Marty's Travels

My house has wheels

Fort Bragg (CA)

I was here last spring when the first lockdown happened. It was nice that the lady that runs this place knew that and welcomed me back. It's been a long year. Harbor RV Park is a piece of property perched on a head overlooking the Noyo River and Pacific Ocean, and includes a tiny harbor below. CA 1 is yards from me. I'll be here a week; the weather is cool and typical marine coastline.

A Big Disappointment

I found the Solar Living Center in Hopland, Ca, way back when I first started traveling. I described it as "The Whole Earth Catalog brought to life". A large grounds with a store, solar panels, water treatment exhibits, and whatever it took to go back to the land. Several years ago the store closed down. A licensed pot shop went in fairly soon after legalization. It was notable because one could partake on the grounds, a rarity in legal states....

California Legal Pot

It's a mess. That is the assessment of growers, processors, newspapers, county officials, retailers, all licensees, law enforcement, radio hosts, state politicians, and the legislature about the California legal cannabis laws and regs. And where I am now, Ukiah in Mendocino county, they've got their own problems. Mendocino County, one of the cannabis-growing counties of the Emerald Triangle, has about 1,000 state-licensed legal growing...

Arcata

I've done it. I'm where I wanted to be. It was a good run down the Oregon coastline and it's views. I needed to complete a couple of tasks in Eureka, then went into Arcata to check out the town square. Today was the day for the Humboldt County Farmer's Market. The town square is very small, and likely the most pliable place holding humans I can think of. It's dynamics change by the seconds. The market brought a load of people to the square; the...

364 Days

Tomorrow morning I'll hook up and head south after 364 days, the worst 364 days of my life. I won't go far, Sonoma County is my target, because I have to be back here June 1. But two months of moving on US101 will be just the ticket to shake up all the brain parts I haven't used for a while. I was vaccinated last week, and have been in a bubble of very low-risk people all year. I have no idea what the situation is in front of me, but I'll stick...

Marijuana, or Cannabis?

The assigned committee has passed unanimously a bill to change all uses of the word "marijuana" with "cannabis" in both the Washington state laws and the regulator's rules. It should get to the House floor soon. The thinking is that marijuana is a racist term, invented in the 1930's as a pejorative against Latinos. Which is true. I anticipate to continue to use it as a slang term, like "weed" or "pot".

Home Grow in WA?

It looks like Washington will finally pass a legal home grown cannabis law this year. The primary committee held a hearing yesterday, and there was very little opposition. But there are a few other tells: The committee chairman is the primary sponsor, and she lined up 16 co-sponsors. Testimony by many high-level experts was organized. The opposing testimony was anticipated and addressed, and there wasn't any opposition from other members of the...

WA State Legislature

The legislature has opened this week, so I'll be watching and tracking the bills related to cannabis. I don't anticipate much serious activity mainly because the agreement is that legislation not related to covid or economic recovery be kept to a minimum this year. Then, WA has reached the point after 8 years where dramatic changes to the law aren't really needed anymore. The capitol is surrounded by three levels of perimeter, manned by three...

Every two weeks…

I re-assess and adjust my plans for travel. While winter is setting in on the Peninsula, the weather has been extremely pleasant, far better than I expected. The family situation is status quo, going nowhere. So it looks like I'm here through Xmas. Even if I did decide to head south, I see no positive reports on either my route or destination regarding the virus risks. So I'm on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington state, near Port Townsend at a...

The Plan Right Now

Every two weeks I look at my situation and try to decide what to do next in terms of travel. I'd very much rather be in Arizona right now. The family situation I have is not resolving itself and may not for a long while. From what I see about the virus, there is nothing at all positive about moving elsewhere. I'm currently in an extremely safe place and have been avoiding other people the best I can; that would go away en route or at my...

New York

No one could have foreseen that South Dakota would legalize marijuana before New York. That's a double strike against NY because New Jersey beat them to it as well. The race is now on. New Jersey is interesting because they don't impose any special marijuana tax on sales, relying totally on their existing sales tax (about 6.25%). That means if NY did legalize, and tax like all other states, NJ will always have the cheaper products. Now consider...

Legal and Illegal States

All of the legal states achieved legalized marijuana for use by any adult via voter-approved initiatives, except Illinois. All had and have an existing medical marijuana program of some sorts. Almost all the states enacted a regulation structure that issues licenses to grow, process, sell, test, use, and possess, as well as a taxation system. Washington (2012) Considered a mature market and regulatory structure. Colorado (2012) Considered a...