We drove many hours to Great Basin National Park on Highway 50, “The Loneliest Road in America.” What is the Great Basin? The Great Basin is an area of land where there is no outlet to the sea. This means that rainwater seeps into the ground, and drains into streams and lakes and never reaches the ocean.

At Great Basin National Park we went to the visitor center and learned about the landscape. After we saw the exhibits we went outside and picked apples and pears with a fruit picker on a long pole that the visitor center lends out. The fallen fruit from the trees is eaten by the wild turkeys, which we got to see.

We went on some high elevation hikes. First we hiked to two halfway frozen alpine lakes. Next we saw a Bristlecone Pine stand. These trees are very unique because they are the oldest trees in the world. They can live nearly 5,000 years! They grow on loose gravelly peaks at the edge of the timberline. When the tree dies, the trunk remains standing for thousands of years.

On Saturday morning we saw the annular solar eclipse. A solar eclipse is caused by the moon blocking the sun and casting a shadow over the earth. An annular eclipse is when the moon is farther from earth, not fully blocking the sun. We saw what looks like a ring of fire! I got to look through solar telescopes and make a pinhole projector so I could see the eclipse safely. I also made a pinhole projector with my hands. We wore solar glasses which let us look directly at the sun.

I loved being in Great Basin National Park but now we are moving on to Cathedral Gorge. Above and beyond!

Fantastic Friday began with a trip to the Jelly Belly factory to learn about how jelly beans are made. We saw lots of interesting and amazing machines like the packaging machine. We saw a huge robotic arm that transported trays of jelly bean centers to a big room where they rested before moving on to more processing. Then we saw the mixing room where there were big spinning drums that spun the jelly beans so the candy makers could add a color and flavor coating. Next we saw another set of spinning drums where workers add that glossy shine that make the jellybeans special. I left the factory with a bag overflowing with jellybeans!

After the Jelly Belly factory we went on a surprise drive to pick up a teardrop camper for me to have as my own room. The Jay Cave is where I will chill and sleep. It is so cool inside it! I love all the fairy lights and the opening top vent. I had a great night sleep in it last night!

I loved Fantastic Friday but now the day is over and new adventures are upon us. Above and beyond!

After leaving the redwoods of Humboldt County we made our way back to the coast, camping at three parks north of San Francisco: Van Damme State Park, Navarro Beach and Doran Regional Park.

We enjoyed sunny and warm beach days, exploring, playing frisbee, walking, searching for sea glass, running from waves, reading, watching an injured sea lion get rescued and just relaxing. At night we enjoyed campfires beneath star filled skies.

When we were at Humboldt Redwoods State Park we explored a lot of redwood groves. We walked beneath the great big towering trees. I saw a lot of plants and a gentle river but the coolest thing on the hike was the redwoods.

The coastal redwoods are the tallest trees on earth growing up to almost 400 feet tall. They can also live longer than 2000 years. Redwoods are a very unique and amazing type of tree. If a redwood loses its crown it can grow another crown to replace the one that it lost. The redwoods have very thick bark to protect them from fires. They also have tannins which stops bugs from eating the tree.

We also went to the 100 year celebration of Richardson Grove. There was a bouncy house and a dunk tank. There was also live music and a piñata! We also played some Spanish bingo and I won cards and my mom won a white water bottle. And to finish it all off, we sang happy birthday to the redwood grove and ate cupcakes.

I had so much fun in the redwood forest but now we are moving on to new adventures. Above and beyond!

We visited Lassen Volcanic National Park where we did two amazing hikes. The first one was the Cinder Cone. The cone was about 700 feet high and almost 400 years old. First we walked by an amazing lava field, then we climbed the cinder cone. The ground on the cinder cone was old volcanic ash and pumice. There were 40 mph winds that blew dust into our faces. When we got to the top there were gusts of wind about 60 mph that almost blew us off the cone!

The other hike we did at Lassen was Bumpass Hell where we hiked into a basin. We saw fumaroles, which are openings in or near a volcano through which hot sulfur gas floats out in big billowing stinky clouds. We also saw different colors of rock. The white rock is sulfuric acid, the yellow-orange rocks are sulfates, the gray/black is iron leaching up from the rocks and turquoise is tiny floating pieces of silica. The bright green is cyanidium and bright yellow is colorful crystals of copiapite. It was cool and stinky but it was mostly amazing to see the mudpots, fumaroles and boiling springs!

It was so interesting being in Lassen Volcanic National Park and learning about volcanic activity! On to the Redwoods!!