Well, I Tried

I tried to blog at you while we were out of town last week. Really I did. But between DWTS hoopla (our friends have an addiction, and now I may have one too) and Scoob hogging the laptop because he was on a working vacation, I didn't do too well. Besides Scoob working Tuesday through Thursday, we still had a great time.

The only real downside was the trip home, partly because we didn't want to leave, and partly because Thanksgiving travel has started and there were a lot of children on our return flight between Kansas City and Oakland. Though, honestly, of the 30 or so kids on the plane, only one was particularly problematic. Problematic as in he didn't stop screaming for the entire 4 hour flight. Little dude's face was so red I was actually scared for him.

Oh yeah, guess where little dude was sitting—not directly behind us (thank god), but in that row across the aisle. Still too close for comfort. Let me tell ya', I was counting the seconds to 10,000 feet so I could get my iPhone out, jam the buds in my ears, and crank some tunes. And his twin sister was just so calm and relaxed, coloring in her coloring book next to him the whole flight. I felt so bad for his parents. I tried to smile when I caught the mom's eyes, but I'm sure she just saw one more person glaring at her. There was a resounding cheer when the plane touched down in Oakland; I'm sure his parents were just as happy as everyone else to put an end to that experience.

Anyhow, our first morning in North Carolina was breakfast at The Old Granary Restaurant in Fearrington Village. Unless you have a gluten allergy, I don't care what kind of diet you're on—you must have a least one biscuit from the biscuit basket. After breakfast we went next door to McIntyre's Books. I may have found a new favorite bookstore. Well, second favorite. I don't think any bookstore could replace Powell's as my favorite.

At any rate, this is what a bookstore should be—locally owned, have personality, and staffed with friendly people who love to read. Not at all like the sterilized experience of going into a B&N or Borders where you know any book with prominent placement wasn't put there because someone on staff actually read it or liked it, but because the publisher paid a handsome fee to have the book placed there. Almost every book out on a table at McIntyre's had a hand-written note from a staff member attached to it.  Anyhow. Great bookstore. Great books. Support your local independent bookstores.

After that, the week was mostly a blur. But amazingly, it was a blur of golds and reds and oranges and browns. By some fluke, the weather had been mild for several weeks before we got there, so we also caught the end of the fall foliage season. Gorgeous. And we wrapped up the week by going to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 on Friday afternoon.

Anyhoodle, we're home now, and believe it or not, I'm caught up on laundry. And I woke up at 5:30 this morning. Without an alarm. I know. What is this world coming to?

Lassen and Lava Beds Vacation

We did a lot of driving the last few days and it was well worth the time behind the wheel. Scoob and I usually get cranky with each other on trips, but not this time. And that was really nice. This marks the third trip (first road trip, and second trip involving family) together where we didn't get irritable. Does this mean we're finally hitting a groove?

Anyhow, since we drive I-5 so regularly, I decided we would take Hwy. 99 north from Sacramento to Chico for a change of scenery before switching to Hwy. 32. There were a couple of interesting things along the way, like the gorgeous lavender farm, and kitschy things too, like a strange spherical industrial tank that someone had painted a cute face on, but there had been no shoulder to pull off onto to take pictures.

We had a brief delay in Yuba City where I got to languish in the car in the Central Valley heat while Scoob went into Target to buy flashlights we would need later in our trip. Luckily I was able to find a patch of shade in the parking lot and I munched on fresh cherries and read a book while I waited. Apparently the Target was huge and Scoob had a difficult time finding what he needed, and stopped at Starbucks for iced drinks before coming back to the car. At which point he had his snacks and realized he forgot to get something while he was in Target, so off he went again.

All in all, we were there about an hour and a half. I just had to keep telling myself we were on vacation and not to get worked up. We had nowhere that we needed to be that day and dawdling at Target wasn't going to make us late for anything. And it worked! When I would start to get irritated I'd would just think that sitting in the car reading was not all that different from sitting on the patio reading and the point was I was on vacation and relaxing. I seriously need to have these talks with myself more often.

We made it Susanville intact Friday night and went to the family reunion in Westwood on Saturday. We pitched horseshoes (my cousin and I were eliminated in the first round, though I did get two ringers! A first!) and played bingo. We played cow pasture golf, thankfully, cow pie frisbee was off the line up this year. I don't remember a spitting contest, though that's usually a regular event, too. The younguns had sack races, a balloon toss, and a hula hoop contest, and, of course, there was lots of food.

The one thing really missing this year was music. Grandpa always loved to strum his guitar and other family members would either play or sing along with him. Once he had his stroke, music sort of shifted to a group of cousins who had a band and the sing along aspect sort of tapered off. This year there was no music at all. I don't know why there was no music, but for me, the fact that Grumpy's not with us anymore made it all the more noticeable.

My immediate family headed out to Reno Saturday night to see Chelsea Handler, gamble, and whatnot, while Scoob and I headed to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I thought it would be a good idea to enter that park from the south and drive Hwy. 89 through the park to the north side since we were going to continue north. We were about 20 miles from the park entrance when I saw a sign stating Hwy. 89 was closed through the park due to snow.

Apparently they've had a late winter up there and got snow just a few weeks ago and the road is blocked by a 15' wall of snow. This is one of those reasons calling ahead is always recommended. It would have been nice if our guidebook had included contact information so we could have called, or even a note that the main road through the park was closed seasonally.

So we flipped the car around and backtracked to Westwood, then took Hwy. 44 along the north side of the park. Tough we did get some good shots of Lake Almanor and Mount Lassen as we doubled back.

Lake Almanor

Mount Lassen over Lake Almanor

It was almost 4 p.m. by the time we reached the northern entrance to the park, so we decided to skip it and just explore the forest and wind our way north to Burney where I'd planned to spend the night.

The burned out area near Hat Creek in Lassen National Forest

I liked this little plant that found a foothold in a fissure of this fire-blackened boulder.

I've seen this parasitic wildflower once before several years ago in Yosemite National Park.

This time I got pictures. It's called a Snow Plant or Sarcodes sanguinea.

This section of Hat Creek looked so clear and inviting.

But since we were checking in earlier than anticipated, we decided to use the time to get closer to our next destination, Lava Beds National Monument, rather than sit in a hotel room. So off we went to Alturas. Alturas turned out to be even less inviting than Burney so we grabbed a snack and headed for Klamath Falls, OR. K-Falls is only 45–60 minutes from Lava Beds whereas Alturas is 90 minutes and we knew we'd be able to find more comfortable lodgings there.

For those who don't know, I'm Modoc (among other nationalities) on my dad's side and Lava Beds was part of the tribe's traditional lands. I won't get into a history lesson here suffice it to say several points within the monument are important for various reasons. I've always meant to make the time to come here and I'm glad I finally did.

This is a section of the monument called Devil's Homestead.

This is part of Captain Jack's Stronghold. I had to restrain myself from punctuating the Park Service sign, which reads Captain Jacks Stronghold.

Scoob and me hiking in the Stronghold, where ±55 Modoc fighters held off aprrox. 600 U.S. Army troops for 5 months.

Finding life in unexpected places.

This little guy was an excellent subject and kept returning to pose on this perch.

On the trail to the Big Painted Cave. That's Scoob schlepping back to the car to get water. He says he figured it was easier to go back and get water than pack my heat exhausted body out of there. Now that there is trust—giving him the keys to the car and letting him leave me behind in this blasted land.

Indian paintbrush or Castilleja applegatei alongside the trail.

I think this is Salvia dorrii, but I thought it was striking with the black volcanic stones in the background.

Juniper skeleton.

Looking down into the crater where Big Painted Cave is located.

That's the throat of the cave. Oh yeah, we went down there.

Inside Big Painted Cave. That's ice on the floor of the cave and it was cold in there.
A nice respite from the heat outside.

Shimmying back out of the cave.

The maw leading out to the crater from the inside.

Before going to Big Painted Cave we went to Mushpot Cave which the Park Service has made much more user-friendly–installing stairs down into the cave, highlighting different lava tube formations with permanent lighting, and leveling and paving the cave floor with concrete. I wanted to try Mushpot first to make sure I could handle being underground in tight quarters before attempting an undeveloped cave.

After our adventures in spelunking we decided to go for a more standard hike to the top of Petroglyph Point. This is the location where, according to Modoc oral tradition, the land was created. Kamookumpts, the Creator, is said to be sleeping under this bluff.

The trail up Petroglyph Bluff, or in my case Petrogrlyph Huff and Puff Bluff.
Scoob had no problem getting to the top except that he had to wait for me to catch my breath a few times.

Beautiful wind eroded landscape at the top of Petroglyph Point.

Swallows were everywhere and we noticed the condominiums of nests in the crevasses.

Peeking out from an apartment.

After hiking to the top and finding no petroglyphs, we realized they were at the bottom.
Oh well, it was good exercise.

Nearly the entire side of the bluff had been carved with petroglyphs.

Lovely views of Mount Shasta on the drive home.

It was a great trip and even Scoob had a good time. I never thought I would go into a cave, even though I've always kind of wanted to. And if Scoob hadn't been with me, I probably would have stopped at the throat of the cave instead of going in.

But of all the things we experienced on this trip, the strangest had to be our trip to the grocery store in Klamath Falls. There we were, strolling the aisles, replenishing our road food when a young Native woman approached me saying she'd been moved by the Holy Spirit and wanted my permission to pray for Scoob and me as a couple–more for him than me she said. Two questions came to mind—since when do you need permission to pray for someone? and if she wanted to pray for Scoob, why wasn't she asking him?

Since there's no such thing as having too many prayers said on your behalf, I consented and she, Scoob, and I had a little prayer circle going in the bakery section.

Bring on the Lamb

Can I just say I am sick of this March comes in like a lion stuff and am soooo ready for the lamb. So when today dawned sunny and clear with warm temperatures projected for the afternoon, Scoob and I hopped the first BART train out of town and headed to San Francisco. Okay, okay, so I wasn't up at dawn, but other than that, that's exactly how this day started.

We went to the Ferry Building and in addition to the regular Saturday arts and crafts market, we discovered that the farmers' market has started again. (yea!) Which meant lots of colorful photos for me!

Is there anything that says "spring is here" better than pussywillows?

A yellow poppy.

These tomatoes smelled so good.
It was like we'd skipped spring and gone straight to summer.
No photo trickery here—they were really that red!
Kinda makes those tomatoes at Safeway look pretty pathetic.

We laughed when we spotted these mandarin oranges because
I really could have used them for last night's dinner.
Instead, I used tangelos.

Orchids

One lonely red cabbage.

Red tulips. There was this cute little kid taking pictures of me
while I was focused on the tulips.

There were lots of great dried fruits (I loved the persimmons and now wish I had bought some) and tons of free samples. In fact, Scoob kept walking back and forth in front of this one stand that was handing out samples of almond brittle with dark chocolate. It was embarrassing, though in his defense, it was really good. So I bought him a small 4 oz. bag of it so we could get on with our day, otherwise I think he would have kept it up until they either closed up shop for the day or he ate everything they had.

And then there were these guys…

And the pièce de résistance—the Jugtown Pirates.

Scoob knows how much I love bluegrass, and even though anything remotely "twangy" is like nails on a blackboard to him, he stopped so I could listen. The Jugtown Pirates sing in 3-part harmony and the mandolin player can really pick and the bass player had this great slap-style thing going on and they were all just so into it. You could really tell they love what they're doing and well, they all just rocked! In fact, I plunked down $5 of Scoob's money right then and there to buy their CD and haven't been able to stop listening to it since we got home. (Oh, and I friended them on Facebook. Yeah, I'm a geek.)

So, for your listening pleasure, this is the most recent and best sound-quality video I could find of them online. The acoustics at the Montgomery BART station aren't half bad. I especially like how they respond to the BART authority around 3:40 when she tells them to quiet down.

You be the trumpet and I'll be the kazoo

We were going to have lunch at Mastrelli's Deli in the Ferry Building only to discover they'd closed that location and were back at their original Molinari & Sons location in North Beach. It was such a nice day we decided to make the walk. Molinari's is an old-world Italian delicatessen that has been curing meats in San Francisco since 1896.



We grabbed a sandwich and headed over to the park at Washington Square and ate a delicious lunch in the shade in front of the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. Scoob and I relaxed and watched a couple out playing catch with their young son, while a boyfriend tried (unsuccessfully) to teach his girlfriend how to throw a football. And it seemed like everyone had a dog that needed walking in the sunshine today.



From there we started to make our round about way back to the BART station, passing through Chinatown.





Where Scoob bought me this little bowl:



I've been wanting a pretty, small dish or something to put my rings and earrings in when I shower, wash up, do doody duty (cat boxes), and such. And now I have one. Yea! I like the pattern—vine-y and organic mother nature-y without being over-the-top feminine. (Kind of like the carpet pattern you were talking about JD.)

Then we wandered the Embarcadero Shopping Center. Massive, massive shopping center people. Did it mention it was massive? Just a bit of retail overload for someone who doesn't really get into shopping all that much. Though I did manage to thoroughly embarrass Scoob in Victoria Secret. That was fun. Heh.

We ended up eating dinner cafeteria-style at the shopping center, but let me tell you, even the mall food in San Francisco is outstanding! I had a yummy spinach salad from a salad bar while Scoob rustled up a half sandwich and potato salad somewhere else. Which reminds me, I need to see if I can find that restaurant's recipe for potato salad because Scoob said it was one of the best he'd ever had. Not quite as good as Mom's in my opinion, but still very yummy.