IPOD
RADIO
WARNING: Image-heavy journal ahead!
Went up to visit Bean's mom waaaaaay up outside Redding, CA, a couple weekends ago. After a brief mix-up with Budget car rental, (they tried to give me a horrible-gas-mileage Chrysler Sebring when I'd requested a "Ford Focus (or similar)" and finally wound up with a Hyundai Elantra) we took the 8-hour drive up the 5. The dogs were surprisingly excellent travelers. When we got off the freeway and started making our way out into the country, we were greeted with this sight:
Yep, we're headed straight for those hills. That's all smoke.
We knew everything is on fire up there, but I didn't imagine we'd be driving into it. The sunset burning through the plumes of smoke rising from every hill was awe-inspiring. The picture just doesn't do it justice.
Bean's mom and her boyfriend live in a nice house on a few acres out in the middle of nowhere with a great view of the hills (although the view isn't visible in these pictures):
There's a creek bed out in those trees, but it's dry in the summer. You can see why that area is burning; everything is that dry or dryer right now.
The smoke from the fires was so thick that it was hazy and dim all day, which kept it from getting too hot, but it still was in the high 90s. The dogs had a fantastic time being country dogs.
Bean, being a lifelong OC and LA resident, isn't quite used to how things work in the country. I walked out to find him having a cigarette behind the garage, and pulled out my phone and snapped this picture of him while quickly backing up and saying "Bean? You're smoking next to a fucking propane tank."
Heh.
Bean's mom and her boyfriend have nine goats, who keep the brush cleared on the property. Goats are weird.
Unbeknownst to us, Leo Beastdog apparently has a goat-herding instinct. He had already rounded up seven goats and gotten them into the goat house before we stopped our astonished laughter and pulled out a camera to take video.
Leo stopped herding the goats after the leader-type-goat baaaaaa-ed, lowered his horns, charged, and butted Leo squarely in the forehead. Luckily, being a a bully-breed, Leo has a thick skull and shook it off pretty quickly, although he looked rather embarrassed about the whole thing.
After running around herding goats, Leo was understandably overheated and panting and dove into the goldfish pond by the back patio:
He was quickly joined by Bean's mom's boyfriend's Rhodesian Ridgeback / Chocolate Lab mix, Snickers. They got muddy and disgusting and probably disturbed the hell out of the goldfish. The dogs were not very happy about being held down and hosed off to get the muck off them.
The next day I drove Bean and Bean's mom to Wal-Mart in town to buy a plastic kiddie pool for the dogs. This was Bean's and my first trip to Wal-Mart since.... well... I don't even know where a Wal-Mart is in Los Angeles. However, this being a rural area, that was pretty much the only place to go.
We felt slightly dirty afterwards. Bean's mom and I almost fell over trying not to laugh at the women in front of us in line... they were buying nice burgundy fabric and camo fabric for -- I shit you not -- a wedding. One of the women had chosen burgundy and camouflage as her wedding colors. Her fiance had apparently just joined the National Guard. "It's gunna be real tasteful," she was saying.
So we got the pool back to the house, filled it up with water, and immediately Leo hopped in:
We were up there for a few days, and it was a nice visit. We took the 101 on the way back, which is a much more pleasant drive than the 5, although it added a few hours to the trip.
We'll have to make that drive again when it's cooler, maybe go hiking up there when it's not on fire.
Went up to visit Bean's mom waaaaaay up outside Redding, CA, a couple weekends ago. After a brief mix-up with Budget car rental, (they tried to give me a horrible-gas-mileage Chrysler Sebring when I'd requested a "Ford Focus (or similar)" and finally wound up with a Hyundai Elantra) we took the 8-hour drive up the 5. The dogs were surprisingly excellent travelers. When we got off the freeway and started making our way out into the country, we were greeted with this sight:
Yep, we're headed straight for those hills. That's all smoke.
We knew everything is on fire up there, but I didn't imagine we'd be driving into it. The sunset burning through the plumes of smoke rising from every hill was awe-inspiring. The picture just doesn't do it justice.
Bean's mom and her boyfriend live in a nice house on a few acres out in the middle of nowhere with a great view of the hills (although the view isn't visible in these pictures):
There's a creek bed out in those trees, but it's dry in the summer. You can see why that area is burning; everything is that dry or dryer right now.
The smoke from the fires was so thick that it was hazy and dim all day, which kept it from getting too hot, but it still was in the high 90s. The dogs had a fantastic time being country dogs.
Bean, being a lifelong OC and LA resident, isn't quite used to how things work in the country. I walked out to find him having a cigarette behind the garage, and pulled out my phone and snapped this picture of him while quickly backing up and saying "Bean? You're smoking next to a fucking propane tank."
Heh.
Bean's mom and her boyfriend have nine goats, who keep the brush cleared on the property. Goats are weird.
Unbeknownst to us, Leo Beastdog apparently has a goat-herding instinct. He had already rounded up seven goats and gotten them into the goat house before we stopped our astonished laughter and pulled out a camera to take video.
Leo stopped herding the goats after the leader-type-goat baaaaaa-ed, lowered his horns, charged, and butted Leo squarely in the forehead. Luckily, being a a bully-breed, Leo has a thick skull and shook it off pretty quickly, although he looked rather embarrassed about the whole thing.
After running around herding goats, Leo was understandably overheated and panting and dove into the goldfish pond by the back patio:
He was quickly joined by Bean's mom's boyfriend's Rhodesian Ridgeback / Chocolate Lab mix, Snickers. They got muddy and disgusting and probably disturbed the hell out of the goldfish. The dogs were not very happy about being held down and hosed off to get the muck off them.
The next day I drove Bean and Bean's mom to Wal-Mart in town to buy a plastic kiddie pool for the dogs. This was Bean's and my first trip to Wal-Mart since.... well... I don't even know where a Wal-Mart is in Los Angeles. However, this being a rural area, that was pretty much the only place to go.
We felt slightly dirty afterwards. Bean's mom and I almost fell over trying not to laugh at the women in front of us in line... they were buying nice burgundy fabric and camo fabric for -- I shit you not -- a wedding. One of the women had chosen burgundy and camouflage as her wedding colors. Her fiance had apparently just joined the National Guard. "It's gunna be real tasteful," she was saying.
So we got the pool back to the house, filled it up with water, and immediately Leo hopped in:
We were up there for a few days, and it was a nice visit. We took the 101 on the way back, which is a much more pleasant drive than the 5, although it added a few hours to the trip.
We'll have to make that drive again when it's cooler, maybe go hiking up there when it's not on fire.
I can't stop listening to these two songs today:
You can't actually embed official videos anymore apparently.
You can't actually embed official videos anymore apparently.
