Geo: 42.1947, -122.708On the road in my new home. Ahh! I was surprised to see that Honey Lake is actually a lake. Of course, it probably doesn't get more than 4 inches deep, but whatever. Susanville is just as depressing as I remember. Northeastern California is more beautiful than I remember. It's funny - most people think of CA and all that comes to mind is San Francisco, Los Angeles, or the big hot valley full of fruit and assholes. People from southern California have it in their heads that San Francisco is northern California. Not sure if you guys have looked at a map recently, but there's a couple hundred miles above that. But you probably don't care, anyway, which is fine, cause I doubt they really care about you, either.Oregon! A couple times as ... read more

Geo: 39.5245, -119.812Wide open valleys, devoid of any vegetation more than waist high. Absent of brilliant green. Absent of shade or towering pine. Lucky to have green grass call it home. Rabbitbrush, thistle, juniper, sage. (Nothing on earth can compare with the scent or the hue of Sierra Nevada sagebrush. I remember coming come from New Zealand, after living there for 6 months. My mother picked me up at the airport and we drove out to Washoe. I hung my head out the window like a dog, bliss filling my nostrils at the prodigal smell.) Mountains in every directions at various distances. Those closer clothed in greens and browns of juniper, pinion, ponderosa. Each range growing more and more aqua as the distance grows, until the furthest mountains are just a pure, deep blue. Some people, ... read more

Geo: 37.8772, -119.727It's kind of a shame that, having grown up just a few hours away in Reno, I had never been to Yosemite. Then again, I highly doubt I would have had the same respect for it that I do now. But then again, again, if I went when I was younger, my parents would have been driving and I would not have had to deal with the traffic jams that plagued every bit of the main valley!I hate to start off with the bad, but I'm already on that track, so what the hell... even though I was there on weekdays, it is peak Yosemite season, and the place was a zoo. One visit greeted me with a probably 15-minute traffic jam at the entry gate. And you don't have to worry about being ... read more

Geo: 34.3608, -117.632Warning: Long entry (but worth every damn word of it)My friend Jose was living in Wrightwood as part of a small team building a zipline course. When I had visited him the prior weekend (see entry here), he had told me that Saturday was going to be a free friends and family day for people to see the course. Although I really wanted to get on the road, how often do you get to go on an awesome zipline course that your friend helped build for free? I was able to kill enough time in southern California and make an appearance.A product of Navitat Canopy Tours, the course was actually built by Bonsai. We ran the course in small groups of 8 or so, departing around noontime. We suited up in our sexy harnesses, ... read more

Geo: 34.0533, -118.245Driving across the Los Angeles city limits while listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers just felt right.Thanks to Facebook, a friend from Denver found out I was in the LA area. She and a friend had come down for the weekend to get a good fill of dancing, drinking, and clubbing - California style. I met them at their hotel right downtown - the Omni - a 5-Star luxury California dream with more class than I could ever dream (or want) to have. I pulled in to the front roundabout to ask about parking. Three or four attendants were standing outside, none of whom approached me, but rather just stared in disbelief at my struggling, dirty, bug plastered, mud splattered truck pulling in to their establishment. Surely, this man is in the wrong place, ... read more