Happy New Year 2015

This seems like an appropriate time to reflect on another great year of travel.  7,087 miles to be exact. And once again it begins in the same exact location as last year, our happy place here in the Anza Borrego Desert.  This coming year marks the beginning of 20 years of full-time RVing.  What lies ahead, where will we go, how much longer can we do this??? So much to ponder!

Each link represents a month.  It was hard to pick just one photo out of so many beautiful places, so you'll have to click to see more!

January 2014: Anza Borrego Desert

Sunset at Fonts Point

February 2014: Anza Borrego, Lake Cahuilla, Kofa NWR, & Ajo

Kofa NWR, a new favorite boondocking site

March 2014: Tucson, Yuma, & Algodones

We love our hikes at Tucson Mt. Park

April 2014: Pismo Beach to Petaluma

Beach combing in Pismo

May 2014: Brannon Island, Bodega Bay, Petaluma

We have a nice site at Doran Beach in Bodega Bay

June 2014: Calistoga, Sacramento, San Francisco, Petaluma

Calistoga, CA for our 20th anniversary

July 2014: Half Moon Bay, Loomis, Petaluma, Humboldt County, Oregon Coast

Cape Blanco, OR

August 2014: Port Townsend, Vancouver, Anacortes

Taking the Sea Bus to Vancouver

September 2014: North Cascades, Charbonneau COE, Joseph, OR., Painted Hills

Our site at Charbonneau COE Park on the Snake River

 October 2014: Granada, Nicaragua

View of the old colonial city of Granada from the bell tower of Iglesia de la Merced

November 2014: Petaluma, Family time, Farmers markets

Our family at Thanksgiving

December 2014: Half Moon Bay to Anza Borrego

Half Moon Bay State Beach

John Day Fossil Beds; Sheep Rock & Painted Hills...But first~~

In the here and now: 

We're taking a month-long trip leaving October 1st for Granada, Nicaragua.  Why, you might be asking?  Because one lazy day early in the summer I stumbled across this website:  The World's 8 Best Places to Retire in 2014, and decided we should check it out. It's relatively easy and inexpensive to get to and we found another great rental through VRBO.  Ours will be the 1 bedroom unit for $1030 per month which includes many amenities like complimentary breakfasts and free WiFi, in a great location within walking distance to the Parque Central and old Spanish colonial city.

Which explains why I am hurried and way behind in my journal, and more importantly, why we hurried through Eastern Oregon, not giving nearly enough time to our brief destinations.

Another fine blogger tip:

Thanks to another awesome blog, Wheeling It, Nina's photos and commentary led us to John Day Fossil Beds Nat'l Monument and its Painted Hills Unit; two separate days, two different units (out of 3), two unique locations.  Not nearly enough time to do justice nor properly explore an area that preserves plant and animal evolution, changing climates, and past ecosystems that span over 40 million years!  I will let the links do the talking, which I encourage you to read as they tell a pretty incredible story.

Sheep Rock Unit:

We stayed at the Fish Creek Inn and RV Park in Dayville on Hwy. 26, 32 miles west of John Day.  This park is another garden spot with sprawling green lawns, shade trees, and ice cream to boot.  We thought the $25 per night for full-hookups was very reasonable and its proximity to the Sheep Creek Unit for a quick day of sightseeing convenient.

Our first stop was at the very impressive Thomas Condon Paleontology Center to get our bearings, check out the exhibits, and see the movie. The exhibits proved to be the best option for seeing fossils throughout the park.  We already had Blue Basin Dreams, and who wouldn't after reading this (link), though the basin itself appeared rather greenish against a cloudless blue sky. Technically it is a formation of blue-green claystone comprised of volcanic ash, containing fossils of animals that lived some 25-30 million years ago, or so! 

We decided on the Island in Time trail, an easy 1.3 miles round-trip with a series of 13 short metal bridges, instead of the longer and steeper Overlook trail. Afterwards, we continued on to the Foree area to check out the Story in Stone and Flood of Fire trails, both short 1/4 milers.  We also lucked out as there was a paleontologist on site at the time of our hike!

Painted Hills Unit:

Another day and 38 miles down the road to Mitchell, where we managed a spot in the smallish 3-site Mitchell City Park, $17 per nite.

We wasted no time getting down to business as our excitement was building.  Off Highway 26, a country road winds through rugged landscapes, passing agricultural fields leading into a geological wonderland! The Painted Hills are the crown jewels of the region with their spectacular colors of red, orange, gold, purple, and grey, all changing with the sun; a palette of sublime patterns, each layer of color representing another 10 million years, or so. There are several short 1/4 to 1/2 mile trails, and we were determined to take them all.

On to home territory:

So in a nutshell, we made a brief stop in Bend thinking we'd be able to pick-up some summer bargains on the clearance racks at the Columbia Outlet Store.  That wasn't happening.  Air quality is getting nasty so we continued on to Weed, CA.  Do you see the irony here...Weed!!  That's right, we stayed the night before a major fire pretty much wiped out the town!  

The smoke and air along I-5 was so bad we drove all the way to Half Moon Bay for fresh ocean breezes and to see the littlest grandkids, and their parents.  We breathed a sigh of relief, had a couple of great meals, a haircut, and a trip to the pumpkin patch....

And here we are in Petaluma, just in time for Christina's 8th birthday!  She got to chose a store and Toys R Us won out.  

A quick trip to the Joseph, OR area~~

Our very first stop in Eastern Oregon was at Pendleton, not on the itinerary and completely unscheduled. We had noticed our voltage gauge fluctuating while driving; sometimes down to almost zero, then back to the normal 13 volt range.  We looked up and found Cummins Northwest and they were able to get us in Monday morning, the day we had planned to leave Charbonneau.  Howard figured the voltage regulator or alternator may be failing, considering our MH is 14 years old with 157,000 miles.  When hooked up to the computer voltage was steady, no fluctuation even with a load.  All the wiring checked out so the only thing they could think of was that our gauge is faulty.  So we were sent on our way...

Lake Wallowa:

Bloggers are the best and we are continually learning and adding places to our "to go" list. We really focused on the Joseph area after reading Roads Less Traveled great write-up with their always beautiful photography.  We were a little skeptical when we got to La Grande on I-84. There was a lot of smoke and the air quality was poor, but we were too close to pass it by. 

Wallowa Lake State Park seemed to be our best choice as a base camp, located just 6 miles out of Joseph, and framed by jagged 9000 ft. peaks and a clear glacial lake.  The park was quite full but we were able to get 2 nights.  Smoke filled the air and the ranger mentioned a wildfire was close by.  Helicopters were flying back and forth to retrieve buckets of water from the lake.  Our photos are hazy at best.

Fire on the ridge line

Lake Wallowa geology

From the other side of the lake

Trail from our site to the lake

Imnaha:

We had one full day to see as much as possible, only covering a very small portion of all the many suggestions we received and places we had read about.  The decision was made to drive out to Imnaha, 30 miles east of Joseph, then decide if we had time to drive the 24 miles south to the Hat Point Lookout or the rough 27 miles north to Dug Bar, for the views into Hell's Canyon on the Snake River.

By the time we got to Imnaha it was close to noon. After a visit to the country store for a drink and some info we decided against driving out to the overlook.  We have driven to Heaven's Gate out of Riggins, ID, taken a wild jet boat trip into Hell's Canyon from the north end at Clarkston, WA, and lastly driven into the canyon from the south end on Highway 71 out of Cambridge, ID a couple of years ago when we visited friends in Caldwell.

Joseph:

So we headed back to spend the rest of our afternoon exploring the lovely town of Joseph. The smoke had receded leaving puffy clouds against a clear blue sky and we had a great walk-about, followed by a super good dinner at the Outlaw Restaurant:

On almost every street corner sits one of the famous bronze statues created at Valley Bronze at its foundry in Joseph; each paying tribute to a segment of the town's history.  Chief Joseph, the town's namesake, proudly overlooks all!

Please take the time to click on the various web links highlighted for more information on this area, one we plan to get back to for a longer stay.  But now, we have to move on.....

Cape Arago magic...

Talk about short travel days, this one topped the charts at 50 miles.  We just can't pass up the opportunity to re-visit the splendiferous scenery along the Cape Arago Highway near Coos Bay, Oregon.  Like magnets we are drawn to marina RV parking; Anacortes, Port Townsend, Duluth, and here in Charleston.  There's something about an atmosphere of fishermen, sailors, boats and sea life, buckets of Dungeness crabs being cleaned, pots boiling, that gets our juices flowing.  How about mountains of oyster shells:

The Charleston Marina RV Park has full hookups and provided us safe haven for the busy weekend.  Regular parking lot-style sites are $28.50 with larger deluxe sites a few dollars more.  Ours wasn't the greatest; small and cramped with nary a view except for the backside of the Coast Guard facilities.  But the laundry got done, much sushi was consumed, and we saw Cape Arago in all its glory!  

Our first stop was a sensory overload. Perched on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean along the Cape Arago Highway, Shore Acres began as the private estate of the Louis Simpson family, a Coos County timber baron and shipbuilder.  The estate holdings were sold to the State of Oregon in 1942 for use as a park after a devastating fire and the financial fall-out of the 30s.  

Ever since its beginnings, these five luxurious acres have been a "garden for all seasons", with showy "peaks" of different flowers throughout the year:  spring bulbs, daffodils & tulips, followed by azaleas and rhododendrons.  Rose bushes and dahlias were the highlight of our visit.  From Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve, more than 300,000 lights draw the holiday crowds. 

One mile to the north is Sunset Bay State Park, with overnight camping facilities (reservations recommended), day use and picnic facilities.  The bay is surrounded by sandy beaches, steep cliffs and rocky out-croppings and is a popular kayaking and sun-bathing destination.  One mile to the south of Shore Acres lies Cape Arago State Park with its tidepools and barking seals and sea lions.  All 3 parks are connected by a series of bluff trails, some winding down to small coves for fishing and beach-combing, with peaks along the way of the Cape Arago Lighthouse sitting mysteriously offshore on tiny Chief's Island.

We continued north after the weekend with a short en route stop at the Chinook Winds Casino, providing us free parking with a spectacular view, especially from its upper level.  We had a short visit with long-time friends from Half Moon Bay days of old, Don mostly as Joan wasn't feeling well, who were staying nearby in their 5th-wheel.  We did not gamble, partake in buffets, nor join in the Senior Tuesday festivities.  Honestly, this heavily traveled section of Highway 101, through Newport, Florence, and Lincoln City, all the way til we crossed the "Tinker Toy Bridge" also known as the Astoria Megler Bridge, was gridlock....

PS:  And since this whole blog post does not format properly, too many spaces where I don't want them, photos refuse to align, I'm just going to hit the Publish Button and be done with it!