COUSIN REUNION.

From Aberdeen, Washington, Melissa and David Moore invited us to their campsite at Lake Cushman Park. My father and David’s father were brothers. We’re not sure how long its been since we met. We do know it has been over 60 years.  That black ball of fur is Toby.

Our ancestry connects us, but we found we have a lot in common, love of nature and books, and pets. For instance, we both were familiar with the small house movement. David went to see one of those 124 square foot places, but that was a bit too small. He built this neat cabin where he and his wife can get out of the rain and the confines of their small trailer and sit in a leisure chair and read, enjoy a snooze like a mini living room. A small footprint in the middle of a rainforest.

A towering alder forest behind them leads to a delightful creek.

A fallen alder stretches across the spongy duff of mosses and dead leaves. I estimated its height at 70 feet.

Two of them provide a bench at the side of the creek, David’s favorite spot.  The quiet, burbling water, cool temperature, a personal haven.

Melissa has her own favored place that looks upon her private “beach”.

Of course, this creek roars and rises and gushes through this woods in winter.

The mosses remind us of Louisiana.

They eat into every crevice.

David pointed out to us that this property was once an old growth forest. Average rain here is 100 inches and this is known as the dry side of the Olympic Penninsula. Huge stumps are a reminder of the lust for timber. The area was clear cut years and years ago. Like the Louisiana cypress, men in their folly cut every giant tree.

On this particular stump, he pointed out, you can see where the logger cut a crevice and inserted a shelf to stand on while sawing the tree down, something hard to contemplate. It was most likely a dangerous business to be a sawyer.

This forest may never be the same again, but with people like Melissa and David, in private lots and ownership, it is unlikely to fall to the axe and saws again, though it is questionable if it will ever regrow those giant trees.  (I forgot to ask what they were. Possibly redwoods.) But, mother nature, if given the chance…who knows? In the meantime, we can all enjoy the beauty and appreciate nature.

 

 

Lake Cushman, Washington – Day 2

The motorhome is parked at Mary’s cousin’s recreation lot at Lake Cushman near Hoodsport, Washington. We will depart on Tuesday.

The below photo is of our new fresh water pump which delivers fresh water from the storage tank to the faucets…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The pump is located under the bed…

The old pump is eight years old and recently started leaking…

Mary caught me in the replacement process which took about one hour…

Mary’s cousin David Moore, whom she has not seen in more than sixty years, and his wife, Melissa arrived shortly after noon with their dog, Toby. They spent the day getting reacquainted and looking at lots of old family photos…

In addition to their trailer which was shown in yesterday’s blog, they have built a small cabin they call their “living room”…

They also have a nearby fire pit. Because of the current burn ban, no fire yesterday…

During the late afternoon, we took a walk of only a couple of hundred feet to a creek on to property which is owned by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. A place where one can see nature in an undisturbed state. They told us the creek is at its lowest this time of the year.  They also told us this area receives about 100 inches of rain a year. Here are some of the photos I took…

We enjoyed our evening meal outside…

A reflection on the Bronco windshield provided an abstract moment…

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Yesterday was a cloudy/sunny day at 71 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy with a shower or two and 69 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Was. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

TOURIST IN MY OWN TOWN.

R

My car needed an oil change, it is a hybrid meaning gas/electric car, so, of course it needs regular maintenance. I decided to have it done right close in town at  7 am and walk around town and look at it from a tourists perspective. A coffee klatch was enjoying coffee and sweet treats at Aria Bakery. And another group was sitting outside at tables at Grounds.

It used to be the coffee crowd gathered at the “famous” Murphys Hotel. They were empty both outside and in. Change is the only constant in life, so ’tis said.

Not all change is pleasant. The necessity to have to chain a table to prevent theft at this one time coffee shop turned real estate company made me sad. In fact when we first moved to town, I remember a rancher complaining that he hung his long-sleeved shirt on the fence when it got warm, only to have it stolen and he groaned about the changes with new people moving in.

 

I forget how charming it is to have a creek running through town. I took a similar picture at a campground in Monroe, Washington. But I had never looked closely over the bridge in town. Trees and vines and burbling waters sluicing over the rocks.

On the opposite side of the bridge, the folks who live there have built up an inviting patio with a water wheel to run their barbecue spit.

The bench at this candle shop was left unchained. Maybe it is all a matter of trust.

In the backyard of an old friend, since deceased, is this unusual tree.

He told me it came from another country as a seed in the pocket of a miner headed for the gold fields. He had no idea what it is. The light green pods are beautiful and unusual. I tried to grow one from the seed and failed. I’m going to try again.

A cute idea to paint a rusting old sprinkling can and hang it on the fence with a plant in it.

A cluster of bird houses is always a good idea. Made for very small birds, decorative and useful enough to foil a cat from reaching into one.

An appropriate sign for a store that sells bathroom machineries. They are most unusual and I always haul people inside for a look. Probably the most fascinating store in Murphys. Plus, the employees believe they have a ghost.

On one of the back streets stands a rustic gold miner’s shack, a fairly large one compared to others I’ve seen. It was occupied by a Miwuk Indian man when I first moved to Murphys. He had a chair in the Murphys Hotel where he sat everyday and told stories to anyone who would listen.  Gone, now, too.

Whenever I see a beautiful sunflower I automatically think of  Van Gogh,  such a pleasant thought.

This corner covered with a showy clematis vine made a worthy picture. Part of my somewhat intense scrutiny of downtown gardens was triggered by having lunch with a friend about June 1st. We wandered town and I happened upon a lavender colored rose that was also very fragrant. I wanted to find it again, hoping I could talk the owner into giving me a cutting from it. It is rare to find a fragrant rose these days. But I couldn’t find anyone around town who knows this rose, or could help me find it. I smelled a lot of blah roses.

An obvious antique something or other decorates another garden. But what is it?  I looked and looked at it without discovering a use for it. I suppose it could be a fence “post” corner. Maybe someone else knows?

After my car was finished, I drove to the chiropractor’s health center in Tuolumne County. Change is a constant? This climbing wall was once 12 feet tall. It has grown to 45 feet tall. Wow!  Not for the timid. Good exercise no doubt and a competitive sport . I’d like to see it in action. Maybe someday.

 

 

 

 

 

MOTHERLODE CHARMS AND DANGERS

When I return home I never have any doubt that I live in one of the nicest places in California. Murphys Creek runs two miles from my house, right through town, in fact.  My daughter and her two boys came to stay for a couple of days and we drove to the creek to cool off.  The kids like to walk upstream and tube back down while we visit on the bank.

The water is low everywhere this year, and it is kind of fun to float under the bridge.

Or do some fishing from the bridge.  A tented playground is part of the park, visible in the background.

Or you can lounge around an eat cherries and corn chips, which is what we did. Relax. And, for nostalgia’s sake, we walked about two blocks to the Peppermint Stick, an ice cream parlor and enjoyed ice cream sundaes with whipped cream and a cherry on top.  Virginia worked there when she was in high school, and she regaled the kids with stories of working an ice cream parlor and candy counter where kids could order two gum drops, one licorice stick and a sucker and hand over their sticky pennies. Ice cream cones had to be consumed outside.

My daughter, who had just recently done a field trip with students and went rafting down a huge river finally jumped in to get wet and cool off. I’ve enjoyed this creek since we moved here, only more now that I have grand-kids to come and play. It’s a pleasant way to spend a hot afternoon.

While waiting for the garden soup to finish cooking for a light supper, we heard a close flying plane.

The spotter plane is  barely visible in the smoke that we hadn’t noticed until we heard the plane.

Soon the whole sky was a mass of smoke and haze and looked to be very close, which it was, approximately a mile away.

The helicopters began dropping buckets of water and the spotter continually circled to direct them.

A second copter joined the first one and a flurry of cars went up and down the road. We saw folks hauling their horses out of the canyon.

Eventually there were four helicopters and two spotters. The boys wondered why no fire engine came out. We explained to them the fire is in such a steep place, fire fighters can barely get to it. There were fire fighters from the highway side of the fire, we learned later. And my daughter took one camera and I another and we took pictures of every room in the house, every out building and the whole yard…just in case.

The copters were dipping into Utica Reservoir on the highway, and hauling back their buckets. The buckets don’t look like they carry enough water to fight a major blaze, but they do.

After a couple hours of the bucket brigade,  they brought in a long line bucket as the reservoir water got lower.  The helicopters were dumping with their lights on until it got  dark and the ground crews had to hold the lines. Fire tamps down at night and they caught this one right away.

The wind had shifted away from us before it got dark and we were able to go to bed with a feeling of safety, but fire is always a danger in the Motherlode. Other communities suffer hurricanes, tornadoes and twisters, or volcanoes, so we all have our dangers and our charms. This turned out to be a 180 acre blaze with no evacuations. We can sigh with relief and go on about our business. For me, it has been a busy month and I’ve missed blogging more than I ever have before. I have been nursing an injured muscle and have three weeks of therapy coming up as well.

And, then this morning, besides hearing the spotters work the sparks, Karen was towed home with an incapacitated vehicle.  It needs a new fuel pump. Not dangerous and not charming. Dang.

FRIDAY EVENINGS IN THE PARK

What a fun place Murphys is to live in. Beginning last night and through September, the town puts on  free Friday Evening concerts in the park. The locals and tourists both love this event. People gather with their lawn chairs and ice chests.  For me, it was great seeing old friends I hadn’t seen in a year or more with my new traveling lifestyle.

Some folks enjoyed just hanging out by the creek and listening to the music.

The kids enjoyed the chance to play in the creek.

The band, Swing Gitane played good music but their sultry voiced singer was a popular standout.

A great place to meet old friends…

or teach your grandson to dance, as Suki Tutthill did.

If you prefer, instead of carting your own dinner to the park, a local caterer, restaurant or in this case, Val du Vino winery  prepared roast pork in an orange glazed chiopotlte sauce  with orzo, fruit and brownie.  Local wines, beer and water are available to drink. Delish!

Friends I attended with, Joyce,  Clare, Jan and Janet, shared ribs, wine, and snacks. I couldn’t resist the Roast Pork.

Four spoiled, well fed ducks kept begging for treats.

The sultry singer took a break and rested her feet. What could be more perfect? Music, good food, friends and a gorgeous setting!   I’m going to miss the next Fridays Music In The Park and catered dinners. Its one of my favorite events.  If you can go, don’t miss it.