Personal space in a public place? hahahaha

Wow, I still can't get over our day yesterday, it was just so right in so many ways. Well today is the last day of September, it's almost kind of like the ending to a long chapter...the Summer Chapter of our book! Last night when we parted ways with J & J, we headed up to a new place to sleep. We were going to go to "the place where the RV's sit on the side of the road" but as we drove by slowly to investigate, it looked pretty jam packed and it was dark and we didn't feel like messing with it so we headed to another spot that we had as back-up. It worked out perfectly for sleep, peace and quiet. Since we headed off to sleep way earlier than usual we woke up way earlier than usual, so we drove back to Shaver Lake. I have to say being self-contained is much easier, especially when you just want to get up and move! We drove back down to the lake and since we were the first ones there (it was only 8:15 a.m.) we were able to get the primo spot on the rocks to be level all day, instead of cocked at an awkward angle like yesterday.

[caption id="attachment_1149" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Leveled up[/caption]

It was super peaceful, there were skiers on the glass water and I even fed the ducks...one duck turned into five. I love ducks!! Savannah acts likes she's tough and she's gonna get 'em but as soon as she hits the water, she turns around...she's so funny.

[caption id="attachment_1150" align="aligncenter" width="300"] So graceful[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1151" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Not a wasteful duck![/caption]

Look at Savannah in the next picture, she is so focused on the bread and wondering why she isn't getting any! Silly baby! And why do I look like Casper the Ghost!? haha

[caption id="attachment_1152" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Ducks!![/caption]

 After my duck feeding frenzy I made COFFEE!!!!! There is nothing like being on a peaceful beach in the early morning hours with noone there with a pipin' hot cup of REAL coffee with REAL creamer in your hand...it's perfect.

Today is Sunday so with that we were bound to get people around us and being the magnets that we are to "rude" people these days (although everyone just tells us it's California) we were definitely going to get some traffic! It started out with a couple of (big) fishermen guys in a paddle boat, they were funny to watch, then the couple with the 4 wiener dogs that were "just a delight" (not), then a houseboat that came to shore to party along with a jetski and lots of people.

[caption id="attachment_1154" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Paddle Pals[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1155" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sunday Funday[/caption]

It was all good, we don't mind people... just mind our space and it'll be cool. The "nice" couple's dogs kept wanting to come check out our spot, probably due to the sammies I was making and Savannah is just so fun to play with, the girl was NOT having it although I told her they were fine...she didn't like that! And although she didn't want her dogs coming into our space, she sure didn't mind her husband doing it! He had 4 fishing poles set up in the sand, one of which was almost right in front of where we were...where I was feeding the ducks not long ago. He then had to come into our space and sit in our camp and fish on the rocks in front of the van for about an hour...ummmm, sure come on over, you don't have enough sharp hooks in the water already so we can't go in...come into our space, into our bubble, we love to look at your big fat red shirt while gazing out at the lake....Noooo problem. (Now I know this is a public place but I think we are of a handful of people that actually still respect personal space...so annoying.)

[caption id="attachment_1156" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Thanks! You're special sir![/caption]

Whatever...

I didn't let it ruin my day...just a few minutes of it! heehee I did however meet a super nice guy and his daughter that were from Madera, they were just up for the day. It was funny I was washing all of our silverware in the sand (sand= abrasive!) and his dog ran over to me and almost knocked me into the water...big dog, he came running over to grab him. He probably thought it was funny to see some chick washing her silverware in the lake! I don't care, it was the best idea I had all day! haha

After all of the lake shenanigans we decided to pack it up a little earlier today than yesterday to get a good resting spot for the night. We ended up going to "Meditation Point" (the first camping spot Bob & Miss Cherry camped at). It was just as beautiful as we remembered it AND no one was there so yay for us!

[caption id="attachment_1157" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Meditation Point[/caption]

Now that we are in a spot for the night I am making pa-shgetti for dinner...just waiting for the noodles to boil and then we'll probably just take it easy...no T.V. reception or internet in this spot.

What will tomorrow hold for us crazy bohemians?

PEACE 

 

Just a bunch of dirty hippies

We're awake to a new day. The temperature is dropping but still beautiful, almost everything is packed in the van, we are almost outta here! There is a feeling of accomplishment in the air as we get going today. We came up here to work and get stuff done...we have done just that. Along the way we have also made some great friends with fun and everlasting memories. It's definitely changing into Fall but it's been a great Summer!

We decided to take one more walk through our amazing Summer Home for thank you's and good-bye's...this land has been more than awesome to us! We walked over to the "new knoll" that we never moved over to and talked about staying there if we were to come back again. As we were strolling, chatting and taking it all in one last time we spotted "Wendy" in a new spot so we walked over to say a morning hello to Jenn & Johnny.

We sat and talked with them for a bit, talking about a million places we could go from here. They are like our very own information kiosk in the woods! haha They're awesome! There was talk about meeting up at Shaver Lake but we still had a lot to get done, so no plans, but if there was time left in the day...why not!? And we know Savannah won't have a problem with that...as long as her new 'boyfriend' Johnny is there...

[caption id="attachment_1129" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Such a whore![/caption]

We got back to the van and broke out into major work mode. We tied up all of the loose ends from yesterday, repacked some things and two hours later we were ready to rock 'n' roll!

[caption id="attachment_1130" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Driving away[/caption]

We had a bunch of garbage to dump and some things to return to people but we were still able to get everything into Joon Van and get on with our day! It was weird to see the spot vacant of all of our 'crap', no bags, no kitchen, no lulu lounge, no chairs, no 'Bug hunting...just the woods, just as it was before we got here in July.

[caption id="attachment_1131" align="aligncenter" width="300"] That's just weird[/caption]

We said our good-byes to SoulRaven & Bob. Miss Cherry had also jumped ship and had left a couple of days ago...and yes, we got to say good-bye to her. After dumping trash and refreshing our water we figured we would go meet up with J & J at the lake, it was still pretty early in the day and it was soooo beautiful...Let's go!!!

[caption id="attachment_1132" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Aye thar' maties![/caption]

We had a great rest of our day, totally relaxing, stress-free and with great friends. How much better can you get? Even though it's a nice temperature outside (nice enough to wear your 'kini) the water is still pretty chilly so we just chilled outside in the sand and in Wendy. Wendy is the ultimate beach van, almost like it's made to be on the sand! We played with the dogs...Rain is such a goof with her sticks and this time I think she was playing with an entire tree!

[caption id="attachment_1133" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Silly girl[/caption]

As the day went on, much fun was had; a million and one conversations, suntanning, sunburning, juggling, laundry, fetching, pictures, goofing, laughing, watching horses, watching the boats, Sweetarts, hunting dogs...lots of memories being made.

[caption id="attachment_1134" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Double Trouble[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1135" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Me & my girlfriend![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1136" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hunting Weirdos[/caption]

 Jenn & I had been talking about showers during the day. I said if she went in, I'd go in...or we could go together (into the lake)...she wasn't going for it, a little too chilly! She said that Trish told her there were quarter showers around here somewhere and she had tried to find them a week ago but never found them. Of course, we had to go on an adventure to try to find them again! Even though the sun was just beginning to set we started on our million mile hike! haha Okay it wasn't that long but it might as well have been. We walked in the sand, in the silky mud, up rock walls, down rock walls, through campsites...by the end of this we could be tour guides to the entire Shaver Lake area! As we were walking through the silky mud field Jenn spotted 7 Deer, they were just chillin', so calm and beautiful. I love moments like that.

[caption id="attachment_1137" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Lucky 7[/caption]

As we walked and laughed ourselves silly we saw numerous wood carvings of mostly Bears and Eagles, a big fish cleaning station, truckers that don't wave (how rude), campers sitting by the campfire, and asphalt that seemed like it was never going to end!

[caption id="attachment_1138" align="aligncenter" width="225"] "We're at your bears, come pick us up!"[/caption]

 We finally arrived at the Ranger Station or front entrance to the campsite we had been walking in...er, staying in, haha. We told the guard that we had heard a rumor that there were quarter showers around here somewhere! After a little schmoozing...okay, lying about being campers there, he took a map out and showed us where to find them.

[caption id="attachment_1139" align="aligncenter" width="300"] NOT my blood! Gross![/caption]

Where do you think they were? At the fish cleaning station that we saw as soon as we hit asphalt from sand! Figures, right!? We got a hell of a lot of exercise though. We turned back to walk in the exact direction that we just came from, also a good thing we didn't have to walk farther due to the sun really starting to sink behind the trees. We finally found the hidden showers....after a little bit of investigation. I really think they try to hide them from you.

[caption id="attachment_1140" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Horror Movie or Real Life?[/caption]

Wow, what an amazing feeling; hot, well semi-hot for me, showers with running water so you can wash ALL of the soap out of your hair. It was quite glorious!

As we walked back to the boys on the beach, the sun had definitely set and the dazzling Full Harvest Moon was shining with all of her beauty and was starting to dance on the water of Shaver Lake.

[caption id="attachment_1141" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Love this time of the month![/caption]

What a perfect ending to a perfect day. We are fully packed, stocked and out of Tai Shan. We spent the last day here at the lake with our awesome friends. We are getting to witness the Full Harvest Moon together on this amazing lake in the California mountains. Everything is right, right now. I feel like things are just starting for us and how crazy that tomorrow is just a few hours away and we really don't know what's going to be waiting for us when we get up in the morning. If we wanted a life of adventure I think I have to tell myself that we have found it!

Sleep tight ya'll

 PEACE

Going to try to put a video on here...not sure if it will work. I hope it does...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xu1jdk_94-packing-and-leaving-tai-shan_travel

 

 

Field Trip Freedom

First, I want to put out a peaceful loving vibe to all of those that have to go through memories and mourning every year on this day of September 11th. I hope this day finds you in a happy peaceful place and that you spend it remembering those, that have been lost, in an amazing way. We celebrated Freedom and Liberty together today at Shaver Lake. Jenn came over around 10 a.m. to see if we were still going to go with them...of course, something I've been looking forward to since we were invited! She told us it would only be the three of us and SoulRaven; Bob had left for a two week "Alaskan Vacation" (really just going home for a bit), Miss Cherry was watching the pups and Trish kidnapped herself and was no longer with us. So a foursome it was. We (J' & I) were going to drive Joon Van but after SoulRaven drove over to our camp in his van and some conversation, we decided to all go together in his van. Driving on these rocks and roads is a totally different experience then our van, it was interesting but fun!

[caption id="attachment_895" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hold on for a bumpy ride!![/caption]

We drove down to Shaver Lake and actually drove right down onto the sand, parking right in front of the water, other than a Dust Devil, we were the only ones there.

[caption id="attachment_896" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Whipping up some dust for lunch![/caption]

The weather was beautiful; the sun was out, no clouds, the sand was hot (a little too hot without shoes) and the water was pretty cool. We waded in the water for a couple of hours, trying to immerse ourselves thoroughly but (other than North Western SoulRaven) was thoroughly impossible!!

[caption id="attachment_898" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Wading Beauties[/caption]

Even after just being waist deep with my hands in and out of the water and pretty cool winds, half of my hands turned numb finally getting me out of the water and wrapped in a towel. We sat on the shore and swapped a million and one stories of people of the world, travel and funny tid-bits of information here and there and even had some hot dogs and chips for lunch!

[caption id="attachment_897" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our own little "island" for the day[/caption]

The dogs played with & against each other, running, chasing, catching balls and trying the frisbee. We even got Zeke & Savannah to come a little further out in the water then they usually do...and Rain was a champ swimming and fetching!

[caption id="attachment_901" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Nana' needs a little encouragement from daddy[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_900" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Zeke, Thee funniest swimmer I've ever seen[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_899" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The "Rain"ing Champ[/caption]

After getting out of the sun just a bit more, even with a small chill in the air that sun was no joke, we just sat and talked some more getting Jenn & I to a topic of coordination, which lead to a "cute" balancing act...let's just say she definitely has more coordination than I do! I gave it a whirl though and didn't do amazingly bad but J' came out a little bit ahead of me on the game.

[caption id="attachment_902" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Clownin' Around[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_903" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Coordination Cutie[/caption]

We wrapped it up at Shaver Lake when the sun started hiding behind the trees. We headed back up the mountain to our camp where we sat, talked and laughed some more. I made everyone some dinner, just some simple chicken and veggies, the pups were pooped and laying around...all in all it turned out to be a Fabulous Freedom Day! I hope you were able to spend the day with the ones you love and remembering them if they weren't physically with you. It is a day of remembrance so remember to live, love and laugh and one day you'll be together again like a day never passed.

PEACE

 

 

Happy (2nd) Sweet Sixteen to Me!

Today I get to celebrate my second Sixteenth birthday! No, I didn't get a car but I did get a sweet little celebration...J' is so good to me! We made a day out of going into Shaver Lake, we had to do a little bit of shopping anyway so it was perfect. We started out by taking showers in our Solar shower, it always feels good to be clean and that thing does a pretty good job.

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Just wanted to see what I looked like[/caption]

When we got down to Shaver Lake we decided we would stop in for a quick bite at that awesome pizza joint. We got a mini Hawaiian pizza and a drink for only $5.29 (or something like that), pretty cheap for amazing pie! They always seem to be hella busy and today was no exception, they were slammed. We received our pizza within about 15-20 minutes, not too bad and sooo worth the wait!

[caption id="attachment_313" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Busy little place[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_314" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hungry birthday girl[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I never get my (entire) way on pizza, but today it was all about the Hawaiian! Woo Hoo!![/caption]

After we filled our birthday bellies we headed down to Shaver Lake. It's a beautiful lake as far as the eye can see with huge granite boulders to climb on or look at or play on and around.

I told J' we should definitely come down here for a day, it's free and available so why not! Savannah chased ducks and swam a little in the water, she's afraid of the "waves" (the bigger ripples from the boats and wind). She was so funny, she would get in the water and the 'wave' would come and she'd jump back on shore like a jumping bean...she's a silly girl.

[caption id="attachment_317" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Chasing the poor duck[/caption]

I took pictures and pretty much had my head down looking for pretty stones, rocks or anything else I could find. I'm a little scavenger! Oh and I tripped on the only pine cone on the entire beach...it can happen anywhere ya'll! I found a bell, a couple of pretty rocks and a small piece of Quartz (and lots of glass, that I ended up putting in my pocket to throw away later).

[caption id="attachment_319" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Soaking wet & filthy, that's my girl![/caption]

Oh, we (mostly me pointing them out, haha) found pictures in the clouds. Remember when you were young? Did you ever lay in your yard or anywhere else in the world and make pictures out of the clouds...well I did and I did today as well. I found a heart...just for me on my birthday, a dolphin, a sparrow and a whale or mermaid tail...I'll say mermaid because they're a favorite of mine.

[caption id="attachment_321" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Heart and Dolphin (the sky not the clouds)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_322" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sparrow (I think that's what they're called)[/caption]

It was pretty hot at the lake, so you know what that means....Ice Cream!! We huffed back up the hot sandy hill to the van and went to the Bakery.

[caption id="attachment_323" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Workin' my way up to Ice Cream![/caption]

When we drove back into town, we saw this awesome bus that we saw a few days back. This thing is totally Retro and so very radical, I think we both would drive the hell out of that thing if it were ours. Take a look...

[caption id="attachment_324" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Enough room?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_325" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Awww, yeah son![/caption]

We finally made it to the Bakery to get our ice cream on. This little town of Shaver Lake is poppin' I tell ya. There are people everywhere, it's better than Fresno though! Everyone up here is just chill, it's probably because they are here to get away from everything, so they're just nice. We got our ice cream; I got mint chocolate chip and J' got his chocolate, both in big waffle cones and just one scoop was juuuusst right.

[caption id="attachment_326" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Get in my belly![/caption]

After ice cream, we hopped across the street to the market and picked up a few items we were out of and some dinner items as well, we invited Bob & Miss Cherry over for dinner. We ended up going to two markets because they didn't have some stuff we wanted at one and Miss Cherry asked for food for her lil baby, Tony and we had to get that at the other market. The bill always seems to shock us every time we go to the markets here, it's just plain ridiculous what they charge.

[caption id="attachment_327" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Yep, we're in America alright[/caption]

Once we got 'home' we put our stuff away and just hung out until it was time for dinner. Bob & Miss Cherry came over around 5:00, we made burgers and had some potato salad. Tonight would be the last night that I could go all out on food, for tomorrow I have a lifestyle change with my diet. So bring on the food!! Like I said, we had burgers and potato salad and then you may have already guessed it but do you know what Miss Cherry did? No, not cookies....a cake...a chocolate cake. Oh boy, my self control just went out the window...but it's okay tonight! Right...please.

[caption id="attachment_329" align="aligncenter" width="300"] 2 candles for my 2nd Sweet 16![/caption]

The cake was delicious as delicious can be. You know what else Miss Cherry did? She made me stuff! Pretty stuff too! She made a beautiful Amethyst and Pearl bracelet with matching earrings...just for lil ole me. She is so thoughtful and awesome, I'm so glad she came into my life

...and Bob too...he helped by licking the bowl when the cake was made! hahaha Awesome Bob, so awesome!

[caption id="attachment_330" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I got a present![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_331" align="aligncenter" width="300"] She's so sweet...and talented! Thank you Miss Cherry!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_332" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ...and everyone sang to me![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_333" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I'm a ballerina princess...yes I am![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_334" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Homer is pretty excited about this whole thing![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_335" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Group hug! Thanks for making my day more awesome!![/caption]

I thank everyone who made my day pretty darn special even though we already celebrated (yep, my babaa' loves me). I stuffed my gut and then gorged on cake later that night 'til I was sick (I know, I know)...but that was it for this girl. Tomorrow is a new day and will be full of healthier choices. I'm excited about the changes, it's going to take some time and some work but I can be really dedicated when I put my mind to it...and who can't stand to be a bit healthier, eh???

To fresher and healthier tomorrows...

PEACE