This blog is to document my life and adventures living full time in a motorhome. Volunteerism has always been a big part of my life. Join me as I highlight my trips, adventures, work for California Department of Technology and enjoying life with dogs.
Fortunately, it was a quiet fire season, so I've been able to focus on doing dog adoption videos. I completed my 600th dog video this year. That is I've done 600, since I started doing dog videos, some 14 years ago. Unfortunately, lately, I've been challenged to get a helper to do dog videos who I jive well with. Ally is a great partner, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, her life is so chaotic, that she just doesn't have the bandwidth to help. So, I'm back to doing the videos by myself. But, doing the videos by myself is tiring.
In order to help me recharge, I've also managed to get out for a few camping trips and road trips. The most recent of which was a trip to Mt Shasta for a little nature injection.
Since my divorce, I have learned so much about myself. I've learned that my tribe is in those more compassionate. Animal rescue folks are the type that best understand me. But those with a liberal bent truly are the ones who make me feel welcome. Since moving back to Sacramento, I have really become settled in to volunteering at the City of Stockton's animal shelter. Tara and Katt, my two main contacts at the shelter are so good working with me to find dogs that I can work with. They have made it abundantly clear that the videos that I do, do in fact make a difference. Sometimes, they don't always result in a dog getting adopted from the shelter, but there are many times that Rescue's see dogs that I have worked with and pull the dogs into their programs, thereby saving the dog from possible euthanaisia.
Tara is a very special person. Not only is the main person that I work with, but she is always working her job, many hours of the day, way outside her 8 to 5 job. And even when she is injured, she is always casting her injuries aside and pitching in. She has a gentleman in her life who has a disability and she is always trying to help him out as well. Recently, she put out a call on Facebook, looking for someone with a wheelchair that she could have to give her loved one the mobility that he needs. No one answered the call. I KNOW how much energy and money she puts into saving the dogs, and I could not help myself, so I bought them a wheelchair to help them out.
Remi has a new vet, and his name is Dr. Matt and he and his wife launched their own veterinary practice and he is a wonderful person and vet. His wife Carolyn is simply amazing as well. They also founded a non-profit that takes care of the medical needs of the animals that come into the Shelter.
I truly feel honored to know so many wonderful people involved with the Stockton Animal shelter.
If you have read some of my previous posts, you know that I've become good friends with my friend Ally. She is a smart, gorgeous woman who has truly made me feel like I am someone that she trusts. I had such an abysmal dating record in High School and College, and then with my wife never feeling like she 100% trusted me (or anyone for that matter), I was really doubting myself. Well, over the last two years that Ally and I have been close, I now better understand that it wasn't that I wasn't trustworthy, I just didn't understand that I was trustworthy. Ally truly helped me to feel trusted and valued.
Ally and I started a non-profit called Pit Saver Productions, and while she has not had the bandwidth to help out with the non-profit as much as she and I probably had hoped, she and I are still good friends. Every year, her dad goes on a long camping trip to Yellowstone, and Ally goes up to her dads to take care of his dogs while she is gone. This year, while she was up caring for her dads dogs, I went up to Shelton Washington for a long weekend to visit Ally, and check out the area. Here is a little video about the trip.
Well, I have to apologize for being gone for so long, but life has been very busy for me the last 12 months. In October of 2024, my friend Ally O'Dell convinced me that we should start a non-profit under the name of Pit Saver Produtions. So, the last few months of 2024 were spent getting all of the necessary paperwork in order to launch the non-profit.
Unfortunately, due to some life developments outside of Ally's control, she has not been able to participate as much as either one of us had initially hoped and so I've been mostly a one-man-band, working to keep the non-profit afloat until Ally is able to dive back in. She is helping where she can, but its been a challenge for her.
None the less, earlier this year, I've had a couple of outreach booths at events trying to spread the word about the importance of adopting pets from animal shelter, disaster preparedness and other topics.
My sister Karen met a wonderful guy named Mike Wraight, back in the late 1960's. They got married in 1969. Mike has two brothers, Chuck and Steve. Chuck and his wife Teri live in Ashland Oregon currently, and their son Scott, Scott's wife Anne and their son's Gavin and Austin live in Georgia.
Steve is married to his wife Elena and they have three daughters, Morgan, Marina and Mia. Morgan and Marina have budding families of their own, and Mia, just married a long time guy in her life named Hunter.
The Wraight's have been a part of my family, for as far back as I can remember. Even going back to the day that Karen and Mike got married, I have felt like we were all one big family.
This year, Steve and Elena celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. I went down to Long Beach California where Steve and Elena live to participate in the celebration. Their entire family always make me feel so welcome. There is never an us vs them sort of thing, they are just wonderful family members. While I was down there, I tripped around the area that I grew up in Buena Park and visited many of my old haunts. It was almost like going back in time. I visited my old Elementary school and even saw the field that a friend of mine and I hid out in when we ditched school when I was in the second grade. Every visit down there has been special in some way, but this one was particularly special.
Here is a 40 minute video about my trip to Long Beach for Steve and Elena's wedding anniversary.
But, if you don't want to sit through that entire video, at least check out this video which was the highlight of the anniversary celebration.
Well, this was a very busy month, all though my main VLOG installment for this month would seem to indicate that all I am doing is hanging out with Remi or Ally's dogs Raider and Wallace. I must admit, my life does revolve around dogs a lot, and I'm ok with that. Ally's dog Raider and I seem to have a real affinity for one another. I must admit, I do love myself an American Bull Dog, and Raider is a fine one. Ally and I are hoping that we can get Raider and Remi to get along so that I can visit Ally's with Remi and not have to worry about how long I'm there. Given time, I'm confident we will work something out.
There was one time this month, where Ally's dog sitter was out of town, and she had to work late. Ally texted me and asked me to go check in on Raider and get him out for a bit of a potty break. I love spending time with Raider, so this was not a problem for me what so ever.
This month we changed our veterinarian for Remi. One of the huge supporters of the City of Stockton's Animal Shelter is a non-profit by the name of Hard Luck Rescue. The non-profit was founded by Carolyn and Matt Wooddall. Matt is also a veterinarian who helps out at the shelter 1 day a week, and has just launched his own practice in the Pocket area of Sacramento. His new practice is called "City of Tree's Animal hospital", and it is a wonderfully up to date facility.
During this month, I have also continued some of my disaster training. This month I attended training at a livestock sanctuary in Sonoma called Charlies Acres. The training was intended to provide us with opportunities to get additional education on how to handle livestock in disaster situations.
Here is a video with some excerpts of a livestock handling class that I attended.
I also took a two day training class on wildland first aid. This class was about $250.00, but it was a really good class. Now all I gotta do is take a CPR class and then I'm good to go.
During this month, we have been alternating between Turtle beach and Lake Minden. I really enjoy both of these parks, but Turtle beach is definitely more convenient to the Stockton Shelter and also Ally's home... but even Lake Minden isn't bad for getting to the San Joaquin Area too! :-)
Next month, we are headed on a camping trip to Castle Crags with Ally O'dell and her dogs Raider and Wallace... stay tuned.
Remi and I are definitely into a routine of moving among the few RV parks in the greater Sacramento Region. As a result, there are not a lot of things to report about our routine that those who have read this blog are not already familiar with. As a result, you may see the blog gets a little shorter, which for many of you is probably a good thing.
One of the remarkable things that took place this month, was I wrapped up my trip up to Castle Crags in Siskiyou County for my initial tent camping trip Labor Day weekend, All in all, the trip went really well. The highlight of the trip took place on the last full day while camping at Castle Crags where I was going horseback riding with my friend Kat who lives up in Yreka. I started the day by dropping Remi off at Siskiyou Pet care in Mt. Shasta, and then I picked Kat up at her home. With Kat on Board, we went out to Kim Wiate's house where Kat's horse "Sparky" is boarded. This is the second time I've been able to spend time with Sparky and the first time that I'll get to ride him. Sparky has been working on getting his strength back.
It was a wonderful experience getting to see Sparky again... I have really become enamored with horses and Sparky is very bomb proof. There was one part of the morning where Kat had Sparky and another horse named Allie, who Kat was going to ride, in a small arena area. I was up on Sparky in the saddle and Kat needed to go put her cowboy boots on. She handed me the reins to Allie, and told me to just hold on to them and if Allie gets weird to just drop Allie's reins. Well, Allie nuzzled up to Sparky and something caused Allie to spook and start to buck... as instructed, I dropped Allie's reins, and without any indication from me, Sparky started to move me safely away from Allie. He is such an amazing horse; I just love him to pieces. 😍
Kat and I eventually went for our ride, and it was a truly wonderful experience.
The next day, Remi and I headed back to Lake Minden, fired up the motorhome and headed it to Snowflower lake, which is near the Interstate 80, just above Nyack at about the 6,000-foot elevation. This Thousand Trails Park is truly beautiful. I love being up in the trees. Once again, we are in the area called the cliffs. It allows us to have a clear view of the sky, so that the Starlink system works as needed. This is our second time up at Snowflower lake, and it never disappoints. This time, we actually met someone who might consider themselves an "Influencer". She goes by the name "Dr. Hannah Straight". If she is truly a doctor, it is probably of Kinesiology or something like that. I didn't have my camera with me, to take a picture of her, but that all seems so trite and cheap anyway. I did however get a picture of her Pick-up truck.
Regardless of where my base camp is, I always look forward to spending time with my friend Ally. She and I have become really close, and I'm so beyond thankful for her friendship. Her dogs Raider and Wallace also have become so very important to me. They are both great dogs with their own personalities. They both love spending time with me. Ally has been having some struggling times at work lately and she has been bothered by migraines. So, whenever I get the chance to try to brighten her day, it is my joy to do so. On one day, I took her, Raider and Wallace for a ride in the jeep with the Freedom top off. I always love any chance I get to see her smile! But, queen of my heart is always Remi... she is my constant companion. Fortunately, we seem to be getting her pain management under control. We are going to try her on a new pain relief medication soon... it is an injectable called Labrella.
After our week at Snowflower lake was done, we moved the motorhome back down to Lake Minden, which I have mentioned before is pretty much our home base. It is the physical address that I use to establish my voting location. Lake Minden has some of the most striking sun rises and sunsets. It also is out in the middle of now-where, so it is void of light pollution and is great for stargazing.
While at Lake Minden, the Jeep threw a check engine light. I stuck the code reader on it and it indicated that the coolant heater (kind of an oxymoron isn't it) had failed in the hybrid system of the jeep. So, I took it into the Jeep dealer in Rancho Cordova to have it looked into. The service that I got out of the service department was horrible, but I'm trying to not dwell on that. During the time they had the jeep, I had a Jeep Renegade as a rental. It wasn't horrible, but it is no Wrangler.
Also, while at Lake Minden, I took the opportunity to wash the motorhome. This was an effort which was way overdue. It always amazes me as to how well the paint job holds up on the motorhome! Also, the windshield protectant by "|Racing Optics" on the Jeep has done a great job of protecting the windshield from cracking after rock strikes. So, I finally put on an "Adopt don't Shop" banner on it and that worked out great!
Please check out this months VLOG for more on our adventures.
Well, here we are August of 2024, and I can't believe I've had my Jeep Wrangler 4XE for two years, and I'm almost to the point of having worked at the California Department of Technology for 2 years. My how time flies.
Speaking of time flying, I can't believe I've been separated/divorced from Carol for 4 years. And I've had Remi well over 3 years now. But, she has been such an amazing travel companion for me since I got her. She and I have experienced a lot. She has always been at my side through everything we have seen together. She seems to be enjoying her life with me.
Early this month, my friend, Ally drove her van up to visit her family in Washington state for two weeks. She is such an amazing individual. Though the fact that she is a woman is not lost on me, I rarely refer to her as a woman, because for all the men and women that I know, she sets such an amazing example for me to be a better person, I am simply in awe of her. Her work life has been pretty rough lately. She isn't getting the support she deserves from her company or her upper management, and she has been feeling pretty down about the whole thing. So, when she told me she was heading home, I wanted to do something special for her to come home too so that hopefully she would smile. So, I loaded Remi up in the car, and we went to Target and I got a celebratory lettering kit, and Remi and I drove over to Ally's home and put "Welcome Home" on her garage door. I just wanted to do something to remind her people care about her. She is the best friend who I have ever had, who has made more time for me than anyone I have ever known, so I consider myself very fortunate.
I'm sure there are times that I do things that cause her to just shake her head... wondering what possess me to do some of the things that I do, but that is ok, as long as I feel like I still bring some value to her life, that is all that matters to me.
I had a bit of a scheduling conflict with Thousand Trails this month, I had a hard time getting into any of the parks I typically like to one week, so I had to go with my backup park in Oregon House called Lake of the Springs. I really like Oregon House, so I don't think of it as a lesser park or anything like that, it's just that the drive to the office or the shelter is two hours, and it is just a bit out of the way for where I'd like to live. However I was only up there for 1 week, and it wasn't horrible. But, Remi and I did go on a little drive to a part of Oregon House that we had never been to before. There is this out of the way area that has a little remote coffee shop. There are decorations around it that are done with old spent tires. I love what they had done with them.
One day during our stay at Oregon House, a couple of wildfires broke out near the campground. One of them was called the Byrne fire and the other called the purple fire. The Purple fire was in the same drainage as the campground. The Byrne fire was one drainage over from us and less likely to impact us. Given what I do for a volunteer gig, I wasn't going to take any chances and I loaded up the Jeep and Closed up the Motorhome and got both ready for departure incase we had to bug out. Fortunately, Cal Fire got on both fires and neither one of them got beyond 10 acres or so.
My friend Ally befriended a vet by the name of John on Facebook. He follows the Stockton shelter activities closely and I really hadn't followed him at all, but Ally told me about his sad life being relegated to a wheelchair. I went to his house one day to check out his situation, because it sounded like he needed help getting in and out of the house. While visiting John, he introduced me to his dog Mouse is a super sweet pit bull and an amazing companion to John. Unfortunately, we were not able to pull anything together yet to help John, but hopefully we will be able to pull something together in the future.
One of the things that I have always been proud of is those who have served in the US Military. I will admit that I wish I had signed up for military service in some way when I was young, but it didn't happen. I was ignorant at the time, as to all the options that might have been available to me. I was short sighted in my teenage and years of my early twenties. And though I will admit, I was a pacifist back then, and I still have no desire to hurl munitions at someone who has never done me any wrong, there are a lot of ways I could have served my country and not entered into combat... at least not as a primary role. But that is a whole other story. I fly the flag proudly from the motorhome whenever I can and when I feel the country is acting honorably. I will admit I had little desire to fly the flag when Donald Trump was in office, but once again I digress.
When Remi and I were staying at Lake Minden in the early part of the month, we were out for a walk, and I came across a 1949 vintage military footlocker that was standing outside the dumpster waiting to be reclaimed. Though it did not have the upper tray, it was otherwise in really good shape. I thought it was the perfect accessory for the Jeep, since it is sarge green, and brought back to the motorhome. I then scraped the old paint off of it, gave it a light sanding and then painted it. I also went through Etsy to get a stencil so that I could spray paint my name and phone number on the footlocker. I'm not super happy with the color I picked, so I will probably get a more proper shade mixed, but otherwise, I'm really happy with my find.
I will admit, my life isn't anything like I envisioned it even just 5 or 6 years ago, but I have a good life. One of the best things in my life right now is my good friend Ally. And for those who see all of the videos that she and I do together for shelter dogs, "No, we are not dating.". I've had at least 3 people come to that conclusion. Don't get me wrong, I wish I was 20 years younger, but I've never had a friend, male or female as wonderful and supportive as she is. The truth is, I don't want to screw up the friendship that I have with Ally, so I will just be thankful for what she and I have these days. One of the extra bonuses to having Ally as my best friend, is to be able to spend time with her dogs Wallace and Raider. They are just a couple of the best dogs you could ever ask for. I am honored that she will let me take them for rides in the car sometimes and that she trusts me so completely with them.
As you know, I had intended to go camping last month, but when the Park Fire broke out in Butte County, I put that trip off and went and worked the incident. Ally and I were supposed to go camping this month, but work has just been too crazy for her and so she couldn't go on this scheduled trip. But, I needed to get out of town for a change of scenery and with it being Labor Day weekend, I decided to make the most of it and headed up to Siskiyou County any way, with Remi and go visit some of my favorite places. There are just too many places that I enjoy up there and I could go multiple times a year and still not get bored with them. So, on the 30th of August, Remi and I packed up the Jeep and headed north to Castle Crags State park. Our first stop was the Sundial bridge in Redding which is adjacent to the Turtle bay Aquarium.
After checking out the Sundail Bridge, we then continued our trip northward to Siskiyou County. The last time I was up this way, I stopped and visited the Siskiyou Humane Society in Mt. Shasta where I know some of the staff there, and I helped a long time Resident Milo get adopted. This trip, I wanted to do something for Rescue Ranch, so I bought 3 large Pizza's to drop off there for the staff to enjoy. This visit allowed me to catch up with many of the staff that I know there. One of my favorites is Rick Formaneck who is the shelter manager up there.
After visiting the staff at Rescue Ranch, Remi and I headed back torwards Castle Crags to set up camp. The state parks system has done a marvelous job of rehabilitating this wonderful state park. The roads and camp sites are in good shape. And thought the bathrooms are older, they are well maintained. It was so nice to set up the tent, complete with Air mattress and then once camp was set up, just sit in my camp chair and stair up into the sky. Though there is a lot of trees at the park, you can usually find a place in the spacious campsites to set up the solar panels to charge your electronic equipment.
One of my favorite places to visit in this area, is actually in the park it self. It is the view point where you can stand in one spot and not only see the Crags, but also Mt. Shasta as well. This location does afford a more optimal view of the Crags than Mt. Shasta, but the viewing opportunity is super cool.
On Saturday, Remi and I loaded up into the Rescue Wrangler and headed off another of my favorite locations here in the area MacArthur Burney Falls. I first visited this place many years ago with Karen and Mike and then later Carol, Scott and Cheryl. I absolutely love this park, and thought the bathrooms are relatively new, the camp sites are a little more on top of one another, so I prefer the Castle Crags Campground. None the less, you can't beat the view of these majestic water falls.
On our way back from MacArthur Burney Falls, Remi and I stopped and explored the Castle Lake area. This lake is north of Castle Crags, and it is also up in altitude a little bit from the valley floor. It is very popular with the locals, but because of it's fairly large size, everyone can find a peaceful place to hang out and enjoy the peace and quiet of this lake.
After we finished exploring part of the shore of Castle Lake, Remi and I returned to the campsite at Castle Crags, and I prepared some chicken and broccoli for dinner and then relaxed in my Camp chair during the early evening before the Mosquitos came out.
Well, that pretty much wraps it up for August of 2024. Check out next months blog for the remainder of my trip up to Siskiyou County.
