February 2009 Journey
|
|
Feb 2009 |
February 2009 Journey |
06/03/09 |
     
|
February 2009 Travel from Renton, WA stops in Eugene, OR, Dunes, OR, Humboldt Redwoods, Madera, CA February 27th Great drive once we got off I-5 at Drain, Oregon and drove thru the Umpqua Corridor to the Beach. Just before getting to Reedsport there is a elk viewing area. We have seen Elk from there all the way thru the Redwoods. Once in the Redwoods we began seeing the Roosevelt Elk. Striker, Ricky & Eli were all excited. Awesome beach pictures to come. Driving to the Oregon Dunes was somewhat of a bust. Dunes are awesome, just need a ATV to see them, the Dunes are so high you can't see anything. We pulled in somewhat late due to hanging out at the Elk viewing area, not knowing we would see Elk all the next day. We are early in the season and of course LL had been told by her friend Mark it was a must go big party spot so you know it had to be checked out. The campground (there are many) we pulled into was empty, immediately contacted by the "Camp Host" which my be referred to as "camp nazi's" if we meet more of them. The campground is asphalt parking lot style due to it about riding and partying, we are the only RV and we were out of the park spot by a foot over and had to move, it was pretty funny. The drive down the coast was awesome, photos to come, sunshine, beaches and Roosevelt Elk. We thought we would stay at Prairie Creek Redwoods campground then drop the trailer and drive thru some of the Redwood forest. Due to a poor map we took the exit to the campground via driving thru the Redwoods with the trailer, passing the campground and came back out to 101. Ricky made an impressive turn around on a on-ramp and we return to the campground. The campground was partially closed and found a space at the edge of an Elk Meadow and edge of the woods. We then decided to go further south to find a beach campground so we pulled out and got back on the road. We got to make some interesting turn arounds in campgrounds that were closed still for the season. Along the drive there were Roosevelt Elk along the road every where there was an "Elk" sign. We pulled into a viewing area where we saw the herd of yearling Roosevelt Elk pictured above, as we were leaving there was vans of Asian tourists that pulled up to take pictures. Back on the road the coast was beautiful and we ended up at Patrick Point Redwood Campground. The campground was partially closed since we are preseason, and we found one spot that we fit in. We are on a cliff above the beach in the trees. Again we were immediately greeting by a "camp host", as before a few more of them and we might rename them. He explained to us the rules just incase we couldn't read or something, very helpful. We have a great spot away from the Camp Host. Striker had an awesome day. He woke everyone up due to Raccoons under his house, the RV. He got to play on the beach a bit, go for walks in the campground, see elk, camp cats and rabbits!
February 25th We are heading out tomorrow, the 26th and will be on the road going south for the next 5 days. The weather has been returning to winter here the last few days and had about 2" of rain yesterday. Its been a little warmer then the Seattle area but still too much rain. Tomorrow it may be snowing above 500' elevation and we are probably at 490'. The report is it should be gone around noon, so at the latest we will hit the road then. Rick was able to get the trailer washed and do some outside stuff when we first got here, then the last few days we had some Oregon resident stuff to take care of. Jason and Eli came into town Monday night and Jason took off for Long Beach Tuesday. Eli will be traveling with us and leaving for Texas on the 8th from LAX. We are heading to the coast just south of Florence, into California staying in the Eureka, Humboldt, Redwoods area, then cut back over to I5, going south until we will be heading back to the coast around Pebble Beach then down 101 to Huntington Beach. 101 around Big Sur is closed for camping due to concern of mudslides after the fires last fall. We are trying to make good time to Huntington Beach with a couple of good stops on the way. Eli wants to spend some time down at the beach in WARM weather before heading to Texas. The weather doesn't look too great for the next week on the way down so might as well get further south to have some fun in the sun! Hope to post some good pictures! February 19th We are here at Pleasant Hill, Oregon in the Willamette Valley east of Eugene. Its a beautiful area and Bella Casa is a great place to stay. After the last minute preparations for leaving we got on the road February 18th. One difference observed in preparation is when you live in a moving home, its not like going on vacation....does it really matter if the pet has one last grooming because you are not going to be back in time before the next one is due?...needless to say Striker had a pedicure but no complete grooming. Just the essential things like last doctor appointment and mail forwarding is done, regular vehicle maintenance like any other time before putting on another 1k miles, of course we finally settled on that after running around for a week like we were going on a long vacation. We spent many months preparing living while traveling but you still get that "everything has to be finished before leaving" feeling. We did get to see a few friends at the last minute before pulling out. We moved to the Eagles Club in Auburn the afternoon before leaving. Linda, Linda & TJ and Kerin came down and we got to have our cheap Eagle drinks. One of the check list items was to belong to the Eagles Organization as they have RV parking in North America, which just gives you another option of a place to stay if needed, or if you need that cheap drink as LL always does. Of course we must mention that the Eagles is a great organization that does many community services. Barry stopped by in the morning before we left and LL did not sleep too well for a couple of nights as usual, but the previous night was a little different and discussed it with Barry. LL thought it was appropriate to ask Barry, if he had ever woken up before in a full panic attack in the middle of the night because Barry might know these things. Barry said, "No BUT I never sold everything and moved into a motor home and hit the road before either". LL thought that this perhaps was a good point. First night sleep in Pleasant Hill was excellent. Our first day here is great sunshine and warm. We missed Denny before he left town so hanging out with Patty and the girls; Maggie & Milly, Scottish terriers. It was a busy day just doing regular daily stuff, and hanging out in the warm sunshine.
Previous postings |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This site was last updated 03/10/09
©2009 llandricky.com
