A Full-time Life

LASSEN NATIONAL PARK

On our Autumn roadtrip we spent a full day in California's Lassen Volcanic National Park with a short stop on our way  at nearby Burney Falls State Park.  

 

Burney Falls State Park (California)

The Fall colors at the State park were beautiful and Burney Falls itself is spectacular.   We had the Roadtrek Camper Van and had planned to spend the night there, but the Park was absolutely deserted, with all camping areas roped off.   The visitor center was closed.   We never did find out why -- mid-October seemed early for the season to be over.    We had a little walk around the area, took lots of pictures and then found an unexceptional motel near the National Park.  

 

 One of the informational signs at Burney Falls.  I've always loved waterfalls but at seeing this sign realized I had never even given a thought to how they are formed.  Science and Geography were not my best subjects in school. They say it is good for aging brains to learn new things -- and that is easier to do when you missed a lot of learning earlier in life.

 

 Summit Lake, Mt Lassen National Park

This view looks calm and peaceful, but Lassen Park is an active volcanic site and is home to all four types of volcano -- plug dome, cinder cone, shield, and stratovolcano.  Scientists continually monitor the area, especially since Mount Saint Helens (also part of the Cascade Mountain chain) blew up in 1980.   The National Park Service has developed an emergency plan to protect the public in case an eruption threatens.

 

Bumpass Hell Trail and  Sulfur Works

 

Hydrothermal sulfur mud pots boil along the trails in the park.   In appearance (and "aroma") they  rival those in the more well known Yellowstone National Park.   Lassen is one of the least visited National Parks -- it gets around 500,000 visitors annually, compared to Yellowstone's over 4 million.   

 

Rocks "painted"  by sulfur and other deposits 

 

Brokeoff Mountain (Mt Tehama)

 

Brokeoff  Mountain was an active stratovolcano around 400,000 years ago.  It would have been 11,000 feet high.   After the volcano stopped erupting the mountain slowly eroded and crumbled.   These are remnants.  Volcanic activity in the area shifted toward the present Mt Lassen.

 

 

 We are honored to have visited 41 of the 60 National Parks in the US and are grateful to the dedicated people who work for the NP Service.  I can only hope that these parks (and other natural wonders here in this country)  will still exist by the time our great-grandchildren are old enough to visit them.

 

LINKING THIS WEEK to the following sharing opportunities, with thanks to all of the hosts:

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY  BLISS;   

 

 

HOLE IN THE HEAD ...

....  and other follow-up from Bodega Bay. 

 

California -- The Golden State

 

 

Pictures above are from somewhere on the road between Bodega Bay and Arcata Marsh, during our October road-trip to California (from our home in Oregon).

 

Hole in the Head, Bodega Bay

Before the arrival of Europeans, the  Bodega Bay Headlands was home to Miwok Indians -- there was fresh spring water, sea water, and abundant land and sea life.  Early settlers followed for the same reasons.    In the late 1950s,  PG&E (Utility Company) bought land from a local rancher and planned to turn the area into the nation's first commercially viable nuclear power plant.    This would have destroyed the habitat and local residents and other concerned citizens mounted a campaign to halt the  construction.   It dragged through legal channels until it was stopped for good in 1964 -- the environmental destruction alone should have been enough, but the fact that the Headlands lies on the San Andreas Fault was actually the deciding factor.   

The Hole in the Head is   a 90 by 120 foot deep hole dug by PG&E during the initial construction phrase.  The "hole"  is constantly refilled by the fresh springs that drew Native Americans and early settlers  to the area.  It provides safe habitat for a variety of birds and wildlife.  (Information from signage at the headlands, with some of my own thoughts inserted.)

 

 

I posted about Bodega Bay earlier HERE --  (only a few weeks ago -- I'm still way behind in blogging) .  Above is another picture of some of the Marbled Godwits that we saw .  Thank you to the generous birders who verified my identification in their comments.  Your help was  much appreciated.  

 

Possibly descendants of  early movie stars?

 

A few comments on the earlier post mentioned that famous movie filmed in this charming little town.  For entirely different reasons, I appreciated those comments as well.     I knew a little  about "The Birds" and there were are still a few signs and reminders of it around the town, but we'd  never seen the movie.  (It was released in 1963 -- by  November of that year, we had four children under the age of six.   Movies were  low on our list of things to do.)  Too bad we didn't have streaming services available back then (although I'm sure I'd have fallen asleep in front of the TV just as well with it!).  We did use that modern service to watch it just recently -- it was definitely dated and only the opening scene looked much like the Bodega Bay we saw.  It was fun to watch though  ---   and I still love all kinds of birds.    

 

 

This sign is along Highway 1 just outside of Bodega Bay.  The Chanslor family owns a big ranch and this wetlands area.  The sign on this fence said that hiking was allowed with permission and that minors must be accompanied by an adult at all times.   Seemed like the prickly  tangle of weeds would do a good job of keeping anyone young or old out of this protected area.   But we walked along the edge in front of the fence and soon came to a great photo stop where we could actually see the water.

 

 

I think, but am not sure, that the water is Salmon Creek.   There was the largest flock of Mallards here that I've ever seen.  These are just a small part of them.  It's an extremely common duck but it was interesting to see so many of them together.  And they are handsome! 

 

Grateful ...

 

 ... that we were able to travel to this fascinating area and for all that we learned.   Thankful for the people who saved the Bodega Headlands.   

And thank you for visiting and especially for your comments.   And, as always, thank you to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities.    

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  WILD BIRD Wednesday; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY  BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

ARCATA MARSH

FOR WORLD BIRD WEDNESDAY, these pictures from The Arcata Marsh, where we spent a couple of days last week. It is in Northern California.  This Marsh is not only one of the coolest birding places ever, it is simply one of the coolest PLACES ever. 

We have visited it several times in the past, because the Humbolt Bay area of Northern California was always one of our favorite long-weekend destinations when we lived in Oregon (in our other life, when we worked and owned a home in Springfield). 

The reason this place delights me every time I think of it is that this whole wonderful 300 plus acre wetlands area was created to serve as part of the City of Arcata's wastewater treatment system.  Nearly all of it is accessible to the public on trails.  The Sanctuary includes freshwater ponds, tidal mudflats, saltwater marshes and an interpretive center.  The Marsh once was the site of a landfill and several lumber mills and some remnants of train tracks and loading areas remain.  

 

The former leach pond is now a brackish water pond known as Klopp Lake, where thousands of shorebirds visit annually. 

You can read more about  the MARSH by clicking this link.  Or better yet, go visit it.  You won't be disappointed.

 

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH?

Lesley, whose main blog is called 'Southern Ontario Discovered', hosts 'SIGNS SIGNS' every Thursday.  Join in if you have sign pictures in your files  -- or just go look at the links.  It's another way to picture the world. 

     This guy is supposed to represent Ponce de Leon, who searched for the Fountain of Youth and found Florida instead.  We saw this in St Augustine at some kind of tourist trap that we just drove by.  

We too have searched for the Fountain of Youth. 

In fact, in addition to staying in St Augustine, we've stayed right at the Fountain of Youth in California.

 

Neither of these places made us any younger, but we had a great time at both!

 Here is a link to our early post about the other Fountain of Youth.  It's close to Salvation Mountain, which we've posted about a couple of times.

 

FRIDAY FLASHBACK - SALVATION MOUNTAIN

This is a Friday Flashback.  We last visited Slab City and Salvation Mountain near Niland California in 2008.    This post is linked to SCENIC SUNDAY  and  SUNDAY FAVORITES over at Chari's 

  
  
  
Salvation Mountain is one of the quirkiest and most colorful places we've ever visited.  And Leonard Knight, the man whose mission and life's work has been to build this mountain in the middle of the desert, is certainly one of the most interesting characters we've ever met.  If you saw the terrific movie adaptation of Jon Krakauer's book "Into the Wild" you got a brief glimpse of the mountain and of Leonard.  ( Nearby Slab City was one of the first places where Chris McCandless stayed after he ran away from his parents' lifestyle ..before he headed to Alaska.) 

Since we haven't been to the mountain for quite a while now, I  recently E-mailed Bob Simmons, a man who keeps a kind of semi-official Website about it, to ask for an update on Leonard's health (he is 76 or 77 years old now),  Bob said that Leonard is well, but slowing down some. (We can relate to that.)

Here is a reprint of our original post, from 2008.   I used to use a lot of thumbnail pictures, but you can enlarge by clicking them.

SALVATION MOUNTAIN AND SLAB CITY

Niland is the closest town to Fountain of Youth (note:  the RV Resort where we stayed).  It was our mailing address, but it's actually about 20 miles from the resort.   Hitch-hikers and boondockers (RVers who park out in the desert for free) know Niland (which is a tiny, dusty little village) as the "gateway" to Slab City, the former WWII Camp Dunlap.  The camp was used by General Patton for tank and desert warfare practice.  The land has been used by squatters ever since the camp was closed after that war ended.

Seasonal snowbirds (often  in high-end motor homes) and full-time desert dwellers in junk-yard rejects reside next to each other on the crumbling concrete.  There's no running water or electricity.  One article I read described Slab City as "post-apocalyptic."  This kind of snow-birding isn't for us, but some RVers really enjoy it.  The picture on the right is one of the "buildings" It doesn't give the full impact.  This is one of those you really have to see it to believe it places.

Even before you reach Slab City off of the dusty back road from Niland, you can see Salvation Mountain, also on the old Camp Dunlap property (and also "squatting" there for free).  It's a surreal, technicolor mountain, built by one man who has a kind of singular purpose that is incomprehensible to most of us.  Leonard Knight is 74 years old and has been living and working out here for almost 25 years.   The Mountain is the height of a three-story building and is a couple hundred feet wide (so far).  It looks like a 3-D vision from an odd coloring book, standing up there out in the middle of the flat scrub land.

We always like it when we get the opportunity to meet local "characters" and Leonard is certainly one of the most interesting and eccentric ever.  He says that the Mountain is his testimony to God's universal love.  We aren't capable of judging the Christian merits of the project (nor would we want to try).  We just admire it as folk-art. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

And we really enjoyed visiting with Leonard and getting a glimpse into his very different world.  Leonard didn't do any proselytizing or preaching to us (probably recognizing that it wouldn't do much good.)   He and Bill talked about how to make adobe and discussed the finer points of mountain construction.  We talked about travel (he is originally from Vermont).  And just told him that we admired his work. 

He has built the mountain mostly with donated paint and adobe that he makes from the soil of the desert. 

Right now, he is expanding the dome that he calls his museum.  He has piled up tractor tires with poles and limbs that he found out on the desert to make "trees" that help support the hay bales that form the dome.  He coats everything with adobe, forming a smooth coat on the hay and giving texture to the trees and flowers.   We asked if he was a little bit afraid working up so high in the "trees".  He said the they rose up so gradually that, by the time he got up so high, he was used to it.

Leonard sleeps in one or another of the several inoperable vehicles that are parked beside the mountain.  You can see one of them in the picture on the left. 

We've driven the 25 miles to look at the Mountain each time we've stayed at Fountain of Youth.  Leonard said he is getting quite a few more visitors these days because he and Salvation Mountain are briefly featured in the book and movie "Into the Wild."  (He wasn't sure what the movie was about, but he said the film-makers were really nice people.)  Nobody else was there on the weekday morning we went, but as we left, about 10 other people stopped by. 

He has just finished creating a miniature version of the Mountain, which is going to go into the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.   

This is the outside of the dome, with window panes from scrounged glass.  You can see one of his work areas.

Anyone who enjoys seeing things that are out-of-the-ordinary and meeting people who are one-of-a-kind would enjoy a visit to Salvation Mountain and Slab City.

 

 

Niland is the closest town to Fountain of Youth (note:  the RV Resort where we stayed).  It was our mailing address, but it's actually about 20 miles from the resort.   Hitch-hikers and boondockers (RVers who park out in the desert for free) know Niland (which is a tiny, dusty little village) as the "gateway" to Slab City, the former WWII Camp Dunlap.  The camp was used by General Patton for tank and desert warfare practice.  The land has been used by squatters ever since the camp was closed after that war ended.

Seasonal snowbirds (often  in high-end motor homes) and full-time desert dwellers in junk-yard rejects reside next to each other on the crumbling concrete.  There's no running water or electricity.  One article I read described Slab City as "post-apocalyptic."  This kind of snow-birding isn't for us, but some RVers really enjoy it.  The picture on the right is one of the "buildings" It doesn't give the full impact.  This is one of those you really have to see it to believe it places.

Even before you reach Slab City off of the dusty back road from Niland, you can see Salvation Mountain, also on the old Camp Dunlap property (and also "squatting" there for free).  It's a surreal, technicolor mountain, built by one man who has a kind of singular purpose that is incomprehensible to most of us.  Leonard Knight is 74 years old and has been living and working out here for almost 25 years.   The Mountain is the height of a three-story building and is a couple hundred feet wide (so far).  It looks like a 3-D vision from an odd coloring book, standing up there out in the middle of the flat scrub land.

We always like it when we get the opportunity to meet local "characters" and Leonard is certainly one of the most interesting and eccentric ever.  He says that the Mountain is his testimony to God's universal love.  We aren't capable of judging the Christian merits of the project (nor would we want to try).  We just admire it as folk-art. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

And we really enjoyed visiting with Leonard and getting a glimpse into his very different world.  Leonard didn't do any proselytizing or preaching to us (probably recognizing that it wouldn't do much good.)   He and Bill talked about how to make adobe and discussed the finer points of mountain construction.  We talked about travel (he is originally from Vermont).  And just told him that we admired his work. 

He has built the mountain mostly with donated paint and adobe that he makes from the soil of the desert. 

Right now, he is expanding the dome that he calls his museum.  He has piled up tractor tires with poles and limbs that he found out on the desert to make "trees" that help support the hay bales that form the dome.  He coats everything with adobe, forming a smooth coat on the hay and giving texture to the trees and flowers.   We asked if he was a little bit afraid working up so high in the "trees".  He said the they rose up so gradually that, by the time he got up so high, he was used to it.

Leonard sleeps in one or another of the several inoperable vehicles that are parked beside the mountain.  You can see one of them in the picture on the left. 

We've driven the 25 miles to look at the Mountain each time we've stayed at Fountain of Youth.  Leonard said he is getting quite a few more visitors these days because he and Salvation Mountain are briefly featured in the book and movie "Into the Wild."  (He wasn't sure what the movie was about, but he said the film-makers were really nice people.)  Nobody else was there on the weekday morning we went, but as we left, about 10 other people stopped by. 

He has just finished creating a miniature version of the Mountain, which is going to go into the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.   

This is the outside of the dome, with window panes from scrounged glass.  You can see one of his work areas.

Anyone who enjoys seeing things that are out-of-the-ordinary and meeting people who are one-of-a-kind would enjoy a visit to Salvation Mountain and Slab City.

SALVATION MOUNTAIN AND SLAB CITY

Niland is the closest town to Fountain of Youth (note:  the RV Resort where we stayed).  It was our mailing address, but it's actually about 20 miles from the resort.   Hitch-hikers and boondockers (RVers who park out in the desert for free) know Niland (which is a tiny, dusty little village) as the "gateway" to Slab City, the former WWII Camp Dunlap.  The camp was used by General Patton for tank and desert warfare practice.  The land has been used by squatters ever since the camp was closed after that war ended.

Seasonal snowbirds (often  in high-end motor homes) and full-time desert dwellers in junk-yard rejects reside next to each other on the crumbling concrete.  There's no running water or electricity.  One article I read described Slab City as "post-apocalyptic."  This kind of snow-birding isn't for us, but some RVers really enjoy it.  The picture on the right is one of the "buildings" It doesn't give the full impact.  This is one of those you really have to see it to believe it places.

Even before you reach Slab City off of the dusty back road from Niland, you can see Salvation Mountain, also on the old Camp Dunlap property (and also "squatting" there for free).  It's a surreal, technicolor mountain, built by one man who has a kind of singular purpose that is incomprehensible to most of us.  Leonard Knight is 74 years old and has been living and working out here for almost 25 years.   The Mountain is the height of a three-story building and is a couple hundred feet wide (so far).  It looks like a 3-D vision from an odd coloring book, standing up there out in the middle of the flat scrub land.

We always like it when we get the opportunity to meet local "characters" and Leonard is certainly one of the most interesting and eccentric ever.  He says that the Mountain is his testimony to God's universal love.  We aren't capable of judging the Christian merits of the project (nor would we want to try).  We just admire it as folk-art. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

And we really enjoyed visiting with Leonard and getting a glimpse into his very different world.  Leonard didn't do any proselytizing or preaching to us (probably recognizing that it wouldn't do much good.)   He and Bill talked about how to make adobe and discussed the finer points of mountain construction.  We talked about travel (he is originally from Vermont).  And just told him that we admired his work. 

He has built the mountain mostly with donated paint and adobe that he makes from the soil of the desert. 

Right now, he is expanding the dome that he calls his museum.  He has piled up tractor tires with poles and limbs that he found out on the desert to make "trees" that help support the hay bales that form the dome.  He coats everything with adobe, forming a smooth coat on the hay and giving texture to the trees and flowers.   We asked if he was a little bit afraid working up so high in the "trees".  He said the they rose up so gradually that, by the time he got up so high, he was used to it.

Leonard sleeps in one or another of the several inoperable vehicles that are parked beside the mountain.  You can see one of them in the picture on the left. 

We've driven the 25 miles to look at the Mountain each time we've stayed at Fountain of Youth.  Leonard said he is getting quite a few more visitors these days because he and Salvation Mountain are briefly featured in the book and movie "Into the Wild."  (He wasn't sure what the movie was about, but he said the film-makers were really nice people.)  Nobody else was there on the weekday morning we went, but as we left, about 10 other people stopped by. 

He has just finished creating a miniature version of the Mountain, which is going to go into the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.   

This is the outside of the dome, with window panes from scrounged glass.  You can see one of his work areas.

Anyone who enjoys seeing things that are out-of-the-ordinary and meeting people who are one-of-a-kind would enjoy a visit to Salvation Mountain and Slab City.

ROADTRIP FEBRUARY 2010, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

One different thing about traveling with the RoadTrek instead of the Fifth-Wheel and truck is how easy it is to park.  With the fifth-wheel, when we pulled into our spot for the night it always took time to jockey our longer house into our spot.  Then Bill would plug in our electricity, water, and sewer connections while I went into the "house" to put out the slides and straighten up a bit.  When Bill came in from his work, we were home for the evening -- two or three hundred miles down the road, but at home, just like we were the night before.  With all the conveniences of any home, albeit on a smaller scale, we didn't really feel like we were on the road while we were in our traveling house. 

But with the RoadTrek there is no separation between the vehicle we drive and the home we're sleleping in.  Getting into our night's spot is no more difficult than parking a car -- and voila -- we are home, without even having to open the car door. It still takes a few minutes to hook up the connections, but it feels funny to me for a few minutes since I really have no chores to do at all.   We usually go for a walk around the RV Park (as we did when we pulled the Fifth-Wheel) and by the time we return from that my head is in the right place.   After all, although we are still living a Full-Time Life, we are only traveling through part of it in the Road-Trek!

Here's another highlight or two from last week.

Picking oranges at Orange Grove RV Resort, Bakersfield CA.  Bakersfield isn't the most lovely city in California, but this is a great RV park -- built in an old orange grove and they kept the trees. -- the orange pickers are provided free in season.  And in season is right now -- these oranges are SWEEET!!!  Sadly, since we have limited storage space in the RoadTrek, our harvest is gone already.  A great place to stop.

From Bakersfield, we drove to Long Beach to visit my Aunt Sally Roberta (who is 102) and my cousins.  We had a wonderful day talking politics and hearing old family stories.  We had hoped to stay in Long Beach and have breakfast the next day with family before moving on, but there was no room anywhere in the area.  Next time, we will make reservations in advance.  Sadly, as usual when I'm with family, I forgot to take pictures.  Too busy listening and talking (not necessarily in that order).  We had a great day before moving on to Redlands, where we found a nice RV Park.

We took some oranges to Sally Roberta.  When she moved to the area in the 1940s, she could visit orange groves near her home, but those days are long past as housing developments have covered over all of the groves.  So people in the LA area buy pretty much the same oranges as you get at Safeway in Oregon or Idaho or Texas.  The fresh-picked ones are so sweet they're almost an entirely different fruit.

OUR WALL HAS WATER ON IT!

 
 

San Diego Harbor from a walk-on ferry -- when we stayed at Bernardo Shores RV Park in Imperial Beach -- near Coronado and San Diego.

I've been posting a lot of old favorite photos recently and this is because we've been spending time searching our "archives" for pictures to load into our digital frame.   This meant some enforced photo-file sorting and cleaning up.  It was good to have an incentive to do this job! 

We decided to use at least one picture from each state where we've "lived" as RVers as well as a few from our stay in London. 

Now that the frame is loaded,  I sometimes find myself mesmerized watching as one favorite place fades into another.  (Yes, I am easily amused.)

Many of our favorite places and pictures are of watery scenes.  The pictures below are sort of how three of them look in the digital frame.   

CLICK HERE to view  WATERY WEDNESDAY blog posts from all over.  

 

MEMORIES IN A TUMBLE-DOWN TOWN

We've been married just about forever and sometime back at the dawning of civilization*, we lived for a couple of years in New Pine Creek.  We went to see it last week when we were in Southeast Oregon.  It's a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of place that straddles the Oregon-California border on Highway 395. 

  This little farm community is twenty miles south of Lakeview Oregon and 50 miles north of Alturas California, with nothing much else in between.  It's the outback of the outback.  Back then (*it really was 1959 through 1961), we thought we were so lucky to get to move there.  Bill had just graduated from a two-year program at a Teacher's College in Idaho and he got a position as teacher/principal (and janitor) at New Pine Creek Elementary, a one-room school on the California side of the border.  (California!  It paid more than Idaho, where most of his fellow graduates went.)  

We had a one-year old son and a baby on the way.  (Our daughter was born in Lakeview).  This is the house where we lived -- as you can see, it is  about a foot from the highway.  The house actually looks better now than it did then; we didn't have siding or a fence.  It snowed a lot in the Winters we were there. The snowplow would come past several times a day and plow the snow into drifts that blocked the house in.  Those winter days were long!

This is the old school building -- it was about the length of two blocks straight up the highway from our house.  Someone is living in it now; the school closed years ago.  It is funny to realize that the eighth-graders Bill taught were actually only six or seven years younger than he was. 

It was a very small village even then.  But there were a couple of grocery stores, a good butcher, a barbershop and a Grange Hall that had an active social schedule. Now the Grange Building looks like something straight out of a ghost story.

There isn't much left of the town now.  Both of the grocery store buildings are still standing, but they are now "antique" stores.   Junk shops -- especially when there are more than two in a three block stretch -- must be the last dying gasp of a small town. 

After our two years here, we moved back to Eastern Washington.  LIving there again, we had two more sons, bought our first house, worked a bunch of various jobs between us, and, eventually, Bill completed his degree.  (That last sentence alone would be worth a hundred posts if this were really that kind of blog!)   In 1971, we moved to Lane County, Oregon -- the opposite side of the State of Oregon from NPC, in every possible definition.

Our visit last week was only the third or fourth time we've been through here since we moved and we've long since lost track of the people we knew.   But we'll always remember our two years here -- we did a lot of growing up and had a lot of fun too. 

I wonder if there will be anything left of the town if we ever drive through here again.

 

CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP 2008, part 1 -- OREGON TO NEW MEXICO

 

In mid-October of this year, we were still enjoying family, friends, and beautiful Oregon weather at Fern Ridge Lake.   The Lake is actually a reservoir and the Corps of Engineers was getting ready to "pull the plug" as they do every year before the rainy season starts.  Here's Bill getting ready for the last boat ride of the season.  Our son-in-law met him on the other side of the lake and pulled it to their house and barn, where we store it. 

It is always hard to leave Oregon, but our plan for this Winter is to visit new parts of the country and it's a long trip cross-country to Florida (especially the way we like to travel).  So it was time to say goodbye and hit the road again.  Click here for posts about our Oregon stay.

We left Fern Ridge Shores at noon on October 15 and arrived in Bakersfield California on the 17th.     That was pretty fast for us -- we don't travel long days, but we have been over this road many times and there was nothing we wanted to spend any extra time visiting.  We stay at Orange Grove RV Park whenever we travel to California and it really is a very nice place.  Usually when we're there, we've been able to step outside and grab a few delicious oranges right off the trees, but it was too early this time -- they were still green.  

We rented a compact car so that we could drive to Long Beach to see my Aunt and cousins.  We left the Freightliner at the Rental Agency Parking lot; the guy in the RV next door to us took a look at the little white car and said  "Looks like your truck shrunk." 

My Aunt's home is in a beautiful neighborhood on a Canal.  The streets are narrow and winding and certainly not made for baby Freightliners, so renting the car made sense. 

My Aunt is 100 years old and is more informed on politics and current events than we are.  She is also generous about sharing her knowledge of old family history.  She's a great role mode and we had a wonderful visit. 

Because it is on the water, there is no smog in my Aunt's neighborhood, but it was heavy the whole time we were in Bakersfield and on the trip to her house and back. Although Orange Grove is a great park, we wouldn't want to spend too much time in Bakersfield because of that depressing smog.

Our next and last stop in California was in Needles where we stayed at Desert View RV Resort.   This was a nicely designed park with flowering hedges between each spot -- and nice long spaces.  It was definitely still summer here (maybe it always is).  Quite a few people winter in this area because it is very close to the Colorado River and Laughlin, Nevada (so you could have your choice of outdoor or indoor sports).  But although the park was very nice, the scenery around it is barren and desolate.  And still a little bit smoggy, so we were happy to be leaving California after one night here. 

We were now traveling on Route 40.  It overlaps or parallels the old Route 66, so all of the towns sounded very familiar. 

We stayed the next night in Flagstaff Arizona.  It wasn't a long day, but a hard driving one -- all mountain passes and lots of construction projects and wind most of the way.  Quite a difference from Needles -- we were up in the mountains and the air was beautifully clear, but (no surprise) cold!  We had to dig out the fall clothes again in order to take an evening walk. 

We stayed at a park called Black Bart's.  It's an older park, but the spaces were long and we didn't have to unhook, which is always what we aim for on overnight stops.  The RV Park is adjacent to Black Bart's Steakhouse and Saloon.  Of course we had to try it, especially since we received a 10%-off coupon for dinner upon check-in.  Dinner was a fun experience.  The waiters are all performance students at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and they took turns performing in a music revue.  Our waiter sang the signature tune "Route 66" and whenever he came to the line about Flagstaff, all of the locals cheered.  The food was good too and service excellent (even though the staff was doing double duty with the entertainment plus serving a couple of long tables of bus tours).  So this was a very fun overnight stop. 

On Thursday, October 23, we reached Grants, New Mexico.  This is where we visited the Acoma Village of Sky City.  (Click on the link to read our post about it.)  We loved our visit here.   We stayed at Bar S RV Park, a small and very reasonably priced park (about $15.00 per night).  There's no website, but this was an excellent place to stay for a few days.   There were some train tracks nearby, but they didn't really disturb us at night and the park was clean and convenient.  

When we left Grants, we got on Route 40 again and it was long, straight and monotonous.  There was no interesting scenery and very little traffic.  I was afraid Bill would fall asleep out of boredom.  (I don't think he did, but I'm not sure, since I slept a lot of the day.)  That night we were at Tucumcari, one of the very few places in New Mexico that I haven't fallen immediately in love with.  The name seemed to be the cutest thing about it.  So that made it easy to leave the next morning and head on to the second part of this road trip, which would bring us into some states where we'd never stayed and a whole bunch of new places to explore.  

ON TO YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

We left San Diego with some reluctance, because we had fallen in love with our spot there.  We have stayed in other places that feel like home, but at the others there are weather-related reasons that make it easier to move on.  (It is either going to get too hot or too cold -- or too rainy -- in a short while.)  San Diego doesn't have either of those disadvantages, and It was easy to imagine living there.  But we weren't really ready to give up our full-time roaming life, even for San Diego.   Our first planned stop when we left there was to visit Yosemite -- a new National Park for us.  So that made it easier to get back on the road.   

We had missed seeing Yosemite on all of our previous trips to California.  This was a great time of the year for our first visit.  It was still spring, the waterfalls were all active, crowds were minimal and the weather was great for exploring.  Unexpectedly, we found that this National Park has wonderful bike trails throughout and we took full advantage of them. 

 Cars weren't allowed in some parts of the park, which is a good thing because of the huge crowds this park attracts, especially in the summer.  (That's the reason we had never visited the park before.)  There are shuttle vans between scenic stops and we used those as well as our bikes. 

This Park was incredibly beautiful and even the visitor centers were well done.  Having a lot of visitors pays off.   Like everybody else, we'd seen the iconic scenery in movies and pictures but it was more stunning than we had expected.  We are so glad we got to spend some time there. 

The downside, though, was that we had to stay about 50 miles away, so we spent a lot of time on the road that week. I don't think another trip to Yosemite is in the cards any time soon unless we find a way to stay closer.  The hundred-mile daily round trip would spoil it now.  (We were younger and diesel was cheaper back then.)

Below are a couple more pictures of this beautiful park:

 

SAN DIEGO

When we left Desert Hot Springs in 2004, we headed to San Diego, which is pretty much the closest place to Paradise climate-wise that we can get to with the RV.  Our park was actually in Imperial Beach, about 8 miles south of Coronado. 

We stayed at Bernardo Shores, right on Mission Bay.  When we were there (April through mid-May) the Bay was partly drained, but the wetlands provided a great view from our living room window.  Bernardo Shores was an interesting contrast to Caliente back on the desert.  Not only because we had water nearby here, but also because Caliente was a resort with lots of organized activities and Bernardo was quiet (but friendly)with few in-resort activities.  Planned activities are really not needed in this city.  We thought it was fun to have a taste of both kinds of places in one season.

Although we'd been to San Diego a few times with kids and grandkids when we lived in Oregon, we enjoyed going back to all of the usual tourist stops in this beautiful city.  Old Town, Mission Bay, Balboa Park (even the Zoo), although we did opt out of Sea World.  Some things you really need to have kids with you to enjoy. 

We did a lot of walking and bike riding.  There was a bike/walking path around the bay and we could get on it from our spot.    It was easy to walk or ride our bikes into downtown Imperial Beach and to the beach itself.  A grocery store was a few blocks away and right across the street from us there was a small strip mall that had a terrific sushi bar and a small natural food store. 

We caught the city bus right outside the RV Park and that is how we traveled when we wanted to go to San Diego or Coronado.  We also could take the bus across Imperial Beach to the train, and ride it into San Diego and beyond.

One day we took the city bus to the Mission Bayfront and then walked on to the ferry back to Coronado for dinner, then the bus home.  (The picture at the top of this post was taken from the ferry.)  Tough life!  

One time, we threw our bikes on back of the truck and drove to Coronado, then spent the day riding around that very interesting little city.  But the truck didn't move too often from its parking spot at Bernardo Shores.  I think we also took it out a couple of times to stock up on groceries and that was about all. Good public transportation is one of the definite advantages of a big city. 

The picture below is the Tijuana Estuary. We could walk there from Bernardo Shores.  It was a good place to walk and bird watch.  Of course, you can see right into Mexico here. 

 

We often meet RVers who will not go to California.  There is a rumor that you are required to have a CDL (professional trucker's license) to drive a big RV there.  Maybe you have to if you are licensed in California, but you do not if you are from another state.   Some people are afraid of the big cities as well.    We have never been hassled for driving our "big rig."  I think Bill would be capable of passing the CDL (if there's no age limit ;>) ) but he doesn't have to have one in South Dakota.  As far as San Diego, we loved the advantages of the city, were never afraid and never had any problems.  Of course you have to be alert and maintain your "street smarts" as we all should everywhere. 

Bernardo Shores is high on our favorite list.  Really,the only reason not to go back is that we still do want to see as much of the country as we can.

 

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, 2004

This is another of our blasts from the past (about places we've lived in our RV before we ever heard of such a thing as a blog).   We spent some time in Southern California in late winter/early spring 2004.  It was really a good place for us to be at that time.  

We stayed six weeks at Caliente Hot Springs RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs.   This was a beautiful resort.  I kind of hate to recommend places where we stayed so long ago, because you never know what could have happened.  But if it's anywhere near as nice as it was then, it's definitely worth looking at.   Caliente has beautiful swimming pools fed by natural springs, all kinds of classes and activities, and fairly good sized spaces. The resort really is an oasis in the desert.  

Until it got too hot toward the end of our visit, we were able to walk on paths through the desert behind the resort.  We were there in late February through early April -- the wildflowers were beautiful that year.

Outside of the resort, activities were plentiful as well.  We took the tramway to the top of Mt Jacinto.  Here you are in the snow on top of an evergreen-dotted mountain looking down on onto the floor of the desert.  It is a spectacular view.

We went to the Palm Springs Follies.  It's an old fashioned musical and vaudeville extravaganza that is incredible entertainment.  (We went back to this theater last winter when we were staying at Fountain of Youth Resort -- a much longer drive the second time, but very well worth it.)  The performers in the Follies are all older than 55 -- several are older than 80.  All of them are professional dancers and singers -- retired from their previous careers in show business and back to perform again.  They're an inspiration, the show is beautiful and the comedy will brighten your day.  Here is the website, which is a pretty good show itself!  Click here:  We love the Palm Springs  follies     

One interesting thing about the Palm Springs area was that it was way easier to find a good restaurant than to find a good grocery store. There were tons of "senior" coupons for restaurants, so it wasn't even terribly expensive to eat out.  Still we get tired of restaurants after a while and it seemed as if we spent quite a bit of time hunting for a grocery store.  Apparently most people who vacation in Palm Springs don't cook. 

One of the best things we did for ourselves while we stayed at Caliente was to drive to Joshua Tree National Park several times.  This park is one of our favorite places.  It is a quiet and peaceful place to walk and meditate and we really needed that atmosphere at that particular time.  We also found a place outside of Palm Springs called Coachella Nature Preserve that was a good place for nature walking.

Desert Hot Springs was a good place for us, with just the right combination of social and quiet activities.  There are many other RV Parks in the area besides the one where we stayed and several that we visited looked equally as nice. 

We would go back, except there are all those exciting new places out there to see.   

SALVATION MOUNTAIN AND SLAB CITY, 2007-08

Niland is the closest town to Fountain of Youth.  It was our mailing address, but it's actually about 20 miles from the resort.   Hitch-hikers and boondockers (RVers who park out in the desert for free) know Niland (which is a tiny, dusty little village) as the "gateway" to Slab City, the former WWII Camp Dunlap.  The camp was used by General Patton for tank and desert warfare practice.  The land has been used by squatters ever since the camp was closed after that war ended.

Seasonal snowbirds (often  in high-end motor homes) and full-time desert dwellers in junk-yard rejects reside next to each other on the crumbling concrete.  There's no running water or electricity.  One article I read described Slab City as "post-apocalyptic."  This kind of snow-birding isn't for us, but some RVers really enjoy it.  The picture on the right is one of the "buildings" It doesn't give the full impact.  This is one of those you really have to see it to believe it places.

Even before you reach Slab City off of the dusty back road from Niland, you can see Salvation Mountain, also on the old Camp Dunlap property (and also "squatting" there for free).  It's a surreal, technicolor mountain, built by one man who has a kind of singular purpose that is incomprehensible to most of us.  Leonard Knight is 74 years old and has been living and working out here for almost 25 years.   The Mountain is the height of a three-story building and is a couple hundred feet wide (so far).  It looks like a 3-D vision from an odd coloring book, standing up there out in the middle of the flat scrub land.

We always like it when we get the opportunity to meet local "characters" and Leonard is certainly one of the most interesting and eccentric ever.  He says that the Mountain is his testimony to God's universal love.  We aren't capable of judging the Christian merits of the project (nor would we want to try).  We just admire it as folk-art. 

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And we really enjoyed visiting with Leonard and getting a glimpse into his very different world.  Leonard didn't do any proselytizing or preaching to us (probably recognizing that it wouldn't do much good.)   He and Bill talked about how to make adobe and discussed the finer points of mountain construction.  We talked about travel (he is originally from Vermont).  And just told him that we admired his work. 

He has built the mountain mostly with donated paint and adobe that he makes from the soil of the desert. 

Right now, he is expanding the dome that he calls his museum.  He has piled up tractor tires with poles and limbs that he found out on the desert to make "trees" that help support the hay bales that form the dome.  He coats everything with adobe, forming a smooth coat on the hay and giving texture to the trees and flowers.   We asked if he was a little bit afraid working up so high in the "trees".  He said the they rose up so gradually that, by the time he got up so high, he was used to it.

Leonard sleeps in one or another of the several inoperable vehicles that are parked beside the mountain.  You can see one of them in the picture on the left. 

We've driven the 25 miles to look at the Mountain each time we've stayed at Fountain of Youth.  Leonard said he is getting quite a few more visitors these days because he and Salvation Mountain are briefly featured in the book and movie "Into the Wild."  (He wasn't sure what the movie was about, but he said the film-makers were really nice people.)  Nobody else was there on the weekday morning we went, but as we left, about 10 other people stopped by. 

He has just finished creating a miniature version of the Mountain, which is going to go into the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.   

This is the outside of the dome, with window panes from scrounged glass.  You can see one of his work areas.

Anyone who enjoys seeing things that are out-of-the-ordinary and meeting people who are one-of-a-kind would enjoy a visit to Salvation Mountain and Slab City.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH 2007-2008

We have stayed several different times at Fountain of Youth RV resort. near Niland, CA. and the Salton Sea.    FOY (as it is known) is a gated RV resort in the middle of a salty desert.  There is a lot of friendly energy here, even though the "Fountain of Youth" part doesn't exactly seem to be working (we are still at least middle-aged and so are most of the people here).  There are enough activities within the resort to keep you as busy as you want to be.  These include two large swimming pools, six hot tubs (some fed with mineral springs), game areas (outdoor and indoor), planned activities and entertainment, and even a convenience store and cafe. The FOY website shows off all of the pools and in-park activities much better than our pictures could. http://www.foyspa.com

We've never stayed a full season, because the resort is a bit isolated.  Although there's a little convenience store at the resort, you have to drive an hour to either El Centro or (the other way) to the Palm Springs area to shop at any kind of larger store.  This year, we stayed a month.  We had a nice view of the Chocolate Mountains out our window.  We enjoyed swimming and soaking, water aerobics, the exercise room, playing games and visiting with our neighbors.

But even when we're living in a resort, we enjoy exploring the surrounding area.  Here are a few of the things we have gone to see in the area. (Click to enlarge)

A convention of pelicans on the Salton Sea and a view of the sea and mountains from the shores of the nearby State Park.   Although the resort is isolated, its advantage is that is the only place where you get the winter-time benefits of desert living and also be close to the excellent birding area that is the Salton Sea. 

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There is geothermal activity all around this area.  These boiling mud pots are just out in a farmer's field.  People are neither encouraged nor discouraged from visiting.  There are no keep-out signs or fences, but neither are there any signs pointing the way.  It's kind of an explorer's badge of honor to find them.   

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The Glamis Sand Dunes, about 40 miles southeast.  High rolling dunes as far as the eye can see.  Highway-type snowplows are stationed at frequent intervals to keep the windblown sand off the roads.  There's a fortune in rolling stock parked out there every weekend.  There's a common dune    buggy hauler bumper sticker that says "It's a sand thing.  You wouldn't understand."     Yes, exactly.

This is really the low desert.  You can see the sea-level mark on this huge tank is at a sugar factory on the highway toward El Centro. There is a huge pile of sugar behind these tanks, just out in the weather.  It's almost enough to make you give up desserts.

FALL/WINTER 2007-2008

During the past few years, we've traveled fairly heavily in the Fall and then settled down in one spot for a few months during the Winter season.  This year, we have itchy feet and plan to do doing things a little bit different by staying a few weeks or a month in one location and then moving on.  Here's where we stayed from mid-November to mid-December. 

Winchester Bay RV Resort -- on the beautiful Central Coast.  This is the view we had from our window.  Situated between Reedsport and Coos Bay, this little park is only 100 miles away from the Eugene area and was our transition spot for 10 days after our visit with family and friends in the Northwest (as always wonderful and too short).   We've stayed in this park quite often (even back before we sold our house) and have always loved it. 

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On the way from our stay at Winchester Bay, we stopped for a weekend in Brookings, which is supposed to be the Banana Belt of the Oregon Coast.  Not this time though.  We experienced two days of the worst downpour ever, ever.  At least it was a good reminder of why we sold the house and why we don't want to be in Oregon during the winter.  We are so tired of rain!

And so we were really glad to get to California -- it seemed like just as we crossed the stateline the sun came out.   Getting to our destination, RiverWalk RV Park in Fortuna, we drove through the Redwood State and National Parks.  Beautiful -- hard to get good pictures.

RiverWalk RV Park http://www.riverwalkrvpark.com  is situated across a quiet street from the Eel River and there's a lovely walking path along the bank.   Fortuna is just a few miles inland from the coastal towns of Eureka/Arcata, which we've always loved.  Birding is wonderful in this area.  There are lots of easy-to-get-to places to walk and explore along the beach and at the wonderful Arcata Marsh. 

There are a couple of colleges in the area, which we feel always adds a good vibe.   There are great little counter-culture shops, food stores and restaurants, but there are also good supermarkets and a mall, so we had all the usual necessities of life.  There was even a good brew-pub within walking distance of the RV Park. 

Lots of great places to explore in this area.  We drove along the Avenue of the Giants and marveled again at the ancient Redwood Trees that line this section of highway.  Stopped for some strolls in the forest along the way. 

We spent a couple of days browsing around the nearby town of Ferndale -- This Victorian town has a wonderful old general store with all kinds of old-fashioned merchandise that you never see anywhere else.  Also in the area is Loleta, an old farm town where there is a wonderful family-owned cheese making facility.  You can watch the cheese being made, sample to your heart's content, and, of course, buy some of your favorite varieties. 

We drove a few miles to visit Trinidad (it's the village that "played" Cabot's Cove Maine in the old Angela Lansbury series Murder She Wrote).  We walked on the beach and had coffee in a funky little shop.  The commercial crab season was beginning the next day so we walked out onto the docks and watched the fisherman loading the boats and getting ready to go out.   We used to take our little boat out into Winchester Bay to do a bit of crabbing for fun.  But here on Humboldt Bay, the ocean is a little bit wilder, at the best of circumstances. A heavy storm moved in a couple of days later.  I'm still worried about those crabbers.

Yes, just as we were almost beginning to think that Fortuna was the kind of area we could enjoy for a little longer, the rains arrived -- and with a vengeance.  This was that Pacific Northwest "storm of the century" that brought all kinds of problems to the coast.  We were situated just enough inland to be perfectly safe as long as we hunkered down inside.  We stayed until the storm lifted and then headed south.  Did I mention that we're tired of rain?

http://www.sommervillervpark.com   I wouldn't even try to begin to write about most parks where we we just stay overnight.  But Almond Tree Park in Coalinga is worth an exception.  We stumbled on it on our way south, the second night after we left the coast.  This park is right off the freeway, but was sheltered enough to be very quiet.  We got in about six (really late for us), but the manager was very helpful and found us a level pull-through spot.  On checking in, he gave us a couple of little post-it note type calendars for 2008.  I really like keeping these in our travel journals -- and they're hard to find.  In the morning, we found a free newspaper delivered to our door.  What could be nicer?  A highly recommended over-night spot. 

Here we are parked at Orange Grove RV Park, Bakersfield, where we arrived on the 7th of December.  http://www.orangegrovervpark.com

It's a lovely park and a perfect stopping place on the way to or from southern California -- we've stayed there many times through the years.  This time we spent a little longer than we might have wished.  While the park is lovely and well run (and the oranges are best we've ever tasted) the city of Bakersfield is not the most interesting one in California.  We had to get some work done on our heat pump/air conditioner and Bakersfield had a Camping World that could do the work.  So we stayed long enough to get an appointment and get the work done. 

It was sunny all the time we were there, but there's a haze of pollution.  Still it was great  fun to step out the door and pick oranges for our breakfast.   "Our" crop is at its peak and we even took a bowl-full with us when we left.  (The management really does encourage you to pick the fruit, even providing long-handled pickers once the reachable parts of the trees are bare.) 

We rented a small car for the last weekend we were in Bakersfield and took a side trip to Long Beach (about 150 miles) to visit my aunt and cousins.  We had  a wonderful visit and were lucky to be there the weekend of the Christmas boat parade along Naples Canal.  It was amazing to see the decorated boats and homes -- and we got to go to their parade-night party.  Lots of fun with great people and gorgeous decorations on the boats and in the neighborhood.