Sunday ; Today was cold and raining, lightly in the morning and early afternoon, then heavier in the late afternoon. This morning we trimmed Bo’s and Sully’s claws. I posted my weekly journal to my blog. After lunch we were planning to attend the weekly ice cream social, but the weather made us ambivalent. We didn’t go, napping instead. We took the barbecue’s small propane tank for refilling to the park’s propane refill station. We took Bo for a walk in the rain to Coarsegold Creek which is near our campsite. I did some investments reconciliation work.
After supper I started work on our income tax returns ( sigh ). We watched a lot of TV ; Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, and Celebrity Apprentice, cuddled up on the couch under a blankie, trying to ward off the cold chill of the damp evening.
Monday ; Another cold, wet day. This morning I phoned Alliance Woodcraft, got my questions answered, and … WOO-HOO … bought a gazebo. Ten foot by ten foot, screened, made of Western Red Cedar. We’re looking forward to having it on our lot back home at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos. I’m not really looking forward to having to build it. It’s a kit, comprised of pre-cut pieces of wood and, of course, a lot of hardware and instructions.
This afternoon we picked up the barbecue’s small propane tank from the park’s propane refill station then headed to the village of Coarsegold. While I went to the small grocery store in town to buy milk, Joanne went to look at the town’s small thrift shop ( rolling eyes ). Back at home we spent the rest of the damp, chilly afternoon reading and napping.
In the evening we watched TV. I started work on preparing a site plan of our lot back home, showing placement of our new gazebo. I will have to submit that to our park’s lot approval committee. And I did a bit of work on our income tax returns.
Tuesday ; Today was partially sunny and cool. This morning I disassembled and cleaned the Fantastic Fan in the kitchen, then thoroughly cleaned the barbecue. UGH … what a dirty job ! But the barbecue seems to still be in fairly good shape, and I hope it will last for the summer. I’ve already bought a replacement. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for a day trip.
We headed north on Hwy. 41 through Coarsegold and Oakhurst then turned onto back roads leading to Bass Lake in Sierra National Forest. We drove slowly around Bass Lake stopping a few times to walk around a bit. Bo seemed a bit ill, with diarrhea. Poor Bo. We checked out a few National Forest day use / picnic areas and a campground. We had our picnic lunch at a boat launch area at Wishon Cove on Bass Lake. We drove completely around Bass Lake then just drove around on back roads, exploring until we found Manzanita Lake, and then the village of North Fork. From there we found our way back to Hwy. 41 and returned to SKP Park of the Sierras. Saw lots of beautiful wildflowers in bloom today !
Joanne quickly prepared a couple of loads of laundry to take to the laundromat, and we headed off with Bo to do laundry and go to the daily dog party, Bo’s last dog party here. Bo romped and we visited while waiting for the laundry to be done. Bo was a bit subdued, definitely not feeling great. We returned to the trailer, I downloaded and processed the photos I took today, and we hitched the truck to the trailer in preparation for departure tomorrow morning.
After supper I completed our gazebo site plan to be submitted to Riverside RV Park Resort’s lot approval committee. I worked for about an hour on our personal income tax returns. I’m trying to work for about an hour each evening on our income tax returns, hoping that I can complete them before the end of the month. If I do, it will be the first time in 22 years that I finish our income tax returns on time. HA HA HA !
This morning we departed SKP Park of the Sierras and headed north on Hwy. 41 through Coarsegold to Oakhurst where we refilled with diesel. From Oakhurst we headed northwest on Hwy. 49 to Mariposa, then southwest on Hwy. 140 to Merced. What a lovely section of Central California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains this morning’s drive was. At the edge of Merced we stopped at a produce stand to buy some cheap, fresh avocadoes … and corn. The avocadoes are fine, but we had some of the corn for supper, and it was terrible ! At Merced we got onto Hwy. 99 heading north. We stopped at a rest area near Turlock to have lunch.
After lunch Joanne drove from the rest area to Lodi while I napped. She did extremely well considering that she hadn’t driven the rig for at least 5 months, and the traffic on Hwy. 99 was very heavy. I drove from Lodi to Sacramento, stopping to take some photos of the stupendous wildflowers blooming alongside the highway. We entered Sacramento from the south on Hwy. 99, the South Sacramento Freeway. We turned northeast onto Business Route Interstate 80, the Capital City Freeway, then continued through and out of Sacramento on Interstate 80 to the suburb of Rocklin, where we found our way to Camping World.
At Camping World I bought a new propane regulator with tank changeover, and a snap in screen for the Fantastic Fan to replace the screw in screen. That will make disassembly for cleaning easier. Joanne thought it would be a good idea to install the new propane regulator / tank changeover in the parking lot of Camping World, then boondock there overnight. Good idea ! It’s a good idea to install RV parts right in the parking lot of where they were bought. If any problems arise, it makes solving them so much easier. And it was already pretty late in the afternoon and we had driven a reasonable amount for the day. I removed the old propane regulator / tank changeover, and installed the new one. There was even enough daylight left that I removed the Fantastic Fan screw in screen and installed the new snap in one.
We had supper, and while Joanne washed dishes I did today’s credit card and traveller’s cheque accounting and worked on my daily journal. I worked for about half an hour on my income tax return.
Oh, for crying out loud ! ! ! I’ve just sat down on the sofa to begin working on this journal entry, and I knocked over my mug of iced tea ! ! ! I’m tired, and beyond peak efficiency, I guess.
Today was a very pleasant, sunny and warm day. We departed Camping World fairly early this morning and decided to head north on back roads instead of the Interstate. We left the Sacramento suburb of Rocklin heading north on Hwy. 65. It was a very pleasant drive. Between Thermalito and Chico we used Hwy. 149 to cut over to Hwy. 99 and up to Chico. At Chico we headed west on Hwy. 32 over to Interstate 5 at Orland. Then north on I-5 to the Flying J at Corning. We refilled with diesel, dumped the grey water waste holding tanks and refilled the freshwater holding tank. I love Flying J’s ! We continued north on I-5 to Red Bluff where we stopped to have lunch in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
After lunch Joanne went into the Wal-Mart to replenish supplies while I napped with the animals. She was in the store about 45 minutes and was almost finished shopping when the power went out. Customers were told to leave their shopping carts where they were and leave the store. What a waste of almost an hour. We continued north on I-5 to the next city, Anderson, where we again stopped at Wal-Mart. This store was also without power. We later found out that the power outage was fairly widespread in Northern California, and lasted over 2 hours ! We decided to defer our Wal-Martin’ for a couple of days until we are in Oregon where there is no sales tax.
We continued north on I-5 to Redding which had been our objective for the day. But it was way too early in the day to stop so we headed west on Hwy. 299 heading for the Pacific Coast and the California Redwoods forests. It was up, over, and through the Shasta Mountains, following the Trinity River through, of course, Shasta - Trinity National Forest. It was a difficult drive, but very scenic. The Shasta Mountains are part of the Cascade Range, and the drive reminded me of back home, driving along Hwy. 3 following the Similkameen River.
We stopped for the night at a rest area about an hour or so from the Pacific Coast. We had driven a lot and I was tired. ( sigh ) When we turned the fridge on, the propane refused to light, I had to partially disassemble the burner / igniter assembly and light it manually with a barbecue lighter. There seems to be two parts to the problem. Firstly, the new propane regulator seems to pump propane at a lower pressure than the old regulator did. And secondly, driving on bumpy roads seems to have dislodged desert dust, dirt, and old cobwebs that have fallen down around the burner and igniter assembly. Getting in there to clean it all out and adjust the igniter will take quite a bit of disassembly, and I didn’t have enough energy or daylight left to tackle the job today. I’ll just have to watch the fridge function light and whenever it malfunctions I’ll just have to go outside and relight it manually. Of course that will only be a problem when the fridge is on propane function, like when we’re boondocking. When we’re connected to power in a campground, the fridge will function on electricity.
Friday ; Shasta - Trinity National Forest , California to Harris Beach State Park, Oregon
Today was sunny and warm. This morning we left the rest area and continued heading west on Hwy. 299 until it ended at Interstate 5 at the city of Arcata on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. We found our way to Safeway and replenished groceries. Not very big rig friendly streets in Arcata. Not a very big rig friendly parking lot at Safeway. About fifteen miles or so north of Arcata we stopped at a roadside rest area in a redwood forest to have lunch, walk around a bit, and take some photos.
For the rest of the day we were driving either through redwood forests or along the Pacific coast. What fantastic scenery ! We stopped at the first stretch of ocean beach where it was obvious I could park the rig. Bo was sooooo excited to be back on an ocean beach. We trudged along through the soft, deep sand taking photos, and playing fetch with a piece of redwood driftwood. As we drove through the Yurok Indian Reservation we stopped at Paul’s Famous Smoked Salmon and bought a few pieces of smoked salon and candied salmon. Very expensive but very worth it. Fresh Chinook Salmon caught by Natives near the mouth of the Klamath River where it empties into the ocean, then smoked and/or candied. MMMMM ! ! ! We stopped at a California Redwoods museum and gift shop called Trees Of Mystery. They didn’t have what I was specifically looking for. As we drove we saw a fox and some Roosevelt Elk. We stopped to refill with diesel at Crescent City. Geeeeez …. We’re spending more than $100 a day on diesel when we travel !
Late in the afternoon we crossed from California into Oregon and stopped for the night at Harris Beach State Park. While I got the trailer utilities ( electricity, water, sewer ) hooked up in our site, Joanne quickly put together a stew and got it cooking. We walked through the campground and down a very steep, difficult trail to the ocean. WOW ! ! ! We were on a rugged rock beach filled with tidal pools, facing a huge offshore rock with an arch through which the incoming tide surf was crashing. Bo and I scrambled over the rocks and found anemones and star fish in little tidal pools.
We couldn’t stay and explore for very long because it was almost dark, the stew was on the stove, and we had to climb back up the difficult, steep trail. Whew ! As we walked back through the campground to the trailer to have supper, it began to rain very lightly.
For the second night in a row, I ran out of day long before I ran out of work. For the second night in a row I did not work on our income taxes. After supper I did today’s credit card accounting, downloaded the last few days’ photos out of the camera, and worked on this journal entry. Along with the income taxes the processing of the photos will have to wait for another day. Bo was very tired and went to sleep by himself quite early. Hey, Bo … you’re getting old !
Today was cloudy and warm. We slept in a bit and I needed to do some maintenance work this morning so we didn’t leave Harris Beach State Park until 11:30 AM. We continued north on Hwy. 101 enjoying the lovely scenery along the Pacific coast of Oregon. Near the town of Ophir we turned inland for a couple of miles looking for Honey Bear RV Resort. It’s owned by an elderly German couple and the restaurant they operate at their RV park was highly recommended to us by a woman at SKP Park of the Sierras. We wanted to have lunch there. When we arrived we found that the restaurant is open only for supper. HMPH … too bad. Further north on Hwy. 101 we stopped for lunch at a picnic area at Humbug Mountain. Had smoked salmon with cream cheese on a bun for lunch. MMMMM … MMMMM … MMMMM ! ! !
At the town of Bandon On The Sea we pulled off the highway into historic Old Town, parked, and wandered around the two square block shopping / tourist attraction area. I wanted to buy some fresh fish, but the two fish stores’ prices were not to my liking. I wanted to buy some fresh baking at a bakery but again the prices were not to my liking. I bought some day old pastries at half price, which made the prices almost reasonable.
Heading north, approaching Coos Bay from the south, we wanted to take a back road “rear” entrance to the state park we were headed for. The highway along the coast is hilly and winding. It takes all my concentration to drive. Joanne’s job is to navigate. She missed signage in advance of the turn off we were looking for. By the time I saw the road sign, it was too late. Nevertheless, and with traffic following close behind me, I slammed on the brakes and yanked the wheel, making a hard left turn way too fast. What a bonehead manoeuver ! ! ! I’ve been driving for four days now, three of them on somewhat difficult to drive winding mountain roads. I’m fatigued and made a wrong, split second decision. That’s how pilots and highway drivers kill themselves … and their passengers ! I know better ! I reacted with rage for the next few minutes. I was very angry at Joanne for missing the sign. I was very angry at myself for the bad decision making. The experience left me feeling sour and negative for the rest of the day.
And after all that, we didn’t travel down that road. After a few miles it became gravel. We turned around and returned to the highway. We drove north to and through the city of Coos Bay, then turned toward Sunset Bay State Park. We found the state park, got set up in a site ( even this tired I still have the skill to squeeze a 47½ foot long rig … backwards … into a 43 foot long campsite ), then walked through the campground and down the road a little way to the day use area and beach on Sunset Bay. We wandered the length of the beach in the sheltered bay then scrambled around on the rocks looking for tidal pools and the interesting things that inhabit them. Found a Dungeness Crab and some small sea anemones. Bo loves beachcombing !
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