All the Way to Lihue? ~ July 24, 2012

It's foggy at Stinson this morning and that calls for a hot breakfast and cribbage before we head out to the garden to weed, water, and prune. We'll no doubt plan an adventure this afternoon.

How doe Lihue fit into the story you ask? Many years ago Rod and I made our first trip to Kauai for a wedding. Our first full day there we drove up to Kee Beach on the NE side of the island and by afternoon we were at Kokee State Park in Waimea Canyon on the NW side of the island. Our hosts were flabbergasted by the great distance we'd travelled. Kauai is about one-third the size of Sonoma County. Our exploratory journey was roughly the equivalent of a round trip between home and the town of Sonoma, no great distance in our book.

However, by day two we were thoroughly attuned to island thinking and island time. Our host asked if we could run up to Lihue for something. Our response was "You want us to go all the way to Lihue?" It's a 10 mile drive, but that phrase has stuck with us all these years and it's been uttered many a time when a short trip, for any reason, was involved.

The adventure of the day: a 2.5 mile drive all the way to Bolinas. We discovered the Bolinas Book Exchange, an incredible little used bookstore that is totally on the honor system. The sign over the deposit box reads:

Ordinary Books   $1

Really Good Books   $2

Extraordinary Books   $3

Great Books   $5

Spectacular Books $20

Rod is an avid reader of science fiction and I was looking for books to utilize for my artistic excursion into the world of altered books. We found the mother lode and calculated our 10 books totalled $17, so we deposted $20 in the box and left as happy campers.

A late afternoon walk on the beach netted a shark sighting ~ a fair warning to surfers there be dragons in these here waters.

The Beach Unplugged ~ July 23, 2012

A sweet little staycation close to home to help my cousin with some garden chores at her cabin on Stinson Beach. The place was built by her dad in 1943 and we used to spend time there as kids. The original furniture is still there, faded and threadbare, but a myriad of pillows and throws have created a colorful and comfortable environment: the perfect place to curl up and read on a foggy day or rainy night.

It's delightfully shabby and filled with the memories, laughter and sandy feet of four generations. The shelves overflow with shells and rocks, old books, kids toys and varioius oddities collected at garage sales over the years.



It's a stones throw from the water on a little bluff above the beach. A chaise and a couple of beach chairs sit out on the edge: great place to plant your bum to read or bird watch. 

We get settled and head out for a walk. There's a lot of seaweed on the beach. It's the feathery kind, not the big leaf, thick stemmed stuff. The receding waves have left it in delightful shapes: sea creatures, bucking horses, moose, chickens, and fish. Lesson here ~ never leave home without your camera, you'll miss something.

 Bucking Horse ~ for Paul Zarzyski

 Night Moose ~ Bob Seger ~ for Laura

Gallo De Cielo for Tom Russell

 

Vegie plate and fresh fruit for dinner, the night is for reading. We'll make up the next couple of days as we go: but for sure we'll head up to Mt. Tam for a walk and a picnic. We haven't been to Bolinas in years and may head over there to check out a used book store someone told us about on our walk.

Night falls: curled up in our sleeping bags, the sound of the waves a heart beat and bringer of dreams.

~~~~~~ Wednesday Wonders ~~~~~~

Neighbor Susi Has a Green Thumb

Just a Thought Series ~ July 28, 1975

Life is a learning curve and the light bulb just came on again. My journals are filled to the brim with carefully chosen words and gentle thoughts ~ life emerging in robes of rainbow color and velvet softness. But this isn't the real deal. In translation from mind to paper I filter experiences so the words come out smooth and romantic. Ah, ever the Piscean dreamer.

Dreamer

http://www.etsy.com/shop/WetCanvasArt

There's a certain charm to such an outlook, but it keeps you incomplete. I need to leave my experiences unwashed and unedited as I put them to paper: anger and fear, sadness and joy, understanding and confusion, warts and all. 

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

http://www.etsy.com/shop/GritsandDaisies

I've always trusted my intuition and I now realize I can trust others with my thoughts and not worry about what they think. Perhaps wisdom does come with age. I'm finding great joy in these discoveries: the freedom to question, explore, observe and write from the heart not the mind. Consciousness is a constant challenge. It's like running a little farther each day, sometimes a little difficult but you know it's good for body and soul.

~

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."

Mark Twain

~

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

George Bernard Shaw

The Moveable Feast ~ July 4th, 2012

We live on a little dead end road just outside the city limits of Sebastopol. There are five other families up here in this hilltop roost and Rod decided he wanted to do a pot luck breakfast to start off the 4th on the right foot. Designer pancakes from the griddle with fresh strawberries and the neighbors brought the rest.

Families started showing up around 10am. Chairs and tables were set up under the pear and redwoods. Seems like most of us would sit in one place for awhile and then move to a different seat or spot to visit.

By the afternoon most everyone was still here, some had walked home to take care of chores and come back, others just hung out with us to enjoy the weather and the day.

Our new neighbors, Kathleen and Christian asked us to join them for an afternoon meal so about 3:30 we all toddled down to their place for homemade chili, ribs, pasta salad and cobbler. We had an incredible meal while relaxing on their deck and getting to know their friends up from the Bay Area.

We walked home about 5pm and took a lead from Ruby the Wonder Dog. 

Think we were asleep by 9pm. We missed the fireworks from Santa Rosa, but we'd seen Sebastopol's the night before from Andrea and Steven's porch after smores cooked up on the campfire. Our two day celebration was just one of those magical gatherings that brought friends, food and kids together for a delightfully good time. We're all still talking about it. The consensus is same time next year, starting with the evening smores on the 3rd.

Just a Thought Series ~ Fall 1975 or so

I was rummaging through some old photographs I set aside for my collage and altered book projects. The purpose was to come up with a way to organize the chaos of a unsorted box. During the expedition I rediscovered this photo. The words of the hand carved grave marker have always made me smile: reminding me of my own father. 

A little history: I was on two week road trip to Colorado. We spent a couple of nights in Crested Butte with a friend of my traveling partner. To get to Aspen we decided on a road less traveled and took Kebler Pass towards Redstone. We made a short detour to an old grave yard where I photographed this marker. I've always wanted to know the story behind it so I did a little research this morning. I looked up pioneer graveyards in the area including Ruby and Irwin and found nothing. Not one to give up easily I searched the entire quote and was astounded to find the following:

Cpl. Mervin C. Wheeler was laid to rest in the Old Irwin Cemetery. There is now this permanent marker and his wife, who passed away in August of 2009 is buried next to him. The poem on the marker was written by (or quoted by) their daughter Linda. What a wonderful memorial to a father. There is always more to a story. Look beyond the pictures and the words.

To the Redwoods ~ June 4th-5th, 2012

We're headed for the Smith River on the north coast of California. Hwy 140 out of Lakeview, OR is another great blue highway that takes us west to Grant's Pass where we turn south onto Hwy 199 and head deep into Redwood country. It's about a 280 mile drive. The weather is continually changing: sunshine to a dusting of snow, periodic showers to heavy rain.  There are large ranches in the valleys of SE Oregon. Juniper, pine, and wildflowers dot the landscape. Once back in Redwood country we breathe in the aroma and marvel at the majesty of our north coast forests.

We're in a day early to the Smith River. We have reservations for the 5th-6th but they find us a space for tonight. It's raining cats and dogs but the sound is magnificent. It's late afternoon and we're curled up drinking green tea and reading ~ Rod with Mark Twain and me with a "bodice ripper" from Harlequin called Operation: Midnight Cowboy. I traded it for one of our paper backs at Junipers Lake. It has a cowboy, a redhead and an international terrorist, what more could you ask for?. Tomorrow is supposed to be only 20% chance of rain so Rod's looking forward to some fishing and I'm looking forward to hiking with my camera.

After dinner we set up for the night and continue to read. The lights start dimming. Say what? The rig battery is failing so the pilot light isn't firing on the propane refrigerator. Rod tries to start the generator, but it wouldn't fire until he starts the rig to give it enough juice. We run the generator for about 10 minutes and that seemed to do the trick. We've had the rig plugged in at all our our camp spots, and this is the first attempt at "dry camping" on the trip. We turn off all the lights and get out the battery lantern for the rest of the evening. Now we're sure there is a short somewhere in the system, perhaps damage from the separated tire treads that beat up the underside of the coach on day 2.

We wake up at 5:30 am and Rod 's ready to throw in the towel and head home. He's disappointed in not being able to spend a couple of days fishing on the Smith River. I mention that if we camp at a place where we can plug in we'll be okay. He sees logic in my suggestion and off we go to Trinidad and Emerald Glen Park where we started the trip. Expecting the usual north coast summer weather of cold fog and drizzle, we are oh so pleasantly surprised to find it clear, sunny and about 70 degrees. Perfect!

After lunch we headed for Trinidad Harbor and walked on the beach. Walked back up into town and down a large number of steep steps to the cove on the harbor side. Our knees were barking like harbor seals by the time we got back up the stairs. After that little workout, we're back to camp for a shower, dinner, a movie and early to bed. Home is calling.

The Bull Whisperer ~ June 3, 2012

Junipers Reservoir RV Park is located on an 8,000 acre working cattle ranch in the southern Oregon Outback. Sagebrush and shrubs interspersed with evergreens and wildflowers, creeks, marshes, and wildlife. We wake up to bird song. There are only a few other campers in the park so it's quite peaceful.

After breakfast we suit up for our annual hike and take off about 9:30 with layers, sunhats, sandwiches, water, an apple, cameras and binoculars. The trail around the ranch is about 6.6 miles. We've been doing a lot of driving and sitting, so this is going to be a welcome challenge. It's warm and breezy, clouds are moving through with the possibility thunder showers this afternoon. About 1/2 mile into the walk we spot two Great Horned Owls. We can only watch with binoculars, they're too far away for a photo because I have the wrong lens ~ rookie! We follow a new track this time and do a little exploring.

We come up out of the meadows to an area of sage brush and walk along a dirt track through a stand of gnarly old moss covered junipers. We almost stepped on this little guy he was so well camouflaged. He didn't look to happy with us, but shortly after we took his picture we found a heart shaped rock and a hawk feather ~ gifts from the source.

About 3.5 miles into the walk, at the White Rocks, we come upon a very large herd of cattle milling about on the road and around the pond. When we were up in April of 2011 they were all down in the lower pastures. We stand our ground for a bit and think about our next move.

Some of the bulls have their heads down pawing the dirt, others are calling to their harems (the sound is like bull frog on steroids ~ echoing along the ridge), and a few are paying no attention to us at all. The cows and their offspring are watching us with great interest. Hmmmm what to do? We really want to finish the circuit and not turn back the way we came.

It appears my husband is a man of many talents ~ add Bull Whisperer to his resume. He leans over to me and says "Baby girl you may want to put your red fleece jacket in the pack while we're navigating this bovine traffic jam". I comply in a heartbeat. He starts talking to them in a low, soothing voice, assuring them we mean no harm and slowly walks forward at the same time. I'm tracking in his footsteps like a shadow. 

The cows and their young start to move off in small groups, trotting up the hill away from the road and the pond. The bulls have a few more conference calls and then slowly amble off in the same direction. Okay, cattle whispered, it's time for lunch, we find an old foundation to plop down on and dine with sun on our backs. The remaining 3 plus miles to camp is a gentle trail through pastures and along the reservoir.

Our little excursion was about 5 hours and once back in camp we hit the showers. Next we pull out the lawn chairs and flop in the shade to read and watch the afternoon and evening skies change. A day well spent, we're gonna sleep well tonight.  

Deja Voodoo Tires ~ June 1-2, 2012

6/1 ~ After breakfast we start the trek West on Hwy 20 towards Mountain Home, ID for the night. Tomorrow we'll head for Bend and turn south on Hwy 395 to Lakeview, OR for a couple of days.

We almost make it to Mountain Home and bang, thwapa, thwapa ~ the outside dually on the driver side loses it's tread. This time, at least, we're not on a major freeway and pull off onto a wide gravel verge with a view. We unhitch the Honda so I can set out to find some cell phone reception. I take one of the walkie-talkies since I don't know how far that'll be. We now have our road handles: Red Ryder and Little Beaver.

Joe's Towing to the rescue within an hour to change the tire. Good Sam Platinum Road Service has been worth it's weight in gold. In spite of the third installment of the Tire Trilogy, it's been a gorgeous day, sunny and breezy. Once the tire is changed we head for Mountain Home RV Park for a hot shower and dinner.

6/2 ~ First stop this morning is Les Schwab to get rig tires assessed. We have them check serial numbers on remaining tires and replaced only the ones in same batch as two tires that lost their tread. Wow we only needed 2 tires not 4.

Breakfast at RJ's truck stop and off we go, west on 20 then south at 395 to Lakeview. This will be our second stay at Juniper Lake Reservoir, a small park in the middle of a working cattle ranch and great place for hiking, photography and birdwatching. We came in from the south last visit, so this is new territory and a gorgeous drive.

Rod's determined to BBQ once we get settled and that sounds like a winner to me: chicken, corn and Shelley potatoes. We dine outside and enjoy the view and the weather. Against all odds we haven't yet lost our sense of humor about this and have decided to dub this trip the:

Re-TIRE-ment Tour

or

2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate

Les Schwab for being everywhere!



Stair Master to the Sky ~ May 31, 2012

After breakfast we asked the park host for a suggestion on a good place to explore that's only a short drive, especially after yesterday's 200 mile jaunt. He told us to just turn right out of the park driveway and head for the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. It's about 25 miles north on a gravel road. Though we're camped in Idaho, somewhere along the way we cross into the Centennial Valley and Lakeview, Montana.  The drive is spectacular and we see only a couple of other cars on the road the entire journey ~ our kind of place!

Off to a promising start

Yellow Bellied Marmot  ~ Roadside Patrol

 Short pause for lunch

Just before we get to the Refuge we came upon what appears to be ghost town, like a movie set right out of an old Western. We find out it's the home base for the Center for Earth Concerns, headed by lifelong naturalists and philanthropists Melody and John Taft. The organization works around the world, dedicated to enhancing and expanding education for the protection of wildlife. You can find out more about their vision and work at http://www.earthconcerns.org/

The historical buildings, which date back to the early settlers, are being restored and recreated. Also in development is a museum to showcase the history of the Centennial Valley. The facility hosts environmental researchers, artists, students and volunteers to study and fulfill common goals. "The heart of the Center is held by the people who continually dream a vision into being - the founders, directors, staff and volunteers who welcome and care for all who are fortunate enough to visit this oasis for the soul".

Our next stop is the small Visitor's Center at the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge where we find more information on the area and local wildlife. We ask about the fire lookout tower on the property and find it's been retired for some time. We're delighted when the host hands us the keys and lets us to climb up and take a look. You want to talk Stairmaster ~ this was much more fun than the one at the gym and the view from the top was amazing!

Late afternoon we head back to camp to relax and fix some dinner. Starting to feel the thigh and calf muscles from our climb! Tomorrow we start the journey home and will hatch our game plan as we go.

Just a Thought Series ~ June 24, 1987

I'm following my creative muses into new territory ~ the paper arts of collage and altered books. Though I'm primarily self taught in all artistic pursuits, I've decided to take some classes, my first is next week. I've been collecting paper ephemera for years: calendars, cards, magazine and paper cutouts, small pieces of material, ribbon, etc. I was organizing some of the cards and looked on the back of this piece to find the following words.

"Happy Birthday Daddy, Wednesday is my day off and I will plant the climbing star jasmine in honor of your 77th birthday ~ plenty of southern exposure, spring water from Cazadero and Rod's magic compost. We're celebrating our 7th Fort Ross Volunteer Fire Department Picnic this weekend too ~ ever the newlyweds. Be well, be comfortable and stay curious. I love you to bits."

A Three State Day ~ May 30, 2012

After breakfast we pack up the Honda with foul weather gear, cameras and snacks and head up to Yellowstone. The weather is acting up some, but the sky's constant changes create an incredible palette for the photographer in me. We've decided to spend the day exploring both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks; a recon mission for the next trip.

I couldn't figure out why I saw "entering and leaving Montana" signs and had to look at a map to figure it out. There is a little pie wedge of Montana that slips in between Idaho and Wyoming when you enter Yellowstone. I mean really, we need to get out more! Did you know that Yellowstone National Park was established by the Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in March 1872?

When you're touring these magnificent parks you can't be impatient or in a hurry. Car's frequently pull over or stop in the middle of the road to see what's up. You just have to go with the flow and relax. This trip there are bison grazing along the roadside.

Ralph and the Boys

We've traveled along the Icefields Parkway, an amazing journey that takes you from Banff to Jasper, Alberta (put it on your Bucket List). We saw moose, elk, coyotes, bears, and deer along the wide grass verges next to the road. I always had this vision of the animal families orchestrating their roadside attractions in shifts. "Alice, me and the boys'll take the morning shift, then you and girls bring the kids up from the river for the afternoon shift." I can't help but create the same scenario here.  

Fountain Paint Pot

There are many pull outs along the way and we stop frequently to walk about. It's an incredibly rich, diverse and colorful environment.

After lunch we head south into the Grand Tetons National Park to do a little exploring before the weather turns bad. The Rockies never disappoint regardless of season.  

By the time we get back to camp we realize we've driven 200 miles within the parks. A great adventure but a long day. A simple dinner and we're curled up with books before nightfall. The weather is improving by the hour and the Sandhill Cranes once again wish us a good night.

From Craters to Crags ~ May 29, 2012

About 3 hours east of Boise on Hwy 20 we discover Craters of the Moon National Preserve. Time for a break and a picnic. 

Between 15,000 and 2,000 years ago, the Craters of the Moon Lava fields formed during eight major eruptive periods and grew to almost 620 square miles. The region experiences basin and range faulting, which stretches or pulls apart the crust. The Lost River Range north of the town of Arco provides good evidence that these forces are still active. In 1983 there was a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, during which Mount Borah rose about 1 foot and the Lost River Valley in that vicinity dropped about 8 feet. And we think things rock and roll around the San Francisco Bay Area!

There are cinder cones and lava fields all round us; wild flowers, lichens and a few tenacious trees bring spring color to the immense sea of black in the high desert sagebrush. After a bite to eat, we check out the visitors center and some of the local history, but we have another 4 hours to reach our destination, so we're soon back on the road. Next time we're here we'll plan on some hiking. Had to have this postcard to frame. The creator is author Ilan Shamir.

We reach our destination in late afternoon. Just south of the west entrance to Yellowstone there's a 6 mile dirt road that takes you out to Henry's Lake and the Red Rock RV Park. We're within walking distance of the lake and out in the middle of nowhere. These are our favorite kind of spots, quiet but for bird song and the wind in the trees. Another delightful place to anchor for a few days. We set up and head down to the lake.

Back to camp for a dinner of sauteed vegetables, boca burgers and potatoes and few games of cribbage. With sundown comes a serenade from the resident Sandhill Cranes and the promise of some weather.

Tomorrow we're headed to Yellowstone and the Tetons for a day trip in the Honda. In spite of our expensive learning curve, we're glad we brought it along. We have much more flexibility to explore now.

Thoughts of my Father ~ June 17, 2012

It didn't matter if we were

Paddling after ducks in Lake Shasta or 

Engineering runoff into fanciful creeks

~ 

Setting up camp with Mom every summer or

Building wooden boats for the pool

~

Digging in the garden or

Turning my VW bus into a camper

when I was in college 

  

I always was Daddy's Girl

November 1945

He was my hero

And at times my counterpoint

A quiet man

With a big heart

~ 

Happy Father's Day Daddy

Thanks for watching over me

Then and now