Conquering "the" Tree

In the background you see two sections of what used to be a big, thick, evil Cork Elm tree. This thing put out sucker roots all over the yard...they grow fast and tall, their roots slide along the ground putting up new trees every 6 - 12 inches. Mom has wanted this down for quite a bit of time. She planned to have the "yard man" come take it down. there was concern it would land where it shouldn't. We've been taking a section at a time down. Today, Josiah joined the party. 

They cut - Stacia and I usually drag brush to the burn pile or wood to the upper garage. These two split and stacked wood. 

Maiden of the Brush 

Campfire hospitality - some of the best there is. 

Crissey Field ~ Brookings Harbor #WYFF

It was a bit overcast but we set our sights for Brookings Harbor and the ocean today. We discovered Crissey Field State Park. This is a great beach and visitor center. We collected info on future hikes and trails - in the OR redwoods.  I may eventually make a video - but for now - the photos! 

This spot felt sacred to me. It's on the way down to the beach. When one steps inside it's like being in an outdoor cathedral. 

TONS of driftwood on this beach.  Stacia and I had fun exploring the different sizes and shapes. 

Several structures too.....

Stacia, Alex, Nolan, Michael and Josiah 

Another tiny home....

We left Crissey Field and traveled in to Brookings proper. There is a small, hole-in-the-wall Chinese place we like to frequent. I can't even remember it's name, but we stopped for lunch.

Our next stop was the Whale's Tail. Mom G had mentioned wanting peppermint taffy a bit ago. I was surprised not to find a taffy store in Crescent City....but we found the real deal in Brookings.  We headed to the city campground/harbor. Fishermen.....

It's become a tradition to sit on the jetty and enjoy a treat of some sort. Yes, I did pick up some fudge for the event. LOL 

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Town Day with Cy

Mom G has a doctor's appointment today. When we all go places we need two vehicles. She simply can't vault into our van.  We decided I would go in early with the kids and we'd explore the town a bit.   Michael would go across the river and bring Mom G to town. I would meet them at the doctor's and the kids would continue to play on the beach until the appointment was over. Then we could all enjoy dinner together in town before coming back to the woods. 

Our first stop was Beachfront Park. It was a bit foggy, but the walk was a good one. 

Nolan, Stacia, Josiah, Alex

We walked on over to the fishing pier. We've wanted to do this and never quite make it. There are a couple of picnic tables out at the end of it...we queried the fisherman and Stacia made plans for future trips. We were also told there are Halibut to be gotten off the south jetty.

I realized I had forgotten to print and bring Mom's blood pressure readings. I called Michael and they were just leaving the house. They swung by the Caboose. It turns out one of the boys had borrowed Michael's keys and he had no trailer keys. I had left a window open (bad Mom) and Michael was able to climb inside.  

Battery Point Lighthouse in the fog

I dropped the kids and Josiah off at Pebble Beach and told them I'd be back in an hour. Unfortunately, things didn't work quite as smoothly as planned. We arrived about 20 min early for our appointment. There had been some mix up with the timing of the appointment. They called to reschedule, Mom asked for the same time, they had us down for an hour later than the original appointment. Michael and I had no note of any of this. ::snort:: We were an hour and 20 min early.  The doctor, however, was running over an HOUR behind schedule....so we waited over 2 hours....The kids got lots of beach time in and were concerned something had happened. 

Stacia - Queen of the Mountain

Mom had recommended Fisherman's Restaurant on our drive past one day. We stopped in for dinner.

Alex and Stacia

Josiah and Mom G

We enjoyed catching up with each other over dinner.  

River Time with Cy

We are having an AMAZING September. I've been told it's an Indian Summer. I'll take it over the typical rain - any time!  We took advantage of the sun to swim. This is probably our last chance to play on the river this season and Josiah is here! 

Poor Yuuki

I love this photo of Alex giving Stacia some fishing pointers.

We took the row boat and our kayak down. 

I was enjoying the beach on the other side when the kids mentioned a snake was enjoying the sun with me and slithered in - I let him have the river.  Stacia loves fishing - just loves it.

Alex likes rocks - and building! 

Beautiful!

Catching up.....

Look Who's Here!

Josiah came down for six days. The kids kicked off their visit playing pick it up. 

See? We have guest quarters! 

We're all excited to have Josiah here for a visit. I'm sure we can't match up to his adventures with JaRissa in Alaska, but we'll give it a shot. 

Mom G's Fabulous Road Trip

Stacia, Pat, Mary, Mom G - and Jack in the rear

We drove down to Eureka to visit family in July. We knew we wanted to get Mom G down for a visit. Mom didn't want to do an overnight trip. She can't ride in our van. We planned to use her car - which means the boys stayed home. It also meant we wouldn't have room to drive John and Mary around with us - they don't drive. Pat (front left, purple) came to our rescue.

Michael, Stacia, Mom and I drove down to Eureka. We met Pat, John and Mary at John and Mary's. We had a great lunch. Our next stop was Pat's for Mary's piano recital. We topped the day off with dinner and a nice visit with Uncle Jack and Aunt Beverly. Uncle Jack is Mom G's younger brother.

This is the only photo I took. I get a kick out of Jack photo bombing in the back of the photo. I will have to get more photos on future trips.

Fall Nature Walk & Craft

Fall is closing in upon us here in Extreme Northern California (as opposed to the area from the Bay to Sacramento). We've begun school.  We have two high school students and one middle school student this year. How did THAT happen? All of them can read.  

Our "peopler" - Stacia - is falling into some new routines. She craves interaction; I sit and do history, science and lit with her most days. She is great at getting it all done independently when I'm running someone to a doctor or appointment. 

She spends the afternoon baking, she and I play a bit of basketball or go on  walks. We are working on carving out one or two afternoons a week for her to go over to Mom G's. They both miss that time together. We usually aren't done with school until 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. and by the time I run her over (bridge is still being constructed - long waits) and back it is cutting into dinner prep time. We are going to double up some days so she has freer time on at least one day of the week.....we'll keep playing with our responsibilities here and our responsibilities outside of the trailer as well. 

Today, the sun was bright and we enjoyed a nice nature hike. I showed Stacia the mountain above our RV Park. I don't think the boys have been up there yet. We took a little basket and she picked up various things to make a "fall craft." 

Our treasures

 I wasn't sure of her vision - but this looked positive....

A lovely fall centerpiece! 

I do LOVE the colors of fall. We spent quite a few years in locations that either had hot and HOTTER seasons (TX)  or cold and COLDER seasons (AK, Northern Japan) and the riot of colors is a joy this year. I'm storing up memories as I know fall is fleeting in Alaska and our hearts are wandering up the AlCan.

*Peopler is a term Stacia created to describe herself - it fits extroverts well. LOL