The Red Writer: November 2020

POINT RICHMOND, California - The Red Writer rolled to Modoc County in late October to visit the Lava Beds National Monument.

Pizza night at Indian Wells

The mission was to check out the lava beds and caves where a Native-American Modoc Chief and a relative handful of warriors held off the U.S. Army in pitched battles. The area is also likely to be part of the backdrop for some chapters in my newest novel being drafted, Sons of Covid.

The trip was the first major foray for The Red Writer since the pandemic hit. A few local trips were accomplished earlier. But this sojourn was a major haul, up Interstate 5 right to the Oregon border.

It included a stay in the Redding, Calif. driveway of a host who is part of the Boondockers' group.

Nothing like a free RV stop for the night to start the trip off well.

The campground at the monument is fabulous - if you like quiet and star gazing. At one point I heard the flapping of wings - a hawk overhead.

It's first-come, first served. But except for holiday weekends, there is lots of space, park officials say,

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, part of the Visitor Center was closed off but the park rangers were very helpful with my research about Captain Jack, the Modoc Chief who led the tribe during what the history books call The Modoc War.

I would have stayed longer but the nighttime temperatures were dipping into the teens.

That said, The Red Writer will likely be heading there again in the spring - after the snow stops falling.