Before we left Northern California, we wanted to take another gander at the rural Siskyou County town of Etna, in the beautiful Scott Valley, just west of Yreka.
Etna has always been one of our favorite spots. With the stunning Marble Mountains as a backdrop, this old ranching community is the gateway to some of the most spectacular, rugged scenery in the state. We’ve had many backpacking adventures in those mountains, and were never disappointed (well, except once when cows trampled our campsite, but that’s another story . . . ).
Since we hit the road, Etna has always stayed on my short list of possible places in which to buy land. And now, with a good basis on which to compare it to, we set out to take a closer look.
As we drove from Eureka to Etna, and still hadn’t arrived after reaching the four hour mark, we started thinking, “Wow, this is farther than we remembered.”
It took us a total of six hours to get there, and “there” wasn’t really anywhere. The biggest metropolis, Redding, (population 90k) is two hours away. Getting to paradise was an exhausting, grueling drive. Hmmm, guess I blocked that out.
Nothing had changed since we’d last visited. The old familar landmarks were still there. Bob’s. The ice cream shop. The brewery. But after taking a hard look around, we realized that the place seriously lacked any kind of ethnic or age diversity, and even a real economy. Not even the summer adventurers like us could infuse enough cash into that area to breathe life into it the rest of the year. What I once thought was quaint, now looked like a tired town going down the path of extinction.
After consulting with a local United Country agent (UC is the best resource for rural property sales) , we hit the backroads to check out some land parcels. But to our disappointment, anything we could afford was either so far off the beaten path that four wheel drive was needed year-round, or it was in one of a couple of tidy rural subdivisions with cookie cutter “rustic” homes. Once we measured our criteria against reality, we knew this wasn’t the place for us.
After just two days, we crossed Etna off our list. And because the rest of California isn’t anywhere I’d want to live, we crossed the entire Golden State off our list as well.
Just a few years ago, we could’ve moved to this little piece of paradise in a flash. We were so tired of Eureka. But our world was smaller then, and we were too stupid to know any better.
Funny how 18 months on the road can change your perspective on things.
OK, so far so good with our upgrade to WordPress 2.7. No fatal PHP errors or major incompatibility catastrophes. This is a good thing.
But we haven’t yet upgraded the theme which is probably why your saying, “What’s the big difference?” But with so many hard-coded theme template modifications, I may not upgrade Mandigo anytime soon. The new version does have some pretty cool new features, but I think I’ll just quit while I’m ahead here and get to work on Jerry’s site to see what can of worms I can open with the Discussion Forums upgrade.
The only other change you may notice – if you ever used it – is the missing “Email this Post” feature. Well, the WP-Email plugin didn’t play nice after the upgrade so we’ve eliminated it. No worries though, the new Sociable plugin lets you email this post using the first “Share This Link” icon below.
Please let us know if you experience any new technical difficulties, or if your subscription feed no longer works. But then, I guess you’d never get this if it didn’t!
The new year brings change indeed. Everywhere, including here. It’s high time we upgrade WordPress and all the plug-ins on this site, so that’s what we’re doing.
The site may be down or appear broken for a while, but we hope to be back online soon … really soon. Please stand by.
What’s this have to do with Mt. Shasta or our dashboard Jackalope? Absolutely nothing. Just please stand by.
Back in the 1990s, New Year’s Eve was my favorite time to be an office worker in San Francisco’s Financial District. At the end of the last workday of the year, office trolls like me would gleefully fling the sheets of our desktop calendars out windows, off balconies, and in the air as we left The Office on the final workday of the year.
There was always a huge smile on my face as I biked home and rolled over the littered pages. Crappy boring workdays were now blowing in the wind, just another piece of trash that would get swept up by a street sweeper. As I headed home, I would think to myself, “next year’s gonna be different . . .” I was going make some real changes in my life, do the things I always wanted to do, and go places I always said I would visit.
But as the new year went on, I would fall back into the same routine as before. Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
Then, in 2007, real change happened to both Jim and I, when we sold the farm and hit the road. We were finally doing the things we always said we would do.
Yet, even last New Year’s Eve when we were in Florida, I wasn’t certain if that New Year’s Eve would be our last one on the road or not. In the back of my head, I thought there was a chance we would end our road trip as planned, settle down somewhere, and slip back into the routines of domestic life.
Wrong!
We will not be “settling” anytime soon. We love this lifestyle, and will keep our wheels turning wherever the wind blows us, for the foreseeable future.
On this New Year’s Eve, 12/31/08, I can honestly say that next year will be just as wildly different, unpredictable, and spontaneous as the year before. And I’m betting that by mid-year, much of what I expected would happen, won’t. And things I never imagined possible, will suddenly be within reach.
This is the biggest reward I get out of living like a gypsy. If I fully embrace this unpredictable lifestyle with flexibility and a good sense of humor, our year will always be more exciting and enjoyable than I ever dreamed of, during those days long ago when I left The Office on the last day of the year.
Finally, I’m getting to experience the kind of real change that I’ve always wanted in a new year.
Happy New Year everyone! May 2009 be full of joy and happy surprises for you.
Didn’t mean to be such a Holiday Downer. So here’s a quick recipe for some Holiday Cheer…
Let’s get one thing straight first: When it comes to fine cooking and cocktails, I don’t like recipes. But I will turn to one for inspiration and run with it. For instance … Liz’s theme cocktail at her Christmas party this year was a pomegranate martini of sorts.
I forget the exact name on the printed recipe placed by the ingredients, but I was more than happy to oblige as mixologist for the night and improvised with the following:
Lemon Smirnoff Vodka
Pomegranate Juice
Cointreau
Fresh Lemon
Soda Water (Optional)
I proceeded to make a pitcher of mix as requested so we could shake, chill, and serve upon request. I doubled the first batch, but it was way too dark. I mean really, three cups of juice!?
I like to taste the vodka in my martinis. I also left out the soda water, after all it was “optional” and no martini I know of calls for bubbles.
The end result was pretty tasty though … if I were to try and remember how I’d got there – for you recipe minded folks – I’d say start with a couple ounces of vodka, add a half ounce Cointreau, splash with pomegranate juice, rim your glass with the lemon, and save the soda for the morning. My only change might be to opt for Absolut Citron inshtead of Shmirnoff.
Living in a stick house with a well stocked bar, this is all fine and dandy. Believe me, ours was well stocked. But living on the road has it’s limitations when it comes to libations. With a cabinet full of bottles we once enjoyed the variety and choice of rum, vodka, tequila, gin, whiskey, brandy, or some combination thereof.
Living in an RV, we now drink the cocktail of the month. Without room to stock multiple bottles, we now focus on quality over quantity and buy one big bottle of good stuff at a time. It’s either Margarita time, or time for a Bombay Sapphire tonic. In a plastic glass of course. Or this time of year, perhaps brandy and cocoa in a travel mug.
So what am I to do with the large bottle of Bailey’s and two real glasses I got in this year’s White Elephant present exchange? Trying to polish off the sweet stuff by the time we hit the road will have us seeing more than pink elephants!
This one is for those who think they might have had a less than Merry Christmas…
Having not been home for the holidays the last two years, it was my turn to play Mr. Claus for the annual Agredano tradition of passing out presents to the little ones Christmas Eve.
Dressed up like Old St. Nick himself, I stepped outside the house where our family party was in full swing. Inside, the youngest nieces and nephews were anxiously awaiting Santa’s arrival.
Bag heavy with gifts in hand, I practiced my Ho Ho Hos, and prepared for the mayhem that usually ensued.
About five miles away, at about the same time, another Santa approached a different house, with less than cheerful intentions.
I was greeted by cheers and proceeded to put smiles on little faces.
At the Ortgea house in Covina, a young girl heard the knock and ran to the door to greet Santa. He immediately shot her in the face.
As the family screamed and ran for their lives, jumping out second floor windows, Bad Santa Bruce Pardo topped off his shooting spree by spraying everything with his homemade flamethrower.
Before the night was over, nine lay dead, the house was engulfed in flames, and 16 children were left orphaned. Here I thought I had it bad by getting a little headache and sweaty brow.
The next day, Christmas morning, Pardo was found across town with a self inflicted gunshot wound. An end that was much to good for him if you ask me.
It’s eerie to think this was all going down while I was doing my own Santa thing just a few miles away. Tragic stories like this one make us wonder how there can be such evil in the world. It makes us realize just how disturbed people can get.
But hopefully, they remind us how fortunate we all really are. And how when faced with troubled times, no matter how bad it gets – whether it be a divorce (like in Bruce’s case), the economy, or world famine – there is no need to go crazy with the racing fuel.
I did have a very Merry Christmas. Obviously much more than some others. I hope you can reflect upon yours and realize how wonderful it was too.
We’ve been staying with friends and family for so long now that I long for the comfort of our own home sweet home on wheels.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to visit with family and catch up with old friends. But packing a bag to stay in their homes just a few hundred feet from the comfort of my own bed is another thing. I feel kinda like Goldilocks. My back is a wreck from sleeping on beds too soft, or air mattresses on the floor.
And while it’s already been a couple weeks, it’s only just begun. We’re curbside once again, this time for the duration. Of the holidays that is. It may be L.A. but at least we’re staying put, where we’ll get lots of love and plenty of good food. I’m not counting the days yet, but do look forward to getting on the road again.
We may not be all that glad to be parked in Los Angeles for a month, but we are certainly happy to be spending time with family after more than 18 months on the road.
Thanksgiving was spent in our trailer at the foot of Mt. Shasta where my sister and brother-in-law have built and off-grid home.
It was great to see all the kids, who aren’t all exactly kids anymore. And I was able to catch up with my brother, who apparently doesn’t think we’re all that crazy for taking this trip of ours after all.
Christmas will be spent with Los Agredanos, and it’s well overdue. We’ve missed out on all the tamales, chocolate and quality couch time for two years in a row now. And yes, it may be L.A. … but it’s good to be back!
When you live in your rig in the wintertime, your RV oven can do double duty. It’ll warm your belly with great food, and keep your rig nice and toasty too!
Recently, I found this fabulous Skillet Cornbread recipe and tried it out on a helluva cold night.
The bread is the best I’ve made in the RV to date, and it came out great, even though I didn’t have any corn kernels, pimientos or scallions on hand. Give it a whirl next time you’re feeling a chill in the air.
1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 ear of corn) or 1 can (7 ounces) corn kernels, drained
1 jar (4 ounces) pimiento, drained
1/4 cup chopped scallions (about 2 medium-size)
Pinch paprika
Directions
Heat oven to 450 degrees F.
Place medium-size cast iron skillet (8 inches in diameter) in oven to heat.
Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium-size bowl. Whisk together the milk, 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and the egg in a small bowl. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until evenly moistened. Fold in corn kernels, pimiento and scallions until evenly distributed.
Using an oven mitt, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Brush the bottom and sides of hot skillet with the remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter (butter will sizzle as soon as it hits the skillet). Pour the batter into the skillet, spreading it to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle top with the paprika. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top of the corn bread is golden and begins to crack slightly.
Remove skillet to wire rack and let corn bread cool 10 minutes. Invert skillet onto cutting board; remove skillet, leaving corn bread on cutting board. Cut cornbread into wedges and serve warm.
Etna has always been one of our favorite spots. With the stunning Marble Mountains as a backdrop, this old ranching community is the gateway to some of the most spectacular, rugged scenery in the state. We’ve had many backpacking adventures in those mountains, and were never disappointed (well, except once when cows trampled our campsite, but that’s another story . . . ).
As we drove from Eureka to Etna, and still hadn’t arrived after reaching the four hour mark, we started thinking, “Wow, this is farther than we remembered.”
