It’s been almost two weeks since the last post.   And I realize the more time that goes by between posts, the harder it it is to post….so many events, themes, feelings, etc….  So here goes……

Just about the end of July and we are now developing a rhythm, cadence in our ‘on the road’ life.  I’m up early, usually walking first thing in the morning, sometimes doing yoga/mat routines.  Breakfast together once Steve is up.  Steve stays up later, appreciating his alone time well after I’ve gone to bed.    Travel days start earlier, preparing the RV and ourselves for anywhere from 4 to 7 or so hours of road time.  The day after traveling, based on hook-up services, may entail laundry, clean-up, grocery shopping, getting a read of what we want to do in the new area and usually a good walk to wind down from the drive.   The remaining days are spent experiencing the new area and people around us, as well the keeping up with routine chores.   We are still on an RV learning curve, trying to figure out how to correctly auto start the generator (which kept self starting at 2:30 a.m., the first time we tried this), how to get the door locks to work, figuring out how to connect the grill to the RV propane tank, getting the RV GPS lady to talk loud enough and not be overriden by a radio we hadn’t even turned on…….  There’s still lots on our list to get to…..

In terms of travel, we have now made our way to Florence, Oregon, arriving Wednesday, July 22.   After leaving Avila Beach, CA, we spent 3-4 days at the Lake Del Valle campground in Livermore, CA,  which is about an hour southeast of San Francisco.  From Livermore, we traveled to Samoa, CA, a remote location on a peninsula in northwestern CA….and then to here, Florence.   California was beginning to feel like our second home.  We had been there for a month.  Very beautiful state, with incredible diversity of climates, terrain, views.

Lake Del Valle campground is located at the bottom of a steep canyon, foothills surrounding it on all sides.  No cellular, no internet here!  The days started later and ended early.   Wonderful campground with spacious camp sites, many trails and a large lake with two beaches.   Several nights we went up to the peaks of the overlooking foothills to catch extraordinary sunsets.   We visited the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay Wildlife Refuge, located on the southern and eastern side of the bay.   Many sloughs (rhymes with ‘you’) here that are used to capture salt from the bay water.    Great trails/views.   Our last night at the campground, we shared dinner with Heather and her son, Bartlett……   I continue to be amazed by the wonderful people we meet along the way.  Heather and Bartlett felt like family by the end of the evening….

Samoa, CA has a first come, first serve campground and the county campground folks told us we wouldn’t have problem getting a spot because it’s so remote, so cold and dry camping (no hook ups) was the only option.   And we didn’t have a problem!   The campground was a large lot including a boat launch and building with restrooms and showers, directly overlooking Humboldt Bay.  Approximately 1/2 mile west was the ocean and 1/2 mile south was the jetty and inlet connecting ocean to bay, so water all around.    Most mornings were shrouded in fog, with the sun generally burning through by midday.  Temps reached high 60’s/low 70’s.  Getting out from under the blankets in the morning was hard – raw and cold!     And a quick story about our trip to Samoa…… We were supposed to keep the San Francisco Bay to our west.  Somehow we found ourselves going over the Oakland/San Francisco bay bridge, putting us right in downtown San Francisco with a 40′ rig towing a car, never mind paying the $25 to go over the bridge!!  Fortunately our GPS lady was able to give us a fairly quick way to turn ourselves around……

One of the most beautiful spots we have visited so far was while at Samoa – the National Redwood Park and driving the ‘Avenue of the Giants’, a 30+ mile long road through these magnificent trees.   Some of these redwoods are considered ancient relics, standing in place for over a 1,000 years.  Many well over 300′ tall;   they are so immense that they live in 3 climatic zones at once.  And these redwoods help create their own microclimate,  with one tree releasing up to 500 gallons of water into the air per day from its leaves.   Incredible!

We are now on the southern coastline of Oregon, in Florence.  The trip here was a roller coaster ride, buffeted by windy ocean gusts, traveling on curvy 101 highway which is carved into mountains that drop to the ocean, rock slide warnings, up and down foothills….      This area  has the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America.  Some dunes are more than 300 feet high.    The sand dune at the back end of our campground towers over the trees.  Much dune buggy use here.

We spent one day traveling highway 101 north, visiting Cape Haceta light house, where I spotted a grey whale; Cape Perpetua, a large forested headland; Newport, with a wonderful gluten free grocery and deli…and all the towns in between.    At Cape Perpetua, we hiked down to ‘spouting horn’, where ocean waves pushed under the rocks cause salt water flumes to explode up through the rocks.   Devil’s Churn, also on our hike, is an area with a long crack in the coastal rock where waves smash into each other as they come and go.    The visitor center overlooks all of this area and provides indoor and outdoor viewing of the ocean way below.   About 800 feet further above the visitor center is another trail that loops around the mountain top and leads to a stone shelter built by the CCC in the 1930’s.

Tomorrow we leave the ocean area and head to Crater Lake.   I’ll be heading over tonight after dinner to say good-bye to the ocean.   Most rest of our trip will be inland from here.

Learnings:

– don’t trust google maps!  Think there is a gremlin inside that enjoys getting travelers to wrong places and in tight spots

– if ever on the west coast, travel some portion of Highway 101.  Much of this highway follows the ocean from CA, through OR and into WA, I believe

– new warning sign encountered walking on jetties the last few days ‘Dangerous – Killer Waves’.   Sure makes you keep an eye on the ocean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several campground moves since the last update in early July.  And we regained Internet (and cellular) connection yesterday, after many days with out, as we landed in Avila Beach, CA.   This is our first time ‘dry camping’, no water, electricity and/or sewer hook ups, as well as our first time camping right on the ocean, just 20 yards in front of our windshield.

To digress for a moment…..  WIFI is a constant challenge and I’ve come to appreciate an hour or so over a cup of coffee at coffee houses that have free WIFI.   Far fewer campgrounds have WIFI than do.    To be able to  upload pictures, download a library book to my kindle, post pictures/comments to Facebook,  get/send emails, etc..is no longer taken for granted.

Each new campground generally takes us one night to adjust to new sounds.   At the Ventura campground, it was the sounds of free range peacocks;  at Tapo Canyon, one of my favorite spots to date, it was the eerie coyote cries right outside our window; and here at Avila Beach, the bronchitis-sounding seal serenades.     And a few comments on peacocks – we’ve now been in two locations where peacocks are part of the landscape, in trees, on houses, walking the roads.   My first time seeing baby, fluffy peacocks…..

People connections meant much to me before being on the road and now  mean even more.  The calls/emails from family and friends warm my day.   I’m working on this thought that ‘my absence is my presence’ for all the family and friend events that go on while we are away.     And new interactions continue to amaze….a gift of mangos from a gal from Vietnam who asked to see what an RV looked like;  a phone number and contact name for people in Oregon in case we needed help while visiting that area; a soon-to-be 4th grader who wanted to know whose handprints were on the back of my t-shirt and asked to put her hand on each…..

We spent several hours at the Ronald Reagan library located on top of a big hill overlooking Simi Valley.  So impressive….the memorabilia, the review of history of that time, the incredible views from the library and a real, formerly used ‘Air Force One’ jet, as well as ‘Marine One’ helicopter open for boarding, right within the building!

Some recent learnings

– the importance of checking to see if that is a tan on my legs before going to bed

– never, ever, never leave large containers of mango juice free to roam the refrigerator, even though the refrigerator is locked while under travel.    The repercussions of one falling out when first re-opening the refrigerator will never, ever be forgotten

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Cachuma campground feels like home;  we’ve been here 1 1/2 weeks.  Campground neighbors change, mostly coming and going on weekends and lots of open space in the middle of the week.   I suspect we’ll have a full house this July 4 weekend.

We continue to investigate the area.  Twice we’ve driven El Camino Cielo, an incredible road that travels a mountain ridge, with one side overlooking Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands; the other side the San Padre national forest and canyons.  Crazy switchbacks, drop offs, views and no guard rails on the road.   On the second trip, we hooked the video camera to the windshield and memorialized the trip.    Learning how to cut, edit and post a video clip next on the ‘to do’ list.

We spent a day in beautiful Santa Barbara, a town over the mountain and on the ocean.  The Visitors Center staff provided many suggestions for places to visit.  First, was lunch at an open air restaurant serving ‘rustic CA’ food in the historic area off State street.  Yum – a red meat fix with lots of avocados for me;  Steve munched a turkey burger loaded with cheese.   Next was the court house, built in 1929, with beautiful wall  murals, paintings and ceramic designs depicting history of the area. Open air hallways and courtyards throughout.   We drove to and parked on Stearns  Wharf, which juts well out into the ocean and houses many stores and restaurants.  The wharf and beach area are busy with musicians, artists, swimmers, kayakers,  paddle boarders, personal and commercial boats….    Round about way home via Costco, grocery store, gas station….   And once home, I realized the notebook I’ve been using as both a diary and list keeper for RV activities since we left CT was missing!!  Steve, to the rescue, drove back to the grocery store and was able to retrieve it from ‘lost and found’     Big, big sigh of relief and many thanks to Steve.

A few days before going to Santa Barbara, the campground was hazy and contained smoke smell.  Turns out there was a 300 acre forest fire in Lompoc, a town approximately 25 miles away.   Fortunately the fire was contained within 24 hours….     With so little rain and water restrictions, any fire causes great concern.

Another town nearby is Solvang, founded by Danes and with many connections still to Denmark.   The town resembles a Danish village and includes an old fashion windmill, a replica of the ‘little mermaid’ and a great coffee shop with free coffee refills and WIFI.

From a two-hour ranger-led boat tour on lake Cachuma, we learned much about the local animals, plants, history, etc…   This area (Santa Barbara county)  has the most diverse plant life in the U.S., due to the varying terrain and ocean impact.  Sequoia trees on the top of mountains that are over 4,800 feet up, chaparral and a wide range of trees, shrubs and flowers that live on the mountain sides, canyons and arrid areas.   We saw a bald eagle, blue herons, red tail Hawks, Greebs (which remind me of the cormorants) and other birds.  No mountain lions, deer or other 4 legged critters.

And a couple of side-bar comments:

– the campground is being patrolled this weekend by mounted Rangers, most likely due to the July 4 holiday.  So cool to have a horse and rider stop by the campsite…

– should have checked the deck of cards I brought.   Playing cribbage tonight with Steve  found out there were only 50 cards!  Oh well, only missing 2…….