The Chores (the stores) Fresh Air (Time Square)

Name the 70s sitcom that theme song/verse above is from...(oh, i just looked it up and it ran from 1965-1971, so its barely a 70s sitcom..oops!)

When we go to the hideaway, our lives take a complete 180 from our "city life". I hesitate to call our city life a "city life" because we're homebodies and barely even go out for dinner. And the city we live in doesn't feel like a big city even though it's the biggest city in the Bay Area. Yup, bigger than San Francisco and Oakland. But not nearly as urban. My city feels like a stereotypical suburban neighborhood with the white picket fence and everything.

On the flip side, our hideway is nestled in a remote town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. On a good day, it takes us 2 1/2 hours to drive the 140 miles. The little town has less than 1500 residents. Two-thirds of them are part-timers like us.

Most of the time we go up, we lounge around and let the laziness take over. There's something about the fresh air and the higher altitude that makes you chill out. But there are certain chores that we'd never have to consider in the city.

Like when our dogwood tree started acting unhealthy. Can a tree act unhealthy? Well, it was showing signs of not being as happy as the other dogwood trees in the neighborhood. For the past couple of years, the blooms in the spring were weak and shriveled. And the fall colors weren't nearly as vibrant and it was losing its leaves too soon.We knew that one of the main limbs had issues even before we bought the hideway 10 years ago. It broke my heart to even think about trimming that beautiful dogwood tree, and in our eyes it still looked very healthy and happy. Until the aformentioned acting unhealthy and giving us obvious signs of distress. So we consulted our neighbor who knows just about everything regarding life in the rural community, and he gave us some tips.

So on Saturday, we decided to perform our first tree limb amputation.In the background, you'll notice our watchful neighbor, the one who gave us the tips and loaned us the pole saw. He also recommended that I video tape the scene just in case we had an opportunity to send a mishap to America's Funniest Videos.

Once all the higher branches were removed, Jimmy concentrated on sawing off the main limb without harming the others. We think we were successful and can only hope that the tree will be happier and we didn't put her into even more stress.

A look at the carnage on the driveway. A small cedar tree also had to go. Too bad it wasn't closer to Christmas because it would have been a beautiful tree in someones home.

You might notice the replacement car of the volvo wagon in the garage. It's a 2004 Volvo S4. Not quite the dream car, but perfectly suitable for our needs right now and for the next few years.

In the city, we would have had to pay to haul away the debris. But that's not how it's done in the country. In the country, you build up slash piles and burn them. Wonderful neighbor took most of the slash and will burn it for us, but we took some of the debris and the collection of weeds and burned them in the side yard. And by we, I mean...well, you know what I really mean. But I did really help cut up the slash into smaller, more manageable pieces.

And thanks to the Rhino, even after dark, Jimmy was able to finish burning his pile of weeds.We're constantly amazed at how useful that Rhino is. Don't think we'd get as much use out of the Rhino in our city life.
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It's not all fun and games

Sure, we bought the Rhino mostly to enjoy exploring parts of the country we can't see in the car. But last weekend it was used as a workhorse, as it will much of the winter.

Jimmy cut a bunch of wood from the trees we had to cut down last fall. Hurray for firewood, just in time for the cold weather.

He cut the wood and hauled it to the deck, where it'll be stored during winter for easy access.

We got our first bit of snow that weekend. We'll certainly put that freshly cut wood to good use this winter!
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Enjoying summertime

Last year I commented that summer just might be my favorite time of the year. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the excessive heat, in fact, anything above 80 is practically sweltering to me, but summer is when we really get to enjoy our friends and family and all the outdoor activities available to us near our hideaway.

Last Friday, we headed out in our Rhino with the neighbors.

That little atv has proven to be worth every penny because we can to enjoy so much more of the forest and the views it offers. It really gives us so much more respect for our surroundings.Since we were at such a high elevation, over 8500 feet, the spring flowers were still in bloom and so amazing.

We rode to "The Top of the World". Not sure if that's an official name, but it sure felt like it. That's our neighbor who was a forest service fire fighter.

Jimmy's enjoying the views.

I'm enjoying the ride through a meadow.

When we got down to Herring Creek at 7300 feet elevation, our ride was almost over, so we hopped off our 'bikes' and enjoyed the sound of the the creek and the shade of the trees.


We were expecting other friends to arrive that evening for the weekend. When we got back to the hideaway, there was no time to make dinner, so we ordered pizza from Pie in the Sky and ate on the deck then made smores for dessert.

Drew, Jimmy and Sly have been friends since before high school. A couple of years ago, Jimmy and I spent a weekend with Drew at his family's hideaway near Clearlake. Drew and Sly had just spent the week there on vacation and happily, they agreed on coming to visit us at our hideaway for a couple of days. Friends that last a lifetime: Jimmy, Sly and Drew.

The next morning, we took the boat out on Beardsley Reservoir.

The lake was very full, nearly up to it's high mark, which made us very happy! Good snowfall this past winter.Our 'secret' waterfall from Cow Creek was flowing nicely. It's in a little cove and kind of hidden.

This was the 1st time anyone has fished with us. The lakes and rivers near our hideaway are supposedly great for fishing, but we've never had the chance to test it. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting for Drew that afternoon.

They boys went out for a while on their own to check out the dam. I enjoyed my time on the shore relaxing, reading my magazine, enjoying the views and soaking in the warm sun. But within 15 minutes of my solitude, the weather changed and I could see a thunderstorm heading in. The boys came back, we quickly packed up, and as we rode in the boat back to the launch ramp, we got pelted by the rain and wind. It only lasted about 10 minutes, so by the time we hitched the boat back onto the car, the sun was out again. We actually enjoy the summer thunder storms, but if lightning had accompanied the storm, we didn't want to be on the water. Luckily it didn't.

Before heading back to the hideaway for grilled burgers, asparagus, corn and more smores, we went up to Clark Fork River to enjoy the view of the waterfall. After dinner, we chatted and laughed on the deck with our little campfire till bedtime.

Good times. Good friends. Good summer.
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Jimmy got a new toy

and by Jimmy, i really kinda mean we. Because I'll enjoy the heck out of it just as much as he will.
Here's Jimmy backing it off the trailer for the 1st time. We headed up the mountain for our first ride, near Eagle Meadow. We've been up there before in the car and knew the dirt road would be more suitable in the Rhino.


Our 1st water crossing at Long Valley Creek. and my fist youtube vid.

A stop to enjoy the view of Three Chimneys in the far background.

He went out again on Monday with the neighbors. I wasn't feeling well, so I decided to sit this one out.The cool thing is that one of the neighbors is a retired Forest Service employee so he knows the forest like the back of his hand. He took them by a grove of pine trees that he had planted over 40 years ago when the area was burned in a forest fire in the early 60s. They also rode on a trail that was covered with wild lilacs.
I hope Jimmy can remember how to get back there so he can show me, too.
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