Snowbirding

Yes, it's that time of year; time to migrate south from the biting cold of the Bay Area.  We have spent the most marvelous of times while here, and are now completing the circle of family visits.  In Loomis at Stevi and Gary's we had a large family gathering and a scrumptious prime rib dinner. Photographer friend, Laura, kindly snapped a few shots of our group.  We were missing a few grandkids with school and work obligations in the way.

We stopped in Half Moon Bay on our way south for a few days with those littlest grandkids....then continued on to the Anza Borrego Desert, our Christmas/New Years destination for so many years.

But things are so different now.  The State Park has taken a large chunk of potential parking sites and posted them as follows:

So now foot travel only, no RV parking.  All the beautiful rock formations and fire pits have been dismantled and destroyed.  Our beautiful site from last year is a mess.  There is still a large area for RV parking west of the State Park property and that's where we are now. Nothing very exciting, unfortunately!

Plus the winds are truly howling, gusts up to 50 MPH.  Putting out our luminarios was not going to happen due to the awful sandblasting we received.  So here's a pic from last year just to see how cool they are.

And we did add a little Christmas cheer with a few decorations inside.

And the sunsets are still spectacular....

We are happy to have Nan and John Talley parked nearby so you can bet we'll enjoy some stimulating happy hours!

With the wind so bad and not being able to enjoy being outside it's hard to say just how long we'll stay.  I must admit we're both in kind of a "bah, humbug" mood and feeling very unsettled.  Maybe after coming here for at least 15 years is losing it's appeal.  Diesel fuel is cheap so we might just decide to hit the road and head east, with a lot of stops along the way.

So today is Christmas and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  May this coming year bless us all with good health and safe travels.

Lynda & Howard

A month to roam....

And so it was that with a blank calendar for the next month we decided to take off for a road trip.  Our destination was St. George, Utah, more specifically Snow Canyon State Park, about 720 miles from Petaluma, an easy 2-3 day drive.  We discovered Snow Canyon SP a couple of years ago when Howard was running in the Senior Olympics held every October in St. George.   And as is always the case the journey proved to be as beautiful and interesting as the destination....Well almost!

Our first stop was a small RV park in Eureka, Nevada on Highway 50, the Loneliest road in America!  Lonely indeed, and barren for the most part, but it is a slice of Americana, sparsely populated with little towns, many boarded up, with light traffic.  This route also leads the way to Great Basin National Park, located in Eastern Nevada very near the border with Utah.  We had not visited Great Basin since our early days of RVing in our Dolphin MH, circa 1996!

Great Basin National Park:  A vast region of sage brush-covered valleys and narrow mountain ranges stretching from California's Sierra Nevada to Utah's Wasatch.  A must see, the Lehman Caves was our first experience in cave exploring with a ranger leading the way and explaining what we were seeing.  Though quite small it is beautifully decorated and well worth the tour.  Another plus is the drive to the base of Wheeler Peak which stretches to an altitude of over 13,000 feet.  There are many trails, some leading to Bristlecone Pine forests.  We were limited due to a much needed rain storm passing through.

Highway 50, The Loneliest Road in America

Eureka!!

The Great Basin from along the road to the base of Wheeler Peak

Cathedral Gorge State Park:  We backtracked a bit on Highway 50 to pickup Highway 93, a scenic byway taking us south in the general direction of St. George, UT.  Just as our day of driving was winding down, according to "The rule of 3s - 300 miles per day, 3 o'clock in the afternoon"....we see a welcome sign near Panaca, NV announcing Cathedral Gorge State Park.  Having never taken this route before and not being familiar with Cathedral Gorge, we rightfully decided to stop for a day or two of exploring, and what a bonanza of exploring we found.

As the park brochure so graphically put it, if you had been here 2.5 million years ago, you would have needed gills.  Volcanoes, earthquakes, water, and erosion created the "hoodoo-like" spires, and buff-colored mud cliffs. Narrow slot canyons are cut deep into the old mud formations.  Adventurous visitors can crawl through tunnels to discover hidden chambers through the network of canyons.  We did no crawling but did enjoy many tight squeezes!  With the temps in the high 80s, the coolness of the slot canyons made for a more pleasant walk, with many photo ops.

Snow Canyon State Park:  We pulled in to Snow Canyon SP not sure if we would be able to get a site.  Being on the reservation system and on the venue of several Senior Games, we lucked out by being amenable to moving around a bit.  They hold 2 sites as first come, first serve and we managed to snag one for 5 days thus giving us a full week.  

The park is spectacular...period!  Located in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve amid lava flows and soaring sandstone cliffs in a fragile desert environment, we marvel at the majestic views and subtle interplay of light and shadow across the canyon walls.  There is a great multi-trail system accessible right across the street from the park offering miles of red rock splendor!  

We spent a day visiting nearby Zion National Park amidst a crowd of like-minded people.  Both sides of the approach road, Highway 9, were jammed with parked cars vying for access to the splendor surrounding us. We did our sightseeing from the car windows!

The temps were still hot throughout the southwest as we were putting together an itinerary for our departure from St. George.  We had our sights on Marble Canyon, maybe a quick ride to the North Rim to say hi to Gaelyn, and on to Safford in eastern AZ and Roper Lake State Park.  But we soon scratched these plans as we didn't want to be dependent on staying inside running the generator and air conditioning.  So we headed to Barstow and turned right for the Pacific coast.

We're now winding down our road trip and heading back to Petaluma where I start the process of cataract surgery for both eyes.  I'm looking forward to the end result as I hear it greatly improves vision!  It's been a great month!

We have been anchored for awhile~~~

Family time

The time between blog posts seems to be directly related to the amount of travel we do.  So when we're in home territory, as we have been here in Petaluma at the Elk's Lodge for the last few weeks, my blogging takes a hiatus. While here we enjoy lots of time just lazing around, visiting family and local friends, soccer and softball games, birthdays and endless barbecues. We checked a few items off of our MH list of "to dos".

A very dry lake bed

There are hikes around nearby Shollenberger Lake amounting to just 3 miles round trip from our site here at the Elk's.  The temps have been in the  high 80s, with an intermittent shower or cool spell. 

We got caught up on medical stuff, doctors' visits and the like.  I have been living  with a reasonably uncomfortable case of  shingles for the last month, despite having had the vaccine a couple of years ago; a nasty blotchy rash that turned into blisters, that turned into scabs and hurt like the dickens.  Obviously, the vaccine is not 100%!

I also have a date coming up sometime in November to have cataract eye surgery.  I am actually looking forward to this as it will correct my far vision and astigmatism with corrective lenses.  Howard says this has been quite a year for me, health-wise.  Well, the year is almost over and I'm feeling blessed that we're still able to travel and that I'm doing really well in spite of past conditions!

A very tall and steep sand dune

Siltcoos Lake near Florence, OR

We had a great albeit slow trip down the Oregon Coast.  There was a lot of traffic on the twisty two-lane highway.  We stopped for two nights at Darling's Marina & RV Park near Florence, OR, one of our half priced Passport America parks, beautifully situated on the banks of the lovely Siltcoos Lake with easy access to those monumental sand dunes Oregon is famous for!

 

Exploring Moonstone Beach

 Next stop was Trinidad CA on the Humboldt  County coast, a small seaside village and one of  the oldest and smallest incorporated cities in  CA. with just 360 population.  All of Humboldt  County and especially Trinidad offers plenty of  opportunities to explore the majestic beauty of  the area from a number of easily accessible  hiking trails to nearby giant redwoods, 3 state  parks and a couple of county parks. We stayed  at Clam Beach County Park, for their 3 day max  at $13 per night, giving us time to explore  Moonstone Beach and enjoy lunch at the  Trinidad Marina - calamari for moi!  

 

And since we have nothing on our calendar until an ophthalmology appointment on October 28th, we have decided to take an impromptu road trip~~the best kind.  Our destination is St. George, UT where we are hoping to get into one of the first-come, first-serve sites in Snow Canyon State Park.  Snow Canyon is a red rock and hiking haven.  If this doesn't work out we'll try some places around Zion NP.  We plan to leave tomorrow, Tuesday September 29th.

Strait talk~~Port Townsend

The Strait of Juan de Fuca extends east from the Pacific Ocean between Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula about 95 miles inland to Puget Sound.  Port Townsend is bordered by the Bay of Port Townsend and Admiralty Inlet, which intersects the Strait.  In other words, we are surrounded by big water and lots of marine activity.

Click on the maps for a more detailed view.


The town is a Victorian seaport and arts community. With its maritime heritage, artist spirit, and a touch of urban chic, Port Townsend is an easily accessible base camp to the Olympic Peninsula and beyond. with its maritime heritage, artist spirit, and a touch of urban chic.

The Point Wilson lighthouse at Fort Worden

We've been coming here every year, same site, since 2009.  We had been staying at the SKP's Evergreen Coho RV park in nearby Chimacum and took a drive one day to check out Port Townsend. We were drawn to the Point Hudson Marina mainly to see the boats and splendid views. The RV park is nothing special.  Most of the full hookup sites are expensive, graveled, and close together.  We decided to check in at the office for more information and were told they had two boondocking sites for $20 each per night (since upped to $25). Our site 361, is about 50 feet from the water and entertains us with a constant flow of boat/ship traffic.  Never a dull moment though lots of lazy ones.

An afternoon parade of schooners (insert Howard drooling)

Jefferson County Courthouse - Uptown

In years past we have done many all day trips to see Seattle, Port Angeles, Sequim, and all the local hangouts.  There is RV parking at Fort Worden State Park and Fort Townsend State Park as well as the Elks Lodge and Jefferson County fairgrounds.

There is a great little local theater that shows currently running movies as well as art and eclectic films, and the best ice cream at Elevated Ice Cream, both located downtown. There are lots of shopping opportunities from second hand shops to chic, expensive ones. There is Doc's restaurant located here at the marina which we enjoy for the convenience and every type of eating pleasure you can imagine in town.

Victorian downtown

During our 10 days we have hung close to home, not feeling any pressure to do a daily tour as in year's past.  We've been catching up on our reading and exercise. And both of us got haircuts (whoopee).  A walk from the marina uptown is a long steep hill that gathers momentum as it reaches it's high point in town then starts back to downtown again. Three or 4 outings like this gets the old legs aching and the knees screaming!

The ferry docks are busy during the summer season with two ferries running about every hour, making for easy travels between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island, about a half hour scenic trip each way.  The downtown streets are packed with tourists arriving by small cruise ship or ferry. We will load the motorhome and car onto the ferry tomorrow for a sail to Whidbey Island and on to Anacortes on Fidalgo Island.

The hot dog spot downtown framed by a great mural

This is what we do most of the time!

We'll see you soon in Anacortes, another great northwestern maritime town.

A Jeep drive to Split Mountain & Fish Creek, hiking the wind caves, sunsets galore, and some other news~~

Last year's Coyote Canyon drive

Howard and I have spent some of our best outings in our old Jeep Wrangler, exploring many of the numerous backroads here in the vast Anza Borrego Desert, pushing our limits at times, possibly not using our best judgment, but loving every adrenalin-rushed moment. Since getting our much more comfortable and roomy Toyota RAV-4 last year, which does have 4-wheel drive, though certainly not Jeep-worthy, we've been experiencing some adrenalin withdrawal.

But that all changed with the arrival of Carolyn & Tom who have a very photogenic and roomy red Wrangler. When they graciously suggested an outing, we immediately said YES, and provided some suggestions.

C-MYSTE is their blog & personal license plate

Split Mountain & Fish Creek:

Now this is a serious geologic wonder with views to match. With a few internet searches I managed to glean some basic information.

Split Mountain is indeed separate mountains split into two ranges, the Vallecito Mountains on the west, and Fish Creek Mountains on the east.  Geologists claim that the canyon was formed when water was continually draining from the Carrizo Badlands in the west to the Salton Sink in the east.  As the mountains rose over time, Fish Creek Wash continually gouged down into the new mountains creating the canyon we can drive through today.

On the right side of the canyon, where the rock layers are bent and warped, is what geologists call an anticline~~

Split Mountain

Families and pets camped up the way, out for a walk

A Fossil Reef - High and Dry

Twenty million years ago, where we are standing was the bottom of a warm shallow sea.  The Gulf of California covered the region. Thriving in the warm waters were many varieties of fish, corals, and shellfish. Over thousands of years shells of oysters and pectens accumulated on the sea bottom and were covered by shifting sand.  Thick deposits of shells formed reefs in the shallow sea. The Gulf retreated, faults shifted, and the land uplifted, leaving the ancient reefs high and dry.

So many layers now exposed

  

Wind Caves:

Once we past the narrow drive through Split Mountain, the road opens up and becomes Fish Creek Wash.  A short distance further we see lots of tent campsites belonging to the families we saw out for a walk.  On our left (east side) sinister formations reminiscent of the fictional, prehistoric town of Bedrock appear high up on the hillside.  

These are the Wind Caves~~

There is a short, somewhat steep and rocky loop trail, about 2 or so miles round-trip, depending on which trails you follow.

And this is what we find up close and personal;
room-size sandstone caves, large enough for us to walk in for some shade and sit awhile admiring the views of the undulating waves of the Carrizo Badlands.

Sunsets:

The sunsets have been spectacular, as they are in most parts of the southwest this time of year. Most evenings find us sitting out with the camera and tripod facing the western sky as it lights up with pure magic.  Then we turn to face north and east, as the sun lowers and lights up the Santa Rosa Mountains.  Shadows and clouds join the party.  We see splashes of color and a variety of shapes. Some displays look like puffs of cotton, others like fireworks.

 

Other news:

We went back to Indio on the designated date for our Verizon phone and internet upgrade; nothing exciting, just a new Droid Turbo and Novatel MiFi.  Both chubby little suckers with big batteries, and about the same signal strength as before.  We are just on the fringe of 2-3 bars of 4G and our old antenna/booster is 3G only.

An unrelated set-back occurred about 10 minutes after our departure from the Verizon Store as we're nicely settled into lunch before attacking Costco and heading home. The new phone went crazy with texts and emails announcing fraud alerts from two of our credit/debit card companies.  A $2000 purchase had been attempted at a nearby Walmart, and when one card was refused, apparently the other was quickly produced.  Though the actual theft had to have taken place at the Verizon store during our transaction and was very slick, the idea of charging an item costing that amount of money was pure stupidity. All in all, there was no damage done, just a lot of nerves and inconvenience.  And yes, we did go back to the store and report the incident and discuss better floor surveillance with the manager.

We are beginning to talk about a possible departure date for Arizona.  In the meantime, we are enjoying lots of walks and hikes, socializing with friends and neighbors, and trying to plug away at the ongoing maintenance issues. And I know for sure there is at least one more Jeep adventure to report.....