Summer Interlude, Part 1: Good Trade?

 There is a point in Dances with Wolves where Wind in His Hair asks Lt. Dunbar if the trade he had just made was a "good trade?" I am not sure Kevin Costner (Dunbar) really thought it was a good trade at the time, but he didn't have much choice. We didn't really have much choice either. We traded some yellowish-brown smokey air for some whitish-grey foggy air. It was a good trade.

The patio was covered in ash, the air was so low, and thick, and toxic, there was just not going to be any riding without first strapping a full on military-grade gas mask across my face. Without question it was a good day to "get out of Dodge." What with the National Forests within the state being closed to all public use, plans for a few moons of post-Labor Day camping were crumpled and tossed in the trash. Maybe we have reached the point when one fire season is going to be worse than the last until there is nothing left to burn. Maybe not, but the trajectory sure seems to be headed that way. The thing is, we have long known that fires are necessary for ecologic health and regeneration.

An observation: You know, people have long predicted the demise of California, they forever espouse and await the day of doom. They will be forever waiting, because... it is California, the golden state, a land of promise and opportunity. We couldn't get to the mountains for a little summer interlude campout this year, so we made the best of this particular opportunity and headed to the coast. A little ride along the coast - the Trax Trail, and then along the bike path as far as Cliff House where the restaurant was not open. So, we turned around, spent a little time checking out the surf shacks south of Rincon. The back into town (Carpinteria), lunch at Island Brewery (where we are now something like regulars, able to recognize, and be recognized by other regulars - and their dogs), check out some of the MaskUpCarp chalk art left over from the Labor Day weekend, some ice cream at Rori's, and some shopping in the little local shops. It was a good day:

It was a good trade.