The first day of awesome

Today is June 21st. Ahhh, Summer. Here in the Central Valley we get about six months of Summer. From May until November it’s 100 degrees every day. Then we get about two weeks of Fall, where the temperature is in the 70s. Then it turns cold and rains for 5 months. When the rain stops we get about 2 weeks of Spring, with nice temperatures in the 70s again. Then it’s back to six months of heat. Yay California!

So not only is it the first day of Summer, it’s also Mon’s birthday. And that makes it awesome. So to celebrate Summer, and Mon’s birfday, here’s a pic of Mon with her husband, Michael, and son, Adam.

They dress like this all the time.
Mon!

Mon says that 25 is older than dirt, but 35 is older than compost. So what’s 36? Oh, our 20 year high school reunion is in two years. Sick. What’s that smell?

Mon = Mon Frek = ‘eh Mon = Monica. She rocks. Rocks! Mon was one of my closest friends growing up. Sadly, for the past couple years I’ve been a bad friend. But I’m making the effort now! You’ll see! I can be a good friend! I’ll call, maybe even write!

And now, some pics from the good ol’ days…


From left to right: Javier, me, Dave, Monica, Big Rob, Bri, and Stoney the dog
Big Rob’s house, circa 1990
No long after this photo was taken, Bri projectile vomited in the bathtub. Mon tooks pictures. Dave and I pointed at Bri, danced around him, and laughed.


From left to right: my sister Becky, Michie, and Monica
My parent’s house in Hayward, circa 1991

Sorry for being a bad friend, Mon. Things will be different now, you’ll see.

Happy birthday, Monica!

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Cold. Wet. Rainy. Foggy. Cloudy. Cold.

Drove up Wednesday. Tried fishing some of the very small creeks around our campsite. No luck. Built a roaring fire to fend off the wet cold. Bundled up and spent the night shivering in our tent. 30 degrees. Ice on the ground in the morning.

No fishing? Colder than a well digger’s ass? Too foggy and cloudy to see any of the spectacular views Lassen is known for? We’re out.

Yum, breakin' the law

Drove over to my favorite fishin’ spots near Lake Almanor. Kept 8 trout and drove to all the way down highway 89 to Truckee.

Highway 89. This is one of the most beautiful highways I’ve ever driven. It starts way up by Mount Shasta and winds through the southern Cascades and northern Sierra Nevada, through Lassen Volcanic National Park and Lake Almanor and Quincy and Truckee and Lake Tahoe and finally ends up near Lake Topaz on 395 near the California-Nevada border. You get the the wide range of California alpine scenery–the volcanic rock formations of the Cascades, the high Sierra white granite, various rivers and creeks, pine trees and oaks and aspens, craggy eastern Sierra barren rocks, and so on. The area between Lake Almanor and Truckee on highway 89 is particularly nice and filled with plenty of places to camp and fish. This is an area that I’d like to explore a lot more in the future.

Ahhh, Truckee… a nice, warm, dry cabin awaits us. We cranked up the heat and built a fire in the hearth, ate grilled trout with lemon, and went to bed early. Slept easily and peacefully in our warm and comfortable bed.

This morning we drove home, stopping by Grass Valley just because, and Auburn to look at houses and dream about living there.

Here’s a few pics of Lassen. Just a few.