Susanville, CA

After getting settled in at camp last night, we decided to head over to Susanville Ranch Park for a stroll. What we didn't expect was to find was a special event. The "Cost of Freedom" exhibit was being presented. This is the traveling Vietnam Wall Memorial. We weren't prepared for the sadness these types of memorials evoke. One ballfield was covered in small flags symbolizing the soldiers lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. Next to them were the state's flags and a listing of all of the soldier's names by state. Another field held the Vietnam Wall Memorial.

There were several displays on the different wars, the number of wounded, MIA, and lives lost. But the saddest moment is when you see a name you recognize. It causes instant tears. This came to me at the 9-11 memorial when I saw Laura's name. There is just something so finite, so permanent to see a name in print.

We tried to shake off some of the sadness and the thoughts of war, terrorism, and lives cut short by taking the walk we had come to do. Susanville Ranch Park is just on the outskirts of the city and offers about 8 miles of trails. We walked around the meadow and enjoyed the serenity of this park. In the picture below you can see the smoke from the Antelope Lake Forest Fire. We had to drive through that on our way into town. In the sunset it looked pretty in pink, but when we drove through it it was an eerie brownish-yellow color.

We were thankful yesterday that Susanville was not smothered in the smoke we drove through. It was sunny and bright, but you could see the smoke billowing over the mountains and blowing across the region southeast of us. It is all up to the winds, and today the smoke blew into town.