I used to say that the last three days of any holiday are the toughest because your mind starts thinking about getting home, what has to be done next, getting back to school or work, whatever the next chapter has in store.  We’re certainly suffering a bit of that because we are looking forward to returning to Sydney before the grand arrival of our first grandchild (yeah!) but all the while we were still exploring beautiful places and having each day full of wonderful surprises.  It’s all so confusing!

We temporarily left the Cascade Mountains and its string of magnificent volcanoes by crossing the mighty Colombia River and heading into Portland Oregon.  This was a break from one of our ‘rules’ to avoid big cities but it was for a good cause – we spent a delightful morning catching up with our friends Brian and Audrey, great fun, before heading east along the river and through the scenic Colombia River Gorge.

Here the big wide river has carved a dramatic path through the mountains and we travelled for a while on the Oregon side which had recently been scorched by a terrible fire, then crossed over the Bridge of the Gods (yes, that’s what they call it!) onto the Washington side where the road weaved more dramatically through tunnels and across bridges as it hugged the river’s coastline.  Along the way we stopped at the Bonneville Dam and Lock to learn more about how they have harnessed and managed this mighty river for all its worth over the years.

We checked out the popular little town of Hood River, very cool, but were not tempted by their numerous microbreweries or bright sunny life on the river.  Looming above the town is handsome Mt. Hood, another volcano rising from lower levels that tower above all around it.  Mt. Hood is much more pointed than a traditional volcano and after driving around to its southern side we camped at about 4,000 feet (1,300 metres) on the banks of the White River with its snowy top looking down on us.  The snow sparkled from the light of the full moon and the river gurgled as it rushed past us.  We gave it a perfect 10.

Our southward mission continued at the lower elevations with a string of snow-capped volcanoes following us to the west.  We detoured to explore the deep canyon and lake at Lake Simtustus and enjoyed the vibe of the popular town of Bend with three volcanoes as a backdrop, active outdoor lifestyle and great weather.  Bend was another town on a select list that we thought we would enjoy living in.

We headed for Crater Lake National Park but camped amongst some tall pines outside the park before heading in the following morning.  The drive up to the crater rim at 7,100 feet (2,300 metres) was hugely disappointing because the thick fog had set in and the wind was howling.  We stopped at the first overlook of this very special place, snow patches everywhere, and stepped out into 35F (2C) weather, wind trying to knock us over and the fog completely obliterating any view of the lake that fills this volcanic caldera.

Mazama Mountain is another in the long line of volcanoes that feature in the Cascade Mountains running from British Colombia Canada into northern California.  About 7,700 years ago it spectacularly blew its top and mud and ash were blown over thousands of square miles.  Near the volcano the ash was up to 50 feet thick and it incinerated forests and any living thing within miles.  The force of this volcanic explosion is said to have been ten times that of Mt. St. Helens’ explosion in 1980.  Wow.

But the cool thing about this volcano is that while the mountain lost thousands of feet in elevation it also formed a huge empty inner cup, called a caldera, that over the next couple of centuries filled with rain and snow melt.  This perfect blue water, which at times reaches an astounding depth of 2,000 feet, has no escape route but keeps a constant level through evaporation and seepage.  It is a geologic wonder.

And wonders never cease because the fog eventually lifted and revealed Crater Lake in all its glory, the steep sides of the caldera, the sparkling water and a volcanic cone called Wizard Island that rises from the middle of the lake.  We followed the rim road all the way around the caldera, stopping for photos and to take in this fabulous scene, despite the biting cold wind.

From Crater Lake we headed south following the Rogue River, stopping to explore the narrow gorge it flows through and the natural bridge formed where the river flows underground through an ancient lava tube.  Very cool.  We eventually crossed over into California, getting close to home now, and camped below the cliffs and trees lining the Smith River.

Returning to California after being on the road for seven months caused many mixed feelings for us.  California symbolises the start and the finish of this leg of our Follow the Sun journey, it is where my family is, it is where Tramp will get a few minor repairs done.  It is also where we will fly out of to see our Australian family and most importantly, our new grandchild.  But it also means the end to our exploration, our adventure, our travels around this fabulous continent.

Our first target in California was Redwoods National Park, home to some of the largest and oldest trees on the planet.  We took a scenic one lane dirt track through some of the biggest redwoods, weaving our way amongst them, sometimes the road barely wide enough between these behemoths for Tramp to squeeze through.

We’ve been amongst big trees, including Redwoods, before but they never fail to give us this sense of awe and wonder.  Their size, grace and age just left us speechless.  Some trees are over 300 feet high and said to be up to 2,000 years old.  Their barks can be up to a foot thick, making them impervious to fires.  I took large steps around some of their bases – the largest was an astounding 20 stretched paces, probably around 60 feet in circumference.  Amazing.

And then some bad news – a highway that crosses the mountains from the coast back to the northern central valley of California had been closed due to recent fires so the only way for us to get to Lassen Volcanic National Park, our next target, was to backtrack all the way back to Grant’s Pass Oregon, about 100 miles from whence we came, and then head down the dreaded Interstate into the central reaches of northern California.

And so we did, passing the majestic Mt. Shasta at over 14,000 feet along the way, arriving at Lassen Volcanic National Park before dark and setting up our last camp of this leg of our journey.  It was a bittersweet feeling, that’s for sure, but the next morning we drove through the park, learning about its dual eruptions in 1915 and drove over its summit at an amazing 8,500 feet (2,750 metres), one of the highest roads we had travelled on this trip.

Lassen National Park had much more to offer than we had time to give it and we reluctantly skipped some of its scenic trails and exploring its mud baths and sulphur pits.  We drove back down to civilisation, stopping at the thriving town of Chico to have lunch with my old high school chum Mike and then warily watched the fires on nearby hills that were sweeping northern California as we finished the day at my sister Diane’s home near Sacramento.

The next day we dropped Tramp off at its birthplace in Grass Valley where it will enjoy some well-deserved R&R and get a thorough health check while we are in Australia.  The problems we had with our truck/camper combination in Fairbanks were primarily related to the camper being too heavy for the Chevy Colorado.  To fix this solution our plan was to trade in the Colorado, much as we loved this great little truck, and buy a larger robust vehicle that will more gracefully carry the weight of the camper.

To this end, and not ones to procrastinate when our end goal is clear and concise, the next day we bought a huge Ford F250, with more than double the payload of the Colorado and a mighty beast we believe will carry us the rest of the way on our journey around the world.

How did we get to a place where we had to buy two trucks within a year, along the way suffering the huge pain, monster cost and loss of travel time?  Well…we took the view that ‘we are where we are’, we can’t change the past and there’s no value in pointing fingers at others, we just need to move forward and stay focused on the big picture.

We returned to my parents’ home – my childhood home – in Salinas for a couple of days before flying back to Australia.  The first leg of our journey – the exploration of North America – is completed and was a roaring success.  We knew there would be more travel and more adventures later in the year when we return to the US and start heading south but the next immediate chapter of our story is the impending arrival of our first grandchild.  And for that we are giddy with excitement.  Bring it on!