Over the past few days, we have met with the City of Santa Rosa and Petaluma Public Services groups and the Red Cross to discuss temporary housing for those displaced by the  fires in October 2017.  Thus far, two RV storage yards have cooperated with us by contacting owners to determine whether or not they will loan their RVs for one to three months for use by the displaced fire victims. Fortunately fifteen RV owners have agreed to loan their vehicles. That makes a total of twenty-five RVs ready for use.

Both Cities of Santa Rosa and Petaluma are donating storage yards where the RVs can be stored.  Fortunately, there a showers, running water and toilets at each facility. The Red Cross is coordinating the selection of which families will use the RVs based on need.

We'll continue to contact other RV storage yards to obtain as many RV units we can.  Below are photos of typical RV storage facilities.  There's over sixty such facilities in Sonoma county alone. We're working with a separate group who's addressing the needs in Napa Valley

Small steps, however, we're building momentum!

Aerial photos of Santa Rosa neighborhoods destroyed by the recent fires.  This is just a sample of the many areas in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties devastated by the fires.

In Sonoma County, 5700 homes and buildings were destroyed. Over 10,000 homeless in an area where housing was essentially non-existent, affordable or not. Shelters are turning back donations, since they are overwhelmed with clothing, blankets, food and water.  What the homeless need is temporary or permanent shelters.

Several groups have started projects that gather donated RVs, campers, 5th wheels and even yurts to provide temporary shelter. Thus far, we have collected ten RVs, each will host a family in need. If you possess a RV or similar vehicle, contact us (see telephone number below), to donate your RV.  Housing is the biggest need at the moment.

The expected length of the donation will be 1 - 3 months until FEMA and in the insurance companies can provide a more permanent solution. If you been think on how to help, take ten minutes and call us at 707-765-8488

Settled in Palm Springs, and surviving the heat. 

Early organic, vegan lunch consisting of baby romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, sprouted chickpeas, kimchi, sauerkraut, pickled avocado slices, vegan cheese shreds and a lemon herb dressing. All homemade with the exception of baby romaine lettuce that I purchased from the farmers market. And, two glasses of watermelon, mint and lemon kombucha.

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by Lao Tzu  (604-531 BCE)

Beauty and ugliness have one origin.

Name beauty, and ugliness is.

Recognizing virtue recognizes evil.

Is and is not produce one another.

The difficult is born in the easy,

long is defined by short, the high by the low.

Instrument and voice achieve one harmony.

Before and after have places.

That is why the sage can act without effort

and teach without words,

nurture things without possessing them,

and accomplish things without expecting merit:

only one who makes no attempt to possess it

cannot lose it.

Excerpted from: The Poetry of Zen

translated & edited by 

Sam Hamill & J. P. Seaton

Remarkably cool, and windy in Coachella Valley; it will last for a few days, then the heat arrives. Went hiking with a group of people on the hills on the eastern side of Palm Springs. Great vistas as the sun set. The clouds, not fog like I'm use to in San Francisco, drifted and clung to the hills. Made me nostalgic for the SF Bay area.

Relocated from the rain-drenched shores of the Oregon coast, to the sunny, warm and very dry climes of the Coachella Valley.  Temperatures double what I experienced in the Pacific Northwest, yet still pleasant. And, I'm adjusting. Lots of wonderful areas to explore; I have not been here in fifteen or more years.  Lots of changes...

Tucked into small canyon setting with hills, rocks and palm trees behind me.

Sunset from my bedroom window

Overlooked photos from a hike at the most northwestern point of the State of Washington...Cape Flaherty. Remote, rugged and unbelievably beautiful. And, not crowded!

Moving on...

After nearly ten months traveling in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington and British Columbia), and enduring 170 inches of rain in six of those ten months, I'm headed south to Palm Springs. Kinda, sort of...counter to the normal snowbird rotation. But, I'm anything but normal. Had some major truck engine upgrades, and it performs perfectly. If you ever need a mechanic in the Florence, Oregon, area, I have a great recommendation.

Currently, I'm in Santa Rosa, California, visiting family and friends; I depart tomorrow on my journey southward. I'll stop on Interstate 5 near the Grapevine, and the following day head on to Palm Springs. I'll have the wonderful pleasure of skirting the Los Angeles metropolitan basin using Interstate 210 to Interstate 10.  The traffic will be highly congested, with, I'm sure white knuckle moments. 

I'm scheduled to stay in Palm Springs until early December; if I make it that long. I may pull up stakes and head east to Tucson, Arizona, or Santa Fe, New Mexico. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the heat and drying out my tiny home on wheels.

Updated interior photos:

Japanese Tonsu stairs leading to an elevated queen size bed. Stairs can be slid entirely beneath bed to add space in the living room.  Additional storage beneath bed accessed to the right of the stairs.

Entry way into living room with floor-to-ceiling multi-level storage cabinet. Floors are reclaimed bamboo throughout home.

Living room with large window giving glimpse into kitchen.  

Hanging entertainment center / workspace / dining table with marine propane heater to the left. Clerestory window above provides additional light.

Full kitchen with 9.2 cu ft refrigerator / freezer, stove / oven, farmers sink, and open and closed storage throughout. All LED lighting throughout home.  Bath, with sink, composting toilet and shower to right of sink.

Went wildcraft plant foraging along the Sweet Creek Falls trail, just outside of Mapleton, Oregon, with Jen Nelson, from Homegrown, a local vegetarian and vegan restaurant and deli in Florence, Oregon. Found, tasted and collected wood sorrel, Siberian miner's lettuce, lady fern, salmonberry, stinging nettle, sitka spruce, and others.  Here are some photos of the trail that paralleled the creek.