Lava Caves National Monument

We took a road trip over July 4th weekend, north to the Ca- Oregon border to go spleunking in the lava caves.



On our way we stopped by to see the town of Klamath Falls in Oregon. The town was having a July 4th street fair and parade. Stopped by in one of the street side cafes that was selling home made ice cream sandwiches specially for the occasion. It was the best ice cream sandwich ever- warm ginger snap cookie fresh out of the oven sandwiching cold vanilla ice cream! It was huge and just $1! I love small towns- you can always find some little surprise there.



AT the street fair, the wild bird rescue people of oregon were there - we almost visited their sanctuary a few years ago during our road trip to OR but unfortunately the sudden snow storm on Grant Pass precluded our visit.



Lava Caves is a pretty special place. You go to the visitor center to get a map and check out some lights. Then you get to explore the multitude of caves all by yourself!




Some of the caves are big and wide and you can just walk in. Other require you to get down on your hands and knees to crawl through the narrow tubes. All the caves are lava tubes, formed by the hot flowing lava in this volcanic area eons ago.



Some of the caves were circuitous and maze like- you really have to pay attention to where you are going or you can get lost in the cave and never find your way out again- sometime it felt like we were going in cirlces.



In the back of some caves, there is hydrophobic bacteria on the walls that shimmer in purple and gold when you shine your light on them- beautiful! Some caves had old Indian paintings in them. It was bat breeding season when we were there and some of the caves were closed for the breeding bats. Nevertheless there were more than enough for us to explore.



We also visited Captain Jack's stronghold in the area and took a drive around Tule Lake to check out the wildlife. Saw many water birds including there beautiful white pelicans and also one bald eagle on the lake.



One July 4th night, we had BBQ ( trip tip) at the Fairgrounds and then watched the fireworks show at the fairgrounds in the very small town of Tule Lake. Surprisingly decent fireworks show for this little town. After that we set off our own fireworks that we had purchased in OR on the road outside of Fe's B&B where we stayed the night.
On our drive home ,we drove through the mountains past Mosquito lake and the Mount Shasta vicinity. What a beautiful area! Mount Shasta is truly an impressive sight on a clear day. I definitely would like to came back here to go camping one day.

On the morning of the last day, we visited the Giorgi Ranch. Mr Giogi took us out on his quarter horses to visit his ranch land. I rode City Girl who was a great horse- very responsive. I got a feel of what a cattle round out might have felt like when I sent City Girl off in a canter towards the herd of cattle.

The French Laundry Restaurant

Ah the coveted reservation at the French Laundry restaurant- finally got one at 9pm on a Wednesday, 2 days before my birthday. 9 courses- Every item was cooked to perfection. Every little vegetable on the plate was so sweet and the meats and fish so fresh.




You experience the root taste of every dish: for example, the seared foie gras is cripsy on the outside and warm and pink on the inside, the Maine lobster tail is cooked to perfect sweetness and tenderness, the duck breast & beef medium rare yet tender.




However, as perfect as the 'cooking' was, the dishes lacked creativity. There were no mind blowing sauces, no imaginative constructions, no perfectly balanced pairings. If anything, some of the pairings & constructions seemed incongruous. For instance the cheese course paired the fried bacon bits was odd.




The wonderful caviar with oysters sat on a bed of smooshy tapioca balls- texturally this just did not work. The flounder sashimi with cucumber was very mild and subtle- it needed somethin' somethin' more to bring out the flavor. The duck breast, the sturgeon and beef as perfectly cooked as they each were, they could have used a more exciting sauce pairing (this is French cuisine after all- it's ALL about the sauces- oui?).





As for constructions- the sweetbreads stuffed in the rabbit shoulder was unique. The most memorable course ironically was the nectarine sorbet- I could have eaten a whole bowl of that- it was such a concentrate burst of nectarine flavor- YUM! 2nd most memorable was the lobster in the carraway sauce- I love lobster what can say!





The deserts were disappointing- nothing special there. And the foie gras terrine was OK- certainly not worth the $30 supplement.




Service was impeccable as it should be expected. The interior decor suprising bare bones: white walls, low celings, no paintings, no floral arrangement beyond the little posie of white flowers on the tables. All I can say is- yes finally, I've been there and ate that and now it's time to move on.