I know, I promised I'd blog more. But if you saw how random and ridiculously busy my life tends to be, you would understand why I'm not around here very much anymore. Actually, this is the first time this week I've had my computer at home turned on...go figure.
But I find myself with another adventure to post, so here I am! For Memorial Day weekend, I accompanied my brother and his family up to his cabin in the mountains near Alturas, CA.
Where is Alturas, you say? Well, let me show you!
Oh yeah, its way up there. This is extreme northeastern California...and a part of the state I had yet to really explore before this trip. That far North, I'd never really been East of Mt. Shasta...so this was certainly a new adventure! So Friday I took off from work around 11, went home to pack and eat something, and hit the road around noon. Of course, I failed to realize that, being a holiday weekend, everyone would do the same as me and leave early. The roads were not kind. It took me 3 hours to get to Williams alone (it usually takes 2). But, still plenty of time to hang out for a little before we could strap Zeke in, pick up Shayleigh and head North!
Long drive...we got into the cabin a little after 11 Friday night, and quickly unpacked and went to sleep. Saturday morning it was time to enjoy the great outdoors! So we went fishing in one of the local ponds!
Believe it or not, but this was my first time fishing. Ever. Weird, right? But still, not too bad. I mean, I felt kinda bad...this was a tiny pond, stocked full of pretty decent sized Rainbow Trout. Fishing here was not sport...just cast, wait for a bite, pull it in. Really not difficult. Needless to say, both Shayleigh and I easily caught our limit of 5 trout for the day pretty quickly.
Oh, right...since this was my first time fishing, this was also my first time catching a fish. Thus, the obligatory "Patrick with his first fish" picture is necessary:
Yup, pretty much! What can I say...I'm kind of a badass sometimes. I didn't even catch any trees when casting my line! Score!
Not a bad haul for the day either...
Post fishing, we cleaned the fish and took them back to the cabin to bag up and save for later. Then it was off to Bubba's property (maybe a mile down the road from the cabin...which is actually his parents' spot). Bubba needed to get some work done at the property, so I put on my Uncle Pat hat, built a fire, and entertained the kiddos.
After that we went back to the cabin, where Bubba and Zeke took a nap while Shayleigh and I went out to play! First we went exploring! It really is pretty country out there...and, of course, my niece is adorable!
Then we dove into her imagination...running up and down the mountain, avoiding the evil sheriffs trying to catch us, and using zombies to fight our wars, and stealing some guy's property because he had stolen Shayleigh's previously, and putting on our invisible suits to avoid detection by the ninjas, and using Shay's lazer eyes and my super strength to take out the base of the evil sheriffs. Alas, there were always more (I was told there were "hundreds" out there). Eventually, play time was over and it was time for dinner...which, of course, was the trout we had just caught. Not too shabby!
After dinner I put on my Uncle Pat hat again for story time with Uncle Pat! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a classic!
Yeah, my niece and nephew are pretty awesome. Eventually we all wandered off to bed, resting in advance of the next great adventure. Sunday came with a swiftness, and we were off to Bubba's property that morning for more work. This time, it was time to do some manly things. Like build a fire:
Shoot some guns:
Build some steps out of railroad ties:
And chop down a tree, and chopping it into firewood:
LOOK AT THAT RAW POWER AND TREMBLE AT MY MANLINESS!!!! (uh, yeah...)
Definitely got a bit of a workout in that morning. Then it was back to the cabin for a nap and some more playtime with Shayleigh...at least until she got sick...poor girl. This made for an interesting evening, where Shayleigh was puking all over the place, Zeke wasn't feeling well and was all daddy clingy, Rich (Bubba's step-dad) was suffering a vertigo attack, leaving Bubba and I to take care of everyone! Which is fine...we are more than capable...just file this one under "Patrick's life is never dull."
Long night that night with Shayleigh up and down not feeling well, trying to keep Zeke asleep, and Rich not being able to help much. And, of course, once everyone else calms down, my stomach acts up and I end up awake and in pretty severe pain for a couple hours instead of snagging some sleep. Lovely.
Monday morning came, thankfully...and it was raining. And Rich was still suffering from vertigo...which meant I was going to have to drive his 1.5 ton pickup truck out of the hills for him. Not a bad way to get comfortable behind the wheel of a bigger truck than I'd ever driven...throw me in, in the rain, on roads I'd never driven before, coming off a night where I got no sleep, somewhere in the middle of Modoc County! Luckily, I'm a freaking stud...and am also rather adept at handling curveballs thrown my way...so I manned up and did the driving needed of me.
Anyways, it made for a rather long day...since I had to drive home from Williams after that. Luckily I had something to look forward to when I got home, and had an excellent evening after getting home...so that kind of put me in a better mood overall.
So, that's my story! Thanks for listening! Definitely enjoyed being up in Modoc County for a weekend...kind of away from it all. Wouldda been nice had we not all gotten sick the last night, but alas, such is life. I definitely see myself heading back up there with Bubba again in the future.
Besides, it was fun donning my Uncle Pat hat for the weekend.
Next adventure is coming right up...the conquering of Mt. Whitney! Stay tuned for that one.
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