Month: July 2009

July  26th – 28^th

The morning of the 26^th greeted us with a light drizzle and thick fog blanketing the bay.  I took the computer down to the library at the resort where I could work on updating the blog, pics, & e-mail.    After breakfast Mike and Carl bicycled along the coast while I took care of some online accounting & etc.   The morning fog had burned off around 10:00am and we enjoyed a last soak before heading to Moran State Park.   We spent the next 3 days enjoying many of the bicycle, & hiking trails, and swimming in Cascade Lake.  This was definitely and R&R stop as we had no cell service or Internet access.  We took a drive up to Constitution Mountain and climbed the stone lookout tower for a 360 degree view of the sound.  That day was bright and clear and we could to Canada and snow covered mountains on the mainland of Washington. We bicycled to Cascade Falls and Hiked around Cascade Lake and also out to Sunrise Rock.  The water of the lake was refreshing after our ride and hikes as temps were in the 90’s. MORE PHOTOS.   We enjoyed a visit with a beautiful young woman named Claire who was expecting and enjoying a dip in the Lake with her Corgi Mix.  She was a transplant from Loveland Colorado.  I had stopped to talk with her about her dog and then she saw our license plates and we struck up a great conversation.  Thanks for stopping Claire.    We drove out to Buck Bay and bought 2 dozen large fresh oysters which we steamed and grilled on the half shell for a farewell dinner with Carl.  We will head out tomorrow for Hood River, OR. as Mike wants to check out the Windsurfing scene there before we head to Boise to visit Christy, Mike’s youngest sister and her family.   

July 25th

This morning I walked down to the main office of the West Beach Resort and picked up our e-mail.  As I have said before one of our more challenging tasks is to find WIFI and have enough time to accomplish tasks that require internet connection. We are enjoying all of your responses to our blog, keep them coming.    We enjoyed another breakfast of bagels & cream cheese with smoked salmon, tomato, onion, & drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette.  Mike has told me don’t write about food but it is one of our favorite breakfasts and so I thought I would share.  We traveled over to the other side of Orcas Island, stopping in East Sound as they were having their weekly farmers market.  We enjoyed some huge oysters for lunch and walked around the touristy areas a bit.  We also met  and purchased Joyce Greene’s book “ Windy Thoughts” about her and her husband’s 12 year circumnavigation.  Mike is enjoying it 1^st.    We then drove through Moran State Park on our way to our next camp destination at Doe Bay Resort on the eastern side of the Island.  We attempted to secure a camp spot for the next 3 nights at Moran State Park by stopping off at the ranger station.  The ranger informed us that all reservations and payment were now handled online. We arrived at Doe Bay and fortunately they boast not only WIFI but also Natural Hot springs….which is to say they take the water from the stream and heat it.   A little different than Pagosa, but no sulfur.   Sorry no pis of these as they were clothing optional.  We took an afternoon bicycle ride on the roads around the resort.  We rode through forests and ranchland and down to a small bay community passing many wild blackberry bushes which people seem to use as hedgerows.  These were not quite ripe as we are a little further north.  We arrived back at the resort and enjoyed cocktails as we sat on Adirondack benches overlooking the bay.  I enjoyed chatting with Tim and Ann, a couple who were cruising on their Pearson 31 in Puget Sound with their Sheba-Inu dog while their son attended summer camp on the island.    There seems to be a large cruising community in and around Puget Sound. Mikes cruising friends George and Paula will be happy to hear we did enjoy some of the destinations they have suggested although I don’t think we will have time for a  sail until it is on our own boat.    We are supposed to be having record heat in the coming week but as the evening came on we had lightening and a light rain that persisted for the remainder of the evening and into the night.   Of course that did not detour us from enjoying the hot spring tubs and sauna.   Au Natural.  Of Course.

July 24^th 

Our goal today was to travel up to Port Townsend and catch the Ferry over to Keystone and then drive up to Anacortes to meet up with our friend Carl Pitts.  He telephoned us this morning to tell us he had arrived the night before and was anxious to show us the San Juan Islands.   We told him we would attempt to meet up with him in the afternoon.  Port Townsend is a really cool town with lots of Victorian architecture and Art and Cultural Events.  We would have liked to explore it further but we really needed to access the internet as Mike has had some Real Estate business to attend to and we needed to print out contracts, sign them and fax them back to Pagosa.  Not an easy thing to do on the road.  We were able to complete our paperwork with only 2 stops and also filled the propane on the Motor home AKA CreamPuff.  We then spent the remainder of the afternoon waiting in line on standby, as all reservations had been booked for that day on the Ferry from Port Townsend to Keystone.  We were able to secure a ride on 4:20pm Ferry. We had about another hour to wait before she boarded so we waited on the Ferry dock and watched a beautiful gaff rigged 1940’sor 50’s schooner sail by.  Mike chatted with Phil who was traveling in big  Class A Motor home about different places to camp while traveling.  The ferry ride was really pleasant.  Carl told us he would go ahead over to Orcas Island and wait for us there.  We drove up to Anacortes and had just enough time to do a speed shop at Safeway before we boarded the 6:50pm Ferry to the Island.  Carl did the telephone work to get us camping accommodations on the Island for the next 2 nights.    The Ferry from Port Townsend was just a baby compared with the Ferry we took from Anacortes.  It was huge.  We had a really nice ride on both Ferries and finally saw Carl smiling and waving as we disembarked on Orcas Island.   Carl booked us a site at West Beach Resort on the Northwest corner of the Island.  It was a beautiful place and we arrived as the sun was setting.   See MORE PHOTOS.  There was a thumbnail moon setting just above the small island across the sound.  We had a great walk and took a bunch of photos.   It is really great to get to visit with old friends while we travel.

July 23^rd

We left Beverly Beach early and decided to put some miles on this morning before breakfast.  We traveled up the coast and stopped at Hug Point, a spot that had been recommended to us by the lady in Charleston, a very picturesque spot with a waterfall spilling onto the beach and dotted with alcoves in the bluffs.  We then continued up to Astoria where we took in the Colombia River Maritime Museum.   After enjoying our tour we headed on into Washington.  We decided to travel inland to the sound and made it up to Potlatch State Park above Shelton, WA.  We attempted to take a short bike ride but the road along the sound was pretty busy so we decided to walk over to the day use picnic area across from the campground.   We saw a beautiful dugout canoe that was carved by Franklin De La Cruz of the Quinault Indian Nation.  MORE PHOTOS  It took him 2 years to complete.  He was off loading the canoe to launch it this weekend for its maiden voyage up to Kingston.   A number of other people saw that he needed more help than the few friends that had accompanied him so we along with others helped him get it off the trailer and onto some sawhorses he had on the shore.   We met some other travelers that gave us some good information about the ferry out of Port Townsend that we will have to take to meet up with Carl in Anacortes WA.

July 22^nd

We decided to ride down to Charleston, a small fishing port.  We rode down from our campground to the frontage road along the beach and north for a couple of miles to the Town.  As we rode over the draw bridge that crossed the inlet to the port we looked over the side and saw dozens of people sloshing though the mud flats with shovels, rakes, and buckets.  Clamming.  The clams they were finding were 3-4 inches across.  We also rode through a boat yard and saw some very sad forgotten old trollers and sailboats in various stages of being reclaimed by the elements.    On the commercial fishing pier we met a lady who’s family was one of those clamming.   She gave us some recommendations of stops to make along the coast on our journey north.  We also spent some time talking with a fisherman who was on the pier filleting fish for anyone for a fee and watched a seal hanging out under the pier waiting for a free meal.    As we were talking with him a young girl named Jessie was walking by and heard us say we were from Pagosa Springs.  It turns out she is from Durango and her father works for the BLM in Bayfield.   She is studying Marine Biology at the Oceanographic Institute in Charleston.  Small World.  We rode back to the campground and headed, where else, North.  Just above Charleston we traveled through Coos Bay, OR.  We both really liked the feel of this larger Port Town.  It also happened that we arrived on Market day and the Main St through town was closed and we stopped and enjoyed a wonderful walk through their farmers market.  See additional pics in MORE PHOTOS.   Because the scenery was so spectacular, we didn’t make it very far up the Oregon Coast before we stopped at Beverly Beach for the evening and enjoyed a walk on the beach before dinner.  Beverly Beach had an ancient knurled driftwood stump that had washed up on the beach that was 15 ft across and dated at 4100 years old.

July 21^st

We traveled from Del Norte up into Oregon today.  We got a call from our Friend Carl Pitts yesterday who informed us he will be traveling up to Washington from Pagosa Springs and would like to meet up with us during our travels.  We will attempt to tie in with him sometime this weekend.   We find our pace has slowed greatly as we travel the coast of Oregon.  The scenery is spectacular and the people very friendly.  Sort of like Pagosa at the Sea.   Oregon seems to be very aware and vocal in regards to environmental and socio-economic issues and its radio ads encourage people to contact their senators and congressmen.    It is a refreshing change to hear advertising that makes an effort to educate and support green economic strategy at the local level as well as social causes.  We traveled the coast and were planning to stop in Bandon, but the local campground was full.  We pressed on and read about a campground near Charleston, just south of Coos Bay OR.     It took us 32 miles off the main route but was well worth the extra miles.  We pulled into a almost full but well maintained county campground with everything from hot showers to horseshoe pits and fish/clam cleaning stations.   We camped in the group area of the back 40 and thought we would have to share the area with the boy scouts who had many of the sites reserved but they never did show up.   Since we had power at this camp we watched a movie that Cindy & Kerry had loaned us called “The Edukators” on my computer.  It was really good. Thanks to both of you.

July 20^th

The morning greeted us with the sound of the river and birdsong.   We dressed and walked up to the upper part of the campground and gathered a pint of blackberries to add to our granola for breakfast.    We consulted our maps and continued our journey west and then north toward the Redwood National Park.  Our destination for today was the Redwood National Park along the Northern CA coast.   We stopped in Trinidad….why? Well, we wanted to see another Trinidad.  We followed signs to Trinidad state beach and took their 1 mile hike around the head.   The majority of our driving along the CA coast continues to be blanketed with fog but what it lacks in photo opps it more than makes up for in cool and comfortable hiking conditions.   We walked the beach and then the fishing pier in this small but picturesque harbor.   On our way out of town we stopped at a fish market and bought some salmon fresh out of the smoker to add to our pantry as well as a halibut filet for dinner.   We will have some great meals and snacks in the coming days.  We continued our journey and stopped at the Visitor center located just south of Redwood National Park.  We overheard the ranger telling people that there were only a few campsites left at a couple of the State campgrounds.  We headed out immediately  and ended up at Del Norte Coastal Redwood State Park.   We got one of 8 spots that was available….as I have said before,  affordable camping spots within state parks are difficult to come by this time of year.  We  settled in and went for a hike along the trestle loop around the campground.  Pieces of the trestle are all at remain of the system used to transport the huge trees to the mills for lumber.    We were amazed to think that we were hiking through a new growth forest.   OK not that new, but it was dwarfed compared the stumps of old growth trees that had been cut down in the 1920’s Some of the stumps were more that 15 ft in diameter.   They may not be the biggest as far as diameter goes but they do boast them as the tallest trees in North America at 370 ft.   Giant Sequoia’s only get to 320 ft.   It is difficult to see the top of them when standing at the base.  

July 19^th – 

We woke up early and tried to access the WiFi at the Campground without success.  We have found this to be one of our more challenging tasks during our journey.    We had made arrangements to meet up with James and Jeanine for breakfast before they headed home to San Mateo just south of San Francisco and back to work……we feel for your guys, really we do!   We said our goodbyes and headed out.   Our plan today was to travel west back towards the coast and then drive north again.  We drove northwest staying off the interstate for most of the drive and passed through Redding.  We then proceeded to head west over Hwy 299 through the Trinity Alps Wilderness back to the Coast.   The Temp was in the 90’s- 100’s this far inland and we stopped and by about 6:00pm we were ready to stop at one of the many campgrounds along that route.    We pulled into Hayden Flats Campground right along the main branch of the Trinity River.   We initially pulled into the upper campground not realizing there was another section closer to the river.  We took a walk and quickly realized our error and moved our motor home down to the lower section of the campground just few hundred yards down the road and just above the river.   As we piled out the motor home the primary objective was to walk down to the river to cool off.  We were excited to find that there was a beautiful little sandy beach just below the campground with a great swimming hole.   The water temperature was cool, not cold, and extremely refreshing.   Over dinner we talked about walking back up to the upper campground where we had seen a number of large patches of wild blackberries to gather some for our breakfast tomorrow. Tucker was right,  he told us we would be hitting the coast during blackberry season.   

July 18^th

We rode our bicycles over to James and Jeanine’s camp this morning.  Upon arrival we were delighted to hear that they did have space available to take us along on their raft trip.   We visited for a little while and then rode back to our camp to prepare to Raft the South Fork Gorge of the American River.   We changed into our swimsuits and shorts and slathered on the Sunscreen.    James ran the shuttle and then returned to our campground to pick us up.   We helped prepare the rafts for the trip. We had one large raft that held 7 of us and then 4 two man rafts (duckies) for the rest of us.  This is one of the most commercially rafted sections of the River and we had to maneuver with other groups to line up to go through the more treacherous sections of the River.  It felt like rush hour on the Freeway on some of the stretches of the river.   We started out in the large raft.    We traveled about 7 miles down the American River and through some class 3 rapids.  Crystal was tossed out of the raft and went swimming twice during the journey and at least 3 of the duckies also took turns swimming.   We stopped along the river to swim and cool off.  A few of the braver took turns jumping off of Gorilla Head Rock into the river.   About 1/2 way through our journey we, a few of the duckie riders were ready for a break after swimming and pinballing off of boulders,  so Mike and I jumped into one of the duckies and really had a great time riding the remainder of the river.  I must admit I felt more at home in the Duckie than I did in the larger raft.  Ok, so I’m a control freak.  I admit it. One of James friends Rob who was a virgin River Rafter had some really great analogies and referred to the Fun Factor of the trip as ”better than 3 ski masks and a bank”.    Our trip ended just above Folsom Lake and Jet Skis were available for a reasonable fee to tow us to the take out.  Otherwise it was about 45 minutes of paddling to get there.  It was worth the $10.00 for all of us.   We broke down the rafts and headed back to James and Jeanine’s Camp where we had a couple of coldies and nursed our bumps and bruises and toasted the awesome day together on the River.  Thanks to all of James and Janine’s fantastic friends for allowing us to share their day.    I must have told Mike at least a half dozen times today what a great time I had.

July 17th   

We traveled North with a plan of stopping in San Mateo or San Francisco and seeing Crystal’s brother James and sister-in-law Jeanine.   But the best laid plans as they say….. We got hold of Jamie only to find out that he and Jeanine were leaving to go rafting with friends along the South Fork of the American River.   We attempted to contact our friend Victoria Dawson who lives on Pier 39 in San Francisco but she too would not be available until Tuesday.   So we altered our plans and called James back to find out exactly where he and Jeanine were camping and told him we would come to him if he didn’t mind us crashing his camping trip and visit with them when they weren’t rafting.   He told us to come on out and gave us information as to where they would be staying.   We punched the campgrounds location into the Garmin and off we headed to Coloma, CA just north of Placerville.   Gold Country.   We contacted the campground where James was staying but they were already full.   We called another campground in the same area only to hear that they too were full.   We broke out the AAA Campbook and the Woodall’s Camping guide and made a couple more telephone calls in the hope of finding something close to where James and Jeanine were staying.  We finally got a call back from Coloma Resort to tell us that they did have availability and would reserve us a spot.  WE WERE IN!  and only a few miles from James and Jeanine. Yeah!   We arrived without incident and were initially put into a very small camp spot with no shade.  The temp was topping out around 103 and so we took a quick walk around the campground and then when into the office to see about moving.    We were able to move to a nicer spot under a tree and away from the busy pool area.  Yes this is one of those camps that has a pool, activities for the family, and of course the obligatory fake western town scene and gift shop.  The employees were very nice and we met some terrific people who come here year after year.    We called J&J and finally got through to them to tell them where we were staying.    They got a late start and were stuck in traffic for about 5 hours.  Yuck!    They were just setting up so we drove the Creampuff over to their camp and enjoyed a few beers and cooked up some hamburgers.  It is really great having your house with you everywhere you go.    We talked about their planned trip down the American River and they told us there might be a possibility of us being able to go with them if the rest of their party didn’t show.    We told them we would bike over to their camp in the morning to visit and see them off either way, but here’s hoping there’s a no show by a couple of their friends.