August 6, 2015. In and around Lassen National Park

CAMPGROUND:  3rd night at Lake Manzanita 

LOCATION:  Lassen National Park

WEATHER:  Perfect.  Cool in AM

We visited a part of the park called Devastation Area.  It is where the rocks landed after exploding from the Mount Lassen volcano in 1815.  We followed an interpretive trail.  Much of the vegetation has regrown, and it no longer looks like a devastation area.  I can't imagine big rocks like this one, flying from miles away.

The ground is covered by small and large rocks, for miles and miles, throughout the national park.

After a picnic lunch, we went into the town of Shingletown.  We stopped at their little library to use internet.  Then we followed road signs saying "wineries" down a very twisty road.  Finally we arrived at a very unpretentious one, more like a big garage.  The winemaker/owner had just bottled some wine and was cleaning up wine puddles.  He was very nice and his wine was surprisingly good.  No charge for sampling; we bought one bottle.  

We learned that the smoky air, from nearby wildfires, adversely affects the grapes.  The winemaker rents a machine that removes the smoke taste/smell.  

There were more wineries in the area, but since it was getting late, we went to just one more.  The tasting room for this one, owned by an elderly couple, was part of their house.  Their wines were not as good, so I bought a bottle of Pinot Noir vinegar, from one year's wine crop that was ruined from the smoke in the air.  

We learned that the highway we need to take to get to our organic farm housesit is closed due to the wildfires.  We will have to find out if it reopens by Saturday.  

DINNER:  The refrigerator is getting a little low, so I bought veggies from a roadside stand in Shingletown.  Over the campfire, I made a tomato sauce with onions, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes and red wine.  On the indoor stovetop, I boiled the spaghetti.  As I've learned from cooking TV shows, I saved some of the pasta water and added it to the sauce.  For a finishing touch, I added a bit of cream cheese and Parmesan cheese.  Our side was cucumbers that had marinated a day in plain yogurt.

This will be our last campfire for a long time.  Tomorrow night, there is an evening program at the park, so we will cook a quick meal inside.  Then, we will be at the housesit where we can't even use a BBQ grill, due to the fire risk.