Monday, January 26, 2015

Missing the sign.....

 Last summer we went to Taylor Lake, between Taylorsville and Antelope Lake in Plumas County.  I have heard of it, knew kind of where it was located so we set off with great expectations.  The drive to Antelope Lake was beautiful.  We drove around the south side and had beautiful views of the lake.  The water level looked good all things considered in this dry year.  We headed down Indian Creek towards Taylorsville looking for the signs to Taylor Lake.  We found the turnoff, no problem but that was the last sign we encountered.  It took my entire map reading abilities, George’s Eagle Scout skills and a few coin tosses to find the small lake (and we met a friend on the road who hadn’t been there in 25 years but thought we should go this way…).

Taylor Lake sits at the base of the Kettle Rock (elv.7820) and is a small natural lake.  Once I was home I asked for directions on Google Maps, and it had us traveling gravel roads from Diamond Mountain.  I have been on those roads, and that is not the way to get there.  There is a huge granite wall on one side of the lake with springs trickling down the crevasses.  Tall trees and an old burn area it was beautiful.  We saw osprey, a bald eagle, flickers and a small hawk I have to identify.  We launched our kayaks and paddled around the lake a couple of times.  What a wonderful day, lunch lakeside, good friends and a most pristine location.  I worked my upper body and had a good exercise experience.  Mission accomplished!


On our way out we looked at the turnoff we had come in on and determined we came in the wrong way.  We went straight out and came up on a junction with a “SIGN” .  How did we miss this!  So on the way home we found the “normal” road that was well graded and fast.  But we did explore on our way in and had an adventure.  I guess missing the sign is not always a bad thing.

The huge granite cliff,


George and I sporting a Bali shirt.

Well we picked up the Airstream from Paramount RV in Reno NV, they installed our new solar system.  We added:
2- 200 watt solar panels
2-AGM 120 amp hour batteries
300 wat solar inverter
Solar converter
remote sensor controller 
and a plug-in to add portable panels

Death Valley here we come!  Planning on staying at Bailey's Hot spring in Beaty NV, then dropping into the valley on the 1st.  With this system we should be able to keep the camera,iPad, iPod and phone charged.  When did it start to be so complicated to travel.  The Kindles hold a charge for weeks, so they are not the problem.  Excited to try the new system out and see how everything works.  We have a lot of dry camping planed this year.




Sunday, January 25, 2015

Figuring out this Blogging stuff

I have spent a ridiculous amount of a beautiful day sitting in front of the computer trying to figure out how to set up a blog.  This platform is popular and free and I can find "how to" videos on Youtube!  Thank goodness.  There are labels, pages and of course gadgets.  Changing the template makes all of the above look totally different.  I have lost pages, then found them later.  I am cross-eyed and scrambled and still not sure I am where I want to be.  I keep getting info on how to make money..... haha! That is way too hard for this gal.  I did manage to make pages and have posted photos to most of them.  I am trying to get this figured out before we head to Death Valley February 1st.

We are planning on camping in Death Valley, Furnace Creek Campground from the 1st through the 8th, then moving to Valley of Fire, NV.  I guess there are lots of hiking trails, petroglyphs and great photo ops.  After a visit in St. George with my mother, homeward bound around the middle of the month.  We spent a week last year around this same time and had a blast, need to see all of the big attractions we missed last year.
Goldfield, NV

One of the art installations in Goldfield NV

Dry waterfall on Natural Bridge hike DV



Zubranski Point

Scotty's Castle

Salt Creek


Sunday, January 18, 2015

Local Lakes

One of the main reasons I started this blog is to promote Lassen County. In 2015, I am planning on visiting every lake with water (an important distinction in a drought), kayak and photograph them all.  I took a map and drew a circle 50 miles out…. That is a lot of area. Here is my list of lakes and reservoirs:  If anybody has knowledge of them and they are dry, please let me know so I don’t make the trip.  This is 55 lakes and reservoirs!  I figure I need visit 6 per month!  Counties are close I didn’t specifically look at counties.



Plumas County
Lake Almanor
Mt. Meadow Res (Walker Lake)
Round Valley Res
Butt Valley Res
Snake Lake
Wilson Lake
Smith Lake
Lake Davis
Frenchman Res
Taylor Lake
Antelope Lake
*Juniper Lake
Snag Lake
Butte Lake
Window Lake
*Horseshoe Lake
Triangle Lake
*Silver Lake
Caribou Lake
Twin Lakes
Cluster Lake
Manzanita Lake
Lake Helen
Crumbaugh Lake
Jakey Lake

Shasta County
Baker Lake
Swains Hole

Lassen County
Echo Lake
Homer Lake
Dearhart Lake
Eagle Lake
Moon Lake
*Hog Flat Res
*McCoy Res
*Feather Lake
Ebey Lake
*Crater Lake
Straylor Lake
Jack Lake
Bullard Lake
Gordon Lakes
Summit Lake
Swanbereger Res
Heath Dam
Moll Res Lane Res
Hollbrook Res
Dodge Res
Carlo Res

I had to add a couple of lakes I missed:
Smoke Creek Res 
Ward Lake




Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Finding the Airstream


RV’ing vs. camping is quite a personal decision.  We were die-hard tent campers for most of our lives.  My family took me camping when I was two years old to Havisupi Indian Reservation at the bottom of the Colorado River.  We took packhorses in and spent a week.  I had to take a shovel and go dig a hole, so that was before pit toilets.  I remember the fire falls in Yosemite.  During the day a big bonfire was lit and hot coals were ready to be pushed over the edge at Glacier Point.  George is an Eagle Scout and spent most of his fondest backpacking/camping memories camping out.  So it was a HUGE discussion on whether to buy a RV.

After much discussion we decided a smaller trailer would suit us well. We started to look for a trailer small enough to get into National Parks and Forrest Service campgrounds, but big enough to get out of inclement weather when camping.  We looked at all of the new ones, but nothing struck our fancy.  We were driving up highway 1 at Pismo Beach and saw….Airstream's!  Had to check them out.  After recovering from sticker shock at the price of new ones, we knew what we liked but wasn’t sure if we could afford it.

I started haunting Craig’s List and looked for “vintage” (another term for old) Airstream's.  We found online forums, several pages devoted to older trailers and finally a friend found a 1962, 26 foot Overlander and was in the process of remodeling it.  We were hooked. 

We finally found our 1975, 25 foot, Safari Airstream, extremely clean inside with original interior in Rogue River Oregon.  When we answered the ad it was exactly what we thought we wanted.  It is comfortable, and everything we need fits but after a year, I decided I hate “Country Blue” décor, time to redecorate!

So I had absolutely no idea what to do inside an Airstream.  I have a modest budget but I don’t want to get carried away.  So I did an Internet search…wow.  So many ideas and not too many I was interested in.  There is an Elvis theme, a Route 66 theme, Yogi Bear, vintage camping and others color schemes and an infinite amount of themed trailers.  Then there are the Airstream's that have been gutted and turned into film studios, apartments, hotel rooms, dressing rooms of celebrates and portable offices.  The new Airstream's have been the canvases of famous designers and sold for thousands of dollars.  If you are ever in Cape Town South Africa, The Gran Daddy Motel has seven Airstream's designed by local artists as hotel rooms.

So we decided to re-carpet, upholster the gaucho couch and update the roller shades.  Sounds simple right?  I am cross-eyed from looking at upholstery samples, who knew!  Finding what I like is so much harder than I thought..  So the plan is find material for the couch then a coordinating fabric for the fabric covered roller shades I have committed to making.  After that pick a carpet that makes the colors pop but not show too much dirt, it is a trailer after all.  Easy Peasy… hahahaha.

There is a one-inch track that originally had colored plastic, which over the years has hardened and cracked.  What to do?  I found adhesive tiles from Home Depot, “Smart Tiles” and cut them in strips and threaded this into the track.  It looks fantastic, like real tile and makes the colors pop.  We found discount upholstery fabric from an online place, New Toto.com.  They were great and I highly recommend them.  They will send you free samples.  You tube provided instruction on how to make a fabric covered roller shade.  New carpet, we decided hardwood flooring was too cold for us, and the face lift was complete.  George spent this time buffing the exterior and working towards a mirror finish. 


We wrapped up the redecorating last year and went on the road to Grand Teton/ Yellowstone.  We thought we were the best looking trailer in the campground.  So I am posting my redecorating photos.  This year we are putting solar panels on the top and will be self sufficient for dry camping.  Will update when we get them on.
 before pit toilets

 Country Blue
 The new print.

 Looking towards the back bathroom
 My kitchen

Monday, January 12, 2015

Welcome to my view of the world

Welcome to my blog.  I thought all last year about starting a blog because I post photos of our trips on Facebook and have quite a local following.  I kept getting busy and procrastinating.  So here is a new year and I have a bunch of ideas I want to post here but…

Let me introduce myself and give you (and me) an idea of where I want to go with this blog.  I am Linda Robinette and have been retired for 2+ years from the State of California.  I have a degree in Nursing, Political Science and have worked in Law Enforcement, Nursing and Emergency Medicine.

I moved to Lassen County California, Susanville, the day before I started High school and didn’t know a soul.  After a rough start in Susanville, I never really left for long and now count myself a “local”.  I love Susanville and Lassen County and I think the idea for this blog came about from me trying to promote all of the fantastic things to do here and in the region.

My husband of 36 years and I have raised four boys and if you frequent the Lassen Ale Works, you have probably met a few of them.  We were involved in the local schools and the local Boy Scout Troop.  That was probably one of the ways we started getting out in the wild and visiting some of the fantastic local areas.  When we were young and broke, we took the boys out rock hunting.  We collected crystal points at Peterson Peak and fire opal in Virgin Valley NV.  I love rocks.

About ten years ago, we got kayaks and this opened the world of lakes.  Neither of us fish and we just didn’t go to local lakes.  When we started kayaking we started to explore.  I tell people there are about 20 lakes within 50 miles of my front door.  I think I am close but this year I have something in mind.

In 2015, I am planning on visiting every lake with water (an important distinction in a drought, with so far no end in sight), kayak and photograph them all.  I took a map and drew a circle 50 miles out…. That is a lot of area.  It’s going to be great!
We have also decided to do more local/regional camping this year.  We are the proud owners of a 1975 Tradewind Airstream.  This year George put on solar panels and now we are off the grid and ready for “boondocking”.

So other things I do: Gardening, canning and preserving food, make beer and wine.  I also make sausage out of wild game, and practice Charcuterie (look it up) and fine cooking.  I am enrolled in a jewelry class at Lassen College and have a small workshop where I make jewelry and teach myself metalwork.  We are owned by a Shiba Inu and an Akita (dog breeds).

George and I are travelers.  I make lists of places to visit and George does all the driving to get there.  I love to take photos of the beautiful and interesting places we go to.  There are not many photos of me, I am usually behind the camera.  I love macro shots and the small details.  I have taken quite a few underwater shots that I simply love. We are both scuba divers and try to make diving one of our trips every year. I will write a bit later about our trip to Bali Indonesia.  It was fabulous.

 I am sure I will want to add to what I have posted, but this is a start.  I hope you enjoy this.







Linda