Awesome day on the South Fork of the American

Had a great day on the river!   The Shredder is back to her promiscuous ways, but is being somewhat restrained.   I only had two partners for the day.  The first half of the trip was the Princess cruise with Boo.  We floated from Coloma to Greenwood.  At one of the rapids, we saw a campground right on the river - I soooo want to camp here some time:

Boo took out at Greenwood.  Her hubby and my new RiverHusband, Millard jumped in and we ran the The Gorge section of the SF of the American.  It reminds me of the Miracle Mile on Slippery Rock on steroids.  Solid Class III+ pool/drop.  Very narrow, very scenic.  I understand why it's a popular run.  For whatever reason, Millard and I were the ONLY folks on the river. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  The water is still snow melt and FREAKING cold.  After the last drop, there is a long paddle out through the Folsom Reservoir... unless... you've got a RiverHusband who swears his LandWife is good for the tow fee:

Thanks to Boo and Millard for a fabulous day on the river!

Oregon wine country

This weekend I went to Oregon to spend some time with my friend, Lucky.  

Thanks to Margie's recommendation of http://www.harvesthosts.com/ , I scored a "free" campsite at a Fly High/Longsword vineyard. This is the view from the camper door

Those vines are less than 10 feet from the camper!  The concept of Harvest Hosts is cool.  You get to camp at a farm/vineyard/orchard for free with the expectation that you'll probably buy something from the host.  I lived up to that expectation and got a wonderful case of wine.  The Vintner/owner/host greeted me while I was walking the pack.  He has pet ducks and gave me a fresh egg.  I haven't made an omelette yet, but am looking forward to tasting it soon. 

Our plan was to visit wineries on the Applegate Wine Trail.  We started near Grants Pass, OR and worked our way back down to the campsite near Jacksonville, OR.  One of the lovely views of the Applegate River Valley:

Wine and cheese:

After stopping at several wineries, we got back to the campsite.  Our tasting "room" was a wonderful patio:

The Vintner used to have an AussieX, so Thomas' "antics" were well-tolerated

We had some drop-in guests:

The guy with the hang-glider *MAY* have talked me into trying it.  We'll see.

I had hoped to see Mt Shasta on the way up, but it was snowing and visibility was low. The trip back was a different story!  Mt Shasta:

Redwoods Part 2

In the Redwood National Forest:

In my campground:

Redwoods Part 1

On a whim, I headed up the California Coast,  my campground in Trinidad, CA.  Note the Redwoods behind the truck:

The campground host recommended grabbing lunch at the local Chevron station.  I had wonderful $1 tacos.  Lunch was a whopping $3.24:

After lunch, the dogs and I headed up the coast to Gold Beach OR - just because we could.  On the way back, we stopped at a deserted beach.  The dogs had a blast:

Thomas playing in the surf:

Not-so-wildlife:

Dear Friends

MichelleK and I met while working at a large financial institution.  We got to share a cube.  Prisoners have more space.  We were going to be great friends or mortal enemies.  Thankfully, we came out on the side of great friends.  She, her husband and amazing son just moved to Menlo Park.  I got a chance to visit for the first time in too many years.

Getting ready to hike:

At the playground: