Hello all. As I went to bed last night I had a song on my mind “Rivers & Roads” and was thinking how to make my Sunday that I would remember for a long time. With that in mind I loaded up the truck and hit the road @ 7:30AM. First stop was bullards bar, I did pass collins lake and will definitely stop next time, however for today I was way too focused on my first stop. I hit the boat launch, however it was near the marina (meaning hard as F to get the car parked, go to the dock, etc.. blah blah blah).. However as I was on my way down, this random boat owner asked for a ride down to the marina.. I said yes.. why? He looked like he knew the place. I was right!. I asked where to go and he said that Dark Day is a better place for SUP and I took his recommendation. I left there, headed to Dark Day. I thought I was all Bada&& when I pulled my California State Poppy Pass out to only find out it’s a National park and free to enter. (insert foot in mouth). So after talking to the park ranger I was off to the launch. It was exactly as Sara had said.. beautiful, greenish blue and amazing coves. I brought my snorkling gear, but the water wasn’t that clear, just beautiful in color, especially with polarized lenses on. Would I recommend this for everybody – YES! Next time I will pack a lunch, bring my umbrella & chair to enjoy it more than I did.
I took off from Dark Day to head towards Mountain Recreation shop in Grass Valley. My goal was to buy a new fin from them for clementine due to the rocky shallow water. Well I was out of luck, but always good to check out their new boards from Boga Boards. After that I was back on the freeway down Highway 49….. then I had that moment… what could I do today? what would make me happy? Well I shot a quick video on it and then decided to follow Courtney’s advise from OOB, hit Sugar Pine.. so I set the GPS and drove away.. I went up to foresthill, then after 9 miles of driving past northbound I came to Sugar Pine. I went to the first boat launch, not really that good and not as awesome as I thought. I took a chance and kept driving, I hit the next point (day use) and drove in another 2 miles. It was amazing.. OMG. It was so good. I loaded up the board, walked down to the water and hit it. Close to shore was so clear that when I got to snorkling it was amazing.. I found a few trash items, cool stumps to look at it, but overall was just amazing. This was another moment that I wished I packed better.
Let’s pause, what should I have packed:
- FOOD – MORE
- Water – MORE
- Outdoor shower filled up
- camping SOAP – hit the bathroom – yucky..
- MY shoulder strap for the SUP
- Umbrella
- Hammock w/ straps – there were trees everywhere
- Speaker – bose travel speaker
Okay.. so back at it.. after a long fun trip back to auburn, hit moonrakers & knee deep – food selections were either not there or just ugh.. so no beer.. headed to OOB and of course doggystyle hot dogs was there (which hit the spot for now).
I have a few videos I shot and I will try to post those soon, however for now.. here’s the trip docket w/ pictures from today..
I will leave you with this for today.. when I was passing a church in Marysville I saw this on their board. “Don’t let your struggle become your identity”. Take a moment and really think about that. My struggle is dealing with all the stressors in life, from the past and present. I have realized this has started to become my identity. Well. I’m changing that starting today. My identity is one of family, love, infectious passion, fun, happy… I am returning to my core and I will not let my struggles become my identity.
One more final thought. I heard this song on Pandora this last week and I really like it.. “Woke the F&&& UP”. it talks about finally waking up and realizing what you need to do to be happy.
Onward to Happiness.
HILLY