Northern California

One of our trips in 2017 was a drive through the western states from Northern California to Colorado (I made it to within 20 miles of Kansas!) We started in Napa Valley:



Five minutes before a thunderstorm:




Ancient petrified sequoia...


... and a modern oak tree:


Avenue of the Giants - giant redwoods in northern California:




This old redwood is more than 1,000 years old. The markers show the tree rings that correspond to various events from history:


Our rental car seems so small compared to those trees:




Mount Shasta:


Burney Falls:


In Lassen National Park:




Lava Beds National Monument. Those slopes are made of lava:


Lava beds:


Obsidian stones. Obsidian is rapidly cooled lava: