Preparing to go and then some ...

Leaving is not the hard part, but getting ready is!

I was born to journey, to go, to feel connected to the wanderlust that resides within us.

A long trip, 5 weeks to be exact, takes time to plan out. Not every detail of course but with the timing of our trip, late August through early October, we decided it would be nice to have a rough outline.  I've actually always liked outlines; just enough to get you going but not enough that you can't create your own story or change your mind in the end. 

 It is mesmerizing to explore all the options available to you in these far away lands from the comforts of your own home. For me that means, PJs and coffee in hand, drooling over all the awesomeness that is to come. There are so many tool these days too that help you get good accurate information. I use Travelocity.com and Tripadvisor.com for most reviews, tips, and traveler bewares. Also you can get contact information and connect directly with the hotel, which is recommended in some places. Especially the ones that are a little more remote like Morocco and parts of SE Asia.

I've spent months planning, looking, reading reviews, organizing, and connecting with people, trying to find the best of the best for our adventure. Not the best things really, but instead the simple pleasures, the most different, the weirdest and kindest things we can do the better. I want to see a different side of humanity. One that is not within the US confines of culture and media, social hype and stereotypes. I guess they'll have there own misrepresentations of the way things should be but at least it will be a divergent opinion from what I'm used too. I try and read some history too cause we are shaped by the things that come before, there is no way around it. 

Our trip, will be epic! 

5 weeks in Europe and Northern Africa, 6 countries, and lots of towns and cities in-between. My partner in crime is a seasoned traveler and a wonderful companion for this journey across the pond and beyond. We will be visiting family in London and a friend in Paris. We are luckily to have both during our travel abroad and are looking forward to getting a local feel and a trusted source on how to find the best French 75s. 

Where to go and what to see, you ask.
We will be traveling around Europe and hitting Morocco, yes Africa. 

It will be no surprise to anyone that knows me well, that my first stop had to be Amsterdam and the only place we'll spend time twice. The other emerald city in my heart! My life has been so influenced, both for the good and the bad, by a single plant. I've always been a lover of dirt and the things grown in it, I'm an avid gardner to this day, but this plant was very different. Things are finally starting to change in the states; People are seeing the medical benefits as well as the, unfortunate but inevitable, commercial benefits too. Amsterdam has always had acceptance for this style of life and activity. I want to see it, before its something of the past.

A beautifully old city, with deep history and scars, built alongside canals and open public spaces where you can partake in almost any of your heart's delights, all of them if need be, with no abasement from others.  I'm hoping for kindness, I'm longing to connect. 

Amsterdam, I come to you giddy, wide-eyed, yearning for an acceptance, a welcoming to the part of me most unknown and a side I'm so ready to explore....

May the journey begin ... 

Lake Siskiyou, CA with a side trip to Burney Falls

Camping, by default is badass but road trip camping is better!

You're in close quarters, hopefully with someone you like, for an undisclosed duration of time, that could change at any minute,  headed somewhere magical. I mean not always but most of the time there is this sense of fleeing the reality that is and going out into the world, into the woods, into the open space and filling it up differently.

    

Lake Siskiyou, CA was our destination. It's just on the other side of I-5 from Mt. Shasta, which is another beautiful spot in Northern CA. We had 4 days, our car loaded to the max, and an appetite that couldn't be sated for the sublime outdoors.

We arrived to the campsite 8 hrs later and this was there to greet us. We had arrived! The drive was beautiful and filled with the sounds of the Grateful Dead, Jack Johnson, and Bob Marley to name just a few. One a side note, I never knew or appreciated the Grateful Dead until a few years ago and many road trips later. We set up camp and enjoyed a local brew to call it a night.

I'm a morning person, always have been. I like to get up and watch the world take shape, energies stirring to life, things waiting to happen. Drinking my coffee before most people wake up is a normal occurrence. Camping is no different for me and my sweetie. We got up with the sun, made a little breakfast of bacon and pancakes (cause we're camping), drank some instant coffee

 

 and we were off to hit the trail for our monster walk around the lake and some exploration.


We headed out clockwise around the lake and it was beyond beautiful. The natural world is something else, it reminds me of untold truths and limitless possibilities.

     

       

  

         

This place is just so beautiful. We started in the trees but found there was so much more here than forest. Barren grassy lands with lots of California poppies, tons of dead old trees that birds where using as homes, and the water was so inviting. The walk, just over 7 miles, around the lake was not that difficult but even in the early morning when we got started it was already hot, hot, hot out. We had finished our 2.5L of water in the 2 hours it took us to explore and were sweaty ready for a dip in the lake.

This was our view of Mt. Shasta from the "beach" at Lake Siskiyou!

One of the neat things about camping here, besides the magnificent lake that was way colder than it looked, was that our campground was not only outfitted with a working bathroom, a few sites down, but the bathrooms had showers. I don't know about you but usually showers aren't an option while camping and it was a refreshing change this camping trip.

Rose with the sun the next day and decided to drive to McArthur-Burney Falls state park. It was a 30 min drive south east but so worth it. The falls are not the longest or the largest California as to offer but I think they are the most beautiful. Teddy Roosevelt even declared these falls "the eighth wonder of the world."

There was a 1.3 mile trail loop around the falls from the marina so we parked the car and headed out.

       

The trail was pretty flat, and an easy walk around. Beautiful fallen trees being reabsorbed into the earth. Birds, squirrels, I'm sure there were insects too, all making use of it, finding a way to make life from the departed. This being all being surrounded by healthily flourishing green trees and some volcanic ash too. We even crossed paths with a Pacific Crest Trail access point where I had a "Wild" moment... haha 

           

You can hear the falls before you see them. We get to little bridge above the falls, photo-op and continue on. The creek is Burney creek that helps feed the falls. We got peek-a-boo views of the falls through the trees as we made out way down the switchback trail. 

           

These twin falls are 129 feet high and accompanied by numerous plumes of water. The falls are feed by an underground aquifer so it flows year round even when Burney creek is dry. There was water flowing from every directions out of the rocks, not just at the twin falls. 

 As we proceeded down the path, we saw a fly fisherman actually in the water. I knew I had to get to where he was, a place most people didn't go. I jumped off the trail, slide down the rocky descent, and there I was at the bottom. I could feel the spray of the water hitting against my face, so invigorating. I felt connected to the earth in that moment; the powerfulness of the water rushing from somewhere unknown, the beauty that surrounded me from all directions effortlessly, the energy that was pulsating through everything, unseen, just being.

It felt good to be present, in the moment.
On our way out of the falls and back to the car, we miss a whole busload of tourists coming down to experience the magic of the falls. Luckily, we had gotten our private moment, well mostly private with just us and the fisherman.