Week ending Dec 25, 2014 Auburn

Thursday, sunny and warm, we spent in downtown Auburn getting visitor information and groceries. We then headed back to the trailer to spend the afternoon making plans and checking the quality of the wi-fi by talking to Elizabeth via Skype. We confirmed that the wi-fi in this RV park is excellent, as good as the neighbours had told us when we arrived.

Friday was our rainy day. Joan did some Christmas baking, and we did our usual rainy day activities, Wii bowling and golf and some video pilates.

Saturday, although cloudy and damp, we headed to the farmers' market in old town. This area of California grows mandarins.  As well as vegetables we picked up some locally grown mandarin oranges.  We then walked through historic old town. This town is here because of the California gold rush. After browsing through numerous shops we headed back to the RV park for lunch and a lazy afternoon.

Placer County Courthouse

Although Sunday was a cloudy day, it was dry, a good day for hiking. We headed to Auburn State Recreation Area to hike the Park HQ-Confluence loop. Depending on which map you believe the hike was 3 1/2 miles or a little more than 4 miles. It was a great hike partly along the historic Stagecoach trail, that carried passengers between Foresthill and Auburn in the 1800s. The trail also took us through manzanita groves  and coyote brush, and returned along the American River. The recent rainfall has caused the all the streams to be full and Black Hole of Calcutta waterfall was spectacular. After our hike was completed we went back to the campground to soak in the hot tub to relax our well worked muscles.

American River Confluence

Manzanita tree

Calcutta Falls

Mountain Quarries Bridge

Monday was sunny and warm.  It would have been perfect for exploring the recreation area some more but our truck's 'check engine' light had come on the day before, so we had to take it to the local Chev dealer to see what the problem was.   While we waited for a fellow to finish a phone call, we heard him say 'We'll see you on January 9th'.    When we told him we wouldn't be in town that long, they said they hoped they could check it out today providing we could leave the truck with them.  They gave us a ride back to the trailer and we started laundry.  About 10:30 they called to say the problem was a glow plug, and did we want them to replace it.  Of course.   About lunch they called to let us know the truck was repaired.  After picking up the truck we decided it was too late to head out of town for the rec area, so instead we walked around the Rock Creek reservoir beside the RV park.  It was about 2 miles round trip from the trailer. The biggest issue was 2 long narrow metal walkways over a canal. Joan was less than impressed, but decided it would be okay as long as we didn't meet anyone. We got half way across the first bridge when three women appeared at the other end of the bridge. They waited until we got over the bridge.  It turned out one of them was just as nervous about this whole procedure as Joan was. She really believes that a handrail can't be all that expensive.  The reservoir is still suffering from the California drought of the past few years, although there is some water in it.



Tuesday was a perfect day for hiking again, so we headed back to Auburn State Recreation Area. After eventually finding the interpretive trailhead, off we went. It was an easy trail along the North Fork of the American river. We stopped religiously at each marker reading about the point of interest. As we were about to leave point 8 a couple of gentlemen stopped us to ask whether the self-guided pamplet we had said anything about the landslide they had seen at point 10.  After imparting the required information we stood and chatted with them for about 1/2 hour. They live in the area and gave us tips as to other hikes we  might enjoy. Point 9 was the underneath the highest bridge in California.   At point 10, the final one on the interpretive trail,  we turned around and returned to the truck. While eating lunch on a rock at the river's edge we watched a group of firefighters training a new group of trainees on water rescue techniques. We then left the trailhead deciding to do a scenic drive back to the RV park. We noticed a road down to Lake Clementine. We parked about 1/2 mile from the dam to walk in to see it. As we walked down the steep grade we encountered a fellow we had met on the last trail. It turns out that if we had just carried on for 3/4 mile from point 10 we would have arrived at the same place. Oh well the drive which took us at least 1/2 hour was scenic and well worth the time. Our trip also took us over the bridge that we had walked under earlier.







Wednesday was a dull and showery day so we hung around, did housework and in late afternoon had a Christmas Eve visit via Skype with John's parents and his brother George.

Christmas morning was beautiful and sunny, but just above freezing.  We had a pre-lunch group Skype visit with Trev, Sue, Anthony, Taylor and Jamie and Karen and Dominique.  Our first group Skype visit worked okay after sorting out a few glitches.  In the afternoon, we went for a walk in the neighbourhood and then came back to cook Christmas dinner.  Nothing gets the appetite activated better than the smell of turkey and stuffing roasting after a walk.

Week ending Dec 18, 2014 Eureka to Auburn

Friday morning we awoke to big water puddles all over the RV park. We have been lucky so far with rain overnight but decent daytime weather.  The hurricane type weather they have been threatening has not come to fruition.  Today we did a scenic drive. Our first stop was Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge where we completed a 1.7 mile walk through the marsh, viewing numerous water birds.

Our next stop was Loleta, where we came across the Loleta Cheese Factory. They make many different cheeses; one we discovered that we particularly liked was a garlic cheese. We then went to Ferndale a neat little town renowned for its Victorian Style homes and storefronts. We  then headed to Petrolia over hills on  a narrow steep road, going from sea level to 1800 feet and then back to sea level near Petrolia. 

We carried on the scenic loop toward Humboldt Redwood State Park, the road again narrow, rough and we climbed to an elevation of 2860 feet this time before coming back down through the state park.  We stopped in Redcrest for coffee, and while the coffee was brewing, we found some Redwoods hoodies.   The rivers are all overflowing their banks, quite a difference from California the past few years where water has been at a real shortage.

Saturday was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. Our first stop was the Arcata Christmas craft market at the Community Center.  The only thing that struck our fancy was a couple of coffee mugs, which we bought as backups, since we have had so much trouble finding the style of mug we like. We then headed to Trinidad.  Our first stop was Trinidad State Beach where we did a 1.4 mile walk to College Cove beach and Elk Head. It was a great little hike with fantastic views down the coast, where we were able to watch the surfers on Trinidad Beach. Our next stop was the hike up (1.5  miles), to the Cross at the top of Trinidad Head. At the top we were able to view the Historic lighthouse (1871) which is still operating today.

We then  went back to the trailer to watch curling.


Sunday, we went into Eureka to walk around their historic downtown area. 

We found an interesting map store where we were able to pick up the California Road and Recreation Atlas with back roads and hikes marked on it.  After we walked along the boardwalk we headed to Arcata to their downtown area.  As it was Sunday many shops were closed.  We headed back to the trailer to watch the Grand Slam curling finals.

Monday was our last day at the seashore. We are planning to head inland tomorrow. We decided we should go for a final beach walk. We went to Clam Park on the Hammond Coast Trail to walk along the beach. While there we chatted with a woman from Colorado who was traveling up the coast to Oregon. After our walk we went back to the trailer to do the usual housework in preparation for tomorrow's move.

Tuesday morning the rain held off while we packed up. As we headed further south along 101 we encountered areas of rain. The drive down the redwood highway was really nice, not much traffic and the scenery was wonderful. We stopped in Garberville at Bon Bistro and Bakery. John had his usual favourite caramel machiatto and Joan found a new favourite Peanut Butter Cup frappucino. A short while later we stopped at a rest area, and chatted with a fellow about Canadian hockey.  As we returned to the truck, his first question was 'Are you an Oilers fan or a Flames fan? He was a California resident, but had lived some of his life in Ontario and his Mom still lived there. He was a Toronto Maple Leaf  fan, but is now a Sharks fan. John  admitted  to being an Oilers fan and Joan told him she was a Boston  Bruins fan. After chatting with him for a while we both carried on. We arrived shortly after lunch at the Willits KOA. We found that the office is closed for lunch from 11:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M.  As we were looking at the information on the wall, we heard a voice behind us, which turned out to be coming from the intercom at the electric gate into the park.   She told us to look at the night check in information for which sites were available, which was basically any site.  We walked through the park, chose a site, buzzed them so the could let us in the locked gate.  The site was pretty level so we didn't bother unhooking the truck for a one night stay, and the cable TV's 10 channels was adequate, since there is no curling or Canadian sports on today, so didn't need to set up the satellite either.  By the time 3:00 came around we were set up, the electric heater had warmed us up and the rain had started. We went to the office and paid our fees and got our wi-fi password.  We emailed an RV park in Sacramento to see if they had space for us the next night.

Wednesday morning  we took highway 20 across the hills, and along Clear Lake, which is a beautiful drive. We arrived in Sacramento about 1:30 at the rv park we had emailed, but had no reply from. That was a common occurrence and every rv park we had been at to date was almost empty, so we hoped it would have space. No space at this rv park. So we had to find a plan B. Thanks to our Good Sam Directory we found a RV park in Auburn about 20 miles up interstate 80, called them and found they had space for a week. We headed out and found that the sites were decent with easy satellite access and good wi-fi.  We figure this is the place to be over Christmas where we can Skype with family. We did some searching about the area and found there is some Christmas events happening and hiking in the area.           

Week ending Dec 11, 2014 Crescent City to Eureka

Thursday after posting the blog we walked over to the Chart Room for dinner. Great views of the harbour and Joan enjoyed the seafood and John had a good tasting steak.

Friday morning after chatting with John's parents we drove up the coast to stop at the points of interest we had not been able to stop at when we moved last Tuesday. We find that many viewpoints are not large enough to accommodate the trailer, or we can't tell until we are past the entrance. Our first stop was All Star Liquor, just at the California border. It really lives up to its name, having some interesting liqeurs that we purchased as a Christmas treat. We stopped at Harris Beach State Park and walked down to the beach so that we could walk on the beach for an hour or so. 

We then carried on to Cape Sebastian State Park, where we turned around to head back to stop at the viewpoints. We then stopped at numerous viewpoints.
Arch Rock: 

Natural Bridges

 
Whalehead Beach,

 
House Rock,

just to mention a few)  in the Samuel Boardman State Park scenic corridor.  We stopped at Thomas Creek Bridge, the highest bridge in Oregon at 345 feet and walked to a viewpoint, which really doesn't give a true sense of the height of the bridge, as there are a few trees blocking the view.

We truly enjoyed the drive.



Saturday dawned dry and sunny again. After spending some time doing chores we went for groceries. We then decided it was time to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We walked from the RV Park to the lighthouse. The lighthouse was open from 2 - 4 today. We did wonder why, but by the time we got there we realized that the lighthouse was not accessible during high tide. The views along the shore from the lighthouse were spectacular.
 
Sunday again was a dry day. We headed south of Crescent City along Enderts  Beach Road to Crescent Beach Overlook. From the viewpoint it is obvious how Crescent Beach got its name. We then took Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, stopped at Ah-Pah Interpretive trail and completed 1/2 mile trail that explained the restoration process being undertaken in this part of the forest, removing the effects of a logging road. Our next stop was at the Big Tree. It is considered the largest tree in the Redwood State Park, about 1500 years old and impressive. Many years ago a local business man thought he might cut it down to make a dance floor on its stump.  Luckily another group decided they should save the tree, and we thank them for their foresight. 

As we headed back to the trailer we stopped at Klamath River Overlook. The viewpoint signs suggested sighting whales from Nov to March was possible from this vantage point.  As we don't have the patience to sit looking out over the ocean through binoculars all day, we did not see any whale. As it was extremely windy we had lunch sitting in the truck while we looked. 

We got back to the trailer in time to stuff a cornish game hen to test out the new counter-top convection oven.

Monday, our 4th dry day in row, was spent taking care of domestic chores. After laundry was finished Joan made a batch of peanut butter cookies.  The new oven seems to be working well.  After that we  walked along Crescent Beach as far as a stream too large to jump.

Tuesday was  moving day and of course it was raining. By the time we were all packed up we had to change out of our wet coats before heading south. Our destination was Mad River Rapids RV Park,  recommended by our friends Brian and Kris. By the time we got half way there the rain stopped and eventually the sun started to shine. We set up in dry warm conditions, a treat after the wet morning. The temperature is about 5C warmer here than in Crescent Beach. We did some internet surfing and decided the visitor info was the best place to go. Luckily we checked where it was before driving off looking for it, and discovered it is across the fence from the park. We walked over and  a very helpful young lady loaded us up with area brochures and many suggestions.

Wednesday morning was warm and dry, although the forecast was for a couple of wet and windy days.  We went shopping.  Joan got a couple of pairs of jeans and we got groceries.   Now we were prepared for the stormy weather that was promised. We got back to the trailer in time for lunch. After lunch the rain started, so we golfed and bowled on the Wii, which keeps us amused during bad weather. The clouds gave us a pretty sunset.

Wednesday night was very windy and there was lots of rain, part of the big storm hitting most of the USA Pacific coast.   Thursday morning was dry, except for our soggy lawn, and partially cloudy.  We went and did some shopping, looking for some items we hadn't found yet.   On our way back to the trailer we stopped at the beach to take a look at the 20 foot surf promised by the weatherman. All in all the surf was rambunctious but wasn't nearly 20 feet high.  We did get a shot of some birds skimming the waves looking for lunch. 

We drove back to the trailer following Greta's instructions to Mad River Park instead of  Mad River Rapids RV Park.  This took us over a rough narrow road through farm country. The good news was that for once John was driving when the roads were less than perfect, but they were paved unlike the dirt road Joan had to navigate back in Oregon at Beverly Beach.

Week ending Dec 4, 2014 Bullards Beach to Crescent City

Black Friday was our second rainy day in a row.  We decided that the best thing to do was to go into Coos Bay to Fred Myers to look for a cordless Dirt Devil and a new quilt for the bed. We picked both up and also some groceries at the Safeway next door to Fred Myers.  We have good news about the campground turkey, he survived Thanksgiving.  In fact yesterday he spent most of the day huddled under the tree next to our trailer, trying to keep dry from the rain.  Today it is not raining as hard so he is wandering around.

Saturday we did a walk along the beach to the lighthouse and then back to the trailer.  All in all about 5 1/2 miles..  It was a different view of the area, as the last time we came to the lighthouse, it was late afternoon, so we walked along the road instead of the beach.  We saw some pelicans skimming the waves.  There was a boat out on the ocean, that a fellow we encountered told us was probably setting out crab pots.

Sunday we  woke to frost on the truck.  We decided we should do a scenic drive to the town of Coquille up the river from Bandon,  on the way to Coos Bay. We had talked to a lady from Coquille in Safeway, so decided we should see why she would move from Texas to Coquille. We are still wondering.  The drive wanders through the Coquille River valley.  After Coquille we went into Coos Bay then back to the trailer back toward Coquille and then back down the north side of the river.   Once again, the GPS didn't like our road, and kept telling us to head off on roads over the hills back to the highway instead of through the river valley, even when we were close enough the road could see the bridge on the highway.  We knew the road was definitely one less traveled as some sections of it were covered in moss.  We stopped at the Bandon Marsh, which is an area beside the river that is sometimes covered by seawater when the tide gets particularly high.  Saltwater marshes are not very common.

Monday was another wet day.  We drove into Bandon to use the library wi-fi to find a campground further south. After some discussion we decided our next stop should be Crescent City. So we called Bayside RV Park to find out of they had space. As it was lunchtime Joan was only able to leave a message.   We had hoped to walk along the beach in Bandon, but there was too much rain.

Tuesday we departed for Crescent City. There are lots of roadside viewpoints along 101 and it is a fantastic drive.
 

At one view point we visited with a couple heading back to Montana.  Their ranch is near the Canadian border south of Cardston.  They were curious to find out if we knew who won the Grey Cup.  They follow the CFL a bit as a lot of Montana State players play in the CFL.



We stopped at the RV park, even though we hadn't heard back from them. The assistant manager was glad to see us and told us she would have called us back, but we forgot to leave her a phone number. Oh well, at this time of year space doesn't seem to be a problem.  Great rates for full service.  We managed to get pretty much set up before a drizzle started, but couldn't get a satellite signal despite being in a site next door to a fellow with a satellite dish.  No trees, but a few boats  parked on stands between us and the harbour.

Wednesday was information gathering day.  After finally finding the satellite signal, at a much lower arm angle than expected, our first stop was the Redwood National and State Park Information Center and then Crescent City Information Center. After lunch back at the trailer we  did some web surfing and then went for a walk along the harbour, which is right behind us.   We can hear sea lions from the trailer, and decided we should hunt them down.   There were a bunch of them lying on a rock in the harbour, and others on some docks anchored in the harbour.   We walked along the breakwater, and found nice looking restaurant on the edge of the harbour, checked out its menu.   We continued to the end of the breakwater, and climbed a little hill there to get a full view of the harbour.    By the time we came down, it started drizzling, so we were soaked by the time we returned to the trailer.  On the way back, we saw some of the sea lions swimming out of the harbour.

 After our walk we watched curling on TSN and were very sorry to hear that Linda Moore has retired from being the TSN curling commentator.

Thursday morning dawned dry and partly sunny, a real treat after all the showery days we have had. After a chat with Elizabeth, to get caught up with life in Canmore where its cold and snowy, the rain doesn't seem so bad. We headed out to drive Howland Hill Road through Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park a scenic drive recommended by the park ranger, with some walks through groves of redwoods.  We completed a short hike through Stout Grove. After that we carried on and did another short hike at Simpson-Reed Grove.  The drive was scenic and walks really neat through the large redwood trees.

When we returned to Crescent City, we made quick stops to pick up an infrared fireplace (our ceramic heaters temperature settings are 5F or 3C apart, and we find it impossible to set them at a comfortable temperature)  and a counter-top convection oven. Now Joan can make shortbread for Christmas.