Travelling Lore

A short drive away from the Railroad Park Resort in Dunsmuir, CA is Castle Crags State Park .  The Castle Crags rock formation is nothing short of majestic and you can easily see it from the resort if you're overnight-ing there.  These mountains are over 6,000 feet high at the summit of the tallest crag, and are more than 170 million years old.  To give a short geology lesson, these crags intruded the area and were exposed when glaciation eroded the softer rock surrounding the formation.  Pretty cool that glaciers were able to expose something so amazing for us to explore in our lifetime (which is only a speck in geologic time). Though there are 28 miles of hiking trails in the state park and many sites to camp, but we were very limited on time.  We opted to stick to the main Vista Point parking area and take a short hike to spectacular views of Castle Crags (pictured) and Mount Shasta (not pictured, about a quarter turn to the right).  Mount Sha...

If you're someone who loves staying in unique hotels, so to speak, then add the Railroad Park Resort in Dunsmuir, California to your list.  My husband loves seeking out unique places in which to overnight; his ultimate goal is to one day find us a tree house hotel (that isn't insanely expensive!). At first glance from the road it looks like an old railroad museum, but you can actually overnight in one of these old, decommissioned train cars.  We opted for the caboose.  I honestly had no idea what to expect, but it was surprisingly spacious in the caboose--we even had room to do some laundry courtesy of our bath tub and some camping rope (strung across the caboose ceiling). Unique sleeping experience aside, I also loved that the resort had turned a couple of old railroad cars into dining cars.  So while you have the option of exploring around town for a bite to eat, you can also walk over to the on-site restaurant.  The ambiance is turn of the cent...