The Royal Newton Riblet Estate (Tourist Wine Trap!)
When I first arrived at the Arbor Crest estate tasting room in Spokane, Washington I had the mis-impression that this was going to be your typical wine tasting. “Oh yes, blackberry notes with a full body. Wait isn’t this a white wine?” Nope. This was not a trip about the wine – this was a trip about the Arbor Crest Estate, an estate owned by one Royal Newton Riblet. According to…
Kiwanis Monument – Oscoda, Michigan
I am back in California now, but before I return to blogging about life in the Sierra I wanted to share this Kiwanis monument located by Oscoda, MI. I have visited this monument previously with my family, but probably not since before college. In college I became a member of the Kiwanis, specifically the Circle K. Through Kiwanis and Circle K I met some amazing people, built some sweet snow…
Traveling to the Coast – Monterey and Artichokes
My parents had a nice long visit here in California, 10 whole days, and as lovely as Yosemite and the mountains are it isn’t quite the whole West Coast experience if you don’t get out to the coast! So we planned to get out to visit Big Sur, stay in Monterey, and hit up a few tourist attractions along the way… including this Giant Artichoke in Castroville! Next time I find myself…
An extra “E”, is that nessesary? Really, Renaissance Faire?
Due to the standby reason of having nothing better to do on the weekend Curtis and I agreed to attend the Northern California Renaissance Faire, and then I found out that we were expected to dress up. I mean I knew people dressed up for these sorts of events, but thought they were not the sort of people we hung out with. Turns out I was wrong, and thus I…
Lovelock, NV to Groveland, CA: The Finale of Our Roadtrip!
The finale is a bit of an overstatement. It was more like a great pleasure to get out of California Lake Tahoe Memorial Day traffic and find our hotel that basil took an instant liking to. Meaning he wanted to chew all the antique furniture, of course (We bunny proofed!). Leaving Lovelock, NV we put our lovers lock on the chain in the town that replicates an ancient Chinese tradition of people putting…
Twin Falls, ID to Lovelock, NV: Day 4 of trip to CA
After leaving Twin falls it was a jaunt down to the state of Nevada where Jackpot the first town across the border, in the middle of nowhere. It has a giant casino, of course. Our drive through Nevada was interesting, meaning flat roads with large snow capped mountains surrounding you. Two stops of note are listed sequentially below The town of Elko, NV which claims itself to the biggest small town in…
Butte, MT to Twin Falls, ID: Day 3 of Trip to California
After two days of driving until you want to die, the fun-er and less strenuous portion of the journey came next. This ensured that I would be able to check out more of the sights and attractions that Curtis would pretend to not like, but secretly enjoy. So before we left butte would check out three classic “Only in Montana” tourist attractions, and force Josh to drive the three (Basil…
Bismark, ND to Butte, MT: Day 2 of road trip to CA
Basil was so upset to get back on the road again today, although he was probably most upset because we made him sleep in the motel 6 bathroom, and nobody would like that. We continued onward anyhow into the rainy gray day that continued though all of North Dakota and Montana. It wasn’t a good day for photos, although the herd of vacationers at the Theodore Roosevelt national park rest…
Houghton, Michigan to Bismark, ND: Day 1 of a trip to California
Outside my window on 901 Houghton Ave there is a bird who in the morning calls a little song, wee-woo. As Curtis and Basil and I finally set off on our trip to California leaving Houghton behind the wee-woo brid was calling at me. Anyhow, Day 1, arguably the longest day of our journey though the back roads of the UP, Wisconsin and Minnesota before finally reaching one long and…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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