Tuesday evening - we left Sunday just before Noon for Burney Falls, CA, and had a cabin reserved at the State Park there.  The cabin was very nice and just perfect for us, although the sites were close together with no or little privacy between them.  No matter, we were out to enjoy the week.

The above picture is of Grandma and Arianna.  My daughter absolutely hated to wear a dress when she was young, and her daughter hikes in a dress and pearls!  The pearls have been worn every day since we left home, and I love it.
 
After settling in we hiked to the Falls, which are just gorgeous.  Not content to just see them from below, we hiked up a steep trail to one that went over the Falls.  In all I supposed we hiked 2 strenuous (to me) miles, but the 4 and 6 yr old did as well as I did, if not better.  The next day they went back for more so the kids could get the information required for a special merit badge.  At that point I just stayed back at the cabin, reveling in the peace and quiet, and chilled out.

We also took the kids to Britton Lake, about 2 miles from our cabin, but I didn't get in the water - just sat in peace in the shade.  Sounds like I'm getting old!

Here are a couple of pictures taken just before we left the cabin - Flat Haley and Flat Sierra (named by my granddaughters) on the cabin front porch.

 

This morning (Tuesday) we finally got on the road and drove approximately 125+ miles to Ashland, Oregon.  We are staying at an Inn about 30 miles outside Ashland - a beautiful drive on a curvy bumpy road that made Autumn very car sick!  Finally arrived at the Inn and had a great dinner.  Jeanne, Donald and Autumn then left to drive in to Ashland to the Shakespearean Theater and a performance of Midsummer Night's Dream.  I think it is a modernized version with the characters more from life today than back in the Bard's time, and I hope they get a lot from the performance.  The minimum age for attending in 5 yrs old and Arianna falls one year short, so I opted to stay here at the Inn with her.  We went out to the little playground for a while and are now back in the room - me on my computer and Arianna on her Leap Pad!

  


Traveling with family is entirely different than traveling on one's own - they do things entirely different than I do, but the company makes it all worth while.  I just made up my mind to enjoy it, even leaving 2 or 3 hours later than we plan, and spending more time on kid friendly activities than I might on my own.  I will have a 4500 mile trip in August to do everything my own  way so I'm going to get every bit of happiness out of this week that I can.

Nearly on my way

In about 2 hrs I will be on the way to a week of fun.  Gotta have my coffee first, so I'm up a bit earlier than usual.  I still have some smaller items that I didn't take yesterday to pack in the van, but Donald assures me there will be room.

I just wanted to let everyone know I will post when I have the chance, and hope to take lots of pictures.  I'll try to read blogs as well, but it will depend on internet connection.  If I can use the MiFi and computer but with no electrical connection, then I will try to conserve my online time as much as possible.

Have a good week and I will try my best to have a good one as well, and I'll be back next Sunday.

Last day prep

I woke up not feeling so great this morning even though I got a decent night's sleep.  Since I don't feel the B-12 shot has me bursting with energy I decided not to get another one, but maybe I should rethink that and get one more before I leave for NY.

Because of the heat yesterday - still 95 at 8 pm - I decided to just do a short walk inside the park.  I was afraid I'd get down by the river and not feel like walking back.  I did a few yoga stretches to make up for the shorter walk.

I don't know how Donald is going to fit everything in their van for our trip, but i am taking my things over to their house today and see how he's doing.  They always take so much stuff because of the kids.  I need to go back and lighten my own duffle bag - this is camping and I don't need to wear a different outfit for each day.  A couple of our stops will be at rustic cabins with no showers, but we also will be staying at lodges and inns, and those will be clean-up times! 

I dropped off my stuff to be packed in the van, but when I got home I remembered a few more things.  The coffee caraffe & filter, of all things!  Jeannie ground fresh coffee beans this morning so we will have a good start to the day.

Since it is going to 103 today I think I'll skip my walk, but plan to do some hikes every day while we are gone.  

Does anyone else have the same problem I do with passwords?  It is getting to be just too much - I already have a 4 page Word document listing all the passwords I have, and it seems that the P/W thing is spreading to areas that shouldn't require one.  I'm fed up with the whole thing.

I feel a nap coming on so I'd better get the rest of my packing done before I succumb to the couch.  I hope I will be energized once we hit the road!

Call me Butterfingers today

I fixed a big bowl of my usual breakfast fruit and carried it into the living room.  I was balancing the bowl on my lap and trying to open my laptop when the bowl somehow jumped and tipped most of the fruit on the floor.  Not being one to waste, and since I keep the floor area relatively clean in this part of the room, I quickly picked it up and put it back into the bowl.  It tasted fine and I didn't waste.  Most of it went under my chair where no one walks around anyway.

I figured I might as well dust mop in every room and am glad that's done.  I'm starting to get things together for travel but have a long way to go before I'm ready.  I'll no doubt be scrambling on the last day before I leave.  

About my walking routine and to answer Phil's comment, yes I have been thinking about the trail in back of my house.  It goes all the way over to the American River and connects with the downtown-to- Folsom bike trail.  That is the same trail that goes past Cal Expo and where I walked Lady and Mandy when I stayed there in my RV for several months.

I'm pretty sure that a few homeless people live in the area behind me, although probably on the other side of the trail.  I used to meet them now and then while walking Lady, and they were mostly shy but friendly.  I have no problem with them living there - where else are they going to stay?  Maybe the likelihood of problems occurs with the larger encampments, but not here in my experience.

As for walking on it now, I might do it - I could walk down to the river and then if it is getting dark I can return along Sunrise Blvd.  I've been starting out at 8pm as it is cooling down by then, so I could make it back before total darkness even if I can manage 3 or 4 miles.  I think I walk about 4 mph.

I just received an odd email - it starts out, "We are one of the best digital images retouching/editing professionals located in China."

Are my photos that bad that they got word 

of it in China?  I think Blogger could use

some help from China in its switching of 

type size in the blog! 

This is a good place for me to stop and 

see it this publishes better than it looks

now.

Some thouhts on yesterday's post

In re-reading my post from yesterday I realize many of you have read a similar post from me for several years.  Every now and then I get backpacking fever so badly I just can hardly bear it.  And as every year goes by the likelihood that I could even try it again is reduced.

I went back last night and read the blog for my Appalachian Trail (AT) attempted thru-hike in 1997, and it all came back to me - the joys, the pain, the people, the rain, etc.  When I came to the last section I wrote years later about my wonderful companion, black lab Smoky, I just cried.  

I still intend to have a go at it again, but at this point with my health issues on this side of the horizon, I don't know how I'll manage it.  Maybe when I get back from NY I could try some overnighters here in CA, and I'd definitely like to be in decent enough shape to day-hike a couple of trails in the Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge on my way back in the fall.

I drove back to REI today to pick up the book I had ordered and have already picked out a couple of campgrounds along the route I'll be traveling across NY state.  Whether there are any available campsites in late August is another story, but if I hit them during the week I might find someplace to overnight.  

In the meantime I'd like to find a suitable hiking partner or two here in my area - someone not too much younger than I am. 

I thought I was so smart and the compass I bought would be a piece of cake!  It is slightly different than most I've seen, in the area of the pointer.  Most pointers are red on one end, and that's the end that points north.  My new one has a pointer with a circle on one end and a "fork" on the other.  I figured the forked end would be the pointing end and indicate north.  I knew something wasn't right, but as I've explained, the streets here are on the diagonal, and the houses are on the diagonal on their respective lots.  Finding north accurately isn't easy but I have a good general idea.  I got frustrated when I could't get it to work, and even found websites telling how to work with a compass.  

Finally in total desperation I pulled out the instructions that came with the compass and found a list of and explanations of features.  Turns out the circle end of the pointer goes to North.  Well duh, Marty.  When all else fails, read the instructions.  Once I had it properly aligned and everything was where I knew it to be, I'm confident I will get a lot of use out of this little device.  It doesn't require batteries or recharging, doesn't send you messages, doesn't beep or flash or have apps, but is just a plain and simple survival tool.  If I'm hiking a mountain trail and wonder what is the name of a mountain I'm looking at, I just orient the compass to the map and get my answer.  (And I wouldn't think of being out on a mountain trail without a map that doesn't require batteries, need recharging, etc.)  I think I take a perverse pleasure in knowing how to do things the old fashioned way, although I certainly appreciate technology at times.  When I'm driving I can use my GPS to determine direction.

I feel so good in the morning, but now that it's up in the mid 90's I'm all washed out.  I took a nap which is probably a mistake because I don't feel revived at all.  I am continuing to walk and did the entire circle around the park last night, which is +/- 2 miles.  I need to get out of this park to a place where I can vary the route as well as the mileage, but I'll have to overcome my laziness first.

My eyes are ok

I saw Dr. G this morning to find out if the irritation I had in one eye could have been related to the jaundice.  He said my eyes were fine and gave me a couple of samples of eyedrops, one will require a prescription if I need it filled, and the other is more of the soothing kind you can buy off the shelf.

I stopped by REI on the way home as I had ordered a book from their online store - The Best of Tent Camping in New York State.  It was supposed to be delivered to the store on Friday and I hoped it might be early.  They checked and it is due in tomorrow, so I'll have to make another trip.  I don't mind going to REI but I always find something to buy.  This morning I got a new compass and the latest issue of Backpacker Magazine.

Then to Bev Mo for non-alcoholic beer.  While I was waiting for someone to help me get a case off the shelf, I looked through the fine bourbons.  A while back my son Steve asked me if we were related to the owners of Willett Distillery in Bardstown.  It turned out he had tasted one of their bourbons and wanted to buy it, but would pay the price only if we were related.  I checked with my brother who is further into genealogy than I am, and indeed we are related to the distillers.  I tasted some of Steve's stash and thought I would die!  At first it takes your breath away, then the fire hits your throat but in an instant you have such a warm glow and the feeling of all's right with the world.  I have seen it at Bev Mo but the larger bottle costs close to $80 but I noticed today they had a smaller one, so I got it.  At the checkout I wondered at the irony of buying a case of non-alcoholic beer and a bottle of fine bourbon!  It should last me a long time because a few drops is about all I want every now and then.

I think I will love my new compass.  It is made right in our own state of Wyoming and looks very easy to use.

I want to get back into backpacking so bad I can taste it!  But the cost of the gear I'd need is holding me back; Steve has my backpacking tent and Joe has the sleeping bag, but I'd need a thermarest mattress, as well as a pack and possibly new boots.  Those items plus the stove, titanium cook pot, and all the little stuff, would set me back a few dollars - maybe next year.  I could drive to Maine and hike south on the Appalachian Trail!  

To this end (and also for my general health) I'm walking 5 or 6 evenings a week and last night got up to almost a mile and a half!!!  Well on my way to long distance backpacking. 

One good thing happened at least!

I got a response to a letter I wrote to Verizon about their charging me $30 for the bandwidth I exceeded on my MiFi last month.  I explained that for some reason I couldn't track my usage on the MiFi device itself or on my Verizon page.  This went on the whole month and I ended up being over the 5GB limit.  They are crediting my account for the $30, so I'm pretty happy about that.  I had to write them a "real" letter and send it in an envelope with stamp by the way - the only customer contact is either by phone or mail it seems, and the phone contact didn't help me at all.  Verizon's customer service has been in the basement lately (for me, anyway), so I was happy to get this kind of response to my complaint.  In the letter I wrote I asked them outright to credit my account for the $30.

Got some black posterboard today, a couple of thick sheets of foam board, and one regular flexible posterboard so I can decide whether to make coverings for the windows of the Highlander.  I'm not planning to stealth camp anywhere if I can possibly avoid it, so I'm not too sure I even care about the windows being covered.  I'd be snuggled down into my sleeping bag anyway.

I guess I'm a wimp but I really think I need to be able to stand up, at least nearly straight up.  My knees have always been good, but I notice this last year that if I'm down it's really difficult to get back up - the knees just don't want to work.  So sleeping in a car or even a van wouldn't be easy for me, but I could do it in a pinch - rain, high wind, etc.  But I will see what I can do with the posterboard at any rate.  I couldn't find velcro tape, so I'll have to try another store or two.

I have the nicest breeze blowing through my house today, but tomorrow starts the upward trend and I hate the thought of the heat coming back.  Knowing I wouldn't feel like it tomorrow I opened and spread two bags of stones over the plastic edge in the back yard, but got tired after two of them and left the third.  It looks ridiculous because it's a different color than the old gravel, but I guess it will look better once it's exposed to the sun for a while.  What I really need is a truckload of gravel, but I don't think it's worth the work involved in spreading it.  The 1.5 cu. feet bags are about all I can handle.  Yard maintenance has never been something I like to do.  

I don't care much for the new profile picture on this blog, but it probably looks more like I do now than the one it replaced.  I will try to get a regular photo of me straight on and just crop it - this one was taken by the Mac and at a weird angle.  I have searched until I just can't do it anymore to find out how to change the small picture that appears when I make a comment on someone else's blog, and it may also show up on my gmail correspondence.  That pic was taken back in 2008 or 9 and my appearance has totally changed since then.  If anyone knows how to change that picture please let me know.  

I also finally found my way to my Picasa photos that have appeared on my blog.  The only problem is that some of them have never appeared on my blog, but are in my iPhoto library which has nothing to do with Picasa.  How does Picasa obtain photos that are stored on my computer and have never been on my blog or had anything to do with Google?  By the way, I NEVER use Picasa for anything so it is unlikely that I used it on any photos I've taken.