There were six of us who met at the Silver City RV Park to head out of town to Burney Falls. This is a great time of year to view the tremendous volume of water rushing over the jagged volcanic rock face. This is a fun two days trip by motorcycle or car. Here is the way we like to do this trip. We meet at 9 a.m. with our motors full of fuel and already having eaten a light breakfast.
So we start out going up Highway 50 to Spooner Summit and then head north on Highway 89 to Truckee. Here we ran into some moisture, a little more than a drizzle but not enough to get my shoes wet.
After Truckee we stop in a small little town named Sierraville. There is a cute little market on the east side of the road that had a good assortment of coffee to choose from. Your children will like this stop because they have a little petting zoo in the backyard with goats, sheep, a miniature donkey, some chickens and one male duck.
After warming up our tummies we start back on the road heading to Quincy for lunch. This is also one of my favorite stops and somehow we seem to end up eating lunch, every time, at Taco Bell. This happens to be the only fast food restaurant in the town. Travel tip: gasoline was only a few cents higher than here in our valley.
We follow Highway 89 to the east side of Lake Almanor until we arrive in Westwood. A21 is a much nicer road from here to Highway 44. Over this next pass I think I saw snowflakes bouncing off my windshield.
Now we always stop at the Subway Cave (Lava Tube) before heading in the town of Burney. This year the cave proved to be too much for the others in our group, but Jenee and I were well prepared with our bright flashlights and made the trek all the way. Because of the very wet spring they have had, the floor of the cave was very damp and even the ceiling above us dripped on us enough to get our hair damp.
Next we headed to our motel room in Burney called none other than the Burney Motel. I will always recommend this particular motel, mostly because it is right across the street from a shopping center and the Blackberry Patch Restaurant. They serve delicious food at a very reasonable price. My mom likes their pies the most.
We arrived just in time because the heavens opened up and here came the rain. Not sprinkles, but heavy rain. We didn't mind because it was time for some good visiting with our dear friends Ken and Ethel Bean.
It didn't rain that night and only drizzled a little in the morning when we arrived at the falls. By the time we left for Susanville it was hot and windy the rest of the drive home on Highway 395.
So just to give you an idea about time, it was about 250 miles going and 230 miles coming back the direct route. I personally don't like driving Highway 395 from Susanville because it's boring. All the rest of the drive is beautiful tree lined twisty turning roads. This is a great two-day trip close to home.
Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.
