Apr 2007

It's supposed to be a beautiful sunny day today (rain is predicted Tuesday evening thru Friday morning), so we head up the Oregon coast on Rt 101 to enjoy the coastal scenery.

The view for the first 20 (or so) miles is again beautiful rocky shores beside the Pacific.

We make several stops during the day, including a stop for Joe to make another dam along the beach (his new favorite pastime).

And we made two stops at lighthouses today, including this one at Cape Blanco State Park.

We end up near Florence, Oregon at another campground that participates in the Passport America program. My parents bought us a Passport America membership in January, and we've used it at about a dozen campgrounds so far on this trip. The campgrounds throughout the U.S. offer 1/2 price camping (when available, with various exceptions etc etc) and so far have been a good deal. We had one last night also. So, for around $13 we get full hook-ups, cable and free wifi for the night. The downside is that they are not usually the most picturesque parks. But we're usually only at the campground from dinner time til after breakfast the next morning, so the lack of scenery is not a big deal in most cases ... but I did LOVE the scenery at Yosemite....even though Yosemite had no electric, no water, and no heat after around 4am in the morning when our battery would run out of juice :-)

I get up early and take a walk along the river in Fontana. It's not that picturesque, but it’s better than sidewalks and RV parks. On my way back I stop at a convenience store for a newspaper and milk and then as I walk out of the store, I see a line up of 8 brown calves staring at me from across the street. They are waiting at a gate. They are very cute with their big brown eyes and I am SOOOO tempted to open the gate and let them out :-)

We pack up and drive up Rt 101 through Redwood National and State Parks. It’s kindof sad, but the big trees are beautiful but not a big deal any more – seen lots of big trees this last week or two.

On our way into the park there is a large herd of elk by the side of the road so we stop and take a couple of pictures.

We park the 5th wheel at a campground in Crescent City and then take off to check out the area. We walk along the beach and then head up the road to an overlook. Gorgeous view. We get a call from Granddad so Jere talks to him while Joe and I check out the scenery.

On the way back to the beach we pass another herd of elk:

We have dinner beside the ocean and then drive over to the harbor and watch the sea lions and harbor seals play in the water.

Then head over to the lighthouse....we walk over a huge pile of driftwood to get to the lighthouse….very pretty setting for the lighthouse.

We take our time packing and leave the Russian Valley RV Park around 11am. We spend most of the day driving north along Rt 101 and end up at Fontano, CA. We took a short detour through the redwood forest in Humboldt State Park (Avenue of Giants), but there was a mudslide that closed the road so we ended up back on 101.

Nice scenery today. First through the vineyards and then through the redwoods. Lots of wildflowers along the road.

Get up early to take a short walk along the Russian River and then get ready for our daylong drive on Highway 1 between Jenner CA and Mendocino CA. It’s a gorgeous sunny warm day for a drive and the scenery is incredible. We first stop at the Russian River outlet at the ocean and watch a group of harbor seals for awhile. We’ll see harbor seals several places on the rocky shore today.

The scenery is absolutely incredible today! Highway 1 hugs the rocky coastline here and the wildflowers are in bloom. I need to watch my camera battery power today -- so many beautiful scenes and flowers and I keep taking picture after picture. As you can see in one of the pictures, there are lots of calla lillies that grow wild along the northern California coast....it was the end of the season so they were starting to fade but still beautiful to see calla lillies growing wild!

We stop at a Russian fort, Fort Ross, that was built here by the Russians in the early 1800s when Spain still controlled the area. The fort was eventually sold to John Sutter in the second half of the century when it was found to be unprofitable to keep up. The same John Sutter who owned the sawmill where gold was discovered to start the CA golf rush in 1849.

Near the fort the land is private and the cows roam freely, including beside the road:

But we now know why California cows are happy -- they have a great view of the ocean!

We make lots of stops and take several walks along the coast

One interesting beach is full of driftwood, so previous visitors have made huts and sculptures with the driftwood:

Eventually we end up at Mendocino, a small picturesque town with lots of Victorian styled houses. We climb one of the many water towers in the town and eat at the Bay View Café, with a great view of the ocean and bay,

and then we start the long drive home. We choose not to drive on Highway 1 because of the twisty road and large drop-offs and instead take Rt 128 – a VERY curvy 2-lane road! So a long, tiring drive back for Jere.

I get up early and drink my coffee by the lake and enjoy the birds. We’re in Sacramento, next to an industrial park, but the lake gives it a more relaxing feel. Then we’re off to the coast, the Russian River Valley. We set up camp, walk along the river….tons of butterflies and birds, including an osprey. The water level is very low—we’ll find out later that they’re predicting record low water levels this year due to the dry winter. We then head out to check out Bodega Bay.

We drive south on Highway 1 and the view at the coast is incredible. We end up making several stops on the way to Bodega Bay. The waves are really high again today.

We’re a little disappointed in Bodega Bay…not sure what I expected but it’s not as picturesque as I expected, but we do find a small café, The Sandpiper, for dinner. Their specialty is clam chowder, so Jere gets a huge bowl of it. I’m not a clam chowder fan but it tasted pretty good to me. We walk around the bay before heading back.

Then back to the trailer before dark.