Signs in California can really spoil your day

We left our Boondockers Welcome site in Reno, Nevada, around 9:30 a.m. and bid adieu to Scott, our host. Very soon we crossed the border into our sixth state of this journey--California. We took a picture of the sign welcoming us to this state. But we have to say that we saw a few other signs that weren't as welcoming.

One of the signs read, "Gusty winds next 56 miles." Another said, "Wind Warning Area--Reduce Speed when Flashing." We were relieved this morning that the lights weren't flashing, because pulling a trailer in gusty winds would be no picnic.

Speaking of food and picnics, we had forgotten about California's inspection stations until we saw that sign. The inspection station sign reminded us that "all vehicles stop ahead". Because they grow so much fruit, this state doesn't want visitors bringing in fruit infested with pests that could harm their harvest. Denisa was counting the apples and nectarines and fresh peas in the refrigerator, wondering if we should pull over and eat them all before we had to give them up at the inspection station. But the inspector didn't ask any questions, and motioned us through with a pleasant, "Have a good day!"

Another unique California sign was "All vehicles when towing--max 55 mph." We didn't remember being in a state that mandated a slower towing speed. 

We had to laugh at another set of signs warning drivers to "turn on headlights next __ miles." They had a sign EVERY mile! We saw one of those signs counting down the number of miles remaining for over twenty miles. Really?!?

But the most painful California signs were found at gas stations. We really didn't like seeing gas prices that started with a $5! A sign like that can really spoil your day! It's a sad day when you get excited and fill up early because it's such a bargain when you find gas for ONLY $4.69 per gallon.

Another sign of California was the fire-scarred hills. While we were lucky to be traveling in a summer that we hadn't seen any smoke, wildfires are a fact of life in this area. Some trees have been planted among the burnt stumps that rise up to the top of the mountain.

After so many miles of traveling across the deserts of Nevada, we were delighted when California suddenly turned into a tunnel of evergreens. It was sprinkling, and we were enjoying temperatures in the 50's around noon in the month of July. We rolled down the windows to take in the fresh air. We tried to name this smell as if it could be packaged into a candle scent. How about "Forest Fresh" or "Pine Showers"?

When we saw a brown pull-out sign, we stopped in at the Hat Creek Overlook to get views of the surrounding area. Mark was pointing to the snow-covered Lassen Peak in the distance.

A closer look showed its commanding presence in this area, and all the snow on this peak at the end of July. We would visit Lassen Volcanic National Park soon, so we would be seeing that mountain up close.

We got checked in and set up the trailer at Hat Creek Hereford Ranch Campground--our home for the next four nights. It was the weekend, and the place was filled with noisy groups enjoying the pond and each other.  That's what we get for booking a full-hook-up private campground on a summer weekend. We had been camping at primitive sites with no hookups for 10 of the last 11 nights. Our solar had worked great, and without electrical hookups there had been no loud music playing and few large groups. 

This campground was so crowded that we decided to escape the mayhem and take a little drive around our neighborhood. We stopped in at the Forest Service visitor center in Old Station, California, for advice. One of their recommendations was to go to Burney Falls State Park late in the day to avoid the crowds. So at 6:00 p.m. we drove the 18 miles to the state park entrance--only to find they weren't letting people enter. Someone had fallen at the falls, and they were keeping the entrance road open for the emergency vehicles that had just arrived. Fine, we can walk instead of driving in. So we found a nice wide parking area a half-mile away and well off the road. You can see that we were not a hazard to the traffic. It was also well past another of California's signs that said "no parking."

When we hiked into the state park, we were trying to get information about what had happened. We asked another visitor if she knew what was going on. She explained that a woman had fallen and hit her head on the rocks at the base of the waterfall. The ambulance had arrived to take her to the hospital. Then she asked us, "You're not from California are you?" We assumed it was our accent that had given us away. Then she explained, "No, it's because someone from California would never approach a stranger and ask questions." Interesting!

Because they were moving the woman up the closest ramp area of the falls, we hiked the long way around to get our first glimpse of Burney Falls.

The long way around was peaceful, with a bridge over the river that feeds the waterfall.

We were taking our time walking through this forest trail, knowing that the main viewing area would still be closed if they hadn't moved the fall victim yet.

This was a down-hill hike as we followed the river down-stream and over a bridge.

It was very wet in the canyon, where the rocks were all wearing green velvet moss.

By the time we finished the 1.2-mile trail, the area was cleared of emergency personnel. We got a picture together because there were still plenty of people here this evening.

One of the guys we talked to had taken the spur trail off the Continental Divide Trail just to see the falls.

Burney Falls was just a common California state park until someone posted a video that went viral. Now people from all over the world were flocking to Burney Falls State Park. You can see that even in the evening, it was impossible to take a picture without lots of people in it.

But if you hike down those steep rocks and take the right angle, you can make it look like you were there all by yourself. We were walking very carefully on those rocks, knowing that you can fall and hit your head.

It was lovely, but we're not sure it was worth the parking ticket we found on our front windshield when we got back to our pickup. It said that we were parked in a no-parking area and we would need to submit $71 to the California state court. That kind of news can really spoil your day!

Since we were already out exploring, we continued with another spot on the tourist map. As we crossed the highway bridge, we looked out our passenger window to see another bridge that Hollywood had made famous.

We haven't seen it (yet), but this old bridge was featured in the movie, "Stand By Me."

The barricades kept us from walking on the bridge, but it looked pretty sturdy from the top . . .

and the side. We guess we need to put this movie on our "to do" list once we get home.

Still feeling a bit glum after getting that parking ticket, we made the 20 mile drive back towards home and made a stop in the tiny town of Burney, California.  We found some bargain gas for only $3.99 per gallon and filled up our tank. The little grocery store was having a special on nectarines for only 35 cents per pound and $1 per pound for cosmic crisp apples. Maybe California isn't so bad after all?!? But our crowded campground was still hopping this evening when we tried to go to bed. Our next door neighbors were up playing games and laughing until well past 11:00 p.m. We would be glad when this California weekend was over!

P.S. Mark appealed the parking ticket. His appeal mentioned that we were well off the highway in an area outlined with logs that certainly looked like a parking area with the five other vehicles. He had the picture we took to prove that. He told them that we tried to park inside the state park, but weren't allowed in because of the emergency vehicles. He also mentioned that we were old and not familiar with this area, and asked for forgiveness. Several weeks later we found out that forgiveness had been granted and it had been dismissed as "a one-time courtesy." Maybe California wasn't so bad after all.

Lake Tahoe - Have we mentioned how blessed we are to wander another of God's wonders?

We left the casinos of Reno behind today, for a refreshing trip to the country's largest alpine lake. Based on the advice from our Boondockers Welcome host, we knew we had to get to Lake Tahoe early just to get a parking spot. So we were up at 6:00 a.m. and on the road at 6:30. It was an hour drive to the lake from our neighborhood in Reno, Nevada.

There's no such thing as an easy parking space right by the water. The best we could do was a parking spot almost a mile away high above the lake. We wanted to put our kayak on that beautiful blue water. So that meant we had to carry everything with us--that's the 40 pound kayak and the seats and the pump and the oars and life jackets and water shoes and snacks and water and . . . Mark carried most of it on his back for the 0.8-mile hike down to the water.

Our research said that most parking around the lake costs $5 per hour. But the parking lot above Secret Cove was free! We were lucky enough--and early enough--to get one of those free spots in the parking lot that was filling up fast. From there, dirt trails led through the forest down to the water. So we walked onto the trail for Secret Cove. It was a little unnerving to see the sign on the tree, "Clothing Optional may be present on beaches below."

Yes, you understood that right. Secret Cove is a nude beach! But we had read that the nudes don't usually show up until it warms up in the afternoon. It was a little too chilly to be stripping down this morning.

We were the only ones on the secret cove beach at 7:30 a.m., and we were wearing long pants and long sleeves!

This was the second trip for our new kayak. It was getting spoiled to hanging out at beautiful lakes in its short career.

Depending on the direction of the camera and the shadows, the water can change colors from turquoise . . .

to a lovely teal green.

But it was always perfectly clear, and always surrounded by rocks or sand.

Mark likes to climb on rocks, even when they're on the water.

Lake Tahoe divides two states. We were on the forested Nevada side of the lake. But we could look west into California to see taller mountains still wearing their snow caps.

Some rocks sticking out of the water were as big as houses.

Other rocks were barely sticking out of the water, but we could look down through the clear water to see that they were actually huge boulders.

Have we mentioned how blessed we are with blue skies and beautiful weather as we got to wander another of God's wonders?!?

With all the things we had to carry this morning, we forgot to bring the good camera. So when we saw families of ducks resting on the rocks, we were limited with blurry pictures on our cell phone.

We had been paddling about a mile when we got to a shallow, rocky beach.

This is Chimney Beach--named for the last remnant of an old house that once had a commanding view of Lake Tahoe.

Look at the color of that water! Have we mentioned how blessed we were to wander God's wonders?

It was so delightful to be kayaking in this beautiful place on such a beautiful morning. Mark couldn't wipe that grin off his face!

And we had all this beauty to ourselves. We hadn't yet seen another boat on this whole lake this morning.

We had only seen a few birds, sunning themselves on the rocks . . .

or doing duck aerobics stretches as we slid by silently in our kayak.

Wow! Have we mentioned how blessed we were to wander another of God's wonders?

Mark might have been smiling because this rock-lined cove was so lovely. . . or he might have been laughing at Denisa's fumbling attempts at taking his picture from the front of the boat.

After another mile along the shore, we paddled past Thunderbolt Lodge, situated right on the lake.

It looks like they have several rentals besides the lodge. We guessed that this cool old rock house with a watery front porch charges a hefty rental fee.

The Thunderbolt Lodge ducks didn't even acknowledge our kayak as we toured their home space.

Doesn't this large rock look like a great white whale coming out of the water to look around?

It was another 1.7 miles before we finally arrived at Sand Harbor State Park's beach. Our original plan was to park in their lot and start paddling from here. But they charged a $15 reservation fee, plus a $10 day-use fee, and their parking lots had no reservations left. We were glad our original plan hadn't worked, and we continued our search until we found our free parking area further around the lake. While we had found so few people on the lake this morning, we saw that the sandy beach at Sand Harbor State Park was already crowded.

The state park had a nice long sandy beach, public restrooms, parking lots, and then a very neat rocky beach area.

We walked all the way to the rocky beach, and you won't be surprised that Mark climbed on the boulders.

That's a nice state park beach, but it was so crowded with umbrellas and tents! They rent kayaks here, and the water close to the rental area was also full of boats.  This area was not nearly as serene as what we had experienced this morning.

Sandy Harbor State Park also hosts the Shakespeare Festival during the summer. One section of the park had an amphitheater that had nightly Shakespeare plays.

While we saw plenty of kayaks here, we saw very few people swimming in these clear waters. That was because that water was chilly! Denisa got in up to her knees and decided that was enough time in the water.

After a blue-sky morning, we noticed that the clouds were beginning to build. We were a very long ways from our pickup, so it was obviously time to start paddling towards home.

Have we mentioned how blessed we feel to be wandering one of God's beautiful wonders?

We put all of our supplies in the kayak with us, so we didn't have to go all the way back to Secret Cove beach. Besides, we didn't know if the "clothing optional" folks had arrived for their no-lines sun bathing this afternoon. We opted to get out of the water at Chimney Beach, hoping that the walk up the hill from there would be easier. It was not! We got the boat dried off and packed up and started that tough trip hiking uphill through the sand. It wasn't easier, and that 40+ pound pack was hard to get up the steep parts. The clouds were turning an angry gray color, and we were lucky to get back to the pickup before it started raining.

As we left our free spot in a parking lot off the highway, we passed a line of cars parked precariously close to the highway. This line continued for over a half-mile, when the road shoulders disappeared and they couldn't park. This was a week day. What would it be like on the weekend?

The traffic was crazy, and crowds were everywhere! We had thought about biking on the new East Shore Trail along the lake. But the thought of trying to find a parking place in the middle of the afternoon seemed impossible. When it started sprinkling, we decided that we were ready to leave this beautiful place. We were so glad that we got here early to enjoy the beauty and serenity before we had to share it with so many others!