Summer is Upon us. So its been a long time since I've typed and posted some photos. I've gotten wrapped up in this High Sierra Weather and have a guilt complex when I stay indoors. The weather is so amazing and there is so much to do all the time that I can't get myself to stay in and post things on the blog. My days in have been more focused on making art and developing a program that I helped to create and teach here in the Truckee/Tahoe Area. Its a suicide prevention program for middle school boys. It attempts to focus on and encourage positive core-values and leadership characteristics in young men. We discuss important real-life topics and attributes and then discuss how these topics could be represented visually via symbolism and representation. We then paint the topics on skateboards which the kids get to keep as reminders of what they have learned. The board acts as their personal coat of arms. It's a five week program that meets once a week. I teach and facilitate discussions, and photograph the program throughout. On the last day of the program I take a portrait of the student with their finished skateboard- and then we have a celebratory art show at the end of the year where we show the portraits and sellect boards. The program is called Positively Rolling (www.positivelyrolling.org). Its been really catching on around here. Its been about three and a half years since I moved to Truckee. And it's been a great ride. I feel that this place and my life here have developed and grown. I have an amazing crew of friends who are active, adventurous and supportive. In the winter time- I snowboard and splitboard as much as possible. Spring, summer and Fall I skateboard, mountain bike, swim and make art (www.randalowen.blogspot.com). I've got a great job at a great Italian Restaurant where I bartend and manage. I work for and with great people and we have great group of regulars that love what we do. We recently had our end of the year celebratory Art show for Positively Rolling. It was really cool. Ive been wanting to make that a reality for two years now and it felt really good to finally have a public showing of the kid's work. Following that I climbed a peak that I've been wanting to climb for a while. I'm not hiking much these days because the descent makes my knees scream (even with old man poles). Somehow skateboarding, snowboarding and mountain biking dont hurt my knees at all!?!? Aside from that I've been biking a lot, swimming in alpine lakes and living the summer time life. I'm really happy. I'll try to post some more because its a good time. here are some photos!!!

Home Holmes....

I've been slowly settling into my new digs and the new town. Been having a ton of fun, and keeping active- despite the lack of snow.

I spent the holidays with the French family. It was super fun to be the orphan for the holidays. Thanks Nate and the gang. We had great food, fun, beer and whiskey!! How can you go wrong?? Captain Matt Hummel was there for the festivities too.

Since the new year- I've picked up another job at a great restaurant in Tahoe City called Wolfdale's. The food is amazing, and the crew is awesome as well. I feel super lucky- things just seem to be falling into place here. I'm optimistic, open and down for whatever happens. I've been mountain biking a bunch and exploring the area, I've been skating parks in Grass Valley, Truckee and Reno. I even made a surf mission- in
January! Things have been good. I'm just trying to keep on the good roll.

I'm settling into my new home, which is real cozy. I'm working on salvaging some furniture and making some of my own to fill the place up and to have some work space. I've got some mountain biking/trail running/hiking trails about a block from my house which are amazing. Its called the Sawtooth Ridge Trail. It skirts the plateau's edge above the valley that connects Truckee, Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows and the links up to the Tahoe Rim Trail and eventually the lake. Its a fun little ride and has some amazing views- right by my house!!!

The whole community here in the Tahoe Area is buzzing. We've been hurting for snow all season. Last year was monumental in snowfall- this year is record breaking in a whole different light. I've heard stats like its the second driest winter on record- ever.

Everyone's buzzing because there are storms on the horizon. They look like they could just deliver the goods too. It looks like about four storms piggy-backed on each other. They start to happen thursday and will follow through wednesday of next week.

I'm ecstatic not just for the upcoming storms (yes bring it please!!!) but for the fact that the weather breaks next week just in time for me to make my way to SFO and board a plane to Zihuatanejo Mexico for a ten day surf trip with a fun ass crew. It'll be a good time to let this place build up a base for the rest of the season and for me to chill out, camp on the beach, read in my hammock and surf, surf, surf.. Hells Yes bring on this 2012... it's on!!!!

Life in Truckee

Since I rolled into Truckee and rolled around the skatepark, things seem to have been rolling along pretty well. It's nice not really having any sort of expectations and being down to roll with the punches, but so far- the only real punches have been lack of snowfall. When you're a pathetic optimist- in a new and beautiful location with all kinds of outdoor activities to persue, a super fun skatepark, a new town, new towns everywhere and the allure of RENO only a half hour away- you do okay. I'm fortunate to not have put all my eggs into one basket.

I ended up getting a job at Jax Truckee Diner with Vic's fiance Sara and the crew there has welcomed me. I've never worked a diner before so it's been interesting. The crew works real hard, they make great food and we all have a real good time- and there's milkshakes.

Vic and Sara (and Coco the wonder-Dachshund) welcomed me into their home and we had some good times. It was super nice of them to let me crash with them until I found my own spot. Vic even put me to work with him doing some window cleaning and hanging some Christmas lights. One night we were out till about seven in about seven degree weather about 40 feet up on Vic's lift... It was pretty funny, pretty cold and pretty dark. The lights looked good- and Vic treated for some bomb ass sushi in the Northstar village at Mikuni. Thanks Vic- that was dope..

Around the 20th of December I got the green light to start to move into my new pad. I found a spot in Sierra Meadows- a little neighborhood about 2 minutes outside downtown (if you can call it that) Truckee. I'm renting an apartment above the garage of a house. The people I rent from are really cool and super relaxed- they kinda were one of the reasons that tipped the scales of me getting this place. It's a pretty sweet little spot too.

So far the place is pretty sparse but I'm working on making some furniture and salvaging some stuff, just for a fun little creative project.

The photos with this post show some of my initial impressions of Truckee and my new life here.

Arrival

So it was a long drive from the Redwoods across the entire state of California to Lake Tahoe, but I made it. I was supposed to look at a room for rent in a house that evening but I was rolling into town a bit late. I was told that there was a fun band playing in the Crystal Bay Club that night so I thought, "hmmm, maybe if I'm not too tired or it's not too far- I'll check it out." As it turns out the Crystal Bay Club was about a ten minute walk from the hostel I was staying at.. Amazing. I got settled in and then struck out for the nightlife. As I began my walk I was struck with one very real realization....... Holy F!!!! It is legitimately cold here in Tahoe.. Sunny but cold as hell.. (I think it got down to 14 that night -which is cold for coming from the temperate land of coffee and grunge)

I found my way to the Casino- yessir.. Nevada- from the west coast of California to Nevada baby- that's how I rolled that day. The band to see was the Dead Winter Carpenters.. .. I rolled into the casino and was reminded instantly of that Vegas feeling of old ladies chain smoking cigarettes, playing slot machines and really average american food- but this was the nightlife!!! I found my way to the first bar where a band was setting up. It was a smaller room- I though -cool! It'll be an intimate show. Wait why does everyone seem to know eachother here... After some time and a couple of beverages I found out this was a bachelor party and that the band I was supposed to be seeing was playing in another room. Oops. Well nice to sorta meet you bro's. I'm out.

The Carpenters are pretty fun- kind of a blues- rock- bluegrass deal- Tahoe based band. They played a great show- people dancin-drikin-havin fun... that sort of stuff. I was both overwhelmed and really excited to be here. I was a bit phased at the bro-bra-ness of everyone.. but that is all surface stuff.. Just an initial impression.. In all my excitement I forgot that I had passed from sea level to about 6200 feet elevation. It didn't phase me at first.. I was drinkin.. but that soon caught up to me.. Yep.. I got my swerve on .... funny.. and yeah.. smoking a joint on the way home in 14 degree weather probably wasn't too good of an idea.... but I lived.. and here I am alive and telling the tale..

The next couple days were filled with both new and old impressions. Both seeing the lake and the surrounding towns with eyes anew and refreshing some old memories. I was stunned with how beautiful it all is. I was also really stoked on the funky old time neon signs around Kings Beach and how amazing the high Sierra landscape is. I had appointments to meet a couple of people to see rooms for rent and I planned to hit the town(s) hard with my resume and let them know that I was here and I mean business.

I met some nice folks and saw some cool places and some places I'd rather not go back to... I guess that's the nature of the game. I really liked the folks I met in Tahoma- they were so sweet, laid back, cool house (almost a little hobbit house) and their dogs were so sweet.. but as I soon learned Tahoma can be pretty dark -(it's deep on the west shore, in the shadow of some large peaks and very wooded)- I hear the sun goes down earliest there- they get the most snow and its pretty romote... Sorry guys- nice to meet you- but I don't think thats for me right now. I met a dude that had about 7 couches in his living room, he wasn't too far from Tahoma- he smoked me out.. He was super nice but yeah.. I'm a grown ass man.. not trying to have a party/crash pad as my homebase....

As far as my response for work along the west shore went... Well lets just say it wasn't quite luke warm. It was the beginning of December... It had snowed about 8 inches in the middle of November and that had been it. Everyone was really cautious about saying anything about maybe doing any hiring anytime soon....... - Really??? Aren't the holidays just around the corner??? Hmmmmm...

So after 2-3 days of searching the perimeter of Lake Tahoe for signs of a good fit for work or a place to live.... I thought to myself- maybe I should check out Truckee. I don't really recall having spent any time there and its close- and people say good things. Devin, who works at the hostel said really good things, words like community, and town and things like that (the west shore has some feeling of towns but it also feels pretty spread out). So I decided to set out..

I got an early-ish start to my day. I rolled through King's Beach, Tahoe Vista, Carnelian Bay, Tahoe City and out highway 89. I was also interested in plotting some times and distances to my main ski areas of interest- Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. I wanted to feel out how far all these locations were from the ski areas- 'cause Damn!! that's why I came here... that and some other stuff too..

It was good to get a drive through on 89. It's a beautiful road that follows the Truckee River from its source at Lake Tahoe, set in a little valley between the mountains that make up both Squaw and Alpine on one side and the Sawtooth ridge on the other side.

I made my way into Truckee around 11 or so. Somewhere along the way I remembered that Truckee has a fun skatepark that I skated with the boys (Jeff Reed (r.i.p.), Maurice, and Matt Hummel) on our 2000 cross country road-trip. I was stoked!!! I thought, since its early- Ill hit that up to get my day warmed up and head out from there- looking for a job and a place to stay.

I was really happy to remember how fun that Truckee skatepark is. Its got super good flow, good fast coping, hips, and some fun random stuff along the outside. While being small- its done right.. That's how parks should be built. Proper.. I was just rolling around having fun- my body was feeling really beat down from the going away parties, moving all my belongings, and being on the road- so it was a mellow session but a good one.. While I was there I was enjoying watching this other guy skate- he was just flowing around the place, having fun, nothing too fancy but I could tell he likes to skate and knows how to flow. He had a rad style and his girlfriend was shredding around too.. I ended up chatting with him- just like "how's your day going?" the most generic random question (of course asked by me) and we ended up talking for like a half hour. Both he and his girlfriend were so damn nice and chill and fun to talk to. I told them my situation and they gave me this sizable laundry list of restaurants that I should either eat at, apply to or both. We talked about all sorts of stuff... Food, snow-shredding, surfing, skating, skateparks, life- it was awesome. I don't know if I've had a better intro to two rad people.

I was really inspired-mostly by the welcome that Tim and Hannah had given me but also that this town has a fun ass skatepark and a couple of cool kids, and a good food scene. From there I set out to drop down some resumes on this town of Truckee. Hiyah!!! I rolled into town- One of the spots they recommended I check out was Jax Truckee Diner- they described it as a classic full-on diner with a modern- foodie spin on classic diner food.. I do love American Comfort Food, so I thought hell - why not. I passed it on the road and planned on parking somewhat centrally so I could just park and walk. I drove into town and parked. I jumped out and while I was paying for parking at the machine. I had my card in the machine when I heard, "Holy shit, is that Randal???" - I was not prepared. I was in total disbelief. I don't know anyone here in the town of Truckee....

Victor Lowrance walked up the street, with another man and called me out. Holy shit- Vic was right. I thought he still lived in South Lake. Vic is known as Sick Vic- and properly so. The dude rips. Here he was walking right up to me my first moments in town. He introduced me to Bud, and they were on the way to the Snow/Skate shop Totally Board. I told them I was just rolling into town and was looking for work and a place to live. Vic said to me " I might have some work for you"... I told him I was kinda looking for restaurant work- because that's what I've been doing. Turns out, Bud, the guy who was walking up with Vic was the owner of Jax Truckee Diner, and Vic's fiance was the Diner's manager. They told me to go introduce myself. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy..

Day 3 California!!!

So day three started in Crescent City California. I stayed there on the third day of my trip. It was so nice to just take my time making my way down the coast. There are so many amazing views to take in. I had to stop- over and over agian at viewpoints and waysides. At some spots I had to take off my shoes, socks and just run. And, yes, take some photos too. In the car, the ipod was on shuffle and playing good stuff so I just rolled with it. My rhythm was driving, jamming to good tunes, rubbernecking at amazing views- pull over stop- get out- grab camera- take photos in amazement, go back to the car repeat every 8 miles.

Crescent City is not only the gateway to the Redwoods, its also the glorious home to northern California's immense penitentiary system. I really think that when people get out of the joint in Crescent City (or escape for that matter) I think they just stay there and start an ex-con life for themselves. I saw more prison tatt's there then I've ever seen in my life.

While I was there for the evening I enjoyed a skate session at the incredibly average skatepark and a huge plate of msg laced salty meat stir-fry from a local "Thai Restaurant". I was their last customer- so I was thankful to be fed. I stayed in a pretty amazing motel- apparently all fashioned from the wood from one Curly Redwood tree. It was awesome.. So That 70's Show- I seriously thought I'd run into Clark W. Griswold there.

The next day I broke my fast on remnant cereal from my former apartment and hit the road through the Redwoods. I was in a bit of a time crunch as I really wanted to be in Tahoe for the weekend- starting that night, but I was also driving through the Redwoods... One could spend a lifetime exploring the Redwoods.. I did stop (strangely at the exact spot I'd stopped for a quick hike on a previous trip) and I also decided that I need to make a special trip to the redwoods and take my time.. Do it right.... So even though I'd been there before- That little hike yielded some nice photos and was pretty much the highlight of my day. I had an 8+ hour drive ahead of me...

Other highlights of the day included numerous Bigfoot monuments, museums and references. He's there... They got him. Scott Minton's seen him.... Other highlights are the towns called Big Bar (is that near Big Bear?), Big Flat (sounds dissapointing- right?), Salyer (did you guys want to name your town Slayer after the epic metal band but get it wrong on the town application?), the town of Burt Ranch (this could be a secret culinary revolution or an apocalyptic name for a town) and other towns with signs announcing "population 30... Hmmm.... I think my junior high spanish class had more people in it.

It was a beautiful drive though.. Highway 299 climbs up and over mountain passes and parallels and crosses 3 different rivers- the Mad River, the Trinity River, and the Sacramento River. Its pretty amazing. I trusted Google maps to find me the most direct route but didn't really think to look at how windy this road was or really take the time to count how many passes it went up and over. It was a great drive though. Again- it would take another lifetime to explore all the amazing bends and curves in that river and secret swimming holes and trails.

Highway 299 finally connected with Redding where I met the I-5 for a short spell. I then took smaller country highways through Chico and followed highway 20 through the northern parts of Auburn, Grass Valley, and Nevada City. The sun had gone down and my only impressions of this country was the silhouettes of tall pine trees that grew right up to the edge of the two lane highway and the clear night sky with bright pinpoints of stars.

Night 0, Day 1 and 2

It was kind of a shotgun wedding of an exit, i'll have to admit. I was pretty set on leaving on the day that I had said I would. So I did. Even if it meant throwing all my hanging clothes on top of everything and tetris-ing the shit out of my car in order to make everything fit. I didn't have the option of making another run to Camano or to the Goodwill for that matter. Rice came to get my biggest surfboard at about 5pm and I was out by six. Sorry for the random secret stuff left in my place- or -yeah you're welcome!

I handed off Monty's pro-model to Zack downtown gave high-fives and hugs and hit the road. It was raining and windy as hell from Tacoma all the way through to Eugene. I made a last minute call to my friend Luke in Vancouver and he freestyled it out to meet me for a beer at the Brickhouse in the 'Couv. Yep, one beer turned into two- thats for sure. It was really good to catch up. Sorry I forgot to get you that snowboard- I do plan to send it in the mail. From there- I b-lined it to Eugene through driving wind and rain..

I rolled into Eugene to be reminded of the crazy hippiness that abounds in that town.. It's insane. I stayed in a hostel (yeah I know its a magnet for hippies) and had some nice welcomes. While driving south I had a good conversation with my friend Maija who'd gone to school in Eugene... She recommended Sam Bond's Garage for a drink. I went. Again, yes Eugene- you've got it going on in the hippie domain.. I had a super trippy conversation with a woman at the bar- who wanted me to be her boyfriend while making out with some random man on her other side, I saw a table of 5, 4 of which had dreads, and got the slowest-stoniest service ever.. It was awesome.. I'm on vacation!!!

I had a slow going next day that involved skating my rain-cruiser around downtown, finding banks for deposits and getting some legit mexican food from Burrito Boy (thanks Suzanne- yep it was the Broadway spot).

I kept seeing my reflection in the mirrors and thinking- damn- I look haggard.. I think the last couple weeks of celebrating, saying goodbyes, and break-neak packing and moving had taken its toll. I only drove a few hours.. skated in Florence and then made it to Bandon for my night's stay.

I think Bandon is missing an "A". sorry folks your town has been Abandoned. It was a great spot for a quiet night in.

I had a leisurely morning- took some time to myself before packing up- sang happy birthday to a good friend and then set out on the road. I had serious thoughts the night before about just pushing through and driving all the way to Crescent City, California that night but was having some serious reservations about driving that piece of coast at night. I felt like I was going to miss out on a whole lot to see.

Well I'm glad I decided to do what I did. It took me all day to drive a two and a half hour stretch. I met a nice lady while hiking the Port Orford headlands. We chatted about roadtrips and all.... She flat out said, "Oh, no- you don't want to drive to Sacramento today... Take your time- you're on a road trip.." "Oh Yeah" I remembered I am.. So time to take it into chilled out slow mode.

So here are some photos from the gorgeous southern oregon coast that I kept stopping and stopping to pull over and take photos and to roll up my pants, take off my shoes and socks and to wade out in the water in..