Also Not Me..

Don't I wish..

It's from the free wifi server...

I have been on the run and haven't taken pictures. The drive from Eureka to Petaluma and Petaluma to Buellton (here) has been as hellish as usual..

I HATE THIS STATE!

It's so damned long..

anyways, as Al would say, 101 south of SanFran is unbelievable and crowded and there was one really nasty accident on the other side of the road (thanks) that involved... well... it seemed like everyone. It's one of the places where there is cross traffic on the 'freeway' and everyone is supposed to do 55 mph but everyone ISN'T, so I saw trucks and cars and big rigs.. And more donw the line as people had to stop suddenly..

We're all in such a hurry..

I blame it on the NOT GLOBAL WARMING. It supposed to be 106 here tomorrow, but I'll be gone. There's a breeze, but the campground is $72.

$72 DOLLARS...

sigh..

I'm ready to be home now.

OK I looked and it doesn't say 106 tomorrow, but that's right here, and there's always a breeze..

Oh.. and I got SO lucky! (remember my lluck vs smart?). I always go through SanFran on street 19 (going around SF takes FOREVER, and 101 goes right through downtown on SURFACE STREETS)... anyways, 19th street is going to be closed tomorrow and Sunday mornings... I don't know why or caare, but it could have been me.

I wouldn't have been home until next week (if they let me out early, that is)

Bye Bye Florence..

Old Town from across the river

So I left Florence behind this morning... reluctantly. Well, by the time you see this it will be yesterday morning, but that’s confusing..



Took this from the campground and it seemed to scream Black and White because of all the lines...
but maybe not...

I was aiming for Bullards Beach state park, where I spent a couple of nights, but it was full! on a TUESDAY..

Damned old folks... (wanders off, hitching and grumbling to herself)

So I”m at Humbug Mountain state park, aptly named for my mood. That means Lunchables for Linner because there isn’t any place around and the entrance to the park is in the middle of one of those “follow the lead car” stoppages so prevalent on this coast.

and I already pissed of one of those people today.

But there is a breeze and it’s hot on this coast.

I”m SO GLAD WE’RE NOT HAVING ANY GLOBAL WARMING!

Walking around I saw a couple, staring at something on the ground. I went toward them and said “You’re just staring hoping to attract a crowd, there’s really nothing there”, and in a few minutes there were 4 of us..

ah.. we’re just a bunch of lemmings after all.

It was a butterfly, spent and tattered and one of the women made me pick it up and put it on the grass where it could ‘die peacefully’..

women..


So I got lucky again today and the KOA in Eureka was unmanned (something I don't like) so I traveled to Fortuna, just down the road and found a nicer campground.

Like I said... luck over smart... or maybe hand in hand.

On the River...

my little coffee shop.. views...



The fireplace


The regulars...



another room view... out the door is the river, to the left of the picture is a little alcove for computer and coffee use...





Ok... you're asking yourself.. What's with the ordinary house?

It's not ordinary, it's on the river.

It's not the little cozy cabin I imagine, but there is something about this house (the RIVER) that appeals to me. First, it appears the entire front of it is glass, and there's a huge fireplace in the middle in front of which you would sit, warm and cozy, looking out the windows at the RIVER.

and nope.. it doesn't appear to be for sale..

but who knows,

I might write a letter or two

Still in Florence, just hanging around . I apparently am in the trap of the TWILIGHT series, as I started the third book last night. I may have to buy the hard bound one for the last book, I don't think it's in Paperback yet.

I guess there's still a silly teenage girl someplace in me...

I'm heading up the coast today just for fun.. may post later!

The People From Milton-Freewater

I may be the only person they've met in a while that knows where that is! (I'm going to make you look it up...ha!)

I got up and went to my favorite little coffee place in Florence and, after commenting on a young girl's nifty computer (she had a Mac, of course), gave her my keyboard light. She didn't have the model with the little lit keyboard, so she thought it was cool. We talked for EVER, and then i met her husband and another man (a "southie") and we continued to discuss it all.

This is what I want to do every day..

I want to live here.

I've got some restrictions... only a few.. I want an ocean/river view, and I don't want it to leak.

Come to think of it, that's about all I need. Size doesn't matter..



The view up from Mo's... where my coffee shop lives..

I went to Mo's for brunch and had a cup of chowder (the best) and a grilled cheese sandwich (also great).. hmmm... sounds very much like a twit (tweet) to me..

The river, from Mo's...



I drove around Florence and realized that I'm going to have to find a place on Rhododendron Dr , which runs along the river until lit reaches the ocean. Not cheap, but what I want..

and he said "Stand Back I'm Going to Make it Rain!"..

Finally... (anyone remember the song from with the title of this blog takes it's name?)
It rained last night. It's such a pretty sound in this little van.

It's cool and crisp today, but will warm up a bit. It was sweatshirt weather when I got up, but I'm in my shirtsleeves now.

Maybe it's just me.

Talked with the neighbors last night, a really nice bunch of people from parts of Idaho. They loved their little campground, but I'll bet it's under water today!




They'd never been to Joseph, which surprised me, so I told them all about it.



I'm doing laundry now, which gives me clean stuff to go with the cleansing rain. Nice, dontcha think?

me.. enhanced because it was too dark..

Lawrence of Florence..

There WAS one, remember? Had some camels on a sand dune.... long long time ago.

I'm in Florence, in my favorite campground... I had to pull the crippled card to get in, but it's certainly warranted about now. It takes me a whole lot longer to get straightened out every morning.



I'm at my little cafe on the Suslaw River, looking at the bridge, which is famous. As you can see, it's also being worked on, between 11 PM and 5 AM in the morning. Wouldn't want to be going up the coast during that, as it's the only way through.

Period.

My sister and her husband drove through here a few months ago and were a bit annoyed by the trucks on the bridge (it's a drawbridge, so it has that metal thingy in the middle). Imagine how it would be to be in a B & B now!

On a back road in Bandon I saw this little river outlet to the ocean, and all the birds were sitting and bathing and drinking the fresh water. They seemed to really enjoy the break from the salty sea, specially the ducks (geese?).



The on ramp to the bridge with a little B & B on the other side.. wonder if??



and here's my little favorite coffee shop with the great coffee and free wifi!



No aging hooker here!

well... not for wifi, anyways...

Bandon, Oregon...

Moss in the tree at the entrance to the campground.

A few pictures from Bandon, Oregon. It’s a pretty coast at this point, but usually windy. My friend’s family got a house here a long time ago... I would die for it now, but it was always windy on their porch..

You could see the ocean, tho, all day long... sigh.

I drove by it to see if he was still there, but it’s up for sale.

Guess he isn’t leaving it to me!

Face Rock. So called because it looks like a woman rising from the sea.



The ocean south of Face rock... not exactly a sunbathing coast, but it gets plenty of tourists anyway. It’s also always pretty chilly here... must be the wind.



I’m wandering back and forth on the coast for a while. I couldn’t stand the heat inland, and I’m not going to Joseph. I either have to get 20 years younger, or get a bigger van. I’m thinking 20 years younger is out of the question...

although...

I drove up to Coos Bay, which is my only not favorite city on this coast. It’s grungy and looks broken and broke. It must be the pulp mill, or something else. At the post office they had a sign that said there had been a lot of mail theft, which usually means loose homeless people, or desperation.



I’ve met some fun people. 2 ‘older’ women and I sat and talked about everything under the sun for about 2 hours in the state park over by Medford (where it was NINETY DEGREES). Nice people...

I love talking to people..

even if I do all the talking.. (which happens more often than it should!)

No Blog Today!

I'll try to find something other than a street corner tomorrow..

I look like an aging hooker with a laptop!


NOT me, on a corner looking for wifi...

Too Damn Hot!

I'm in the not so favorite part of Oregon..

If you don't like the rain, I've got a place for you!

No long blog, just a picture from the only pretty rest area in California.. on the Klamath River...

Just as you're leaving the state.

What does that tell you!

Long story about getting to a campground and then getting my money back and heading for the State Park..
I got smart

and Lucky..

and of the two ,

I'll take lucky just about every time!

Mount Shasta City

Finally, a place that is (so far) cool and smells good. Many pine trees. I LIKE pine trees. I must remember to have pine trees on my estate near the ocean (a thing that is doable in Oregon).

Once you get North of Sacramento, the topography changes for the better. That's because there's water up there. The Sacramento River crosses Interstate 5 at least three times over a period of, ohhh, 100 miles. Lots more water.

Of course, Lake Shasta is paying for it, big time.



I've driven by this huge lake (it has a huge dam) many times and seen it in varied states. I've seen it when they had to add extensions to the boat docks to get to the water, but I've never seen it like this. These pictures were taken from a moving car NOT LOOKING, so they aren't the best, and it's difficult to see how low the lake is.

The second picture is better, because, although it LOOKS like a river, the bridge over this part said "LAKE SHASTA" and it wasn't.



sigh.

on the other hand, some interesting trees in Mount Shasta City..



This wouldn't be a bad place to live except for the lack of an ocean.

and you know me and oceans..

OH.. and I saw one of these signs... without the words, because this is California, and words confuse...

OTR Again!

You have to figure out what that means.

So I drove up I-5 today, in spite of the fact that I said I would never do it. Ever.

and I was right to think that...



it's so dead it's sad. There were signs all along the highway saying "Congress Created Dust Bowl".

I'm going to make a prediction. Write this down.

There will come a time when California closes it's borders to everyone.

There simply isn't enough water for this desert to supply the needs of the MILLIONS of people who want to live here.

The green in that picture shouldn't have been there. I took the picture early in the trip, because from then on it was all dry ... rows of fruit trees.. dead... fields... dead. At one point a car drove by the highway (on purpose?) and the resultant dust cloud covered the road for waaay too long. Of course, the car in front of me, having never SEEN Days of Thunder, slowed down (I couldn't see him until I almost ran up his back).. stupid...

Anyway. I drove until I reached Stockton, just shy of Sacramento. I was relieved because it's pretty here. There's this river and a delta area that keep this area green.

and a neat KOA campground.

Here's a view of the marina that's part of the campground (or vice versa)


and a view of one of the campsites..



Not a lot of people here, but I managed to meet a neat couple (in spite of my crippling shyness) so we had a good talk.

And I'm 400 miles from home...

and it's about time!

OH.. and it's supposed to RAIN! ( I looked it up.. it has something to do with water falling from the sky???)

Flash Mob for Oprah's show

I was watching this (another view) and I kept thinking HOW RUDE of these people to just stand there and not even move! Just as I thought they should pull the one girl up on the stage because she was the only real fan there, the flash mob started...

I love this...

I love Flash Mobs..

I wish I was a kid again, I'd be doing this EVERYWHERE!

Neon Nova Kitty...

I was looking at Big Kitty and thinking she's rather punk in appearance.

so..



I spiked her fur a bit (virtually)...


Then I had some REAL fun!





I love the one red spike on the upper left. It was in the original picture. I think she looks both cool and menacing...


or not

08 28 2009 - 24 hrs compressed to 6 min

Oh hell... I had to put it on.

The Videos...

I put two of many videos on these fires. They are mostly the 'Station" fire. The "La Canada/Flintridge", although it has so spread from that name. Look at some of the other videos (shown as a list after the video ends), particularly the one that is over 2 days taken from a camera by the pool. Imagine watching this monster approaching your house and there's nothing you can do.

Nothing.



except watch that stupid pool cleaning ball, oblivious to impending doom...

Station Fire Time Lapse Sunset 8/29/09

This video is one of the most incredible I've seen... This fire is so devastating. This was taken from approximately 30 miles away...