Goldilocks and What She Found

She's going to need a bigger blanket!

California is incredibly diverse. But I didn't really know what that meant until I started to wander around in it. Starting in Oakland I found out was starting in a unique bubble- not as extreme in temperature as the environs around it. I was lulled into thinking that Northern CA would be hot during the day and cooler in the evening and morning. Ha!

Middletown, in Lake County, was hot, although it was abnormally hot due to a heat wave. And the mountains were cooler during the day and hotter during the night. Upper 90s hot. Thank God for the creek.

This little creek on Davis's property was an oasis
 of coolness. My Piscean nature is evident in the
shots of water to follow.

Sebastopol was still hot but cooled down considerably overnight. It was lovely walking around in the morning, checking out what the neighborhoods were like.

First night with the Habitent. Two enthusiastic
thumbs up.

On to Bodega Bay: chilly and windy. I discovered that an air mattress takes on the temperature of the air around it (who knew???) and I found myself trying to sleep on a 50 degree block of cold. Surprise, I had to dig into the polar fleece I didn't think I'd need until Fall in order to make breakfast without shivering.

Salmon Creek in Bodega Bay- ocean at 8:00 pm.

Lake Shasta was warm, almost too warm, and down about 8 feet.

Lake Shasta- I drove through the Central Valley and my car read 109 degrees at one point!!! So dry and yet they were growing rice!!! In water!!! I felt like I was in a little bubble of safety in my Prius. Thank God I could camp right on the Lake and get in that water, post haste.

Crater Lake at 5:00 pm. Lots of snow still covering many banks.

Diamond Lake, just north of Crater Lake in Oregon, was really comfortable in the evening, shirtsleeves worked. But it was 40 degrees in the morning!!! I was blowing steam and my hands were freezing. Pack up the gear and get breakfast in Bend.

Diamond Lake at 8:30 pm. Looking all innocent
before the 40 degree temperatures set in.

And then Portland, incredibly reasonable Portland, although Carol tells me they're now having frequent days over 100 degrees in the summer.

So it was time to shop for mattress covers and blankets because Banff ain't gonna be tropical.

This is what I will discover: the incredible plethora of environments and modes of being across this country. I truly feel like Goldilocks- a little girl who wanders naively into the forest. But for me, the task is to make each place 'Just Right'. To tweak myself and my gear so that mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually I am in the right place at the right time, because, as Buckaroo Bonzai said, "wherever you go, there you are."