posted April 27, 2013 02:35 PM            

If you've done some traveling of your own, what areas were your favorite and why?

posted April 28, 2013 11:45 AM            

It is not down in any map;
true places never are.
~Herman Melville

The World is a book,
and those who do not travel read only a page.
~St. Augustine

“Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

posted April 29, 2013 12:46 AM            

I remember thinking Mt. Shasta was beautiful from a distance (it was almost summer but still had snow on it, which was exotic to me as a Texan, even as the land we were driving through was warm & dry), but I didn't really enjoy my stay there (but all kinds of interesting if sometimes unstable people live in the area, which may or may not be to your liking, only one was dangerous but I expect she's either dead, institutionalized, or in prison now). Be sure you carry a cell phone if you go wondering in the wilds (especially mountain climbing), and I think I heard that cell phones don't always work.

And then there's the Olympic National Park. Expect it to be wet.

I also liked driving along Highway 101 north of Mendocino County and finding camping spots (especially in the redwoods, and again the sites can be crude). Beware that it can be misty and chilly in the morning, even in the summer, and in the winter you can even be hit with flash floods (woke up once to the tent filling with water and barely got it out before it was washed away). And they have beautiful beaches, but every once in awhile (especially winter) someone gets injured or even killed by sneaker waves (think of it as a tiny tidal wave carrying debris and can even drag a walker out into the ocean, and btw, the ocean there is often very cold, especially in winter!). As long as you stay alert (and can either run fast or keep your distance) then even if a rare sneaker wave crashes onto shore (and can wash people off docks, those warning signs aren't just for decoration!) you can evade it (I did barely escape one in Del Norte by the skin of my teeth, it would've gotten me had I not been paying attention). Oh yeah, be careful driving the 101 during storms, sometimes the ocean can actually send waves over the highway making it especially slippery (and even leaving some debris behind) and the winds become so powerful that it will increase your chances of sliding (even a thick pickup I was in got pushed into the opposing lane this way, luckily most people had better sense than to be out in it anyway so the opposing lane was clear for us).

While Del Norte & Humboldt are especially beautiful, be wary of leaving the beaten path as there are a lot of hidden drug crops and the people who maintain them don't take kindly even to innocent trespassing. Some people also go there to "drop off the radar" and tend to be paranoid (or at least taking offense at intrusions to their privacy) so if you can avoid it try not asking directions from homes that appear like the owners want to be hid from view. Don't get me wrong, the majority of people are fairly normal, Arcata has some especially strange but friendly people that I enjoyed (and if you think you're smelling pot then you are), and as long as you stick to the maintained public trails and roads then you should be absolutely fine as the people I'm warning about take effort not to be found in the first place, one reason they get paranoid if you find them anyway. Oh yeah, it seemed to me that many roads (especially among the cliffs and hills like 101) had to be cleaned from landslides and other debris a lot so that it wasn't uncommon that work crews slowed travel down a lot in that area.

posted April 29, 2013 05:56 PM            

T, Bird of Paradise takes at least 4 years to bloom under ideal conditions. Hope yours is mature and a couple yrs under her belt.

'Due to the fact that this exotic flower came from South Africa, the Bird of Paradise thrives in hot and humid climates. Its’ ideal daily temperature is anywhere between 68°-72°, while it likes the nightly temperature to be anywhere from 50°-55°. The soil of this root based plant should be kept evenly moist from March-October, and kept dry throughout the rest of the year. Be careful of overwatering, as this plant can get root rot from too much moisture. The other ingredient to growing this beautifully different flower is patience. It is very common to not see the first flower bloom for 3-5 years after the first seed was planted. But once it does bloom, the view is spectacular.'
http://www.proflowers.com/guide/flower-glossary-birds-of-paradise

posted May 02, 2013 11:53 PM            

Was looking into some areas in the Sierra Nevada mountains aka "black bear country". Learned about "bear boxes" and how important they are. Bears have been known to smash people's vehicle windows open to try to get food and they recommend not even leaving so much as a gum wrapper in your car, or else you might be asking for trouble.