Sequoias, Southern Oregon Coast and Home

So we made our way north, passing a heard of elk near the Stone Lagoon, and stopped by the Redwoods National & State Parks visitor center to get ourselves oriented. We took the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway where the Sequoias were so large and dense that they filtered the sunlight. We were making our way towards the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park Campground.  Unfortunately, their website, which we consulted before we left, incorrectly indicated that campsites would be on a first come-first served basis.  We thought that getting there in the early afternoon there would be no problem, but there was, and there were no campsites for our rig.  So we ended up finding a spot at the nearby County Park along the Smith River.  A nice enough spot, but there were no hiking trails in the Redwoods nearby.

So, in the morning, we backtracked about 30 miles back to that scenic parkway, found a trailhead and took a three-hour hike in those giant, beautiful trees. It was so worth the backtrack.  Walking amongst those towering trees, some of which had become the foundation and nourishment for a multitude of other forest plants such as red and black huckleberries, new sequoias, ferns and mosses. It was like a sanctuary, a spiritual experience, really.  You could also see evidence on some of the more massive trees, evidence of fires long past.

Tsuki on the Trail

Advice from a Redwood: Stand tall and proud, be content with your natural beauty, sink your roots into the earth, drink plenty of water, and enjoy the view.








We made our way back into Oregon, driving up Hwy 101, and stopping at the Sea Lion Caves.  There was a lovely view of the Florence Dunes to the south.











We went ahead and paid to go into the cave, but were given a rain check to come back for free because the sea lions had already left for the season.  Still, it was pretty cool taking the elevator down and enjoying the view of the cave, and the "window" that looked out at Haceta head Lighthouse.

I hadn't been there since I was 13, when my Dad, and step-mom took me and my sister there on our way back from a camper trip to California. I was feeling a bit nostalgic, as my dad's birthday was the next day.  He would have been 76.

We continued our drive up the coast, hoping to stay at the state park near Bandon, but it, too, was full, so we ended up at a county campground in Charleston, near Coos Bay. Ok, whatever.

We slowly made our way up the coast headed for Lincoln City, where we parked the RV in the lot for RV's at the Chinnook Winds Casino Resort. We had dinner and did a little gambling, enough to get a pass to park there for the night.

We had a lovely walk on the beach.  We woke up early the next morning and headed home. The weather for the entire trip was lovely.

Another RV trip for the books.  Looks like George is planning a festival tour for next spring...

Monterey, San Francisco & Sacramento

The Monterey Bay and the canopy of the kelp forest.

We drove the rest of the way across the San Joaquin Valley, amazed by the productivity of it. There were miles and miles of orchards, and fields of produce. We passed trucks laden with the stuff.  We sent a prayer of gratitude for the food that the land provides for us.

At the top of the Diablo Range, we saw the clouds that marked the coast.  Like in Oregon, when it is hot in the valley, the coast is often foggy.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium — what can we say?  The place is awe-inspiring. The displays are things of beauty, and they have set the lighting so that even cell phone cameras can preserve the magnificent views.

This is was the the kelp forest exhibit that was three stories tall. They had so many fish, some as big as that tiger shark, along with schools of hundreds of sardines that swarmed around the kelp and the other fish.

The displays of coral where beautiful.

And we saw Nemo and his family amongst the anemones.

There were too many pictures to put here.  They have wonderful displays to inspire and educate the public about sea life and the impacts of humans on it.  

I even have some videos that capture even more of the beautiful sea life they are educating the public about. This first one is of the kelp forest environment, and the second one is the column of sardines. We highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.  Check their website for details.

After about three hours in the aquarium, we walked along Cannery Row, had lunch at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant, and saw the statue of John Steinbeck.

Continuing along Hwy 1, north toward San Francisco, we saw even more produce, strawberries, Brussels sprouts and artichokes. We found the Miramar Beach Restaurant on Half Moon Bay.  Lori’s former student, Rachel, her husband Dale and their two adorable children, Becket, 6, and Bryn, 3, met us for dinner there.  We had a great visit. Rachel is teaching part time college biology and substituting at her children’s elementary school along with helping out with science education there. Lori is very proud of her accomplishments, and is grateful for the continued relationship.

We spent the night in the parking lot at the restaurant going to sleep to the sound of the waves on the beach not 100 yards away.

The next morning we continued up Hwy 1 and made our way to Bernal Heights Park to park Rocinante, the RV on a relatively level street above George’s cousin Debra’s house.  We had a lovely visit with Deb, her husband John and their two almost teenagers Ella and Vieve. Vieve, short for Genevieve, used to be known as Marta, but she decided that she wanted to go by her middle name instead. So Vieve, she is!

We walked down the hill to the Farmers Market, loaded up on produce and then hauled it back up the hill to the house. Nice workout after sitting in the RV for a couple of days. We prepared food, and talked in their cozy kitchen and had a lovely home-cooked meal.

The next morning, we traveled to Sacramento to visit Lori's Uncle Del and Aunt Patti.  Their son Jon came over for dinner, so we were able to catch up.  Another good visit had by all!

Stopping at the local Les Schwab Tire Center to check the tire pressure, we discovered that one of the inside tires on the double axel had gone flat, so we had to replace that.  We love Les Schwab.  They had it replaced, and rotated the tires for the best balance, and we were back on the road heading north west toward the redwoods. 

Tonight we are camped out next to the Trinity River off CA Hwy 299 in the Trinity Mountain range. Off to the Redwoods National Park tomorrow.

Yosemite!

Day 6 was spent driving through Lassen, hiking Bumpass Hell Trail, and driving to Lake Tahoe.  We stopped in Susanville to use the wifi at McDonalds and do some shopping.  We drove on to Incline Village on Lake Tahoe where we parked the RV in the Hyatt Regency parking lot, did a little gambling and then had dinner at the Lakeside Grille.

Olmsted Point

Early the next morning, we drove around the beautiful blue lake and heading south on Hwy 395 for Yosemite National Park. Driving along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas, you could see one of the massive granite peaks in the park from miles away. We entered the park and stopped at the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center, got the postcards, and the passport stamp, then made our way along the Tioga Road toward the Porcupine Flat campground to stake out our camp site for the night.  First, however, we stopped at Olmsted Point to admire the view.  The campsite was rustic, and dusty, but still had that wonderful smell of the fir and pine trees.  The temperature dropped quite a bit, as we were at about 8000ft, and the sky was clear with billions and billions of stars on a moonless night.  Amazing.

El Capitan

We continued our drive along the Tioga Road toward the Yosemite Valley. Wow. This is where all the iconic peaks are: El Capitan and Half Dome. And massive and impressive they were!

Half Dome

After admiring the view, we set off towards our next point of interest Monterey Bay, by way of Chowchilla in the San Joaquine Valley. After being on the road for a week, and dry camping for most of that, we took advantage of an RV park with showers and laundry facilities.

Today we head for the coast and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

National Parks and Wildlife Refuges

After provisioning up in Roseburg, we headed over the Toketee Pass in the Umpqua National Forest.  Following the river for most of the way we reminisced about the time we spent there on our first anniversary, hiking along the North Umpqua River.

 As it was Labor Day Weekend, we should have known that Crater Lake would be crowded.  The line to the north entrance started before the turnoff, and the merging of cars coming from the east and the west was made for practicing peace.  It took us most of an hour to get to the park entrance gate, and then most of another to get to and find a parking spot at Rim Village.  We walked into the Lodge, but the number of people on the waiting list for lunch was long enough that we could call it dinner by the time we got in.  So, we just went out onto the patio and took pictures, but oh what a picture we got!  The panoramic setting on Lori's phone did a great job!  After that, we went to the RV made some lunch, and then headed on out of there.

Heading south, we drove into the Klamath Basin.  How lovely!  We had reserved a camping spot at Collier Memorial State Park on the advice of a good friend (Thanks, Spencer!).  What a lovely place.  Neatly tucked into the Ponderosa pines, the campground was neat and tidy, and adjacent the Williamson River and its tributary, Spring Creek.  We had a lovely little hike along the river, and Tsuki, always hopeful, chased after the squirrels. 

The next morning we rolled out of there and drove down Hwy 97 along Upper Klamath Lake. Before we got to Klamath Falls we found the Link River Nature Trail between Upper Klamath Lake and Lake Eowain.  White Pelicans, Egrets, Herons, Gulls, Terns, Cormorants, Mergansers, Canada Geese and White-Faced Ibis were everywhere.  We saw a huge covey of California Quail as well.  Along the trail, there were many Passerine birds (mostly little brown birds that hang out in trees) that Lori couldn’t identify, and a snake that stopped us short. It was stretched out across the trail just sunning itself.  It was at least 3 feet long! After admiring it and taking its picture, we just skirted behind it and went on our way.  It moved slightly, but not much. Anyone with knowledge of its species, we would appreciate an ID.

After our short hike and lunch, we headed for the Lower Klamath Lake National Wildlife refuge, and saw many more Egrets, Ibis, and various waterfowl along the marshes. We even had a coyote and a Great Horned Owl cross our paths.  All in all, it was a pretty exciting wildlife viewing day.

We made a tour through the Lava Beds National Monument on our way to Mt. Lassen National Park. We spent the night at the South Summit Lake Campground.  It is a lovely spot with lots of trails to walk of various lengths.  We walked around the lake early this morning and were just awed by the sight, smell and feel of the place. The song by Yousef Islam (aka Cat Stevens), “Morning Has Broken,” came to mind.  And yoga stretches by the lakeshore with that amazing view was a perfect way to start the day.

Before we left the park we took a moderate 3 mile hike on Bumpass Hell trail. The trail ends at the largest hydrothermal area in the park, and makes the principal area of upflow of steam and discharge from the Lassen hydrothermal system.  Pretty cool...er...hot, really.

We have put this place on our list of places to revisit to explore more in depth.

Heading South

We started talking about our next RV trip before we had even finished the first one last spring. So here we are, on the next adventure south.

Our first stop was in Sisters, OR to visit some old and very dear friends, Jim and Sue Anderson.  Lori met Jim and Sue when they all worked for OMSI  at the Hancock Field Station near Fossil, OR in 1987, and their youngest daughter, Miriam, was about 9 months old. Their sons Ruben and Caleb about 6 and 2 respectively.  Jim used to put Caleb in the front of the pack of people he would be taking for hikes around the fossil beds and other trails, and Caleb would find the most interesting things, many of which he would see before anyone else would.  All three of those kids are married with children of their own now, and doing very well.

Jim has been studying raptors in Central Oregon for the last 50 years.  They gather their extended family every May to band Eagles. Sue has been studying and monitoring butterflies in the region nearly as long, and so the grandkids do help out with that as well.  All the grandchildren are learning to appreciate and study natural history from their grandparents.  How cool.

From Sisters, we drove over McKenzie Pass in the Willamette National Forest.  Stopping at the Dee Wright Observatory at the summit, the clouds obscured the stunning view of several peaks in the Cascade Mountain Range.  It was drizzling rain when we left, but started pouring down on the west side. Go figure.  We proceeded south to Roseburg where we met up with most of the members of what George calls the Pirate A Cappella group, people he has been singing with since April.

One of the members of the group is getting married today at the Mildred Kanipe State park in Oakland, near Roseburg in Southern Oregon.  And, the group, along with the groom will be singing during the reception.  A very sweet song, “All I Want to do is Grow Old with You,” sung by the groom to the bride, with back up by the group, will make people cry.

So we are parked here at the Campground next to the park, and will get up tomorrow and cross the Cascades, yet again on our way to Crater Lake over the Toketee Pass.  We’ll stop to admire the view and have some lunch, then make our way south and camp along the Upper Klamath Lake near Chiloquin.  This will be new territory for us.  But that is the point of RVing, no?