Back in Susanville

I had a very pleasant drive back from the coast today. No traffic and a nice sunny day as soon as I got over the hill. I stopped along the Eel river and took this picture. It was a little muddy from the recent rain and everything was still dripping but it was not too cold.

My trip back was rather uneventful and there was some snow on the road in places up by the turnoff to Lassen Park, but otherwise smooth sailing and a quick trip. I got back to Susanville around 2:00 and saw that it had snowed here a little. Good thing I missed that, I'm sure I'll see plenty of it when I get to Idaho. It was pretty going through the mountains with the new coat of snow on the trees too and I took a couple of short videos of it, but don't know if I want to post them. Maybe...

On the cusp...

Of a major change in my life I think. No, I know! In a couple of weeks I'll be out of my Susanville box and in a new adventure and chapter in my life. Right now I'm over at Tracey's having some quality family time and seeing some liquid precipitation. Yep, rain! Idaho Falls has been getting snow out of this series of winter storms and soon this liquidity will turn solid and change colors to white when I get back there. It's all good and once I get there travel will not be a big issue for me the rest of this winter.

But for now I got to the beach yesterday for a brief time with Tracey and the kids and got a good hug from my little Alisha doll. We did a little shopping at the mall and stopped by Fields Landing on the way home and that's where the picture was taken. Good times and memories to be sure! Tomorrow I'm off to the east and back to Susanville... a place I'll soon refer to as a town I used to live in.

Off to the coast

Well, this morning I'm on the road again... wait, wasn't there a song about that? Of course there was.

My drive today will be a pleasant one I'm sure, the storm going through isn't too cold so snow should not be a problem for me and I can't get too early of a start anyway since I have to go have some blood drawn around 9. I'm also taking a load of furniture down to Redding for Pat and stopping by to see Colleen too so I have some things to break up the drive.

In a few weeks I'll be getting out of Susanville and heading for Idaho in the other direction. That time I will have everything I own in my truck other than the few things I'm storing. Kinda weird, huh?

I Love this picture

This picture of Karen is such a good one that I thought I needed to share it here. Karen says she was around 25 when this was taken and the little girl is Krista. Ok, maybe I'm biased but not only was she a beautiful lady when she was younger but she is still the most beautiful woman I know. I guess that might be expected from me to feel that way, I'm totally head over heels for her and I can't wait to move closer so I can see her when I want to which, of course, will be ALL the time.

I made some good headway today getting my boat moved out of here and some furniture ready to haul down to Redding the day after tomorrow. My house is all cluttered now until I get this next load moved out, but soon this place will be much emptier and I'll be a little closer to my goal. I'll be at Traceys over the weekend and then back at it next week. Ya gotta love it!

Good day

I had a really good day today after a bad one yesterday... go figure. I happen to believe that life has cycles and my ups and downs have to do with those cycles, or at least I think they do. Oh, what the hell do I know, anyway? Certainly not as much as I thought I used to, that's for sure.

So I had some stuff to do today and I did those things and then went for a shorter walk today up the Bizz but it was a nice day to do it no matter how long it was. This is the Miller Trail head and the start of most of my walks during this time of the year. I got back there today and realized that I might want a picture of this place since I don't have any and soon I won't be living here anymore. Oddly enough a jeep was coming down when I snapped this one, and Jeeps always remind me of Karen since she has a couple of them. Not that I needed anything to remind me of Karen though, she is always on my mind no matter what I'm doing. By the middle of next month I should be getting to Idaho Falls and I will be able to see her on a regular basis from then on and I have to say... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Am I here?

Well, such an existential topic. Are we really here or is this all an illusion or a dream? So they say, pinch yourself to be sure you aren't dreaming. But some dreams are very real and you still have to choose what is reality and what is fantasy. So I'm walking along looking down at my shadow and thinking... there is evidence that I am actually here. Now I have to say that "here" is not where I want to be right now, but all indications are that I am actually here physically as evidenced by the blockage of the sun's rays. As much as I wish the rays hitting me were closer to the Idaho Falls region, at least the sun was out today and it wasn't all that cold. Deep thoughts notwithstanding, my walk today was another therapeutic episode with some nice eye candy thrown in.

The trail has been used some as you can see, and this is the apple orchard area up Piute Creek. I brought Karen here a couple of times last fall but today it was rather lonely and I had the place to myself, which was good for thinking.

The snow crystals are really big and I took quite a few pictures of them but the bottom one was the one I decided to post here. The freezing fog along the riparian area causes what the local indians called Pogonip. It leaves ice crystals on everything and has been the subject of many of my pictures in the past. Today was no different I guess. OK, now I have a day less than 4 weeks to go... can I make it? Stay tuned for the exciting ending to this episode in my life. Or not... it's up to you.

Sunny

Yes, sunny but not exactly warm. Still, I walked up to the 3 mile marker and then climbed up to the rock ledge where I go to eat my lunch sometimes. I was in a very contemplative mood today and sitting there in the sun was a good place to contemplate the things on my mind. Of course I was remembering sitting there eating lunch with Karen on one of her visits, and that was a nice thought. It was a surprise to me that I didn't see anyone else till on my way back. It's a Saturday so I would have expected there to be more people out and about but maybe I got a head start. I did leave around 10:30 and it was still a little chilly.

The snow up there looks worse than it is, there was a hard crust and you could walk right on top of it without breaking through most of the time. The mud, on the other hand, was something you wanted to avoid and I did. I had to think some about the foot prints we leave through life and the ones in the picture prompted my wandering mind to think about that subject. We all leave traces as we travel though life and I guess some of us leave bigger ones than the rest of us. So, is the goal of life to leave the biggest trace or maybe the smaller the better... who knows the answer to that one?

All in all, taking a long walk gave me the time I needed today to get my thoughts and feelings sorted so it proved to be a very therapeutic thing to do. For me, getting out and into a natural environment is the best place for me to do my thinking when I have issues. And getting some exercise at the same time makes it doubly good. 4 weeks to go before I get to see my lady, hope I make it!