We planned a 3 day trip to go to Crater Lake in Oregon, and decided to stop by Redding for lunch. While looking for restaurants in Yelp, I found this Thai/Vietnamese restaurant that had very good reviews. So, we decided to stop there for lunch before continuing.
The food was really delicious and after a fulfilling lunch, we headed to Lake Shasta Caverns.
Initially, I was planning to either go to Turtle Bay Exploration Park or Lake Shasta Caverns. But since we are going with our best friend and his family, we decided to let them pick where to go. They have a little toddler, so they decided to pick Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
But on the way to Redding, our friend called us and they decided to change and go to Lake Shasta Caverns since they felt that the caverns would be more unique to the area and we shouldn't miss it. To be honest, I also prefer to go to the caverns since I have never been to one but I was worried that their little one is going to have a hard time climbing the many steps and the parents would have to carry her.
So after lunch, we headed straight to Lake Shasta Caverns which was 10 minutes away. The GPS in our car couldn't really find the address, so we just went with the road sign and found our way. Our friend missed the sign and went to a different place but eventually was able to find it. Tip: Pay attention to the sign on the way there as some GPS might not be able to find it.
While waiting for them, we decided to take some pictures and the kids were also playing in the small area in the front. They were in the tree house and also panning for minerals.
We also met another family there by chance. Talking about this family, we really are fated. We met there by chance when we were in Oahu and now we meet again here.
When our friend finally arrived, we went to the gift shop to buy the tickets. They offered tours every 30 minutes and the earliest one left is 3pm. We had some time to kill, so the kids played around with the magnets and stones in the gift shop. Tip: Backpacks and strollers are not allowed on the tour due to safety issues.
15 minutes before our scheduled time, they told us to start heading down to the boat as we need to take a boat ride across Lake Shasta and a bus ride afterwards to get to the cavern.
The boat ride was about 10 minutes and the waves were very calm, so I wasn't seasick at all. We were able to enjoy the nice views of Lake Shasta.
Soon, we reached the other side of the lake where we had to walk a little uphill to take the bus which would drive us up the hill to the caverns. Once we reached the top of the hill, we had to wait a little bit for the tour guide to take us inside the caves. So, we took more pictures while waiting. There are restrooms up there as well, so the kids also went to the restroom.
Soon, the tour guide came and we were all rounded up to wait outside the entrance. We were told to not touch anything inside due to the oils from our hands which could cause damage. Cameras and flash are allowed inside. The name of the cave is Baird Cave and they started giving tours since 1964.
Once we finished the tour inside the cave, we walked outside and we could feel the huge temperature change. It was so hot outside the cave and we had to walk down many steps to get to the bus stop. On the way, we were able to enjoy the beautiful Lake Shasta.
After the return boat ride, we had to walk uphill to the parking lot. I think it's a very fun experience and well worth the many steps that we took. I was not dressed for the trip as I was planning to go to Turtle Bay Exploration Park initially, so I was wearing wedge shoes but even with those shoes, I was able to climb more than 600 steps inside the cave and more steps to take the bus and boat ride.
My college buddy, Yolanda then took off with her family to return to her hotel nearby while the rest of us continued with our journey to Oregon. We drove another 2 1/2 hours before we reached our hotel for the night in Klamath Falls, Oregon. We ate dinner at Sizzler which was right next to the hotel as the guys had enough driving for the day, so we could just walked to the restaurant.
After dinner, we returned to our room and slept early as we have a long day tomorrow.
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