yreka .. WY-REE-KAH. the last of the driveway hops.

so here i sit in my jammies. 

pink flannel pants that say really lame things like 'dream', 'believe', 'live, laugh, love'.

no they don't say that last one but they may as well. ;)

if you are inspired by the sayings on your pajama pants it is a pretty good sign you need to get outside more... or maybe on pinterest more. either one. ;)

speaking of pinterest.. i am making this right now and hoping for the best. i am on a never ending search for granola that stays in those pretty chunks and doesn't break apart at the first sign of milk and a spoon. 

i am also avoiding the urge to watch this.

i have seen the first one and can speak to only that, so don't secretly hate me if you you watch it and there's prolific nudity or some such thing. prolific nudity. :) the phrases that make me laugh out loud are questionable for sure.  

i have had these upcoming lovely pictures and memories of beautiful times all organized and ready in my drafts folder... just waiting to string them together with some insightful and witty words.

sometimes the muse of creative prose shows up on my doorstep sleeves rolled up ready to work and sometimes she staggers in, half spent, begging a bowl of granola and an episode of sherlock holmes BBC style. shall we guess who came knocking tonight?

never the less ... california days are calling...

so miss muse will just have to be put on stir the granola duty and i will do my humble best. :)

we left off on our way out of redding. 

we left the rain behind and quite literally, followed the rainbow to yreka, california. 

nate is a youth pastor.
we knew this right?
so every year we go to the "berean convention". it is usually within driving distance.. like last year.. but every few years we get the privilege of visiting the western most churches in our berean fellowship.
this was our first year to go out there.
most everyone stays in a local hotel.. but you know.. we were rolling in the 28 footer so a local family offered to let us park it in front of their house where they even had hookups set up.
when we got there they weren't home.. but their welcoming wagon was.

another giant wolf dog and his friend the goat. they would have gotten in our rv and rode away with us if we would have offered. but we passed. and imagined what kind of people have giant dogs and random goats roaming their front yard. people i want to know. that's who.

we drove into town and ari spent her $6 birthday money from great grandma.
she bought vintage hankies.
she was so excited because they were $3 each and she said "now i can buy YOU one too!"
my girl bought vintage hankies and wanted me to have one too.
this dear heart is the cream in my coffee. the powdered sugar on my french toast. the chopped pecans in the yummiest smelling granola everrrr. 
i love her.

we went up to mount shasta and hiked to the headwaters of the sacramento river.
you can fill your water bottle straight at the source.

it was crisp and chilled and tasted like sweet nothing. like the way you dream water tastes. this will be the water i die thinking about it if i am ever stranded and left for dead in the serengeti desert.

as opposed to the reaction that was had at the driving of the san fran bridge... the excitement level in the car rose dramatically at the first sighting of snow.

stunning. breath taking. words sometimes fall as flat as a picture. this was beauty.

at this point all pictures stopped because grayson discovered the mud. 

we drove all the way to the top of mount shasta as far as you could go in a car. 
unfortunately i forgot my snow shoes so that was the end of the line for us.
ari said it was 'her secret dream' for me to throw her in the snow.
i thought she meant more like put her in the snow.
nope.
she said "my secret dream is that you lift me and FLING me into the snow."
wow. okay then.

secret dream accomplished.
weirdness confirmed.

i got cold so i went and sat in the car. 
she found me and was displeased at my wussiness.

i had never seen anything like this... the moss grew as green as grass cozied right up next to the winter white like long lost friends..enchanting.  the stillness wrapped you until all you could hear was your own breath.. something about knee deep snow makes me want to simultaneously burrow a snow cave and frolic. i had time for only one so there was frolicking.

we returned back to our host family and they graciously warmed us up with hot bowls of soup.

in the morning ari and the goat.. who we later found out goes by the name of barbie.. did farm chores together.

i said the chickens eggs looked gross.. but i took it back when i felt their haunting stares and remembered my not so secret fear of chickens.

it's good to make new friends.

we were just sitting around in the Rv together when out of nowhere grayson said "momma take me outside.. i want to have my picture taken with you in front of that big tree." totally random..totally adorable.. totally one day will never happen when he's a giant man instead of my little boy.

at the fish hatchery there was lots of yummy golden sideways light. which also meant you couldn't really see the fish ... but i tell you what... in light like that you could stick me at a fish hatchery or the oscars and it feels like magic. 

in casual conversation shauna, our hostess, mentioned that they would be milking their cow one evening while we were there. and freak that i am got totally over excited by such a prospect and asked if we could come and could i take pictures and can i move in with you.. wait.. not quite... but seriously raw milk by the jar full. homemade yogurt... and raw cream for my coffee. maybe just an extended vacation every now and again. :)

pretty sure she is saying "i just touched the cows nipple." like i said the things i find funny... ;)

this is the view of the sunrise from their front porch... mount shasta and my RV. nice. :)

coffee and cream. any time you have to spoon something out of a big jar it is automatically 7 times cuter and more fun. is that just me?

they have 6 kiddos.. that is a lot of oatmeal. 

giant dog was not interested...

but barbie was, as always, a narcissist  and loved stepping in for the giant dog picture fail.

justin and nate solved all the churches problems over one cup of coffee. it was amazing to see.

kind of like this face. also amazing.

have i shared with you my thoughts on the photo editing dilemma? 
so here we have a no makeup, way too close, my eyes are puffy because i was up late listening to a pack of wolves chase something down right out side of my flimsy RV door. true story. 
so anyways you have no idea how badly i wanted to get out my little handy skin smoothing photo editor thingy. it is soooo nice. buh bye wrinkles and age spots.. hello peaches and cream.
but then what? that's the dilemma. 
at what point does the reality i have created in pictures mesh up with the reality i see in the mirror? 
and what happens if you meet someone who has only seen you in your best online? that's uncomfortable.. as you see the look of confusion and shock at the state of your giant pores.
i am only getting more wrinkly believe me. this clock isn't going to be getting turned back anytime soon. so if i can't make peace with my 32 year old skin how will i make peace with my 50 year old skin? or am i to airbrush myself forever?  
no. people get older. it happens. so what. 
skin is meant to wear the reward of living a long and full life. lets wear it proudly. 
and pass the intensive repair night cream mmkay? thanks.

this woman is a momma with a heart of gold. she let us live in her driveway, run rampant through her yard and house, and disturb the schedule of school, chores and the house showering schedule. i knew we were meant to be friends when i realized we used the same shampoo. and it could also have been when she was sharing her heart for adoption and i kept ducking and dodging the conviction that was trying to lodge in my heart. she is a golden find up there in gold country california. if you know her you are blessed. :)

it was hard to tear ourselves out of that driveway.. it was the last driveway hop before our 5 days of "real RVing". no driveways. no friends. no plan. 
well maybe a loosely scheduled plan, hitting the high points of heavily researched highways and byways showcasing the great coastal redwood region of california.
maybe a little bit of a plan. :)