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.
Remi and I got out for another great hike today. Todays was a two-for... We hiked up Black Butte trail for our first hike. This is the second such hike that Remi and I have taken since I moved up here to Siskiyou County. This area is so awe inspiring, it is something that I truly enjoy doing whenever we can. We had to go down about 5 miles of Forest Service Roads to get to the trail head. I was almost wondering if we were even in the right place and foolishly following the GPS.
There was some very beautiful views from this trail and some very interesting Lava rock surrounding Black Butte. Some of the rocks were grey, but others were red, almost like a redwood stain. It was very unusual.
We went up the trail as far as we could until we came across a point where an avalanche had taken out a chunk of the trail.
We then went over to Castle Crags which is one of my favorite places in Shasta County. When we got to the Overlook, we could look out through one clearing and see Castle Crags, and then looking out through the other clearing and we could see mount Shasta, so wonderful.
And, you know me, one of these outings just wouldn't be complete without a video about it. Enjoy!
Over 30 years ago, I started my 9 year stint as a volunteer, driving across this great nation of ours for a non-profit youth group called the Concord Blue Devils. They are a marching musical group that performs shows similar to college band half time shows. We had 128 members ages 17 to 21 who played amazing music and had hugely entertaining shows. Through that experience of driving across the nation, I saw glimpses of this great land of ours. Unfortunately, I didn't really get to see much of the towns we stopped in.
That changes next year. I'm planning for Remi (my dog) and I to set out for a 6 month trip to visit friends and family after the first of the year. Our stops will include San Jose, Quartzsite, Gallup, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, Cape May, New London, Indianapolis, St Louis, Lincoln, Reno and many stops in between.
If anyone wants Remi and I to stop by for a visit, chime in, I'd love to see you! Just drop me an e-mail at thervitguy@ymail.com and we'll discuss the itinerary. Hopefully we'll see you down the road.
The last few days we had a fair amount of rain. Not drought busting by any means, but it was very nice to have. Starting to see snow on Mount Shasta again which is very refreshing. Since today is my day off, i thought I would load Remi up and go see what we could see as far as the Mount Shasta Ski resort. I know we haven't had enough snow for skiing to be possible, but that is kind of the nice thing. Everything should be fresh and we should be able to go do a little hiking, but not have to go snow shoeing! :-)
Remi and I got an early start and headed out to go see what we could find that was new for us to explore. The drive in and of it self was wonderful. The skies were nice and blue with clouds in the air, but it was cool but not cold, and very little wind. It was great to see all the white puffy clouds hanging out around the surrounding mountain tops.
Our first stop was to check out the Mount Shasta Ski resort. Of course there isn't much to see this time of year, except that staff is working to get everything ready for the next ski season. But, its great to have a perspective on what this area looks like when it is not buried in snow. :-)
After checking out the Mount Shasta Ski Resort, we went down into the town of Mount Shasta to get some fuel and to head to the Trailhead for the "Spring Hill Trail".
The "Spring Hill Trail" was glorious. It had a steep start to it, but either I got use to the trail or the trail got shallower. I'm pretty sure the trail got shallower, because I'm really not in shape for these sorts of adventures, but I need to work on that. :-)
There were a lot of places to stop and view Mount Shasta from the trail, and most of those places had benches where you could sit and reflect for a little while. There is so much to see in this area... I really need to make more time to explore it in the future.
Before I talk about our adventures on our last full day here in Brookings, I just want to mention how wonderful it is to have a veterinarian like Town and Country Animal Clinic open 7 days a week here in Brookings. It's great to have a place like this to come to when your dog, like Remi drinks too much salt water and has a horrible bout of diarrhea. It turned out that Remi was fine, but having them here, open 7 days a week, really put my mind at ease.
Todays exploration in the Brookings area involved a trip back to California with just Remi and I in the Jeep to explore the Smith River and also checking out Crescent city a little bit. I saw the Smith river as we were traveling from Yreka on Thursday, but there was no place intended to pull a motorhome over and check out the river. However, there were plenty of places to go with the Jeep, so I knew if I had the opportunity, I needed to make time to check this out, and I am so glad I did. The drive along State Highway 199 was beautiful. There were 3 or 4 places to pull off and check out the grandeur of the Smith river.
The only disappointment was the level of the river. Even in talking to long time residents of the area, it is clear, once again, that Climate change is having an impact on our world. The most telling of these indicators was one place where we stopped that had a boat launch ramp. The highest point of the river on this day was more than 8 feet below the bottom edge of the boat ramp. It was so sad that unless you were launching a kayak or a rubber raft,
On our way back towards the coast from our last stop along the Smith River, we stopped at the Jedediah Smith State park. Once again, we were able to wander down to the Smith river and explore yet another beautiful view of the river. We also did a little hiking around the park and the lushness of the forest was just amazing! :-)
Once we got back to the coast, we went into the town of Crescent city and explored the waterfront a little bit including walking down a jetty and checking out a nearby light house. This is a wonderful little town and and it was also my last chance to enjoy yet another cup of tasty clam chowder! :-)
On this Saturday, Remi and I went to some beach areas north of the town of Brookings. we didn't really travel to any other towns... We only went about 7 miles north of the main part of Brookings. Of all the days so far, this was the most beautiful day, without a single cloud in the sky and we had a wonderful day exploring.
Remi's and my first stop today, was to go Lone Ranch Beach which was 5 or 6 miles north of Brookings. This is just one of many beaches that Remi and I visited on this trip, but each and every one of them have been well worth the time to visit. This location for Lone Ranch Beach was also a former location for a Borax facility many years ago.
Our next stop was Whaleshead beach which was just a mile or so north of Lone Ranch Beach. Though I've let Remi explore the surf while on leash, as well as a long line, it was this beach that I took her off leash to see how she would do. Unfortunately, she was so interested in the waves, and drinking Salt water, she failed at recall and I had to go run her down. Needless to say, she has a wonderful time at the beach.
On the way back to Brookings from Whaleshead beach, we stopped at House Rock lookout. There is a marker here also for the "Father of the Oregon State Park System". The sky was so clear and blue today. Every place we visited was truly special.
As we made our way back to Brookings, there are a number of places to pull out and check out the coast. I am so glad that I set aside three full days (not including travel days) to explore this area.
Our last stop of the day was to visit the Port of Brookings again. I really enjoy visiting Brookings, I could see this as a place to retire too, if only I had some family in this town it would be the perfect place to set down roots.
It was interesting to see that there were about 4 rigs at the RV park that had Trump for president flags flying from their flag pole. Now, I'm not any sort of fan of Donald Trump. And though I appreciate what Jimmy Carter tried to do as president, I thought he was a pretty poor president. But Donald J. Trump was the worst president in my lifetime. That being said, I feel it was really sad that people like this guy, will spend money on a Donald Trump flag, but have an American flag that is in tatters. Very disrespectful of our nation if you ask me.
Here is another little video of the days activities.
