North we go

Up and out bright and early. Lots of fog as we head up the coast towards the redwoods. Windy roads, clearings through the trees here and there show us the beach but not much more - too much fog to see the ocean. I stop at the Ranger station where a very cute and friendly young ranger suggests we take the Newton Drury Parkway route. We were so glad we did - the fog burned off and the redwoods were amazing. The road was narrow and windy and the trees were right up against it. But there was little to no traffic and we stopped several places along the way. It was a beautiful day!

We ended up at Crescent city CA. Took a break - pulled into a park that was right on the beach and made some sandwiches.... sliced some watermelon and fed the very silly little rock squirells on the beach.

From there we turned inland towards Grans pass - stopping to dip in a crisp, cold river along the way. Another break in Grants pass to grab some groceries and just have a breather. Then we pushed on to Eugene and the Oregon Country fair - last stop on this crazy ride!

Eureka! it's Eureka

Okay - rest time over. Off we go again - Up 101 accross the Golden Gate Bridge and on to the Redwoods. Lots of fog as we left - but it cleared up before we got accross the bridge. What a beautiful drive - through vineyards and then out towards the ocean. Redwood forests, River beaches. We took our time and stopped often. The smells - the light - the cool ocean air. Heaven.
We pushed on to Eureka where we had new freinds we wanted to meet. A quick phone call to let them know we were headed their way. Another call as we enter the city limits and Micki leads me to their house. As we pull up to this nice, quiet, suburban neighborhood - Savi and Antonio roll thier eyes at me and say "we don't want to hang out with some strangers... we'll stay here in the motorhome". Fine.

I hop out of the Mohome into the welcoming arms of Micki. She is all smiles and welcomes me inside. Duane, her husband, has headed out to run some errands - they are celebrating tonight and she's in a great mood. I tell her about my travels - she tells me of her plans to spend a month in France this summer just to paint - and we talk about burningman together. Soon Duane arrives - he's full of smiles and hugs and so much to talk about! He begins showing me around the place - sculptures, paintings, art - everywhere!

I lead Duane and Micki outside to show them my little home on wheels - and within minutes he's got Savi and Antonio in his spell. He coaxes them out of the Mohome and leads them on thier own personal tour of his yard and studio. They are mesmerized. Duane gives Savi a lesson in airbrushing and using templates - later she shows him the work she's already been doing with templates - they are instant friends.

Duane and Micki pile us all into his 1957 Rambler and they proceed to take us on a tour of Eureka and Arcata. What a lovely and artsy little town. Duane has done quite a few murals in town - He stops to show us and tell us tales of each as we go. He teaches kids who are having a hard time - and some of the murals are their own works. He is very proud - it's obvious.

Then off to the beach for a bit - beautiful sandy beach. Some beach combing and more talking. We continue on to the "Lab". This is where the magic happens - where Duane and his buddies create their Kinectic sculptues. These are pedaled vehicles with moving parts that are also art. They have an annual race through the town of Arcata every memorial day weekend of these crazy things. When he opened the garage door of the "lab" it was mind blowing! So much to see - so many amazing things!!!

Duane asked with a twinkle in his eye.... wanna take one out? Of course we did! so he tucked us away into "Extreme Makeover" and he, I, Savi and Antonio took it for a spin around the town. We laughed and giggled and pedaled. So much fun!

Later we settled down back at his place - and I had to pry my kids away from him. They went form "we'll just stay in the Mohome" to "We want to stay and talk some more!!!!!"

She left her heart...

Wow! What a view. With the sun came the fact that we are now parked in the most amazing RV campspot. Right at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean. 15 minutes South of San Francisco itself. Adrienne is one of the camp hosts. It's so nice to finally meet her in person.

We arranged a taxi into the city to spend the day (the resort had a taxi special that made it really affordable). I had the driver drop us in the heart of the Haight Ashbury district. I have become the tour guide of the day - with one goal: Blow Savi's mind! Mission accomplished!

We wandered up and down Haight street - shopped and ate lunch. Caught a bus to the Marina district and walked on over to Fisherman's wharf. Chiridelli square was a big hit - where we shared an amazing brownie hot fudge sunday - uh huh! Checked out the sourdough bread factory - where Savi scooped up her favoirtes - she's in heaven! Hopped the F-line rail car into the city and stopped for dinner at a Brazilian steak house. Crazy! They bring hunks of meat on swords to your table and cut off hunks for you to eat. We all sampled our fair share - and totally dug the roasted pinapple - yummy!

We drug our tired bodies back up to Haight street and caught our taxi home. One more night in our little slice of heaven - oh yah.

On to San Francisco

Oh – at last – loooong straight stretches. We notice something on the road – black, small but seems like something alive – lots of them. No one around so we stop – right there in the middle of the road. It’s crickets! Huge – the size of my fist – and they are getting hit by cars. New ones come out to feed on their dead friends – only to be squished by the next car. It’s crazy! We see them for miles and miles.

It’s hot – really hot. We find our way to the back side of Pyramid lake and stop for a refreshing dip. Have a picnic – rinse off in the Mohome shower. Wonderful!

On into Reno where we find a shady spot to park and regroup. I sent the kids off to check out Circus Circus. We have cell phone reception for the first time in a couple of days so check our phone messages. I find a message from my friend Katey. She’s teary and her message stades that one of our burningman friends had been in a car accident while attending 4th of Juplaya. It didn’t look good for him – very sad news. Later I learned that he had been removed from life support and was gone.

On another note – I learned that a new friend was on her way. Our friend had gone into the hospital to have her baby – how exciting!

Caught my breath from all that and once again we hit the road. Heading west to San Francisco this time.

The stretch of I-80 between Reno and California sucked! bumpiest roads so far - hills, wind and windy-windy-windy! I was so glad to see Sacremento! We stopped for dinner there - and to try to cool off a bit. It was a scorcher!

Off again - not too much further now. We hit the city limits just as the firework shows were going off. What a site. We saw up to 5 different shows from the bay bridge. Like front row seats. On down to Pacifica where we found our camp spot waiting for us - and Adrienne with open arms. Hot showers, a little conversation - what a nice way to end the day.

Juplaya

Up early again after a very good night of sleep. Sunrise over the little canyon is beautiful. A little coffee – a little breakfast – and we’re on the road again. Headed for the playa now.

We stop off in Kalamath falls to try to get that crazy sound checked out before we hit more passes and windy roads. After a couple stops – finally find a place that can take a peek. Very nice guys! Found it to be a broken return spring for the breaks. Whew! What a relief. A quick and simple fix – we even had time to grab some groceries across the street while they worked on it.

Heading South East. Long, long stretches between any signs of people now. Beautiful – hills and sage brush, rock formations and a cow here and there. Windy roads through red and orange rock – the occasional jack rabbit scurries by.

We rolled into Gerlach about 7ish, stopping at the pump to fill up. Ran into a young couple – obviously burner types – so we followed them out to the playa. No lake – just dry, flat, lakebed as far as the eye could see. The sun just beginning to set – a sight for sore eyes! We wandered around and decided on a clump of campers to cuddle up to. Parked the RV – pulled off the bikes – and we all went separate directions as the darkness fell. Visited with fellow campers – explored other clumps of campers, then watched as the large wooden bird sculpture was set ablaze. Soon someone threw in a bunch of fireworks , which went flying every which way. After several headed straight for the RV and an obnoxious roaming artcar/dj stand took up residence next to us – we decided it might be a good idea to find a new spot. It was so wonderful to simply throw the bikes back on the back and simply start her up to drive off across the desert floor to a quiet spot. We tucked ourselves into bed and slept like babies!

Up with the sunrise again – a little coffee – a little breakfast and taking in the beauty of the Playa itself. As I watched everyone else begin breaking down and packing up – I realized that we’d be out there all by ourselves if we stayed another night and I really didn’t want that. So once again – we hit the road. I let Antonio drive across the playa just to feel the freedom of not having roads – it’s amazing. Booking along at about 35 mph we hit a very invisible dip – and caught air to our surprise! Imagine – all four wheels off the ground – wooooo hooooo! All was well and on we went.

Southward to Crater Lake

On the road headed south on 205 at about 5am. Kids still sound asleep in their bed. Soon Savi gets up and keeps me company riding shotgun.

Continued south – caught hwy 26 towards Mt. Hood. Stopped for breakfast near the mountain (sunrise was spectacular!). The locals sitting in the little café scared Savi back into the Mohome. Ha!

Drove onto Bend where I found a sweet spot to park in the old part of town with shade and even a little man made waterfall right next to us. Kicked the kids out while I took a nap. Accidentally left the headlights on – so about 11 am when we were ready to head out again the battery had no juice. Luckily some very nice gentlemen had just parked near us and quickly gave us a jump. On our way again.

Continued South on 97 to Warm Springs for gassing up – then onto Crater Lake National Park. Arrived at the gate about 2pm.

Soon noticed a horrible sound when we pulled into a parking lot to look at the pumice desert. Sounds like the brake calipers on the front right tire might be sticking. Hmmm…

With that in mind – we head on up to the rim of crater lake. I can’t repeat the exclamations we all uttered as the lake came into view. Like they say – pictures just can’t capture the actual intensity, size and depth of the place. Lovely sunny day, snow melting all around and that blue, blue water – Amazing!

Then a white knuckle drive around the West crest of the lake and onto the Mazama camprounds. Pulled in about 4pm. Wonderful campground! Found a spot that looks over a huge canyon with crazy rock formations at the bottom. The kids immediately took off on a trail that took them to the bottom while I went and paid for the spot. They arrived back at camp shortly after I’d gotten back, wildly flailing their arms in the air and slapping each other. They’d found the breeding grounds of the hordes of mosquitoes that were eating us alive! This forced us to stay RV bound until the sun went down and we could build our fire. Board games, cards, and a whole lot of giggling. Very nice!!!

Hard day - but we're on the road!

Hard day! Man…
Of course I didn’t sleep a wink (literally – not one minute) Last night. It’s a gene I inherited from my dad I think – this not being able to sleep just before a roadtrip. It always makes that first day or two hard.

My 11 hours working for the farm kicked my butt too. Non stop – and wonderful – but hard on a sleepless body.

Come 6 pm after I’d unloaded my truck back at the farm and it was time to head out hit the road for places far south – I was toast (and beyond). So, Antonio drove. He drove from Carnation to Federal way, where we were greeted with a bbq steak dinner and a nice long shower. Yummmmm – best recovery method after working hard in the sun there is!

By 8 pm we were on the road again – still Antonioi driving (and now getting the hang of all the Mohome’s little quirks. South we went. Got to Kelso for refueling and a driver switch then onto Vancouver WA. Was about 11 by now. Hunting down a Walmart to park and get some shut eye.

The first Walmart we came to, just north of Vancouver, had clearly posted “no overnight parking” signs and not another RV to be seen. We asked the young man gathering carts where there might be another. It was a funny conversation in itself – but he got us down the road to the Plain Hill Road Walmart – which I’d seen listed on Freecampgrounds.com as a spot that allows RVers to park overnight. Alas, we got there to find, again, not another RV in sight and a very friendly security guard that said that a new city ordinance had taken effect and there was no overnight parking.

To tired to go much further, I simply drove around the corner and noticed a tire shop and a Jiffy Lube. A small RV parked out front there all tucked in for the night – so I pulled in a couple of stalls down from them, turned off the engine, closed all the curtains and crawled into bed.

It was a noisy spot – but I was so overwhelmingly exhausted, sleeping was not a problem. Woke up about 5am and pulled out to continue the adventure.

Travel time: 6 hours
Actual time on the road: 4 hours
8 mpg – about $40 in gas