Boulder Creek RV (3)

Summer 2024 comes to a close! We did get in one very spectacular bike ride at the end, which was a nice way to punctuate the trip. Temperatures in Redding really did not come down, despite the best efforts of the magical sunglasses, but at least the smoke had cleared, giving us the window we needed. It’s a good thing we hadn’t tried to wait it out in Ashland, hoping to see an outdoor show, because that performance got cancelled. As it was, we arrived a day early in Redding, in triple digit heat, and nothing to do until the next morning. So we decided to be mall walkers.

The mall in Redding is everything you could hope for, with really its only requirement being that it has air conditioning. We were not the only couple doing laps and we got into a little competition somewhere on the third or fourth lap. The sneaky couple made up time on us when we went through the arcade, but we were too fast for them. We would like to note that Cinnabon refuses to sell Mini Bons as singles; you can only get them in a four pack. This is a mistake and they should change their policy. This needs to become a movement.

Once we had gotten in all our steps and closed our activity rings, we went to dinner at the surprisingly excellent Thai place, Janya’s, that we found last time. We tried a spice level of “3” and found that to be plenty exciting. Maybe .5 too exciting. For dessert we tried ice cream at 32 Below. It was good, but I found the mint flavor in the mint chip to be too unassuming. The chocolate chips were good though. By that time, the most intense heat was calming down and it was time to go back to Dory to prepare for the early ride.

The only way we were going to be able to complete this 44 mile ride without it being miserable was to get a really early start. We figured that meant getting back by 11, and before noon for sure, because it would already be in the upper 90s by then. We decided we were going to shoot for leaving at 6 am. We spent the rest of the day pre-packing our lunches and periodically declaring, “WE RIDE AT DAWN!!” It helped to use battle cries as much as possible. And by golly, we were on our bikes and rolling at exactly 6:00. It was chilly even.

There aren’t many activities in life that can get me out of bed before showering and sunrise unless it’s some kind of emergency. This ride is worth it. It is just a little bit of rigamarole to get from the campground to the bike trail, but once you are on it, you’re looking at 20 solid miles of protected trail, skirting a river, and finishing at Shasta Dam.

The first third or so is more traveled, as it is closer to town and runs through public parks. There was no one else around in the early morning, so we got to enjoy the sunrise over the Sacramento River all by ourselves.

The next third takes you up and over a ridge, so there is a lot of climbing and descending, coupled with incredible views. There aren’t many access points to this section of the trail, so the only other travelers are bikers.

The last third is a rails to trails that stays steady and flat, all the way to the bottom of Shasta Dam. There is a campground there, and an OHV day use area. No one was there, perhaps because other people are smart about not going camping in dangerous heat. There is one last steep climb up to the dam, where there are always armed security guards posted. And after you cross the dam, there is a Visitor Center.

The Visitor Center was open, and they had some really interesting exhibits explaining how the dam was built. They give tours as well, but we didn’t want to take too much time there. It was already starting to warm up.

We booked it back, keeping a pretty aggressive pace. In the end, we arrived back at Dory by 10:30. It was a mere 89º at that point. We had conquered the day! I then got to take a shower and we both took a long, satisfying nap.

The downside of finishing your goals really early is that you then don’t know what to do with the rest of the day. So we went back to the mall to beat the pinnacle temperatures. While Dory does have AC, and it does keep her cooler than the outside hellscape, it got up to 86º inside and wasn’t all that pleasant. Better to go somewhere. We finished with a return trip to Janya’s, and ice cream at Taste & See, where I had a Captain Crunch flavored scoop on a freshly made waffle cone. That was fun for about the first third, and then I had mild flavor regret. I should have gotten the chocolate ganache.

At last, it was time to hit the “Go Home” button on the Honda navigation system. It’s around a three hour slog down I5 to get home, so we had a lot of time to process all that has happened this summer. Of course, the headline is Richard losing his job, and getting a job in my school district, all in the space of a couple weeks. We are both overall excited about this change, but also anxious to see how it’s all going to work. Money will be a lot tighter, so we definitely aren’t going to be out camping as much. It’s really good timing that we only just got our home into a state where we like it.

And speaking of home, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the new plants had filled in over the summer. I really only lost a couple, and they are on the hillside in the back, where I expected some might not make it. We have missed the cat quite a bit, and we weren’t sure he was going to remember us, seeing as how we had been gone almost as much time as we’d had him before we left. But there he was, all meowzy, trotting toward us at the sound of our voices. There was a minute of hesitation when he saw us, but then he flopped over at Richard’s feet and gave up full belly rub access.

Our neighbors never cease to be the best friends anywhere. They treated us to a delicious homemade dinner and swim. And on their anniversary, no less! We figure we will be able to return the hospitality a whole lot more now.

We gave ourselves a couple of days to regroup before starting work. Besides doing laundry and relearning how to use house things, I really wanted to fix the pond and save the water lily, if it still existed. I went and got a used wine barrel, put in a plastic liner, and bought a little fountain filter. Richard rewired an outside outlet, and boom. Water lily pond! For good measure, I put a wire mesh cover over it. We’ll see whether that can thwart the marauding raccoons. I also cleaned up the front pond and placed all those little rocks I collected over the summer. Home has a good vibe to it.

Some summer takeaways this year include, first and foremost, another thank you to Randy and his guys. We really appreciated having Dory for this trip and the Truma worked flawlessly the whole time. I also officially like the Fantastic Fan cover. That addition meant the top could be open all the time, even in wind. We simply removed four clips and took it off after packing down to head home. Easy peasy.

The biggest star of the summer though has to be my Aventon e-bike. That was a game changer. Not only did it mean that I could do rides with Richard, it also eliminated all of the conflict over him wanting to do rides and me struggling with what to do in the meantime. Overall, we were more connected with each other and I didn’t have bouts of feeling lonely. And I got to experience all the things. Super win!

We also noted that the model of 2/2/2 (less than 200 miles of travel, arrive by 2, stay at least 2 nights) changes the whole feel of the trip. There is less stress and more time to explore. The rule of “get hookups unless there is a good reason not to” is still a good rule. The only thing we didn’t research ahead of time was cell service. On long trips, having little or no cell service gets old really fast. We need to put more effort into planning for reliable service stops. I would say a misstep was not planning the route the other way around: i.e., heading north via inland routes first, in June, and then coming back south via the coast during the heat of July. We could have avoided the high temperatures and smoke if we had done that.

Onward into new territory! We might not be voyager-ing as toujours as we used to, but rest assured we are optimizing life so as to maximize travel joy. As always, no matter how it goes, we will just keep swimming.

Total miles from Emigrant Lake: 134.0, 17.5 mpg, 3 hours 1 min. Site 52 full hookups. Excellent cell for both. Good sewer at site. Nice bathrooms with showers. Pool.