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 …
Category: Place
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 …
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 …
Willow passed away peacefully in her sleep in the early morning of Tuesday, September 6th, 2022. Her advanced kidney disease had taken a huge toll over the last three months. She was eating far less and drinking far more. She hated her new prescription Renal Care food with a passion (we tried a couple) and …
I don’t remember exactly when I first realized I was regularly heading into and back out of situations when a substantially lower tire pressure greatly improved either traction or comfort (or both). I assume that newsflash hit me during one of those excursions where I ended up deflating and then reinflating my tires at least …
My last dog, Kuma, was a Northern Breed (predominantly Karelian Bear Dog). When he was in his prime we played and camped in snowy conditions regularly. With Willow being a shorter-haired sun and heat enthusiast I have substantially cut back on my normal winter camping schedule. To keep both of us on our toes we …
We were down in the Arizona desert hanging out for a few days before meeting up with friends. Our spot was a few miles outside of Quartzsite at a place we have stayed a few times before. Out of the way, the barest hint of freeway noise, no one around during the week and a …