When we find ourselves in the Santa Cruz, CA area we inevitably end up at Lighthouse Field State Beach. The official “State Beach” encompasses a 38-acre (15 ha) area including parking areas, grasslands and hiking trails on the East side of West Cliff Drive as well as the beach itself to the west. We are …
Author: E
After 5+ years of service and while still working perfectly I decided that our ARB Refrigerator was not completely meeting our needs. Not because of anything it was doing wrong but mostly because I wanted to carry more food with us and have a separate freezer section for longer-term storage…especially after stocking up at a …
While searching for new camping spots in the Mendocino National Forest Gia and I came across a beautiful young dog wandering on a road in Upper Lake, California. I immediately pulled over and hoped he might want to be rescued and not run away like so many other of our rescue attempts end. Luckily all …
Fair warning: This post has almost no pictures. The incident happened over the course of a very hectic and tense 10 minutes and there was no time (or even thought) of stopping to get a camera to document the situation. ======================= We spent about two weeks in the Mendocino National Forest with the dog we …
I would have liked to have composed and posted this earlier in my new relationship with Gia. While it’s not necessarily a need, it is an advantage if I can get into “the flow” before I write and dealing with a reactive puppy with a short attention span is not conducive to those conditions. Be …
Soon after bringing Gia into my life we traveled to Humboldt County, CA to visit some lifelong friends who knew and loved my first two dogs, Nohkuma (“Kuma”) and Willow. After a short visit where my friends put themselves on the line to help socialize Gia the possibility arose for a camping and fishing trip …
For years I have relied on a simple, old-school solar shower for my warm or hot water needs. They work fine as long as you have sun and it is warm and calm enough outside to heat the bag’s contents. Those variable conditions mean you might end up, at best, with barely warm water even …
From a very early age, maybe 10-12 years old, I can remember making several repeated observations about how I differed from people around me. One, and I have no idea how this conversation came up, was that I could smell the sulfurous compounds in my urine after eating asparagus while other people could not. While …
After waking up, if at all possible, I like to start my day with a large cup of coffee. Frankly I am not a huge fan of the taste of coffee and use it more as a drug delivery system for caffeine. That being said I do notice the flavor difference between instant (with “flavor …
I started this mobile adventure with a base Yakima roof rack and eventually added the Load Warrior Basket and it’s extension. It has worked well but there were a few issues that slightly annoyed me. First, it is made of steel which is heavy. That added weight causes a couple of less-than-desirable traits, namely lessened …