Looking at Mt. Shasta from the town of Weed, California. Too bad clouds covered most of it. Mt. Shasta is one of those vulcanoes that dot the Pacific Northwest. Who knows...someday it could erupt like Mt. Saint Helens.  

Let it Rain! It was about 37 degrees here...near the summit of the Siskiyou mountains. Good thing the storm was subtropical...otherwise who knows how much snow would have been on the ground. 

Here is a shot of some flooding along the basin of the Sacramento River...not far from Sacramento, California. 

In the eye of the storm. Here we are driving in the mountains of southern Oregon during the rain storm last week. Wind gusts were over 60 mph!  

A Chance Meeting

This story relates to my trip to Washington (state) last week. As weird as it may sound...it really happened.

I was travelling with my cousins last week by car. We got a late start from LA and it was getting quite late; as we were still about 50 miles from Stockton, California. It was nearly 11:00pm and it was time to find a motel for the night. Out in the middle of nowhere as the rain poured...we saw a motel along the freeway and pulled in. I was with my one cousin...while his brother, wife and kid were in another car. Before we parked, a pickup pulled in behind us right at the office door. A man got out and went in and we were right behind him. He was dressed very casually with a printed T shirt, a jacket and a baseball cap. He looked like anyone else on the road that rainy night. As we waited to get rooms...we heard the man ask for a single, smoking room with high speed internet access. Unfortunately for him...and us...they had none available. The motel employee was very sympathetic and called their motel in Stockton. She booked rooms for the man...as well as for us...and we were on our way.

It was about 30 miles to the motel she had booked and we passed the man in the pickup on the freeway. He was travelling alone in a newer Toyota pickup and in the back...was a mattress...yes...a bed mattress. We arrived first at the motel and as we waited in line to check in...the mysterious man arrived and stood in line behind us. We had suspected who he might be after the last encounter...but as I and my cousin began to talk to him...our thoughts were confirmed. Yes...he was a well known celebrity who made several great movies in recent times.
Perhaps you have heard of The Lord of the Rings (all 3) and Hidalgo? It was the one and same actor. He was very nice and well spoken. We chatted a little about the horse on Hidalgo...a very smart horse he assured me.

As it turned out...he was on his way to Idaho to visit relatives for Christmas. How ironic...as I told him I was born and raised in Idaho. Well obviously...I had to get some "proof" of this chance meeting out in the rain on a cold winter night. He was gracious enough to let my cousin take a pic of he and I together. It came out great on my little Fuji camera.

Sometimes you just never know who you will meet on the crossroads of life.

The Trip Home

I just returned home from the very soggy, wet and cold Northwest. If you have been watching the national weather reports the last several days...you know how much rain is dumping up there. Almost the whole time...the rain did not stop. Would I ever live in Washington or Oregon? Not in the western half of each...that is for sure. Gloomy, gray and damp! No wonder Seattle has the highest suicide rate in the nation. Sure Los Angeles sucks...but I was sure happy to get back to it.