for him, as he is working to a very tight schedule on a fascinating project to do with the aurora borealis, together with some Norwegians, at the moment.

Been back at work all week, only just starting to eat again, and in bed when not at work, trying to regain my strength.

If I'd known you were going to Crater Lake, we could've met up partway--it's only about 3 hours away... Especially if you were in Grants Pass or Medford. Of course, it would depend on which date during your trip it was, but still.

I've been lucky on trips, eating pretty much what I wanted without mishap. Maybe even a little too much of what I wanted. but this was balanced by doing tons of walking so as not to miss anything.