Entry: My trip to CA

The trip to CA was pretty cool. I enjoyed it (minus, of course, the trip back).

Dad and I had a blast taking out his ATVs a couple times. It was really cool zooming through the woods/mountains on those things. Plenty of obstacles to play with and get hurt on. ;)

We also went out and did some shooting while I was there. Granted, I'm not really a big firearms person, but it was nice going out and squeezing off a few with the ol' man. In the past, I've preferred to not shoot anything larger than a .22. His glock was a different story, but still, it wasn't too bad. I discovered that my future in armed law enforcement is hardly ensured. I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if it were attacking my mother!!

We also went Xmas tree hunting. Why do I call it "hunting" you ask? Well....this is mainly because my father has this thing about driving miles out of town and up the most remote snow-covered moutain to find the "perfect tree". By the way...his trees hardly qualify as perfect. Honestly, the last two that I've helped him collect could easily have qualified as Charley Brown specials. Yeah...they were that bad. Then again, I'm also biased. My idea of the perfect tree has always been the typically conical and unblemished fir tree. Dad has this thing for trees that are healthy on one side and lacking on the other so that it can be easily placed up against a wall.

One thing that I really enjoy about being out there in NoCal (particularly in the Mt. Shasta area) is the complete lack of light pollution. Walking out at night and looking up, one can see a view of the sky that can easily rival those that I've seen on perfect nights out on Folly beach here in Charleston.

We also enjoyed some awesome weather while I was there! Now, granted, I hate cold weather (and it was still cold there), but it was nothing like the last Thanksgiving that I spent with them. It was in the 60s the first day that I arrived. Now that was a blessing! And, of course, the day after I leave, the weather breaks and the snow starts plummeting down. How's that for timing! ;)

There's so much more that I could write about my truly excellent trip, but I'm tired this morning and going to cut this short. I'll try to add on to it later.