Randi with an i

A winter visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park

January 25, 2022 Randi

I can’t believe I only have a month — give or take — left on my work detail here in northern California. It’s going by so fast!

I’ve spent less time physically located here than I would have liked, thanks to a combination of housing issues, power outages, weddings and contracting COVID, but now that I’m back in my cabin in Grass Valley, I’m firmly dedicated to spending as MANY of my waking hours as possible exploring as much of northern California as my Jeep can get to.

I’ve been spending a lot of my weekends here on the actual Tahoe National Forest — embarrassingly enough, I actually haven’t even seen Lake Tahoe yet! It’s managed separately from the Tahoe, fun fact, — but I finally got around to venturing outside of my (temporary) forest’s borders this past weekend and drove about three hours northwest up to Lassen Volcanic National Park with my friend Ana.

Snowshoeing around the Sierra Buttes: Upper and Lower Sardine Lake

January 20, 2022 Randi

Soooo what’s better than a mountain town?

A MOUNTAIN TOWN WITH SNOW!

I spent this past Monday hiking the around Upper and Lower Sardine Lakes on the Tahoe National Forest’s Yuba River Ranger District, and it did NOT disappoint.

Ice skating (and beer!) in Truckee

January 19, 2022 Randi

I’m back! After what was supposed to be a four-day Christmas trip back home turned into a 20-day isolation trip back home, I finally grabbed a flight back to California and now I’m ready to make the most of my remaining time here on the Tahoe.

Anyway.

Once December rolls around, I get asked if I ski roughly four times a day.

I wish I were joking!

Every single coworker on both forests I’ve worked on — the Coconino and the Tahoe — has asked me if I ski.

I’m pretty sure it’s also one of the first five questions Ryan asked me on our first date.

I always like to remind people that, uh, I’m from the Midwest. We tend to take advantage of the topography (flat, very flat) by ice skating instead of downhill skiing.

(Side note: I have been skiing once.)

At that point, people usually give me a really weird look at then tell me I should try skiing before I can get started on my oh-hey-nao-I-grew-up-45-minutes-from-the-Canadian-border-dontcha-know-and-I’m-really-big-into-hockey-culture-figger-it-oot-eh talk.

But, hey, I try.

LUCKILY, my coworker Ana — who, yes, also skis — is ALSO into ice skating!

We spent this past Sunday ice skating out at the Boca Reservoir in Truckee.

Yukon’s diagnosis

January 8, 2022 Randi

This is a tough post to write.

Ew, COVID. (Happy New Year?)

December 31, 2021 Randi

It fiiiiiinally happened:

I caught COVID.

Home for the holidays: Christmas in Flagstaff

December 25, 2021 Randi

I’m home!

I hadn’t planned on leaving northern California for the rest of my work assignment, but when Yukon got sick and Ryan told me he wouldn’t be able to come spend Christmas in Nevada City with me, I decided to spontaneously book a flight home.

When I say spontaneously, I mean spontaneously. I overpaid for a next-day flight from Sacramento to Phoenix and then promptly checked in for it.

Christmastime in Chicago

December 18, 2021 Randi

I’m back with a continuation of yesterday’s post!

I recently traveled back to Michigan to attend my college roommate Kendall’s wedding, and I figured I might as well take advantage of the current remote work atmosphere and make a full week-plus out of it.

I also really wanted to show Ryan around Chicago! He’d only been once for a few hours back when he was a teenager, and since I spent a good chunk of my 20s living in Chicago, I wanted to spend a few days showing Ryan some of my favorite places and introducing him to my friends.

So, we did that!

When weddings give you an excuse to travel: Detroit Hockey and winter hiking in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

December 17, 2021 Randi

At long-last, my Michigan return!

My college roommate Kendall FINALLY got married after postponing and rescheduling her wedding a million times due to COVID, which means I had an excuse to head back to Michigan to see friends and family — and to drag Ryan around my home state!

Happy Thanksgiving/ Friendsgiving!

November 25, 2021 Randi

I’m not really one for Thanksgiving. The history of the holiday is… eh, kinda icky?

But, FRIENDSGIVING?! I can totally get behind Friendsgiving!

Unfortunately, I’m out sick this holiday weekend (not COVID!) and Ryan is downstate with his family, but I was lucky enough to have most of my close (all fully-vaccinated, mind you) Flagstaff friends over for a Friendsgiving dinner last Friday.

Living in a hotel room: The best things I packed

November 12, 2021 Randi

I mentioned that a few weeks ago I started a work assignment on the Tahoe National Forest. While a lot of the world is in a remote work situation due to COVID, a lot of my job has to be conducted on-site and in the field. Which means that I don’t always have the luxury of waking up, making coffee and plugging in to start my workday from home in my pajamas.

While I’m back in Flagstaff for a few weeks, I spent the first three weeks of my new work assignment in the Tahoe area, for a few reasons. Given that I work in land management, I have to actually take some time to familiarize myself with the land itself. It’s really important for me to tour districts and see things like recreation sites, project areas and burn scars. Talking about something you haven’t actually seen is really, really hard. And, since a lot of what I do is photo and video work, I need to be physically located in the area to do that.

I managed to find a long-term Airbnb to book for the rest of my time on the Tahoe (I head back at the end of the month!), but my first few weeks were spent living in a hotel.

Which meant packing was a little unusual.