Visitors from France on Tuesday, before I left on trip. There will be 8 pages on their rustic commune in France in the small homes book. Check out the homemade bike. On their way from LA to Oregon. Kindred spirits seem to abound these days.

Whew! Where to start? I left home early Wednesday and drove up to the Sierras with my son Evan to meet with the star of our tiny homes book, a world champion snowboarder who has built a most incredible house in the wilderness. We had been struggling with the layout — a huge number of great photos — and lo and behold, our builder had done stunning layouts, 10 pages in all, of his creation and its spectacular mountain surroundings. Yes!

This book has its own life. It’s like a living organism right now, changing and assembling itself. We’re just there to help. No kidding. It started slowly, and now it’s roaring along like a locomotive. Stuff is pouring in. We’re already beyond our (224) page count, and it’s obvious this is going to be a series (we’ve got tons of material for another book). It won’t be out until February — such is the reality of our slow production process and the logistics of printing and shipping from overseas.

Then back from the Sierras through the heat of the Sacramento Valley. In Auburn we stopped to shoot photos at a place that sold a variety of Teardrop trailers (popular in the 40s-50s, being rediscovered now). In Fairfield I dropped Evan off at his car, and proceeded westward to the coast. By the time I got to the Russian River, there was a cool freshness in the air, and I drove along the river out to its mouth at Jenner, then headed north in the night along the foggy coast.

Yesterday I went into Gualala with Louie for breakfast at Trinks, a triple threat cafe — excellent lattes, breakfast, and speedy wi-fi. I downloaded a ton of email. Hoo-whee,things are popping right now, on all fronts. Sunday I spent 5 hours getting filmed and interviewed about skateboarding for AOL. It’s for a series of 1-1/2 minute videos they run on their website, called: “You’ve got…” There seems to be a lot of interest suddenly in someone of my, um, age, skating.

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Trying to figure out how to mount my super little HD helmet hero on my Skateboard helmet this morning, ran across this amazing footage of bike riders doing the loop-de-loop mambo:

“This sweet little sweat-pod that can be towed anywhere you please by tandem bike. Enveloped in translucent panels, the Bike Sauna allows users to park it in various locales, transforming any spot into a relaxing haven. But don’t let its small appearance throw you off, apparently it can seat up to six people (granted, in probably somewhat close quarters). But inside there’s everything that makes it cozy, like a real wood-fired stove.… ”

From: https://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/portable-bike-sauna-h3t-architects.php

Via: Evan Kahn

Got up early, did about 3 hours office work, then took off around 9 AM for the hills on my new mountain bike. I swear, this thing is like a motorcycle, a joy to ride. First stop was a pond of my acquaintance, brimming with recent rains. I stripped down and swam underwater to the water lilies, floated there for a few seconds. Cold, maybe 52-53°. Got out recharged, as always happens: when you get in cold water, your body goes into circulatory overdrive when you get out.

Miners’ lettuce for salad

Got to this impenetrable trail closure. (I’d already had to lift my bike over fallen logs a bunch of times.) Hadn’t been on this trail for years. It used to be clear all the  way down to the paved road. I dragged my bike into the woods on both sides, looking for a way through — no luck.  It’s rare that a decent trail gets closed down like this. Deer, coyotes, etc. will usually make a way around it. I had to backtrack, phew, by now tired. 

From years of training in the 80s-90s, I remembered an alternate route. Otherwise it was going to an extra 10 or so miles, part of it down a trail with flapping nettles. Here’s the entrance, and what used to be a clear  shot turned out to involve hauling my bike through thick brush at times, including poison oak, for a couple of miles.

I was really tired, but felt good. Had a chicken sandwich on home-baked bun, and miners’ lettuce salad.

And now I gotta get to work. The tiny homes book — whew! It is cookin! Everyone is on board. Some new pages from last week are spectacular.

I tell ya, when I get on my new bike, it feels like I’m on a motorcycle. Each time I take the first couple of cranks going down the road, I can’t believe how good it feels. Here we go! Yesterday I headed up the coast off-road. The bike with its air shocks takes potholes and rocks with ease. Surf was up, tide low, air filled with sweet negative-ion-charged sea air.

Then I rode out to a secret pond in the hills, where swimming is great in the Spring:

On the way home as sun was setting, here was a herd of 14 deer. Never seen a flock like this.Each day of my life right now seems so filled with interesting stuff I can only get a fraction of it down.