This trip marked a couple of milestones for us. It was our first true road trip since retiring at the end of last year, and—believe it or not—our fourth attempt to visit Yosemite National Park.
Our first two tries were thwarted by wildfires. The third? Yosemite was buried under 15 feet of snow.
We were beginning to wonder if the park simply didn’t want us to visit. This time, though, we were optimistic.
We set out on a Monday morning, heading south with Mount Shasta as our first destination. Like many EV road trips, our lunch stop was determined by the next charging station, which landed us at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Medford. Conveniently located next to the Superchargers, it featured an astonishing 31 televisions.
We counted.
The food was decent, but the wall of screens was distracting.
Continuing south, we made a pleasant coffee stop in Yreka, where we wandered past the beautifully restored Carnegie Library, built in 1915. It’s now a community center and makes for a charming glimpse into the town’s history.
Before reaching Mount Shasta, we took a short detour to Hedge Creek Falls. While it wasn’t the most dramatic waterfall we’d ever seen, it was a peaceful stop and a nice preview of the waterfalls, forests, and mountain scenery that awaited us over the coming days.
That evening we checked into Summit Lofts, a small boutique hotel in downtown Mount Shasta. One of the things we enjoy most while traveling is being able to park the car and explore on foot, so we walked to dinner at Pipeline Craft Taps & Kitchen (I’ll save the details for my separate restaurant review). After driving through the Northern California heat, we were especially thankful to find a cool table indoors—the afternoon temperature had climbed to 105°F.
With our first day behind us, we settled in for the night. The next morning we’d head farther south toward Lassen Volcanic National Park, where bubbling mud pots, steaming fumaroles, and alpine landscapes awaited.
Our Yosemite adventure was finally underway.