Rambling

Today, on my kidless Saturday, I took another voyage through nature. But no, not to San Francisco. Not even in a westward direction. I actually went...east. I found myself exploring the Auburn State Recreation Area, a popular place apparently, which I have never explored before.

So I explored it.

It's a beautiful area partway up into the Sierra Nevada mountains and along the quarries of the north fork of the American River. In Auburn. Just like the name says. And despite the water level being fairly low at this time of year, it was a beautiful if not dusty place to explore. And it had been awhile since I did some hiking through forested areas.

It's cold up there, at 8am, when the sun hasn't quite crested the topmost ridge of the surrounding mountains. My fingers were numb as I clumsily attempted taking my first photos of the day with my phone. But I persevered, and as the sun rose higher in the sky it got pleasantly warm. Just shy of being hot, actually. A pretty perfect day, as weather goes.

The trails meander through the wooded areas and along the cliffs overlooking and along the river bank. Up and down they go, though most of them are relatively flat. But some have some really sharp inclines. I won't say that at one point I stumbled on a protruding rock on one of them and fell down. But, well, I...might have done that. 

Anyhoo, after 7 miles or so of wandering through the dusty trails and trying desperately to avoid stepping on horse poop while tracking my progress on the All Trails app to make sure I didn't get lost, I sat down for a little picnic lunch back near the ranger's hut. I think they call it a park headquarters of sorts. But it's the place where you pay $10 for the right to park alongside the edge of the highway. Good thing too, because the only other option was to self-pay in the little envelopes and drop it in the metal drop box. And I didn't have exact change. Or my checkbook. Seriously, does anyone carry a checkbook around anymore?

I remember in high school when I got my first checkbook. Such a thrill! And it became its own math assignment as I tried to do the necessary amount of accounting required to make sure I didn't run out of money by the end of the month, Ah, those were the days. Before debit cards and phone apps and the ability to pay by just getting your plastic card close enough to the terminal. And frankly, the checkbook was almost never kept up to date, through sheer laziness mostly, nor was it done with mathematical precision, so no one ever knew how much money they had. Spoiler alert: we were all broke.

Anyways, it was a pleasant trip today, shared with a plethora of other hikers, joggers, bike riders, dog walkers, and so on. There was fortunately not quite as many people as I imagined there might be, from the description of the area as "heavily-trafficked" on the All Trails app. Or perhaps it's just that there's so much space and trails all over the place that they're spread out a bit. In any case, it was nice up there and even relatively secluded at times. 

I remember where I learned the meaning of the word "plethora". It was from the movie "The Three Amigos". What a great little comedy, with Chevy Chase, Martin Short, and Steve Martin. Though in the movie we learn the word from the bad guy, the infamous El Guapo. But I see I'm rambling. 

So it's 9pm right now on Saturday eve, the eve of getting my son back. I walked to the grocery store an hour and a half ago, and bought some pumpkin-shaped and colored sugar cookies. Because Connor wanted them last week when we walked there looking for an electric tea light candle for his jack-o-lantern. For Jerry, as he has named him. We didn't find a light, either at the generic dollar store or the supermarket. Nor did I buy the cookies then, because, frankly, I didn't want to wait in line. Selfish, I know. But now he has his cookies, ready and waiting for his arrival. Won't he be surprised?

Pro-tip: The real Dollar Tree has those electric lights. 

Boy, I'm rambling again. I must be tired. I am, I am. Well, off to bed then to recharge.

Oh and also: I put up some Halloween decorations, including two new hanging shrouded skeleton things, which frankly look really cool out on the porch with their black fabric cloaks rustling in the breeze. I got them at the Halloween Superstore, the one with the giant inflatable pumpkins on top of their buildings. They were BOGOHO, or Buy One Get One Half Off. We went there initially to get Connor the one thing he told me he wanted for his birthday when I asked him: a scythe. Like one used by the Grim Reaper. I mean, yeah, his birthday is on Halloween, but what a random thing to ask for for your birthday.

Dang it, rambling again. Did I mention I watched the last half of the live OMD concert on YouTube today? They've still go it, but when did they get so old?? OK, I'll stop...