Thom and Dar's Sabbatical Journal

We're back in Sutherlin. Arrived this past Thursday late afternoon, the 26th of March. The days drive from Susanville started superbly, with a very pleasant meander through the middle of the Lassen National Forest on CA-44, and, later, through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest on CA-89. The former route is a newer wide roadway; the latter, older and narrower. Truck traffic can be heavy but it wasn't particularly bothersome to us that day. Bright skies and clear air provided some spectacular views of Mt. Shasta along the way. I really like roads like this.

But once we got on I-5 at Mt. Shasta things deteriorated. The pleasant peaceful pace changed to a terrifying race of clenched-jawed idiots paying more attention to their smartphones than their cars while jockeying for any imagined advantage over someone else... anyone else. Two lanes full of moving metal made passing the rare slower vehicle tough. It was three hours of hell on wheels and we were happy to be back home... hap…

Today, Wednesday March 25, was an easy day on our planned northward migration. Only a little over 200 miles. Tried to find a place to camp for the night that was just, oh... another 60 or 80 miles further. But came up dry. With just the little camper it would have been easy. But with both the camper and the bushouse the possibilities diminish. And many federal campgrounds are not open this early in the season.

That was all a long way around to the fact that we're here in Susanville CA tonight, after an easy 217 mile jaunt. We've decided that tomorrow we'll keep the momentum going and finish the migration back to Sutherlin. It'll be a "big" day for us... something like 325 miles... but we're up for it. As I said last night, we can smell the barn.

We had one interesting situation today when we were exiting from I-80 to US-395 in downtown Reno. The off-ramps are close and a little confusing to the occasional traveler through here.  I was in the lead, Dar fol…

Tonight we're resting near Hawthorne NV after two days of driving. Pulled out of North Ranch Congress a little after 8am Monday morning and kept a good pace all the way to just short of Las Vegas. There we stopped to have lunch with good friends Doug and Kay. And not only was the conversation lively and interesting, we found a casino buffet on a senior citizens "buy one, get one" day... which means we stuffed ourselves for less than $5 each.

By a little after 3pm we were at the SKP coop park in Pahrump. Checked into "boondocking" and found Jimmy and Julianne... two more good travel friends we cross paths with often. The rest of the night was spent using adult beverages to lubricate some productive conversation. A very enjoyable time for sure.  I did fail to find time or energy to write the promised update post on our days travels.

This morning, Tuesday, we were rolling by a little after 9am on the nearly 300 mile drive to Hawthorne NV.  The sunny start to the d…

We're clearly anxious to get moving again. The past few days we've stowed and prep'ed and packed with vigor... to the point we're all set to take off in the morning. This'll be a full two days ahead of our original plan. Without a doubt, we're ready to get Winter behind us and, like a flying flock of flickers, start our summer migration northward.

Had a very agreeable visit with Dar's sister Cher this afternoon. Introduced her to one of our local hangouts here in the Congress area. Since most of our work was long done, we could enjoy the time and the conversation without distraction. Really quite enjoyable.

Early start for the bushouse tomorrow. Dar will take command of the truck/camper and I'll  be tagging closely behind. Will post an update tomorrow night.

Lately, regardless of who we're talking to or what we start talking about it seems talk usually comes around to something related to our planned Alaskan trip. And we've been finding no shortage of folks offering their advice regarding where to go, what to see, how to fish, needed equipment, how to handle mosquitoes, and on and on. Everyone has advice about mosquitoes. The best we've gotten so far is that AVOIDANCE is the only really effective way to deal with the little buggers... and that the best months for avoiding them are months that end with -ary.

With signs of Spring popping all around it's almost time to start our reverse migration northward and back to our base in Sutherlin Oregon. It's been an enjoyable Winter what with all the family doings, our sporadic excursions with the truck camper, and our successful escape from most of the snow, ice, and cold. But we're also ready to get back to our home community, reconnect with family, and get started on pr…

In early March Dar and I made another foray into the Sonoran desert... this time almost due south. Thought it was time to re-visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and the Why-Ajo area. (Why Ajo? Why not?) We were down here for the first time a few years ago, with the motorhome, and stayed on BLM land just south of the crossroads of Why. Our objective this time was mostly to get away... to trade our normal basecamp routine for some flexing of the exploring muscles... ya' know? Nomads and vagabonds can't sit still for long.

On the way south we tried to stay off the main roads, opting for more interesting secondary roads when possible. Vulture Mine Road out of Wickenburg and Old US-80 to Gila Bend. But once in Gila Bend there's but one road (AZ-85) that cuts through the Goldwater Bombing Range on the way to Ajo... and I don't think a prudent person should stray too far from the pavement along through here. As it was, we had to slow down a couple times to let a pack o…

In the last couple weeks we’ve visited Stanton Arizona twice. Not many of you have probably heard of Stanton, one of a large number of old mining towns sprinkled around this part of Arizona, but it's a well-known place among prospectors, gold bugs, and rock hounds. Located just a handful of miles from our winter base in Congress, it's off the beaten path... not to mention any hard-surfaced road. Here’s more from wikipedia:

The town of Stanton, like the towns of Octave and Weaver, owe their existence to a group of pioneers who discovered gold in the area in 1863. Led by the frontiersman Pauline Weaver, the explorers were camped along Antelope Creek when one of the men - a tracker named Alvaro - decided to go chasing after a runaway burro. After climbing to the top of what would become known as Rich Hill, Alvaro tripped over a pile of gold nuggets that were "as big as potatoes." Soon after, Pauline Weaver and a friend named Jack Swilling found another pile of gold on t…