TONIGHT'S BEAUTIFUL SUNSET~Yuma-AZ

Tonight's beautiful sunset~Yuma-AZ

Just beautiful …

SKETCHY INTERNET

October 30th: Man! It was a cold morning (the desert is naturally nippy when the sun isn't shining; & the wind is still gusty here) - so, I plugged the space heater in to ease the chill on my aging body ;-)

Then, went online … only to lose the signal just as quickly :-(

Holland used the Resorts WIFI - and it was frustratingly slow & kept cutting out, too.

Sketchy internet was the name of the game all day long. The high winds and flying sand just kept causing interference.

Another 'stuck-in-the-house' day; gusty winds, blowing sand dust (brown 'haze' in background): our lungs feel the unpleasant effects of sand dust if we spend time outside during these days, and neither one of us need/want to take that risk.

So, to beat cabin fever, we went for a little drive around the neighborhood; to "get the lay of the land" …

Walking out the door …

… and when we got back home Holland spent time in the kitchen juicing and creating tasty meals - and I ran Bleu in and out of the house (quickly, so sand dust wouldn't cause easy breathing complications), played my Jewel Quest game; and educated Holland on Clive Cussler (he had no idea who the man is!): a few months back we has stopped at Appelo's in Naselle, and I bought a paper bag full of Clive Cussler novels. Holland wasn't happy about the "added weight" he considered completely unnecessary, but I knew they'd be needed at some point; when the weather stinks, and the internet goes down … they are needed :-)

Holland juicing a power drink for me; his own fruit combo "for your heart & lungs, Baby."

High winds kept knocking internet out … so, I played my Jewel Quest Game for a bit; it's not as easy as it looks: I've been stuck here, for weeks.

Currently reading this Clive Cussler adventure.

The night sky was pretty with a pink cloud sliver; I hope it is a calm day tomorrow when we pack up and move across town.

Tonight's sunset.

RENO-NV to ARCATA-CA ~ Finding Out More About My Husband

Let Us Run Away - Loving Caliber | Lyrics:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk9dgIiwiQU)0

August 20th: We had planned to have a special lunch in Reno to mark our 7th month Wedding Anniversary … but smokey haze, a summer storm, & a flood alert chased us out :-(

Holland said, "Let's get to the california coast - hopefully the ocean breeze will keep the smoke away from us." I said, "You hate california." He said, "I do; but I love you. I gotta get you away from this smoke."

So, we pulled stakes, and headed West - towards Eureka-CA

Eureka-CA from Reno-NV; 6 hr. 26 min (344.7 mi) via CA-44 W and CA-299 W

The weather we are heading into …

Never say never.

No revisiting memories in Reno-NV; gotta keep moving.

We'll go where Elohim leads.

Holland's feelings about calimexarabia is very strong; today is a big concession for him.

Love in action - despite the grousing.

Holland is making this reroute trip to keep me alive.

We went through Tahoe National Forest - it was pretty, but it was all rocky landscape; some boulders had glacier scars marking them.

We drove through Sacramento and Redding … and Holland revealed some more of his family history in these areas:

Hwy #193 - a new experience for me; an old familiar route for Holland.

Redding lanes; the Plan was to stop here overnight before moving on to Eureka.

Redding-CA from Reno-NV; 3 hr. 18 min (198.5 mi) via US-395 N and CA-44 W

Rice fields - Holland claims calimexarabian (my wording - not his) rice is better than imported rice.

Holland has a beekeeper cousin - on his mother's side - who pollinates the Almond Orchards in CA

Holland had an Uncle - on his mother's side - who had a vineyard; he sold his raisins to Sunkist Raisins Corp.

Holland comes from a family of money-makers; and Holland himself, has worked steady since he was 14 yo. Work-related Disability Retirement is a hard adjustment for him.

I had no idea of the Family I married into, 7 months ago.

By the time we got to Cottonwood, we were hungry, so we grabbed a mexican flavored pizza from a little strip mall pizzeria. It was eatable.

We were making time to enjoy our journey, but we didn't sit too long in any one place while trying to stay ahead of the wildfire smoke, and keep an eye on the storm's progress.

And of course we had Liberty tagged to the back of Betsy … which made touching down in a few places more than a little interesting: but my man is a trucking pro, and he got us out of tight places ;-)

Pizza on the go.

Driving straight through to Shasta-CA

I was shocked this truck was allowed in anti-Christ/anti-America calimexarabia. Happy - but surprised to see it.

Checking the storm status.

Another new experience to me - old, familiar ground to Holland.

None of this tight-quarters stuff was here last time Holland was here - he can't leave fast enough. LOL

Headed to the Coast …

Goat trail to the Dam-Lake; we're headed to the Coast, now. No overnight, here.

That was a little too much 'adventure'.

Pushing forward, we continued towards Eureka - thank the Lord, there was no smokey smell in Eureka; but, Holland decided to backtrack to Weaverville, and continue up the coastline from there (he wanted to show me places I had not yet been to, in CA).

We stopped and read an interesting roadside marker ... and spotted the Hell's Angels Complex a mile or so up the road. The Hell's Angels Complex had a huge wrought iron gate and fence surrounding their property - you would think they'd welcome the criminals inside with open arms.

I didn't bother taking any pictures of the Trinity Alps Mountains because the forest was just burnt black snags; Holland said a wildfire swept through there 2 or 3 years ago.

It was pitch black outside when we started over yet another Pass, and road workers laying some kind of pipe down the middle of the road. The smokey odor was very strong is Humboldt County - we could taste it, as well as smell it INSIDE the pickup cab.

Along the Trinity Highway there were plenty of places to pull over and boondock … but the overhanging smoke, and the smoke odor … kept us moving: places where the sun was shining, and the air was clear - there wasn't a pullover big enough for us: but places the smoke was heavy and strong, there were all kinds of pullover spaces large enough for us. It was crazy.

Eureka-CA

Interesting roadside marker.

A few paces down the road, the Hells Angels Compound was spotted.

Sunset driving over the Pass; sun shafts were poking through in a circular mode - impressively cool.

Weaverville-CA

Weaverville-CA

Oh no! Smoke ahead of us - we didn't outrun it, after all. Darn it.

No boondocking tonight; gotta get past the smoke.

Night road crews working. In the smoke.

Pipe being laid down the middle of the lane.

Periodic road work the entire length of the Pass; steep 7% grade.

This is where Holland's roots (the Ruth Harris-Gerald Lee Redmill Family)  started; Arcata-CA

I like finding out more about my Husband ;-)

When we simply couldn't drive another mile (at this point, we'd been on the road from AM to AM, driving straight through with very short pit calls), we pulled over and spent the night in Trinidad Northbound Rest Area - Holland rigged the steps so we could pull them in when we turned in, because he didn't want some sleepy traveler to run into them and mess 'em up (the rigging worked very well); Bleu slept in our bedroom because that was the only slide-out we moved out: he couldn't get to his kennel in the livingroom (he was a happy camper ;-)).