My parents and I took a trip to Oregon at the beginning of July. It marked the last time my mom will ever ride on the back of Dad's bike.
We encountered all manner of summer loveliness, including a dip in the mighty Rogue before trekking over 12 miles of gravel road that climbed to beautiful heights and breathtaking views like this one:
We enjoyed the 4th of July in Rockaway Beach, complete with small-town silliness...
...and family on the beach...
...before heading for California and home.
It was shortly after arriving home that the deal closed on my own little piece of the Golden State. One of the causes of all the busy-ness was turning this:
Into this:
If there's any interest in seeing more detail re: my lovely home and all the work my family and I put into it, check out my post in the "Saucy Dwellings" LiveJournal community. There is also a collection on Flickr containing (fairly) extensive "before & after" documentation.
In the midst of learning the meaning of "sweat equity," my mom and I took a break to go on the 2nd Annual Pashnit Girly Ride. We started in Visalia and trekked across mountains and desert, zigzagging back and forth over the NV/CA state line. We rode Sherman Pass:
And saw the Bristlecone Pine forest:
Being this close to some of the oldest living things on the planet (the trees, not my mom) was quite an experience.
We took in the desert landscape while racing for the mountains on Hwy 120:
... and saw the clouds reflecting on Mono Lake as we headed for the motel in West Walker.
Please feel free to check out all of the images from the trip in convenient slideshow format here.
We made wonderful new friends and reinforced old relationships on that trip, and a few of us got together again a few weekends ago to ride the north coast of CA. We met in Fortuna and spent a couple nights there, enjoying the fruits of the Eel River Brewing company after a chilly ride!! Some shots from Forest Service 1, a.k.a. Titlow Rd. (The SV was under the weather that weekend, and my dad was kind enough to let me borrow his new VStrom. What fun!)
Again, there are more shots available for viewing here, including shots from our ride to/back from Fortuna. Good times!
We also took my mom to her first track day in September, where she put on her race face and got down to business.
I had mine on too, though it's not visible in this shot:
Throughout and as always, there's been cooking. I cooked at my old place in Carmichael down to the very end, enjoying the bounty of our garden.
Now that this post no longer weighs on my conscience, I can say with certainty that there is more to come! I've taken tons more pictures of food, and have several more shots from the Oregon trip to edit and post. I've got some craft projects going and a sweater on the needles... I'll do my best to keep updating in the midst of everything else.
As always, thanks for reading!
