Girls Just Want To Have Fun!

 Making heart shadows on the sand.

You go girl.

It shouldn't surprise me

that there were young women

out there in the surf 

enjoying the waves just as much

as the guys.

I grew up in an era of surfer movies,

where the guys were out in the water,

and the gals were on the beach...

hmm, glad those days are gone. 

We knew the fog bank 

was out over the ocean,

but didn't realize that 

it would obscure the view

within seconds.

  

It was way cool,

watching her do her stretches,

and then head out into the ocean.

We didn't stay to watch her 

surf, as we were cold 

and heading back to our car.

Surfer Dudes

 I was surprised to see surfers 

in the water at Trinidad.

  I mean it was down right chilly. 

 The surfers did have wet suits.

Since they more than likely live in the area,

 they're used to their summer fog

and cool temps.

So perhaps, any day that starts

out sunny means it's a good surf day.

 I just checked today's sea temperature

at Trinidad Bay.  The water is 53*F.

Meanwhile back here in the office:

Today was an exercise in

computer frustrations.

I (really - really - really)

wanted to get into my blog

so that I could correct an 

error from the last post.

It took me close to four hours

of waiting time for Blogger to

work... Meanwhile I got my office

desk cleaned of paperwork. 

I guess that's a good thing.

 Our weather forecast is calling

for 102 degrees on Sunday.

It certainly doesn't feel like Fall.

Trinidad Bay and Beach Tour

Our one sunny morning

in Trinidad.

We spent a wonderful 

morning out on the beach

  

watching the waves crash into the rocks.

Piles of ropy seaweed 

littered the beach.

Liberty checking it out.

She didn't have any

off leash time at this beach.

On the northern side of the 

beach,

we come to where the action is.

Because surf's up dude! 

Next post:

Catch a wave and we're sitting

on top of the world!

See you as soon 

as I can.  

Today I have a day with

friends out of town,

and then I'm making dinner

for a couple of grand kids.

We're babysitting this evening.

Yeah!

Tomorrow's my Brown Bag volunteer job.

After that, perhaps I'll

get back to the blog posts from Trinidad,

 and the surfer dudes

and dudettes.  

Apparently dudettes isn't a word,

but who cares.

Fall, Blackberries, and Windows

 Fall colors are 

starting to appear

in bits and pieces around here.

The Chinese Pastiche trees

are just starting to share their

autumn colors.

We don't have an abundance of 

trees in our area that turn those

golden yellows, orange and beautiful

reds each year.  Our own trees

turn brown and then the leaves

hang out until late November

and even through Christmas. 

I'm not fond of that at all ~

having Christmas arrive when 

everything still looks brown.

I did find a bit of fall color

on the beach, of all places.

OK, so back to the cabin's kitchen.

It was super tiny...

I mean a one butt kitchen.

You could stand at the sink

and touch the stove and the refrigerator.

There was just enough room

to get things done.

If I stood in front of

 and up against the stove,

Rick could squeeze

 in to get to the sink. 

So perhaps it was 

a two butt kitchen.

 Add Liberty who was

trying to get to her food dish,

and things got a little tight.

Liberty didn't understand 

that she needed to be the first

one out...

Fun ~ Times

This was our view out the 

 one of the kitchen's window.  

It's not the greatest photo

but you can get a sense of 

the tall trees and the misty fog.

 

 I'll have to remember for next year,

that the blackberries are ripe in

mid September.  

I'd like to take some supplies, 

sugar and half dozen or so canning jars

to put up some blackberry preserves.

Cause look at these beautiful

plump blackberries.  

Trinidad has long been 

a vacation destination for my family.

Many years ago, we picked blackberries

and tried to get them home in time

to freeze them or put up some jam.

Well... they molded by the time 

we got home.  

This year, I picked only what 

we needed to make some 

blackberry jam/syrup for pancakes.

Because fresh black berries

preserves can even make Bisquick

pancakes taste gourmet.

We took the little hybrid car

over to the coast.  There was 

no room to pack grocery supplies,

so we purchased sugar and pancake mix

over there at the grocery store in town.

I still have some of the blackberry

preserves in the refrigerator here.

I should make pancakes this morning,

and this time from scratch.

Darn that photo is making me hungry.

It's 5:45AM while I'm typing this.

Rick and Liberty are asleep.

The coffee is finished perking though.

I'll just have to finish this post 

and get downstairs for my first cup.

~~~

Now look at this cool window thingy.

 This is the bathroom window

in the cabin.  

The window is hinged at the top.

The knob unscrews ~ loosening it's grip

on the brass rod. 

Push the window out, 

tighten the knob and it holds

the window open for you.

The walls and ceilings

of the entire cabin were built

with this wood.  

It wasn't quite as red

as the photo shows. 

 Fuchsias grow like wildflowers over there.

Beautiful eh?

We woke up to wildfire smoke

in the middle of the night. 

The Coal fire is burning

north of us near where the Salt Creek 

fire was.  It's burned well over 200 acres

already.  Dang Dang Dang.

We had a week of clean air

and appreciated every breath of it.

Sigh.

Anyway, I hear Rick is up 

and letting Liberty out.

I'll finish this and get downstairs

to greet the morning with coffee

and probably toast with some

of that blackberry jam.

Have a great weekend!

Bishop Pine Lodge, Trinidad CA

A little bit of back story first:

The last time

 (I guess I should say the time before last) 

we were in Trinidad,

we noticed a property with rental cabins

that looked rustic and cute from the road.

But, the property looked like it was

possibly abandoned. 

We didn't see any vehicles around.

 The flower beds

 in the front of the property 

 were overgrown and weedy.

Two oak barrel planters flanking

the lodge's office were full of dry weeds.

We were thinking perhaps someone

had lost their dreams due to

 the economy.

Now for the current story:

We've been staying at the 

Trinidad Inn for the last several

trips to Trinidad. 

This time though, 

I needed to find dog friendly lodging

since we now have Liberty.

Trinidad Inn does have dog friendly 

rooms available, but our possible room 

wasn't available for one of the nights 

that we needed.

  I needed to find lodging elsewhere.

Online, I found Bishop Pine Lodge

and recognized it from our previous trip

as being the place that we weren't sure 

was open.  So rather than explore more

of their website, I decided to call first

just to find out if they were open.

Why waste time looking over their

site without knowing if they were 

open right?

She answered...

 and I was caught off guard.  

I even told her that we weren't 

sure if they were open since 

we couldn't tell from the road whether

or not they were still in business.

Anyway,

I went ahead and rented a cabin

sight unseen and hoped for the best.

After hanging up, I had wished

I had checked out a few more places

to compare cost and amenities.

But like I said,

we'll just hope for the best.

Um,  this is not it.

(laughing here)

I don't know why this one

was left to disintegrate.

Kind of sad really.

 

This was our little cabin called 

"The Hummingbird".

It had a small deck porch,

and a lawn surrounding the cabin.

In the early morning before full

daylight we were out in our robes 

to walk Libby.  

Inside there's a comfortable king size bed,

with enough room in the main room

for a rocker chair and a small wooden

dining table for two with chairs.

There's a nice little bathroom on

one half the backside of the cabin.

Next to the bathroom there was 

what looked like a closet door.

The proprietress unlocked the 

door for us as it was access to

the tiny kitchen that we had also rented

at an extra cost.  It wasn't a lot extra though.

(I'll have a bit more to share

about that kitchen in the next

blog post.)

"Brown Eyed Susan"

A larger (two queen beds)

 cabin across the driveway in front of us.

The "Bridal Wreath" cabin

was occupied with a full time resident.

I liked her natural porch decorations.

A tapestry hung from the rail. 

There were jars of colorful flowers,

 pine cones, dried herbs, 

and a couple of

Indian dream catchers to catch the eye.

Near the laundry room:

A simple log planter with alyssum,

lobelia, and petunias.

There were several more 

cabins of differing sizes.

All had cute wild flower names.

 Even though the grounds 

needed a gardeners touch

we'd definitely stay here again.

We loved having our own little 

space without connecting walls

to other guests.

http://www.bishoppinelodge.com/

Of course I'm not being compensated

for this post.  I just wanted to share

with our local friends and family

a different and  tattered but comfortable place

to stay while visiting over on the coast.

Final Resting Place

This is the view of Mt. Shasta

from the cemetery where my

grandparents are buried.

My grandmother died

when she was  59.

It was way too young,

and right now I'm approaching

the age that she was.

My mom and her sisters,

all held their breath during 

their 59th years. 

I think it will be in the back

of my mind as well.

But not now...

I didn't know grandma when she

was well, so my memories of 

her are from when she'd be 

'resting' on the couch.

I was 16 when she passed.

  

I was much closer to grandpa.

He had the barbershop

where we could go visit

at closing time to help 

sweep up after his work day.

 The shop smelled of aftershave tonic.

It was an interesting place to explore

with the mirrors reflecting multiple

images of ourselves looking at or

  front and backs at the same time.  

The mirrors had photos of 

trains and trophy trout catches 

tucked in around the frames.

There were glass canisters of combs

 soaking in a blue cleaning solution,

the steam cabinet for hot towels,

 and the sharpening strap attached to

the old fashioned barber's chair.

There was a floor model radio cabinet

in an alcove beyond the main room.

What was terrific for us kids though,

was the whole pack of Juicy Fruit gum

waiting for us after we helped sweep up.

We lived an hour away,

down the highway that

curved through the mountains. 

My brother would get car sick

every time we made the trip.

This was back when the road 

was a two lane extra curvy

road and no one had air conditioning

in their car. 

Finding yourself behind a logging

truck just made the trip slower. 

 It was best to try

and fall asleep during 

the drive up the mountains.

Without Grandpa's knowledge,

Grandma purchased and paid for 

their burial space.

She knew to take care of it ahead of time

since she was ill.

She said she wanted her future family 

members to be able to find the grave

when memories begin to fade.

She chose a spot at the right hand

of the statue.

It is a beautiful resting spot.

I asked Mom and Fran to show

me where it was since I couldn't 

remember where the cemetery was.

 I only knew that it was up

 there in Mt. Shasta.

It's been decades since I was there last.

I'm glad we had the chance 

to share memories and pay our respects.

Back to My Roots in Shasta Retreat

A family story for my kids 

and their kids.

This is the house my grandfather

Frank built with the help of his

three girls Fran, Alice and Margie.

They started building it in 1949.  

There is a full basement underneath,

and two stories above.  

 The second story 

is a new addition to the home

and wasn't part of the house 

when it belonged to our family.

  

For some unknown reason,

Grandpa got the wanderlust and was

moving his family from Colorado

to Southern California 

and  again back to Colorado

and finally back to CA.

It was way too frequent 

for my grandmother to put up with.

On one of their trips up the state, 

they stopped in Dunsmuir.

My mom and aunts can tell

you the exact place that Grandma

told Grandpa to pull over.

She was done, and this was as

far as she would travel.

  Grandpa got a job

barbering at the barbershop

under the Bank of America

in Dunsmuir

and they finally settled in.

The shop owner Curly L.

 found out that my grandparents

and their three young girls

were living in one of those

little tear shaped campers

and sleeping in an Army tent.

Curly  sold  some of his property

in Shasta Retreat to my grandparents

and took the payment out of the wages 

Grandpa earned in the barbershop.

The land included an unfinished

basement built into the hillside.

It only had three walls, 

no floor and no roof. 

 This was in late July of 49.

Grandpa set about to building

the house during his time off of work.

They managed to get the

 fourth basement wall built

before the rains came.

They put in the floor, 

and a temporary cover of wood 

and tar paper over the top for a roof.

You can see a part of the basement in the 

photo above.  The rock retainer walls

were built using stones from Black Butte

which is next to Mt. Shasta.

~~~

On Thanksgiving that year,

the first snow fell, and not

just a dusting.

It dumped eight feet onto 

their temporary basement home

and collapsed the Army tent.

 They needed to remove the pins from

the basement door to get outside.

It was a little too late to realize

that the door had been put in 

to open outward, instead of in.

Grandpa had a mean temper,

and that was one story that 

will never be forgotten by

 my Aunt Fran.

The stone fireplace 

was built during their second summer 

in Shasta Retreat.

Grandpa fell from the roof while building the

chimney and had to spend some time

recovering from the injuries before they

could finish building the house. 

It's my Aunt Fran

climbing the stairs,

the very ones she helped build 

so many years ago.

This is Bear Creek which ran behind their 

house and down the canyon towards the 

river I posted about last week.

The girls used to head to the creek 

to cool off whenever they could 

during the summertime while 

building their home.

It was pretty amazing to hear

mom and Frans stories of their

Shasta Retreat neighborhood.

They could recall every  neighbors

name and each house that came

into view was another story to tell. 

The dogwood tree is still there on 

the property.  It was a favorite of 

my grandmother, mom and aunts.

This stone barbecue grill

has been here since my mom

and her sisters first lived in Shasta Retreat.

It's located at a cabin next door to

the house that they built.

This is that cabin,

and it's also the very first home

I lived in.  The shuttered window

was my bedroom as an infant.

Mom tells us that she was stirring

paint in that very little room,

when her labor started.

I don't have memories of 

either house.  My mom moved

away from Dunsmuir when I was

one year old.

My grandparents

 sold the home they built 

and bought another one 

in Dunsmuir that was closer

to his own barber shop. 

That's the house I remember.

~~~

Our girls weekend before last

was a trip down memory lane

for my mom and Aunt Fran.

My cousin and I soaked in their

stories as much as we could.