Zephyrs

Notice how hot your tow vehicle can get when sitting in the sun? Lifehacker notes an article about Drying Food in the Dehydrator You Already Own: Your Car. The idea is that you need to dry fruits fast enough to avoid mold growth and not so hot that some enzymes survive. The 100 to 150 F on a dashboard in the sun can be about right.

The sidebar links to Use Your Oven to Bulk Cook Hard-Boiled Eggs and Poach Chicken in a Drip Coffee Maker – this is almost getting to those old college days way back before microwaves when you did everything with a popcorn popper.

Newmark’s Door links to “Drives of a Lifetime: The World’s Greatest Scenic Routes” at National Geographic and ABC News. Lists like these can be interesting to see what others think are places worth seeing and also for ideas about places you might want to visit.

National Geographic US drives for a lifetime include Black Hills, South Dakota, Banff and Jasper, Canada, Cherohala Skyway, Tennessee, and others.

ABC News suggests the Grand Canyon as their US entry.

If you can’t take the drive yourself, you can at least see what someone else thinks is a sight worth seeing!

AllStays Travel notes that California State Parks Fees Double as of 17 August 2009.

fees will increase from $10 to $21 to as much as $35, doubling in many cases. The fee increase for the parks will help keep some of the parks open but it’s said to still not be enough to keep many of them open. For non-campers, just the parking fees are going from $2 to $5. Group camps see the largest increase.

see California State Parks with Campgrounds and California State Parks Reservations and Fees.

There’s still a lot of NFS dispersed camping. In some places, back east especially, even that is getting expensive, though. Let’s hope that disease doesn’t spread each and catch on in California, too.

Some folks have noted that camping just isn’t like it used to be. The RV is bad enough but modern RV’s have just about every convenience one could wish for. Even those who hike out in the back country have enjoyed less weight and more comfort. There are some that think we ought to go back to the old ways. That is why the Washington Post published Camping With All the Creature Comforts – Butlers, Fine Linens Define Trend Toward Upscale Camping, or ‘Glamping’.

“We’re out of balance,” said Cheryl Charles, an environmental educator. “A lot of young parents and teachers didn’t grow up with nature-based experiences. We’re not against technology. But when kids spend so much time hooked to [an] electronic umbilical cord — things have to change.”

and there are worries about declining National Park attendance, ‘videophilia’, sedentary electronic activities, and “nature deficit disorder”.

Some worry, others get out and enjoy their life and keep the hassle to just choosing between the many options that are available now that weren’t then.

If you drive, there’s no doubt that you’ve encountered a few bridges. You may have even noticed a few special ones. You may even choose to visit a bridge. Historic Bridges of the US is a database of 32,335 historic bridges in the United States of America, past and present that you can search to find an interesting or historic bridge near your travels.

The home page has a map where you can choose a state and then a county and then a bridge. The statistics page for the bridge includes information about its type, status, history, traffic, size, and location. The Categories section for a bridge provides a convenient link to other bridges with a common characteristic.

If you are into bridges, Historic Bridges of the US needs to be in your bookmarks and in your RSS feedreader.

The Washington Times notes that Montana marks 50 years since great quake.

Just before midnight under the moon’s gray light, the world tilted and tore off a Montana mountainside. Sliding rock buried 19 campers alive, their bodies never found, and 80 million tons of rock and trees tumbled into Madison River Canyon, leaving rubble piled more than 200 feet deep.

- A natural disaster out in the wilderness and nothing you can do if caught up in it – 50 years later there is a lake caused by the blockage of the river, new opportunities for camping and fishing and visiting, and a memorial with lessons about geology and the true power of natural forces.

A bit of history, shiny restored Airstream travel trailers, hula ladies, and a lot of folks gathering to have a good time sharing a common interest.

See the photo gallery!

SNU Folks,

The August 2009 Newsletter has been posted!. Links to photo galleries and additional information mentioned in articles in this newsletter can be found at there, too.

Topics in this newsletter include:
* Petersen Ranch Rally
* August rally at Obsidian Dome
* Notes from the SNU President
* News from members and Friends
* WBCCI has a new forum
* This and that

August 2009 Rally at Obsidian Dome

Thursday August 20 – Sunday, August 23, 2009 the SNU will hold a rally at Obsidian Dome (Inyo Nat’l Forest) dispersed camping off US 395 South between June Lakes and Mammoth Lakes, CA SNU members, non member Airstream owners and potential Airstream owners welcome. Board meeting Saturday open to all. Great hiking, visit nearby Mammoth Lakes.

Check Zephyrs and find out what else is new on the website

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SNU HQ

Just north of Lassen National Forest, just south of McArthur, and at the foot of Bald Mountain there is an old ranch. Spencer is working to make it productive again and invited the WBCCI Sierra Nevada Unit to visit and see.

See the photo gallery.

Off the beaten track under the pines with the mountain peaks in the distance … what a way to spend the weekend in northern California!