Author: sandcastle

Day 8 Pacific Coast

Our battery was at 72% charge this morning. We are learning what we can and can’t do but—is not using the computers a good or bad thing? I’m way behind on posting my blogs. I wonder how many people even noticed?

Our neighbors turned on their generator about 8:30 a.m.–way before the 10 a.m. allowed time. We resisted the temptation to join them.

Another change we’ve made is only turning on the hot water heating when we are planning to use hot water rather than keeping it hot all the time. When Dave’s parents lived in Baltimore they did that. There was a switch at the top of their basement stairs. I like to take my showers in the morning. The idea of going downstairs to turn on the switch then waiting for the water to heat did not appeal to me. But here, the switch is on the way to the bathroom and by the time I brush my teeth, wash using water in the bucket, and turn on the water to rinse it is hot. So, I think I can do this. As long as I remember to turn on the switch on my way to the bathroom.

I put on a short sleeve shirt this morning. It’s been awhile since I did that. But we are headed south and we get so much sunshine through the windshield I think it will be OK. Besides, my favorite long sleeve shirts are all in the dirty clothes.

At overlooks where camping is not allowed they have signs with tents with the circle and slash indicating tents not allowed. Apparently, that’s no longer enough. Now they have added motorhome-circle-slash signs. Us Americans will do whatever we are not told not to do—and some of those things, too.

We crossed from Sonoma County to Marin County and immediately the road deteriorated. I wonder if that’s to discourage us tourist from going there?

We saw lots of some type of marine animal swimming north in the water between Highway 1 and Point Reyes. Since we could only see their noses and the v shape of the water, we don’t know if they were seals or sea lions or what. Just that they were large.

We followed some bikes for awhile. There was one tandem and two single bicycles. Going down hills they traveled faster than we do so we stayed back and watched until we came to a very long uphill. Then we passed them. In the next town we stopped for gas and they passed us. We never caught up to them again.

The gas station had a sign saying, “25 cents ain’t bad, to make your bladder gladder,” Under that it said there was a key available to current customers. The woman who came out while we were there looked glad.

We ate another roadside lunch today. Homemade sandwiches taste really good when you are hungry and there are no restaurants around.

There was a dip in the pavement so deep our hitch drug the ground. This was on the highway!

Going down a long grade there was a bicyclist catching up to us so we pulled over so he could pass. I wonder how many drivers do that? The signs say, “Share the Road,” and we’ve ridden bicycles enough ourselves to know some of the hazards of doing so. I sure wouldn’t want to ride in these hills!

We arrived in San Francisco about 2 p.m. and followed a Marin AirPorter bus most of the way through town. He helped us know when we should change lanes. It only took us a half hour to get through town. It helped that, after we’d lost the bus, when we needed to move right four lanes to go from Highway 101 back to Highway 1, people slowed down to let us move over. Nice drivers here.

In Pacifica, California, the weather was nice enough for us to open our windows!

We bought propane in Moss Bay, California. Running the generator to help recharge our batteries in the morning takes a fair amount of fuel.

We camped in site 22 at Francis Beach campground at Half Moon Bay State Beach. We paid $25 to boondock on the ocean here but our site was so good, I couldn’t see the bubble in the level because it was perfectly centered.

Our batteries were only 98% charged on arrival. Apparently, we didn’t find the right balance of generator-solar-alternator today. I don’t know how we are supposed to know how much solar-alternator we are going to get in a day, though. Oh, well, 98% will certainly get us through the night.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 7 Pacific Coast

 

This morning our battery was down to a 50% charge. We are not supposed to let it get below that. We need to move further south so our furnace fan does not run so much if we want to be able to use other electrical items while boondocking. In the meantime, we turned on our generator to start recharging the batteries. The solar panels and alternator will add to it during the day so we will, hopefully, be fully charged again by the time we park tonight.

Dave says there is a winter storm coming that will bring snow as low as 2000 feet. Snow has become a bad word. We don’t want anymore of that stuff. South. Must keep moving south.

We drove by Westport Beach RV Park. It is a Good Sam Park right on the beach. We might want to stay there some time.

I saw a sign of a true optimist today. It was one of those deer crossing signs overlaid with the red circle and slash that means “not allowed.” Does the owner of that lawn think the deer are going to read and obey his sign?

Coming into Fort Bragg we saw a sign saying, “Train Depot 1 Mile.” It turned out to be Skunk Trains.  We are guessing those are tourist trains but the name makes me wonder about the owner and marketing people.

I saw a place that sells satellite antennas and chain saws. Apparently, if you buy the first you will need the second to get a signal.

In Gualala, California, we ate lunch at the Bones Roadhouse which specializes in BBQ, Brews, and Blues. Motorcycles encouraged. Lots of cool memorabilia hanging on the walls and from the ceiling.  Great music. Good food. They offered corn bread as one of the sides so I got mine to go. Yum!

“Ranch for sale; 971 acres; beach, ocean, timber.” Anyone want to guess the price? Me either

“Road Narrows.” Why do they never tell us when it widens?

So, we are driving down the road, pointed at the ocean, and there is water on both sides of us. Now what?! The road did an amazing U turn and dipped way down.

There are cattle guards across the highway here. We are on open range land.  So it shouldn’t have been surprising to see a cow standing right at the edge of the pavement munching away but seeing the one using the edge of the road marker as a scratching post startled me.

Coming around a curve, I suddenly found myself looking DOWN at a multi-level switchback. I think I’ll cry now.

Awhile later we met a larger motorhome going the other way. The brand on it was “Brave.” I thought, “Or stupid.” Like me? After all, I agreed to take this road without checking our what that might mean.

We camped at Wrights Beach campground in Sonoma Coast State Park. This time the campsite was $35 for  boondocking on a perfectly level site, in the sand, right on the beach. Check out these views.

  

Instead of having a drop box for the camping fee, though, this one said to pay the park host. No one was home there. Either time Dave tried this evening. Nor when he tried the next morning. So we got that view for free.

When we stopped for the night our batteries were 100% charged. Generators are only allowed to be run between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. So we turned on our generator to do our computer stuff and to run the pump for Dave’s shower and washing dishes. Then we turned it off for quiet time.

It really is quiet time, too. We have no cell phone or EVDO signals here so we can’t do any internet things. So we played cribbage. Then I read while Dave went for a walk on the beach and played games on his iPhone. These are the types of things we used to do when we went camping. Well, not the iPhone part.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 6 Pacific Coast

This morning there was an electrical discharge inside our RV caused in part by our new solar system. Mostly it was caused by Dave’s failure to communicate. He forgets that I can’t read his mind to understand why he makes some of the decisions he does so when he announced his decision I felt like either: a) he thinks I’m too stupid to understand his reasoning, or b) my input is irrelevant. Neither made me happy. So I blew up. The solar system is fine. And after making him explain his thinking to me, so am I. We will, eventually, learn our limits.

In Eureka, California, we stopped to get fuel and groceries. One of the gas stations was named “Patriot Gas.” That made me NOT want to go there. I don’t like to see businesses exploit patriotism.

The road in this area begins and ends freeway time after time. I kind of wish they’d make up their minds but it does help keep us alert.

We planned to eat lunch in Garberville but the town is so small there was no place to park our RV. We traveled some very narrow streets making a good faith effort to no avail.

We played leap frog with the mail carrier. He/she drives fast between sets of mailboxes.

We turned onto Highway 1 and were immediately greeted by signs saying, “Winding Road Next 22 Miles” and “Next Services 26 Miles.” So we pulled off to the side of the road and ate lunch. It’s best if I not do these roads on an empty stomach.

This road makes me think of those “Zoom, zoom” type ads. You  know, the ones where they demonstrate how well their vehicle hugs the road. I am so glad Dave is not a zoom, zoom driver. Of course, he doesn’t want me to get sick any more than I want to be sick.

We camped at Westport-Union Landing State Beach, paying $10 for the privilege of boondocking. The view is worth it.

Dave spent the time between pulling into camp and sunset turning electrical things on and off to learn how many amps each thing draws. Well, how else are we supposed to learn what we can and can’t do while boondocking?

TTYL,

Linda

Day 5 Pacific Coast

 

We entered California first thing this morning.  This time the Agricultural Inspector announced she needed to come on board.  We had no problem with that.  She checked our frig for contraband fruits and vegetables then sent us on our way.

We were barely into California when I noticed the air was already thicker.  Dave laughed at me but he couldn’t explain it away.

Dave’s sister is currently visiting friends in California and it would be great to see her while she is here but she is flying back out of San Francisco this afternoon and we can’t get there by then.  She’s a fun person to know so I am sorry to have missed her here.

The funky thing I am seeing today is ships on shore that have been turned into gift shops.  I wonder if several people had this idea about the same time?  If not, which one copied the other?

I saw an ad for a “shark petting tank.”  It also said, “Just for the thrill of it.”  I can see it now.  “Look, Mom, the shark ate my hand.  Isn’t that thrilling?!”  I also wonder how thrilled the shark is.  More thrilled if he gets a hand than if he doesn’t, I guess.

As we entered the redwood forest the sign said to turn our lights on for the next eight miles.  So much for our solar panels recharging during the day today.

There are lots of warning signs around here.  The next ones warned of a 7% downgrade the next 2 miles with a 30 m.p.h. truck speed limit.  There are lots of places for trucks to pull off and let other traffic pass.  For this application, we act like a truck.  We don’t like leading parades.

Another sign said “Beach Hours: Sunrise to Sunset”.  What happens to the beach at night?  Does someone turn it off?

It didn’t look like we were going to find any restaurants any time soon so we stopped at a pullout for lunch.  We pulled some South Beach Wrap kits from the frig but I still have lefse on my mind so I took the filling from mine and mixed it with the pasta salad from yesterday’s stop at The Crazy Norwegian then spread butter and sprinkled Splenda and cinnamon on my tortillas to make faux lefse.  Being a wheat tortilla made it a little weird but it was better than nothing.

We stopped for the night at Clam Beach County Park at exit 723 from Highway 101 just south of Trinidad, California.  We paid $10 for basic parking lot camping except it’s on the beach.  Here’s the view from our RV.

Tonight we get to figure out how to use our new batteries to power all our electrical needs.  Wish us luck.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 4 Pacific Coast

We were headed back to Highway 101 this morning with me using the GPS part of Dave’s iPhone to help us make the right turns when the phone rang. So I answered his phone. It was for me  Very weird. It turns out that Dave applying for Social Security triggered a mandate for them to call me to tell me I could apply under his and mine when my time comes. I thanked them and assured them I certainly plan to apply under his since I’m pretty sure half of his will be more than all of mine.

Back at Am Solar Deb had said she didn’t think Seven Devils Road was paved but a customer in the shop at the time said it was. Deb admitted it had been a few years since she’d been on it. So we decided to risk it rather than go north to go south. It turns out they were both right. It is paved as far south as the junction with Beaver Hill Road where we turned towards Highway 101. South of there it is not paved and there is a warning sign recommending motorhomes not go that way.

Once we got back on Highway 101 my phone rang. I tried answering Dave’s phone again before realizing it was mine this time. Our daughter and I were chatting away when we drove out of my coverage area. I’m having trouble getting used to that.

While I was still talking to her, Dave signaled to get my attention. Another Winnebago View was about to pass us. The copilot of that one and I waved to each other. It’s amazing to me how many Views we have being seeing along the west coast.  I think lots of people have decided smaller is better given the current fuel situation.

Another thing I am enjoying in these tourist towns is the names on some of the businesses. Today we saw “Jailhouse Rocks,” a jewelry shop, and a restaurant actually named “The Greasy Spoon.”

At Cape Blanco State Park, we stopped for an ocean view fix.  Here’s the lighthouse there.

The park has camping with water and electrical hookups for just $12 but the dump is closed due to failure of the drainage field and the only campsites with a view of the ocean have cabins on them. Oh, well. There are other places on the ocean to camp.

In Port Orford we stopped at The Crazy Norwegian for lunch. It felt like we were Up North in Minnesota. There were lots of signs about lutefisk and Uff Da and a sandwich named The Scandihovian. Small place but good food. No lefse, though.

The we stopped at Battle Rock City Park for another ocean view fix and to read the sign telling more of our nation’s embarrassing history.

  

We stopped at Humbug Mountain State Park to check out their campground. It’s in a shady valley with a trail at the end of C loop leading under the highway to the beach. Dave estimates it’s about 1,000 feet to the beach. Their dump was also closed also but I don’t know if it’s permanently so here.

We stopped at lots of scenic overlooks where Dave took lots of pictures of the ocean. He now has several of them cycling on his desktop since he couldn’t decide which to use.

We didn’t stop at Ophir State Beach. We could see it is a paved wayside with restrooms, overlooking the ocean, and somewhat sheltered from the highway but we don’t know if camping is allowed there.

We had intended to buy diesel in Port Orford but didn’t do so. We were glad when we got to Gold Beach to discover it was 10 cents a gallon cheaper than it had been in Port Orford.

In Gold Beach there are RV parks on the ocean. We may stop at one of them someday but not today.

One of the interesting things I learned with all these ocean view stops is that I need to be able to see the beach not just the water. Without the waves lapping the shore the ocean just looks like a big lake to me.

We crossed Bruce’s Bone Creek. I decided not to speculate about that name.

We camped at Harris Beach State Recreation Area. We paid an extra $1 for a site with cable TV even though we don’t watch TV because the only sites with a view of the ocean had cable connections and you pay for what the site offers, not what you plan to use. Much of life is like that.

TTYL,

Linda