B.A., Political Science, NIU, 1971
Business owner, TopHat Chimney Service, 1978-1992
General Manager, Spokane Fireplace & Patio, 1992-2008
Ironman Canada, 2010
Ironman Coeur d'Alene, 2011
School Bus Nomad, 8000 miles through western states, 1974
Travel Trailer Nomad, 10,000 miles through Gulf south, 2015-2016
Travel Trailer Nomad, 6,000 miles so far western states, 2016
We ran out of water in our holding tank this morning. Had to tow the Ship over to the drinking water spigot and fill it. Then, reset it all, but it didn’t take us long. I just didn’t realize we could possibly use that much water in four days. I thought it was full; maybe it wasn’t when we got here?
Then, I caught up on this blog. I got behind when we were primitive camping at Lake Sonoma. It was about that time I checked the weather down in Big Sur where we plan to camp on our next jump. It didn’t look good! Heavy rains, high winds, and high tides (KING tides-higher than high!) made us give up on the Big Sur tour. The alternative was the Hwy 101 route, easier driving, but not as scenic. And, where to sleep? Well, we’ll figure something out.
Not wanting to get too wet tomorrow morning, I unlocked the bikes from the picnic table, folded up the rain tarp, dismantled the bikes and stowed them in the back of the truck. Once the bikes go in the truck, all the other stuff in there is very difficult to reach.
Reservations work filled our morning, but we were successful in getting accommodations into the new year except two nights this week when we will be passing Big Sur and some national campgrounds that are first come, first serve. We are trusting in providence that those will work out. There are nice retail camps available as Plan B, but we need to slow down the amount of money going to camp sites. State parks are averaging $50/night; a primitive national will probably be $11/night. Two nights saves $78! California is expensive; even the county parks are about the same as the state. We hope to find ACE parks in Arizona because of all the dams. They are usually outstanding, notwithstanding the last one in which we stayed. The previous Army Corps camps had flat concrete slabs with water and electric at the sites for $11 for seniors. That’s how we saved money last year.
Needing to break the tension of reservation work, we walked the beach, which seemed to relieve Penny. But I needed more; I jumped on my bike for a 9 mile ride. That did the trick!
Penny was sketching when I arrived; I warmed leftover spaghetti for a late lunch. Penny continued her work; I posted FB pictures of the bridge. Then I pan fried the snapper and Penny made beets with the greens. What an awesome meal! We even had Haagen Dazs ice cream bars for dessert.
I had an intuition that Monday AM would be a great day to go into SF to see the bridge, and the Golden Gate Park (GGP). We left at 9 and arrived in GGP about 10. I was a little fuzzy on how to get down to the north side of the bridge on the SF side. I thought that was part of GGP. However, I was wrong. In GGP are the de Young Art Museum, the Japanese Tea Gardens, the Botanical Gardens, Conservatory of Flowers, the California Academy of Sciences and many other attractions. But these don’t offer views of the bridge.
Lands End Lookout was a welcome find. As we viewed the GGB from the lookout, it was off to our northeast. Incredibly, as we walked toward the bridge on the coastal trail, a huge freighter heading in from sea. It was orange like the bridge; I smiled, thinking: good photo op on the way. In the long wait for that vessel to get close to the bridge another freighter approached from the other side and a sailboat moved into the frame. My smile got bigger! I did get some nice photos.
Next, we stopped at the gun batteries that used to guard the straits where we could look directly north through the bridge and see the traffic moving in both directions. Finally, we followed the road down under the GGB approach above us to the NPS historical site. This is what I was looking for: a park with a fishing pier, picnic tables in the grass, a gift shop and cafe, and a killer view of the east side of the bridge about 150 yards away! Sack lunch at a table in the sun with seagulls and pelicans, outstanding. Great photos, too!
The National Cemetery at The Presidio, GGP, San Fransisco
Needing to leave by 3PM to miss the rush, we visited the Presidio National Cemetery and moved to GGP, where I hoped to take Penny to the art museum, but as she suspected, they were closed on Monday. Option two was the Japanese Tea Garden that was quite relaxing and zen filled.
At 3PM, we were in the truck heading south toward HMB; traffic was not a big problem, no stop and go. Stopping for fresh fish, we got red snapper fillets. Oh boy!
Sunrise on our first morning in Half Moon Bay looking eastSunrise looking west
What a difference a day makes! As soon as I opened the door to head for the shower, I could see the dawn light illuminating the eastern sky. The skies had cleared over night; it was 44F. After my shower, I was able to snap some great sunrise pics from the east and even some to the west! Penny and I rejoiced that there was a sidewalk near our site leading down to the beach that was about 100’ away. The view of the Pacific from the Ship was virtually unobstructed; We were tickled at our good fortune and immediately signed up for 3 more days here, making a total of 5; our 400 mile jump has found us a little warmer and a bit less rainy weather.
The church here was on the same street as the park; we headed for 9am Mass, but found 8AM Mass just wrapping up. The website was not accurate; the next one was at 10AM. We used the time to bring the navigator up to speed on the Gas Buddy ap. She had an opportunity to find diesel here in HMB at a good price and get directions to the station where we bought $50 worth. We checked out the historic part of town, including the Post Office where we mailed postcards.
The priest was also an African immigrant, Fr Joseph. The congregation was diverse, young and old, gringos and latinos, but all friendly and seemingly happy. The message was about the ways we can live out the Gospel call to visit the sick, clothe the poor, and cure the leper! He said today’s lepers are those marginalized folks we see, but would rather not come too close. He gave a number of examples of things we could do to help them. Things such as fast food gift certificates instead of money so that they might buy food instead of booze.
Crazy house up the beach on the coastal trail. Look carefully; it’s spiked!
After that, we went on an 8 mile bike ride north on the Coastal Trail. It was really flay and people were out riding, walking, skating. It was a bit breezy making a wind chill, more on the way north into the wind than south for the ride home. We both felt good about the ride!
Leaving Lake Sonoma at 8;30 AM, I was very excited to cross the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB) but a heavy, wet marine layer of fog had set in. We were wondering if our transponder would pay the toll or how much cash we would need if not. My navigator spied a sign on that subject and proceeded to call the listed number. She managed to set up paying for the toll just as we approached the bridge. By that time, we were in a down pour and our vision was once again obscured. So, we figured it would be possible to come back another brighter day without the trailer and continued south on Hwy 1, the coast highway. The 101 stays inland all the way to Pismo Beach from here.
We arrived in HMB at noon; check in time was 2PM. Luckily, the site was empty and they allowed us to set up. It was 59F and raining hard, so we hung out inside. The cell phone signal was strong, but the park Wi-Fi was not. My personal hotspot worked great!
This little hawk looks bedraggled from all the rain.
Off to Safeway, we bought Anchor Steam beer, a San Francisco (SF) craft beer first brewed in 1896, but rejuvenated in 1965 and first modern bottling in 1971. The craft pack had the original Krauseling, an amber, a lager, and an IPA. Tasty! I bought their beer years ago but hadn’t had one for some time. It went well with the shrimp and rice Penny prepared.
We were getting desperate trying to find campsites in the national forests which are way less $ than the $50/night state parks. Of course, the NFS parks are remote and have no power or water hookups. Plus, we failed to recognize that everybody and their uncle go camping between Christmas and New Year’s. So that was our next challenge. After a few hours, we did get into Pismo Beach SB from 12/17-12/26! Taking that as a victory, we called it a night at 11PM.
Penny got a shower and I opted to wait until morning. She said the shower was nice and hot!
Steep terrain that would have grapes growing if not a park.
This was a mellow day. The fog lifted, allowing us to see the huge hills towering over the man made lake. Walked around the grounds a bit, but it was very steep terrain, so we did not go far. On the way to town to do laundry, we travelled through very colorful vineyards. On the way home we used the opportune sunshine to photo them.
The day was odd from start to finish. The trailer brake controller, a device that allows adjustment of pressure applied to those brakes from the driver’s seat, was not giving digital readings. It had a loose part bouncing around inside ever since I bought the truck. I felt that sooner or later, it would need to be replaced; today was the day. While Penny made sack lunches and got the interior secured for travel, I went into town for LP, diesel, and fast food breakfast. No LP was pumped nearby, so I punted on that. It wasn’t urgent. When we started to pull out of Widow White, I could not get the trailer brakes to operate, so I assumed whatever was rattling around inside the controller had shorted out the circuit board. We tried three stores before O’Reilly”s who had the parts we needed. After replacing the controller, I had the same problem. In my haste to leave, I had neglected to properly connect the trailer wiring harness to the truck. D’oh! On a positive note, there was LP for sale right across the street!
Things improved greatly from there as we travelled south on Hwy 101, we planned to travel the “Avenue of the Giants” scenic bypass. Actually, the Avenue was the original 101, which follows the Eel River through a steep canyon. The new 101 is mostly elevated above the river and the Avenue. It’s quite an engineering feat to bridge over the river back and forth and do limited impact on the valuable redwood stands in this 32 mile stretch.
Penny is hiding in this tree.Looking up into the canopy.A path along the top of the tree that grew from that root ball.Huge rootball. Six feet of it is in the crater beneath it; ten feet exposed
The green sorrel is a beautiful carpet.
The Drury Cheney Grove was touted as the most scenic to walk; it was lovely! The colors were vibrant creating a huge contrast between the red of the needles and fallen trees and the green sorrel (like shamrocks). There was also a lot of the iridescent green moss covering the maples. The huge canopy had kept the underbrush down allowing one to see a long way into the forest. It was a beautiful walk 1.5 miles through a cornucopia of sensory delights. In spite of the thousands of trees we have witnessed in our travels, the awe factor is still high.
I have mentioned earlier how sacred these groves feel and that these ancient trees evoke a sense that they are beings. Well, I have evidence! In this grove, I found two distinct faces of tree beings and while in the Sitka Spruce grove a few weeks ago, a full body that appeared to be hugging a tree. I know, call me crazy!
A tree hugging creatureA round cheek face with pointy foreheadA bearded face looking over your left shoulder
We proceeded south on the “avenue”, stopping for a late picnic lunch overlooking the Eel river at Dyerville Junction and finally, the very cool Visitor’s Center. Unfortunately, we had almost used all of our daylight and could not stay there long enough to study the many exhibits. We still had almost an hour to our next campsite.
As we continued south on Hwy 101, it started to rain and fog was settling in. To be honest, we weren’t sure of the distance or difficulty getting from the 101 to our campsite. My, we were in for a surprise! First of all, I wanted diesel to be sure that we could get back to civilization. Did that. Then, my navigator was disagreeing with the directions to the Lake Sonoma ACE campground. She found a much shorter route that did save time, but darkness was upon us, add in the fog and we were severely handicapped.
The bridge across Lake Sonoma to our campsite on the other side of that hill.
It turns out the road we were on was just below an 300’ earthen dam holding back two creeks which now fed an enormous lake. We had to climb a first gear steep hill just to get to the bridge across the lake. We could barely see 20’ in any direction! Hoping we were there, we then met an equally steep hill to the campground gate. We were concerned about this gate as it was supposed to be locked and we did not know the combination. Fortunately, a ranger was waiting and helped us learn about the lock. He told us there was only one other camper in the whole park and to just pick a site. Then, it was back down the other side of the hill we had just climbed! The campground was on the side of that hill, off to our right.
In the fog, all the sites looked the same. They were adamant about not driving on the grass, so they lined the narrow road with large, jagged boulders. One of those caught the retractable stair step and bent its mounting frame. Bummer! I was unable to see the trailer in the side mirrors and while following a gentle curve got too close. The sites were too narrow to swing into. So, we settled on one that faced an intersection facilitating a easy entry. 6PM, heavy fog that feels like rain. Can’t see Penny’s hand signals, but got it in, chocked, leveled, stabilized and hooked to power. No cell service. Our pants were soaked; we cranked the heat, stripped off the wet clothes, and had a beer. Exasperated!
I never left the campsite today. Penny went to town to shop, so I have had time to catch up on this blog and to secure reservations for our next two jumps. It frosted here last night; got down to 33F with some snow over on I-5 east of here. We decided to move south 200 miles in two jumps each to see if we can catch some warmer weather. So, in a few days we’ll be wearing shorts and sandals…..maybe.
Penny cooked down the remains of the rotisserie chicken we bought on the way to Jedediah Smith. Tonight we had chicken soup and Dave’s Killer bread for supper. It warmed our bodies and souls.
Before departing JSSP, we decided to take advantage of the nice modern, heated showers. You never know what waits at the next stop! We agreed that was one of the best public showers we have used in our travels. It cost $.25/minute, but a nice focused stream of hot water in a clean, newly tiled, co-ed room was well worth it!
Heading south through Crescent City, we noticed how vulnerable the town is to tsunami. It was devastated in 1964 by a wave from an Alaskan earthquake, the most powerful ever recorded, traveling 400 MPH! Of course in those days, there was no early warning, or any warning at all. Near midnight Good Friday, the first three of four waves hit, rousing the town. After a long pause, residents were relieved they survived, but then…disaster! Twelve were killed and 30 blocks of the town was destroyed, 60 inundated. 300 buildings, 1000 cars, and 25 large fishing vessels had been lost. Another tsunami hit in 2011 generated by an earthquake in Sendai, Japan.
Vulnerable. Life on the San Andreas or the Puget Sound faults. Life on the road. Life. We are vulnerable out here on the road, but life can be snatched away from any of us so quickly. So, let’s not forget to say “I love you” or call your dad or your grandma.
The drive went inland for quite a stretch before entering the old growth section of Del Norte Coast Redwood State Park where we were once again treated to stellar view of mammoth trees tight against both sides of the road and to the left and right. As the road came back to the beach, we encountered road construction delays as workers were driving pilings into the hillside to stabilize the ocean side lanes that had recently slid off the side of the cliff. Yikes!
Height 304′ Diameter 21.6′ Age 1500
The top of the Big Tree
We took a scenic detour after that on the Newton B. Drury Parkway; it paralleled the 101 and was actually shorter and less curvy, but only 45 MPH. We didn’t do that. We just coasted through as reverently as possible in that diesel powered limo. There we found the Big Tree!
Wow! I am out of words; you need to put this on your bucket list! It will astound and humble you.
We had to get our Mini Mac into an authorized dealer; the closest one was Arcata, Ca. No state or national campgrounds nearby. We found a retail park, Widow White’s, for $30/night full hookup. The showers were kinda creepy, but the price was right, so we signed up for two nights. Good thing we showered this morning!
We went to Simply Mac the next morning to find the computer was fine, but the monitor cable was the problem. Oh yes, good news!
After breakfast we hiked from the campsite to highway 199, so we could cross the Smith River in order to access the Hiouchi Trailhead. The trees in the campground were stunning, but following the river south just across from the campground brought us to many amazing specimens, both dead and alive. We came across a huge stump the trail went right through. It had to be 14’ in diameter and 18’ tall , but completely hollow inside with ”door” holes and fissures that let in the light. The oldest redwoods can be recognized by their gray bark; just like us older humans! The bark is impressive in its own right red or gray. We found it hard to capture the stupendous height of these trees on the camera, but I kept trying!
After our +/- 6 mile hike, it was lunchtime! Afterward, we got into the truck for a loop drive into the deep old growth forest. Traveling back to the 101, we went south through Crescent City turning east into the foothills to find the Howland Hill Road that passes the famous Stout Grove before crossing the South Fork of the Smith River where it meets the Hwy 199 leading back to the Ship. This was a narrow gravel road where I had to squeeze the truck between the trees in a few places. Meeting the occasional oncoming vehicle was a exercise in courtesy with each driver looking for a wide spot to edge into so the other could pass. Our side was often on the ravine side and Penny was spooked when I tried to get close to the edge to make room.
These huge Redwoods grow from this tiny cone!
This road was indescribable; I have used all my superlatives. Suffice it to say, we were overwhelmed by the experience. Penny said, “I feel like we are diesel powered thugs cruising through a sanctuary.” I felt guilty for my carbon footprint and prayed I was doing no harm. The thing is, my minuscule harm compounded with every other vehicle’s footprint has to have an effect.
The sanctuary metaphor is poignant. These large plants are so much more than just that! They have a presence as truly ancient beings. When standing quietly among them, one can almost detect a whispered “OM”. Did you know that there were 2 million acres of Redwoods? That was pre-Europeans. Luckily there were some thinking persons who acted in time to stop the wanton cutting of these ancients while there was still 40,000 acres left. Thanks be to God! In Michigan, lumberman cut down the White Pines leaving virtual no old growth. Shameful.
These Redwoods are 2000 years old. The Sequoia can be 3200 years. We are a short sighted lot. Are we not?
