A Trip to Oregon, Chapter 3

 

 

The day before I left Oregon I had an opportunity to draw with some precious little people. Because this is the world wide web, there will be no photos of those folks. We drew together on two different occasions, but I only thought to take a very few photos on the second session.

Before we began drawing together, one of them sent me this picture, full of eagerness and excitement.

She had a mind for drawing like a great big sponge. We discussed things like outlines, leaving paper color for the brightest item in the drawing, and putting on paper exactly what you see. Then we picked a daisy outside, brought it in, and began drawing from real life. Pretty radical change, eh?

One of these precious little people has a real thing for dinosaurs. He drew one for me, then we discussed ways to make the back legs look as if they were in the back. His birthday was soon, so when his attention span was reached, I drew a dinosaur for him. I didn’t photograph the final version because it included a birthday message, and I protect my little people’s privacy from the world wide web.

This little guy drew a house for me, and then we went outside and I showed him how to draw his grandparents’ house by looking at it. He traced my version, then redrew it on his own.

Another little person learned to draw a football player with a normal sized neck instead of as a pencil-necked-geek.

It was oh so very fun that I didn’t take many photos. . . so absorbed in our tasks that I just forgot about documenting things.

There was also an experiment taking place throughout the day, involving more daisies.

Did you ever put celery in a jar of water with red food dye? Flowers are more fun.

We would check the progress periodically. These three precious little people kept experimenting by moving their daisies into different dyes throughout the day.

All good things (nay, all things, whether good or bad) come to an end. My trip was almost over. With those drawing lessons, I suppose it could have been considered a business trip, but alas, only Fernando gets his miles written off, and he was unable to participate in our adventure.  

Eight New Things Learned in June

 

  1. Mulberries are SWEET. Some friends brought a bowl to church to share, and they were so sweet that my teeth almost started humming.
  2. A gabion basket is a wire mesh cube, perhaps 4x4x4 feet. It gets filled with rocks, and then it serves as a solid piece to built up a road bed or shoulder.
  3. A Foley fork, also called granny fork or a blending fork (because “Foley” is a brand name) is an old-fashioned kitchen tool that some people just cannot be without. There is interesting info about it on this website, called The Baking Wizard. (Nope, I don’t want one—simply found it interesting.)
  4. There is an entire subculture of foragers, with a website called “Falling Fruit“, which maps where there is free stuff for the picking all over the world! The Central Valley’s flyover status is confirmed in that although we feed the world, we do not appear on that map (unless it gets greatly enlarged and you locate an orange or fig tree overlapping a sidewalk in Fresno). I love to glean walnuts and citrus from friends’ groves, have occasionally picked Miner’s Lettuce to add to salads, wished to find the wild berries along the Mineral King Road (but never stopped to look), picked elderberries for jelly, and never hesitated to ask someone with a pomegranate tree if they had extra. Foraging in public spaces in a city sounds very bold.
  5. The price of flat screen televisions has dropped significantly. However, there is catch: you have to pay someone techie to hook it up and teach you how to operate it. (If it was up to me, I would not own one.) Furthermore, there is no way to get rid of “non-smart” teevees. No one wants or needs them, even if they work. (The cable company said it was the teevee, but it turned out to be their cable box that got fried in the 2 power outages and restarts.)
  6. A friend who participates in 12-step programs told me about a list of questions for consideration that she received in one of her meetings. The question that grabbed my attention is one that we all need to ask ourselves in many situations: Why am I talking? (I once heard Rush say “Before you pick up your phone and dial this show, ask yourself the question ‘Does anyone care?'”)
  7. There is a monastery in Dubuque, Iowa, where the monks make caskets. This sounds like a weird thing to learn, but the caskets are beautiful. They provide free caskets to people who have lost a child, and they do not accept orders online, only over the phone. They are called “Trappist Caskets“. I hope none of you need this information anytime soon, but it is an undeniable truth of life that none of us will leave this planet alive (unless Jesus raptures us outta here.)
  8. Have you ever heard of terramation? This is a new alternative to cremation also called “human composting, a process whereby your body is turned into compost and then spread in your garden. It is legal in five states and you can read about it here.

Well. Alrighty then. Ahem. This had a bit too much morbidity. What does it mean? 

Why am I talking?? 

Over and out.

A Trip to Oregon, Chapter 2

 

This is Chapter 2, but perhaps it will only have 2 chapters. As usual, more will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Today’s post is just a few random photos of fun times with Sister and family.

We completed a jigsaw puzzle. Normally I consider these to be a waste of time, but in this case, it is something to do while hanging out and catching up.

I took many scraps of yarn and turned them into a scarf/wrap/hoodie article of clothing for a friend. (It is in progress here.)

We took walks through the neighborhood on curvy streets, where I had difficulty maintaining my sense of direction. This was by far and away my favorite yard. 

Yucca?? In Oregon?? Yeppers.

I don’t get out much in real life, at least in terms of spending time in cities. We had “coffee”, which means overpriced fancy sweetened caffeinated high-calorie beverages at a spacious and noisy place. Every place seemed to be noisy. As I said, I don’t spend time in cities. They are noisy and peopley, but interesting in small doses.

Look at this alleyway!! Is everything prettier in Oregon? Nope. There was a plethora of street people and closed businesses. Sigh.

But it thrills my little country heart to see beautiful architecture.

This is a place that refurbishes used furniture, makes new pieces from wood, and teaches refugees woodworking skills, along with teaching English. It was spacious and noisy, but it was also full of interesting things for sale. Excellent concept for helping folks.

Here is one of their items:

Finally, this piece of rose perfection is in my sister’s own front yard.

 

A Trip to Oregon

 

There is a little bit of important Mineral King news at the bottom of this post.

People say that Oregon is green for a reason, but most of my visits have been sunny. This trip was no exception.

It almost causes me physical pain to leave home, but somehow I was able to pull it off. This is about 15 miles from home, looking through the windshield, remembering Lot’s wife and facing forward, looking ahead to the future, trying to be brave about all I was leaving behind. (A trip is a temporary situation, Central California Artist.)

The great Central Valley of California is so beautiful when the air is clear.

This is heading to Reading. Or perhaps, hedding to Redding.

Once past Redding, Mt. Shasta is visible. Anyone out there remember Shasta soda? The logo on the cans looked just like Mt. Shasta. (Duh.)

Truck Village is always something to look forward to. It is near Weed. (Don’t get your knickers in a twist–ABNER WEED was a man’s name!)

There was a long traffic jam before Weed, and I just didn’t want to stop, so I pushed through to Yreka, stopped for gas, and still felt alert. (Ice cream for dinner helped.) I called my sister to ask how long it would take to get to her place from there. The answer was 4-1/2 hours. Remembering that it was the day with the most daylight of the entire year, and I was heading north, I decided to push on. So, a day of 13 hours of driving, almost two books on CDs, some tunes, a little talk radio, some thinking, some praying, 3 or 4 stops for gas (it is expensive everywhere), some snacking (but I refused to pay $4.49 for a “sharing” size of M&Ms—ARE YOU KIDDING ME??), and no night of poor sleep in some motel with the sounds of traffic, car doors, and strangers banging around with suitcases.

Sister and I did lots of walking. It is a thrill to see the beautiful yards (NO DEER! NO DROUGHT!) with many plants I’ve never seen in bloom.

We also went to a couple of estate sales. This one took the cake.

We visited an arboretum and had fun with a plant identification app on the phone (Picture This, free if you can see the almost invisible “CANCEL” in the upper right corner of the screen each time you open it.)

I attended a celebration of life service for a friend who used to live in Three Rivers. This photo was taken through the window of the pick-’em-up truck (Fernando stayed home) while crossing the Columbia River on the border of Oregon and Washington. That’s Mt. Hood. It looks like Shasta, because that’s just how it is with those volcanoes. 

We also took an afternoon excursion to McMinnville to a store that specializes in olive oil and balsamic vinegars. I lost control. Phenomenal stuff. (I don’t need no stinkin’ Trader Joe’s!)

To be continued tomorrow. . . 

About Mineral King: (CABIN FOLKS, PAY ATTENTION!), the gate code has been changed. CALL AN MKDA BOARD DIRECTOR FOR THE NEW COMBINATION. IT CANNOT BE GIVEN OUT VIA EMAIL, VOICEMAIL OR TEXT.

Hume Lake Annual Reunion

My sixth annual friend reunion at Hume Lake was a week or two ago (time flies). It was a little odd to go to someone else’s  cabin before spending time at my own. It was also the first time we didn’t rent some sort of watercraft, and the first time I actually wore long pants. Summer has been slow in arriving this year in the Sierra Nevada.

The Generals Highway is closed, but I normally don’t go that way. I went my usual route of Dry Creek Road to 245 to Hogback to 245 to 180. This is one of the iconic scenes along the classic foothill road of Dry Creek.

The Park entrance station was very backed up, because going through Kings Canyon is the only route open to Sequoia.

Then I went through Grant Grove and turned toward Hume Lake at the Princess campground by the closed Cedar Grove road. Too bad, because it would be a terrific year to see the big water in the Kings River on the road to Cedar Grove.

Walking around the lake is a tradition. We have always thought it was a 3 mile walk, but the phones (so smart, eh?) tell us 2.5 miles. Ten-mile Creek was roaring as we crossed it on the footbridge. (Incidentally, the road called “Ten-mile” is only 9 miles.)

We got caught in rain walking around the lake the first day.

The dam release was roaring.

The grounds at Hume’s conference center are beautifully landscaped. I flipped over these columbine. We saw a few deer but only away from the main activity areas. People the area get all excited about seeing deer; I try to keep my disgust for the flower-consumers to myself. (Jumped up to respray some geraniums while typing this at home.)

There was a ton of snow on the distant peaks. Hume Lake gets me geographically confused, because it drains to the east.

Here is Ten-mile Creek in sunshine, still rip-roaring along.

Someone got creative with a downed tree below the dam. This walk was after it rained hard so the water is coming over the spillway in addition to the normal release pipes (channels? culverts? tubes?).

Every year I count on seeing wild iris around the lake. There were zillions in the meadow by the Princess campground, but no place to pull over and be a looky-loo.

We took a “back-stage” tour at Hume, where we got an in depth look at the inner workings. The place is self-contained like a city, with its own charter school (under Fresno Unified School District), auto shop, metal fabrication shop, sewage treatment, and fire department. They didn’t disclose the source of their water or discuss garbage, and I was a little short on time because I had to hustle down the hill to teach drawing lessons.

They showed us the ropes course, where apparently there are quite a few come-to-Jesus moments. (I already came to Jesus, so won’t be testing my faith on any of this stuff).

I learned that they bought their own coffee roasting equipment and in 9 months it paid for itself in savings. (I didn’t try any of their coffee because we were self-contained in my friend’s cabin). This is a photo of one of the dining halls. I was gobsmacked, since I served in the former building as the hostess of the dining room in 1978. That building burned down, and this huge elegant multipurpose structure has replaced the one I knew.

Besides walking the lake, there was a craft project. I observed and appreciated the results, but the method doesn’t work on Crocs, so I knitted instead.

The morning I left, it was brilliant, just fabulously brilliant.

This is Ten-mile Creek from the bridge. The Google told me that Ten-mile road was the quickest way to Exeter, along with the same roads I used to get to Hume, but coming down 245 into Woodlake rather than Dry Creek. Such a beautiful drive, if one has air conditioning. Fernando’s A/C still works—thanks for your concern.

If you came here for Mineral King news and are disappointed, you can check the Mineral King website to see if anything new has been posted.

 

Extended Yardening Season

 

At the time of this writing (a week or so before you see it) it hadn’t gotten hot like normal summer yet, and  our cabin wasn’t yet opened. In addition, I had nothing pressing on the work front, so these conditions provided plenty of time for continued yardening.

I sprayed all the pomegranate blossoms with Deer Out, and then I saw a deer eating on the tree, so I sprayed it again. Too bad I didn’t count the blossoms when I sprayed the first time, but I was more intent on thinning and spraying. So, I don’t know if the deer was eating leaves or blossoms. One of the reviews I read for Deer Out said that deer might try to eat something sprayed but wouldn’t return for more.

Then I sprayed the hollyhocks, which the deer hadn’t yet bothered this year.

Finally, I sprayed the roses that haven’t yet croaked.

I caught a deer in the act of biting off a fully bloomed geranium, but it hasn’t returned for a second course.

P.S. I have actually sprayed all these multiple times because I just can’t seem to believe the claims. Time will tell…

If you came here for Mineral King news and are disappointed, you can check the Mineral King website to see if anything new has been posted.

A Day Trip to Mineral King

In the olden days (last year), it took about 1-1/2 hour to drive to Mineral King from our house in Three Rivers. This was going slow, stopping to talk to friends encountered on the road, maybe stopping to photograph something.

On Thursday, it took almost 3 hours* to get to Mineral King. This involved a stop to visit with the crew working on the lower section of the road.

I was prepared for a long drive with knitting.

There is a lot of greenery on the way up. Lots of wildflowers too, but I didn’t want to add to the time by asking for photo stops.

This was on the county section. 

Although there wasn’t any active road work after going through the lower gate, Road Guy wants to keep this sign in place so that people who drive the road will be alert. Besides, there could be some road work. There certainly needs to be.

We stopped to talk to a couple of walkers, to rake out a few drainages, and to pick up many traffic cones. Why were so many knocked over? We don’t know. And we stopped at the maintenance barn to visit with the two guys working in MK this summer.

The knitting grew.

This is the background that is overexposed in the knitting photo. It is just above High Bridge, where we stopped for more raking.

There are lots of narrow spaces along the road, but not so much in the upper sections. There is a lot of water running along, under, and across the road, just seeping from the hillsides, running down drainages that aren’t normally running at this time of year. The water is mostly on the paved sections.

Standard photo of the Crowley cabin and Farewell Gap.

The weird piles left from the 2021 fires remain. Road Guy thought the fire crews would return to remove them last summer because they appear to be piles of kindling. Of course they didn’t return.

The juniper tree escaped. It appears in many old photos and was marked to be removed, but better sense prevailed, and this piece of living history remains in the last parking lot.

The daffodils I planted last fall are struggling upward.

Looking alongside the back of the cabin.

I meandered down to a neighboring cabin and was so happy to see all the green growies and flowing water.(Almost said “water flowies” to rhyme.)

The knitting grew.

We walked up to the pack station. Clearly there had been an avalanche, with trees snapped off and bent over, along with a lot of debris on the road.

Chihuahua was running, so I did a little waterology to get it off the road.

Finally, on the way back down, we stopped just above Sky Hook to see the gabion baskets begin to rebuild a major road failure. The construction crew is doing a fabulous job with temporary repairs on the county’s section of the road.

A final thought: if the Mineral King Road normally makes you nervous or jittery, this would not be the year to drive it. (And we still don’t know if/when the Park will open it to the public).

*This wasn’t actual driving time. We stopped to unlock/open/close/relock the two gates, to visit with people, to pick up knocked over traffic cones, to take a few photos, to rake a few culverts . . .

Tomorrow I will return to posting about my artwork. If more Mineral King news occurs, I’ll do my best to post the information. You can also look on the Mineral King website, although the writers there are not as chatty, opinionated, or actually taking photos (but I let them use mine whenever they ask).

 

Mineral King Road, Part 3

Road Guy and the Farmer headed up past Silver City while The Wives (Hiking Buddy and I) got in the Botmobile and headed for home. Road Guy gave me lots of helpful instructions as we went up, such as “keep it in compound low”, “no need to lock in the hubs”, “watch those rocks—they can pop a tire”, “stay in the tracks”, etc.

First weird sight.

Second weird sight.

Now, I will be showing you all the scary parts as we head down. (If the drop-off appears on the right side of the photo, it means I photographed it looking back after we got through.)

This drops off steep and far; it looks mild here, but it is not mild in real life.

Just your basic deep crack in the road.

This is Slapjack, looking back.

I stopped getting out to take the photos and started shooting through the windshield.

Nature is doing her best to reclaim the asphalt.

There were great wildflowers, but we were focused on the other thing (getting down the road intact). Hiking Buddy rolled her window down so I could take this picture of lupine and blazing star without getting out again.

Narrow but passable. Sometimes these aren’t marked because there just weren’t enough traffic cones. Those mainly get used when you could go off the edge and land in the East Fork of the Kaweah River. Otherwise, pay attention! (Pay attention no matter what)

Here are the 2 boulders just above Lookout. The first one is from that notch above the road where it had been precariously perched for decades.

I don’t know these yellow flowers.

Farewell-to-Spring was blooming right through a crack in the asphalt.

The potholes were roaring. 


I stopped taking photos, we got ourselves down safely in the Botmobile, and Road Guy and the Farmer continued their work up.

Bottom line: if you were uncomfortable about driving the road before, you won’t want to drive it this year. (IF it is even officially open).

Mineral King Road, Part 2

Yesterday’s post took us to Cabin Cove, a mile below Silver City, where the backhoe was waiting for Road Guy to continue making the road passable, and mark the narrow parts. The Farmer followed in his pickup, with a rake, traffic cones, and various other necessary items. It is far too dangerous for someone to work there alone, and the Farmer willingly took several days off work to volunteer along with Road Guy.

Let’s admire the skillful handling of this massive yellow machine by our hero, Road Guy.

The Cabin Cove sign lost its hook.

Sometimes the only way to unclog a culvert is with rakes and shovels.

There is a cabin in Cabin Cove named “House of Falling Water”. It was many years before I understood the name, but this year there is no confusion whatsoever.

Thank you, Farmer, for being Road Guy’s ground crew.

Finally, lunchtime.

For some reason, Road Guy turned the backhoe around in front of the Silver City Store. 

Hiking Buddy and I left the guys here and headed down. On Monday you can ride down with us.