The Big Trip

It's impossible to explain our past California travels without first sharing about what we affectionately refer to as "The Big Trip".

Scotty and I had officially been together for only four months (and living together for most of that), when we embarked on a major road trip.

California Dreamin' (but not for long!)

Very soon we'll be taking a trip to one of my favorite places. That's right, we're going to California!

I first fell for the Golden State years ago, on a cross-country road trip with my family.

Me in Yosemite National Park, age 10

Six year later and just before my junior year of high school, my mom took me to San Francisco for a five-day mother/ daughter trip. We spent the days walking around, checking out Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf, eating outside at cafés. I loved the salty ocean breeze, the variety of places to eat, and being in a place full of energy and activity.

 

San Francisco, 1998

Mom and me, Sonoma County, August 1998

 

Years later, I spent a summer working and hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail in Central California in my early twenties and was hopelessly hooked on California's natural beauty.

 Stanislaus National Forest,  June 2005

Stanislaus National Forest,  June 2005

Edison Lake, John Muir National Forest,  July 2005

 

Edison Lake

Together, Scotty and I have traveled to California many times. On this trip we'll be flying into San Francisco, spending a few days there, then picking up a rental car and making our way down the coast, with stops in Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and the LA area. In the spirit of our upcoming travels, over the coming weeks I'll be sharing some of the highlights of our past travels in the state.  

Sunrise in Anza Borrego State Park, California,  November 2008

On Highway 1, Coastal California near Monterey

Picnic lunch in Cambria,  January 2007

The best part about going to California is that (almost) none of it has cost us a fortune (with a few notable exceptions, ahem, ahem, Harbor Island San Diego). If you don't mind spending the night in a tent or a hostel at times, exploring California can be very affordable. Also, keeping an eye out for deals on the internet and traveling at non-peak times helps. And there are always opportunities to see and do a lot thanks to a mostly mild climate year-round.

California is the kind of place that seems to always have something new to discover. If you have any suggestions for cannot-miss places, please feel free to share in the comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Camping in the Channel Islands, December 2008

Alaska cabins with a view

After sitting a computer all week, the only thing I really want to do is get outside on the weekend. Even though we've had some beautiful days this season, there are also plenty of cold, rainy, windy ones to balance things out. And who wants to hike in that? We do!

Hiking is a lot different than walking to work in nice(r) clothes. I don't care if my hair gets messed up, or if I'm wearing rain gear and Xtratufs. I'm out there to play and get dirty. But at the end of the hike, it's nice to dry off and get warm and that's where the cabins come in.

I've written about them before in this post, but wanted to share our most recent cabin getaways. They really are one of my favorite things about living in Southeast Alaska (thank you Forest Service!). So to help us stay active and ward off cabin fever (no pun intended), I reserved at least one cabin every month through December (after that, I'm hoping a sunny beach may materialize). I made the reservations all the way back in August because Saturday nights tend to book up quick among the weekend warrior crowd.

Here are the two cabins we've been to within the last month:

Eagle Glacier Cabin

In mid-September, we hiked out to Eagle Glacier Cabin. It's really one of my favorite places.

It had been raining a lot recently and the marshes and rivers were high. About halfway through the hike out, we came across this landslide. It was so recent (within a week, we guessed) that the trees were still very alive and the dirt was fresh.

This rock gave me the heebie geebies.

The 5.5-mile hike is difficult with quite a bit of scrambling involved. There's not much elevation gain, but a lot of up and down, climbing over roots and rocks. It's a real workout. As a result of the difficult hike, the cabin isn't as heavily used as some others, which adds to the feeling that you're really getting away from it all.

Eagle Glacier Cabin- September 15, 2012

Check out the views:

 

The reward at the end of the trek is completely worth it: a cute little cabin perched on the edge of a glacial lake and surrounded by mountains. The trees at higher elevations were just starting to change color. If you yell, the mountain echo back what you've said. The natural acoustics are really pretty amazing and we always end up laughing at how ridiculous we sound.

This gives a new meaning to the term "ice fishing".

 Scotty succeeded in getting a chunk of ice out of the lake for cocktails that evening.

And to cool the coconut water we brought for breakfast.

That night we built a fire with the wood someone had been kind enough to leave inside so it would dry out for the next visitors. We prepared some more wood to pay it forward.

John Muir Cabin

Two weekends ago, we hiked 3.3 miles, one-way, up to the John Muir Cabin. The trailhead begins at near sea-level in Auke Bay, and reaches an elevation of 1552 feet. From the cabin, you can see all the way down the Gastineau Channel.

This same hike was actually the first one we ever went on together, in early fall 2006. We brought subs from Subway and ate lunch on the front porch of the cabin, breathing in the fresh mountain air. We've been back many times since.

Scotty taking a well-deserved nap upon arrival

The hike is moderate, with wood planking much of the way once you get to the upper elevations through the meadows. In months of freezing weather, without snow, they can become very icy and good traction is a must to avoid slipping. In winter, deep snow makes snowshoes or cross country skies necessary. We've made do without both before and learned the hard way.

The real reward is the view at the top and a lovely, heated cabin with plenty of windows, all for only $35 a night.

Candles are important and pretty much necessary, especially this time of year as our part of the earth turns away from that sun. We bring a plastic bag of tea lights every time.

So what else do we take with us to make our cabin stays comfortable? I'll be back soon with a post on how we pack for cabin-camping and backpacking.

Where we live

Welcome to our current home!

This is what it looked like before we moved in:

And after:

Entryway (the bathroom is through the door to the left)

It's nice, clean, recently renovated, and really, really small. In the early weeks of being there while we were missing our old home, when Scotty came home from work his greeting went like this:

Scotty: Honey? Honey! Where are you? Honey?

Me: I'm right here. You can see me!

Scotty: (Still calling for me) Honey? (Pretending to be startled) Oh! There you are. I didn't see you.

Me: (Trying not to laugh) Ha ha, very funny. 

There's literally nowhere in the place you cannot see from the front door. It's a studio, basically a mother-in-law suite on ground floor of a house with the owners living in the house above us. When we first moved in, the lack of space for our things was almost disconcerting... I mean, where would everything go? But it was the nicest place we could find for the money and walking distance from my work.

View of the Gastineau Channel down the street (and my walk to work)

And so, we embarked on a crash course in minimalism. In doing so, we were forced to let go of things we weren't crazy about and store the rest. Fortunately, we have a small storage room to use elsewhere in the house and don't have to rent one. It still always seems like there is more stuff that needs to go, though. 

The kitchen was another thing to get used to. There's no oven, only two electric burners.

Originally, it was furnished with a large convention oven (like an oversize microwave) but neither of us really wanted to use it. So our landlords agreed to store that too and we invested in a $20 countertop/ toaster oven. A year later, it works so surprisingly well for us that I don't even miss having a regular oven. We cook and bake all the things we used to, but just have less leftovers. I even used it to bake Scotty a miniature birthday cake!

We honestly don't mind living in such close quarters, though of course we have our moments just like any couple. I think it helps that we share a lot of the same interests. There are certain things I wouldn't want to deal with in a small space that fortunately my man doesn't do (like watching constant sports or playing video games). Like me, he grew up playing outside and getting outdoors and being active has always been an important part of our relationship. The one thing I would like to have is a designated art space that could be left mid-project.

Perhaps most important to our living in a small space is that Scotty and I share the same need to be super-organized. Capt. Scotty likes to equate this to being on a boat, where everything always has its place (safety first!). For me, making sure everything is clean and put away means peace of mind.

We say that if we ever have a house, we would like to build it ourselves and make a separate little cabin that can be used as a writing/ art studio. There would also be a place for dirtier projects like woodworking (something I'm interested in and Scotty is pretty good at).

Check out the awesome countertops he made for his work to go in an educational nature center. I love that he knows how to do this kind of stuff. I told him he should make something like that for our future home, they're so pretty and unique-looking.

 

As for the wildlife we used to have at our old place, not much has changed in that department (though we do everything in our power to discourage bigger critters like this one from coming around!).

 Just your average black bear sighting in our driveway

On balancing home and travel

"Be mindful of where you put your attention; the shape of your life will follow."~ Author unknown

Our old house in Juneau

It doesn't take long after we return from a trip, for Scotty and I to start planning the next one. Sometimes we even have two or three lined up. Part of this may have to do with the fact that Juneau is surrounded by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. You can actually only drive about fifty miles of road, north and south, and maybe fifteen miles east and west. When you get to one end it looks like this in the north:

And this in the south:

Hence, one two of the reasons we travel so much.

But traveling also means directing resources- money, energy, time- away from home. And getting a home of our own is something I've begun to really, really want. Part of that realization sparked when Scotty and I had to move out of the little cabin/house we rented for over five years together when the owner sold. That was a little over a year ago. And although our current place is fine, it definitely doesn't feel like ours the way the way the old one did.

Juneau's real estate market is such that you can't get much for under $250,000. And as of yet, I just don't want to devote such a large chunk of my income to paying a mortgage and interest. So for the time being, we're still renting, though we're working on changing that.... in an unconventional way, of course. ;)

This article that inspired me to think a little more about the decisions we make regarding home and travel. It basically reassured me that while making a comfortable home is indeed important, experiences can be incredibly valuable in maintaining a high quality of life.

I'll be back soon with more about life in Juneau, Alaska!

I may be living in something like this upon retirement if I don't quit buying plane tickets. Actually this is so cool, maybe I'll keep buying plane tickets!

(Teardrop camping trailer, parked at the Auke Rec Campground in Juneau)

The last day of our Canadian-Alaskan adventure

The next morning at the Laughton Glacier Cabin began with more rain, but then some breaks in the sky appeared. We watched the clouds drift over the mountains on the other side of the river.

My good man making breakfast in the cabin

Blue sky a.k.a a sucker hole 

(because if you believe it's going to be sunny, you're a sucker)

After breakfast we packed up and decided to try to hike up to the glacier. But we had procrastinated in our packing and ran out of time on the hike, eventually deciding it was better to turn around than miss our train back to town (and subsequently miss the ferry home).

River next to the trail going to the Laughton Glacier

Despite our rush, we got back to the trailhead in plenty of time for the 10:55 a.m. pick-up. By then the sun had come out and we were forced to wait in its warmth. Being an explorer is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!

A few shots of the train approaching the loading platform:

She'll be coming around the mouton when she comes... :)

We arrived back in Skagway around noon and collected the car from the ferry terminal. Then we had three hours before boarding the ferry to go back home. First stop was a nice hot shower at the RV park and then we sought out lunch at a fish n' chips stand. It was good, but we agreed that Casey's fish and chips in Atlin were definitely better.

Walking around Skagway, we also made a delightful new discovery: the Lemon Rose Bakery. Stepping inside we were immediately met with the comforting smell of freshly baked bread and pastries. We went in thinking we would get a few rolls to make sandwiches and left with those, some sesame seed bagels, and a large chocolate chip cookie, still hot from the oven. The lady behind the counter carefully wrapped up everything and cheerfully chatted with us about the summer season. A wonderful find and definitely worth the stop.

Hungry again- back in the galley aboard the MV Malaspina

The ferry departed at 4 p.m. and arrived back into Juneau by 11 p.m. We had work the next morning so going home we agreed to unpack later. We both tired by then, but in a good way. And after essentially living out of our car for a few days, it felt especially nice to be home.

While it's true that living in this part of the country isn't without its challenges, there are some pretty awesome parts, too. Scotty and I found that getting away, even just over the mountain range, really helped us gain a better perspective, geographically as well as culturally. It was really fun to explore more of our own backyard and we definitely plan to go back to Atlin for some serious fishing.

We have some more adventures coming up in the weeks and months to follow. A few are still in the works, but one is set: a trip to California in late November. It's just about six weeks until our departure and I can hardly wait. I'll be back soon with more about the next great escape.

Coming up, I'll also be sharing more about life in Juneau, recounting some of my favorite places from this summer in New York City, and other travel-related topics. If you've read this far, I hope you're enjoying reading this thing as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

Happy arrivals and departures!