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Posts tagged ‘Lilly’

Dec 23

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A Day of Firsts

Suppose I said Kelly did more driving than me today; would it be hard to accept such a statement as true ?

We’ve all heard tales of the unbelievable, a story that seems so unthinkable, its belief remains uncertain until such time there is no denying it’s truth.  And to that end, by of way the indisputable facts as documented within the picture below, all doubts related to Kelly driving with Airstream in tow may hence forth be put to rest.

Kelly driving

Kelly driving

Kelly did great and I was very happy to have the reprieve which provided me the opportunity to evaluate the relaxing qualities of the passenger seat  (it does fine by the way).  Like any Airstream, ours tows very smoothly and I knew that Kelly would quickly vanquish all towing related fears she’s been harboring.

Not unlike yesterday, today’s drive was long and mostly uneventful.  Our route containing a steady diet of I-10 (eastbound) wherein we found ourselves mostly traveling through the desert.  Less a few well-known towns, the area feels empty, quite vast, and offers sweeping views of beauty.

Desert foothills

Desert foothills

Crossing into Arizona, I quickly noticed changes with the road signage.  While I cannot quite put my finger on it, by comparison to California, something seems to be different with the signs here … almost like they are incomplete somehow.

The exit to nowhere

The exit to nowhere

While Kelly drove, I spent lots of time allowing my mind to wander.  Among other things, it dawned on me that today would  be one to remember:

  • the first time Kelly drive with Airstream in tow
  • the first time our Airstream was in Arizona
  • the first time Kelly and I have been to Arizona since the last time we were here.

Unimpressed with the day’s milestones, Lilly opted to focus her energies elsewhere.

Lilly, looking unimpressed

Lilly, looking unimpressed

Fittingly, we arrived to our destination today just as the sun was retiring from its own long day.  The sunsets in the desert are so incredible and I’m really looking forward to more of them during our stay over the next two weeks.

Sunset in the desert

Sunset in the desert

Nov 25

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From Cabela’s to Walmart

Having awoken in a big box store parking lot this morning, we traveled 571 miles today only to find ourselves back in another big box store parking lot – our host this evening being Walmart in Red Bluff, CA.  It appears that we’ve come full-circle within some bizarre retail dry-camping merry-go-round.

Tomorrow’s itinerary calls for a route just over 200 miles; we are both so ready to be done with all this driving.

I’ve heard that many who travel full-time frequently limit their travel days to 100 miles and I’m beginning to really appreciate the wisdom of such an approach.  Sadly, Kelly and I do not have that luxury in our schedule.  All things being equal, today’s drive was pretty uneventful.  It could have been worse, so I will stop complaining.

Crossing the border into Oregon, Kelly decided to snap a few pictures of downtown Portland, one of our favorite cities.

Approaching the Oregon border

Always very happy to enter Oregon

Hmm, what is Kelly capturing here?

Fremont BridgePortland Convention Center spires

About two hours south of Portland, we stopped in Eugene for a simple lunch and a visit to the local dog park.  Lilly is a big fan of  the park as she is able to hunt gophers and chase her tennis ball.  Selfishly, Kelly and I like these dog park respites as doing so provides Lilly the opportunity to run like crazy and burn off some pent-up energy.

More fetch please

Lilly’s preferred post dog park recovery activity

I did all the driving today and find myself feeling much like Lilly in the picture above – tired and ready for some sleep.

Sep 23

No Dogs Allowed

Kelly and I have become increasingly frustrated with all the NO DOGS restrictions here in Northern California (NorCal as the hipsters call it).  Coming from Washington state, we were accustomed to bringing our dogs along to hiking trails pretty much wherever we desire.  I guess we were spoiled in that sense.  Too bad the same cannot be said around here.

Our dog Lilly loves to join us on the trails and we are happy to have her join us.  Unfortunately, here in NorCal we’ve had to pass-up some really neat spots which would have otherwise been so cool to visit.  Damn this state.

Today, Kelly and I went to visit Windy Hill Preserve, one of the few open spaces in the area which allows dogs … on leashes.  Actually, we always walk Lilly on lease, so such restrictions are moot for us.  Anyway, the preserves is pretty nice.  Situated midway atop the Peninsula ridge-line, Windy Hill offers a nice mix of tree cover and open grasslands woven into a mostly up and down single track hike.  Outside of the tree cover, temperatures were a bit hot for my preference, but overall a nice hike.

Kelly and I like this place, but as it’s located about 20-25 minutes away, the location is not overly convenient.

Lilly seems to have a super-sense whenever we are headed to a hike and today was no exception.  There is no doubt that she is a big fan of Windy Hill.

A few snapshots from the hike are  pasted below.

Love the bark pattern on this tree

Some interesting art in the midst of the forrest

Lilly, impatiently waiting for Dave and Kelly.

Looking up through the tree cover

Lilly’s post hike routine

Sep 3

Exploring Ashland

Once again Kelly and I were in no rush to get ourselves ready today – it is a holiday after all.  Lilly was the first to get started this morning and was anxious to get outside.  After a quick walk we did a bit of laundry while we ate breakfast.

We have only booked two nights at our current location and Kelly suggested that we move to a state park just down the road.  After a bit of reconnaissance to check out the state park, we made our way into downtown.  As mentioned yesterday, I was keen to get myself some decent coffee – especially a nice shot of espresso.  Thank goodness Noble Coffee Roasters was open today.

Kelly and I each had a drink (actually, I had two) and pastry.  Everything was delicious.

Once we finished fooling around with coffee, it was time to venture into the foothills surrounding Ashland.  There are a plethora of trails to choose from in the area and we opted for something relatively close and with plenty of shade.  The hike was nothing too strenuous, but it’s always nice to walk trails and in this case, Lilly decided this particular hike was all about exploring the adjoining stream.

Sometimes Lilly has no interest in water, sometimes she does.  Today she wanted play in the water.

After a few hours in the trails, it was time for a late lunch.  One of our preferred eateries is Martolli’s, a downtown pizzeria.  Stopping here was a no brainer.

Kelly and I each had one slice and also shared a salad.  The food is really tasty, but today our salad was made incorrectly (the dressing was not on the side – I hate that), but all in all, good eating as is usually the case here.

The weather is great today which afforded us ample opportunity to enjoy ourselves.  Once we finished lunch, Kelly and I wandered around town a bit more before heading home.

As you can see below, Lilly was also ready for a little late afternoon relaxation.

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