Northern CA; Southern OR coastline

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

 

Our Camper on Avila Beach
Our Camper on Avila Beach

 

View of lake Del Valle from top of foothill
View of lake Del Valle from top of foothill

 

Sunset from top of foothills at Lake Del Valle

 

Steve with sloughs (rhymes with you) from Don Edwards SF Bay national Wildlife Refuge
Steve with sloughs (rhymes with you) from Don Edwards SF Bay national Wildlife Refugei

 

Thank you note, accompanying bottle of wine gift...  Sharing time, dinner and conversation with Heather and Bartlett at Lake Del Valle
Thank you note, accompanying bottle of wine gift… Sharing time, dinner and conversation with Heather and Bartlett at Lake Del Valle

 

Warning of deadly waves at Samoa jetty
Warning of deadly waves at Samoa jetty

 

Steve Standing Next to Sequoia Root
Steve standing in front of topple redwood tree root.  Immense!

 

Redwood trees
Redwood trees

 

Statement about age of redwood tree
Statement about age of redwood tree

 

Joan Looking Up at Redwoods

 

Haceta lighthouse
Cape Haceta lighthouse

 

Salt water fountain caused by force of ocean waves.  Spouting Horn at Cape Perpetua, OR
Salt water fountain caused by force of ocean waves. Spouting Horn at Cape Perpetua, OR

 

Salt water flume at Cape Perpetua, OR
Salt water flume at Cape Perpetua, OR

 

View of Oregon Coastline with Route 101 Etched into Hill
View of Oregon Coastline with Highway 101 Etched into Hills

6 thoughts on “Northern CA; Southern OR coastline”

  1. I really enjoyed the write up about the California campgrounds and sights along the way. You folks sound like you are really at home with this and having a lovely time.

  2. I was just thinking it was about time for a post from the Browns. What a wonderful time you’re having! Literally, full of wonders. The idea of your rig on the streets of San Francisco is frightening. Love those Redwoods. Thank you for sharing!

  3. I find it difficult to keep up with writing blog posts, while home. It seems I am forever catching up on blog posts, when we go on an extended vacation. Your post was a very good catch-up; enjoyed the writing and the photographs.

  4. Joan – Cathy gave your blog a dress and John and I are enjoying your adventures.We go in our R.V. all the time but we want to do cross country when I totally retire. A friend of ours has a GPS especially for motor homes and I will find out how he got it,We have Garmin but she sometimes takes us on crazy roads, I am so happy for you and Steve and yes people are so friendly when camping. We make many new friends. A Great way to travel so be safe and keep on “truckin”-Love and Hugs-Kathy

  5. Hi there! I finally have a little time to check in with you! Sounds like you’re getting your groove with the rig! I love the listing of places we may end up visiting! However, they certainly WILL NOT be in California! You know how much dislike I have for this state! I’m so glad to have met you guys at Cachuma! I still have your card with the places you recommended in Canada.

    As for Dave and I, we are now in Vandenberg Village (Lompoc) listing the house here, and getting it ready to sell. Finally!!! I/we will be so happy once we are done with this. So we have the rig and car hauler parked in the driveway, and are living half in and half out of the house. Don’t want any furniture inside, just one more thing to deal with. The less the better. And the sooner the better!
    Sad news, we had to put Max, our Jack Russell down about a week and a half ago. Liver cancer. He just suddenly got I’ll and his little tummy started extending right before I came back to Cali after my visit home to AZ. Fortunately we got here the night before he got super sick, so Dave got to see him and we were all together one last night. Still reeling from that. He was only 8. We miss him terribly. And then the very next weekend (last Saturday ) we left the lake and came over here, where I couldn’t get away from fast enough! But again, we just want to be done with this place. VERY fortunately our tenant that was in here for 2 years left the place quite immaculate! ! We were only here 2 days and already had 3 showings. It’s crazy, because of my OCD! My realtor says the house is great, but I complain because it’s not really up to my standards. No one else even notices!!! I’ve got to let that anxiety go!
    So only being here for 5 days now feels like I never left! UGH!!! Can’t wait to hit the road back to AZ. We will stay at our house there for a couple of months and then try and hit the open road again. New Mexico first on our list. Hoping to see the Balloon fest in Albequerqe. (Sp) Anyway, just wanted to check in, sounds like you are enjoying the road as much as we do! Looking forward to reading more in the future! Take care and be safe!
    😎💖💖💖 B & Dave

    1. B, so good to hear from you. And so sorry to hear about Max. He was certainly a special member of your family. Are you all settled now in Arizona? And I will let you know when we get to your area. It will be so great to see you!

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