Big Trees

I was reminded that I didn’t post any pictures of the California Redwoods from our recent trip.  As I have noted previously, I was having connectivity issues at some RV parks around that time. Also, I wasn’t sure the shots would do them justice; even with cars or people in the photos, its hard to get a sense of how magnificent these trees really are.

Anyway, here are a few shots:

  

 

Redwood National Park and several California State Parks share jurisdiction over the northern California Coastal Redwoods.  Most of these pictures are from the Prairie Creek State Park area. 

Guadalupe

On the banks of the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas.

The river is beautiful – much better than last year when it was almost dry this time of year.

Had a real disappointment two days ago when we arrived at Balmorhea State Park.  I hadn’t been there since I was twelve years old, and I was really looking forward to taking a dip in the huge spring-fed pool.

Balmorhea State Park features drive-through campsites with lights, water and cable TV.  Unfortunately, when I pulled up enough to connect my power cable, I didn’t have enough room in front to disconnect the truck from the trailer. 

After several tries, we finally gave up and left.  Spent the night in a small but nice campground adjoining a truck stop, then came to Kerrville a day early.

Just as well, we love this place.

No Thanks, Mr.. Hughes

The previous entry was supposed to be posted yesterday.  We were in an RV park with excellent Wi-Fi, but when I attempted to post to my blog, it sat and sat, and finally timed out.

Turns out the park’s ISP was Hughes Net.  Fast downloads, but uploads almost slower than dial-up.

Today we’re at another campground, and the post uploaded fine. 

Back to Texas tomorrow – a long haul from Silver City, New Mexico to Balmorhea Texas.

Grand Canyon – Meteor Crater

No entry yesterday after our visit to the North Rim of Grand Canyon because:

1. Wi-Fi at the campground was terrible – Kept losing connection.
2. I was tired – decided I could give myself the evening off.

Folks who had been to both kept telling us that if we had only been to the South Rim, we had to visit the North Rim.  Now that I have, I can tell you that they were right.

The drive down through Kaibab National Forest is pretty,

but the Canyon itself is fantastic.

 

Lots of visitors from all over, and a Lodge and Welcome Center larger than I had been led to expect.  Still, crowds and traffic were much better (lighter) than on the South Rim.

Drove today to Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona. 

The movie, the museum and the guide’s lecture were fascinating, but the crater was not that impressive after a day at Grand Canyon. 

 

Tomorrow will see us in Silver City, New Mexico.

Kanab Utah

Said good-bye to the Sheltons and Nevada this morning and drove to Kanab, Utah. 

Travis and Cheryl headed for Colorado where they plan to meet up with their daughter. Later, on their way home, they hope to pick up their newly repaired motorhome in Oklahoma.

On the way down, we passed near the entrances to Bryce and Zion National Parks, and saw the Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park.  Whatever else you might say about Utah, it is colorful.

We’re staying at the Kanab RV Corral

and headed for the North Rim of Grand Canyon tomorrow.  Here are a couple shots from our campground.

We went grocery shopping this afternoon at Honey’s Market.  I told Honey to show them her driver’s license so we could get an owner’s discount.  The got a good laugh about that, but they did stamp our register receipt, which gave us a 15 cent per gallon discount on diesel – saved us $3.50.

Least Visited National Park

Currently in Baker, Nevada – still in the Pacific Time Zone by about 100 yards. Mountain Time starts at the Utah line just past the campground office.

Baker is on US 50, which Life Magazine labeled the “Loneliest Highway in the USA.” Apparently, Nevada is proud of that – “Loneliest Highway” signs appear more often than mileage markers.

Today we visited Great Basin National Park; the least visited national park in the system. Not surprising, considering the location.

The park’s attractions include Wheeler Peak

which at 13,000 feet, sports a glacier within sight of miles of desert,

and Lehman Caves, which is actually a single cavern in spite of the name. Rangers give tours which range from an easy one-hour visit to serious spelunking with special reservations.

The other attraction is a couple of groves of Bristlecone Pines.

These gnarly little trees are the oldest living things in North America, with some in the park exceeding 3000 years of age. Makes the California Redwoods look like adolescents.

More Great Lakes

Currently in Carson City, Nevada.  I can see a casino from our campsite, but just can’t generate enough energy to cross the road. 

Saw two beautiful lakes today.  The first was Lake Almanor on Hwy 36 between Redding, California and the Nevada border.

Then. once we got to Carson City, we made a side trip up to Lake Tahoe.

If you like your water smaller but faster, Hwy 299 west of Redding parallels the Trinity River for miles.  Unfortunately, the best views are in places where there is nowhere to pull off the road.

Old Friends

Currently in Redding, California, in an RV park on the banks of the Sacramento River.  The trip down from Brookings, Oregon via 101 and 299 was 61/2 hours of non-stop twists and turns and 6 to 8% grades. 

At least after we left the coast, the fog lifted and we could see the road.  We went from mid-60s in Oregon to upper 90s here.

Yesterday, while still in Brookings we had a surprise visit from Ron and Cheryl Moore.  Ron is an old friend and former co-worker, and I had met Cheryl years ago at Disney World at a Canon Trainer’s Conference.  They retired last spring, sold their home and are now full-timing in their motor home. 

Ron saw that we were in Brookings on the blog – they were in another campground about 4 miles away – so they came by.  We enjoyed a pleasant couple of hours catching up.  Great coincidence.  Great to see them again.

Campground Visitors

Saw this Mule Deer Doe and Fawn on the path above our campsite yesterday afternoon.  After I took this picture, I saw a second Fawn bringing up the rear.  He was about 30 yards behind the others.

Today is our last day in Brookings, Oregon.  Gonna miss this place.

Dogsh#t Daisies

There are lots of flowers, both cultivated and wild,  along the southern Oregon coast.  Just south of Brookings is the Elk Valley, which bills itself as the Easter Lily Bulb Capital of the World.  There are acres of lilies about four inches tall and currently in bloom.  Laborers are in the fields harvesting the bulbs.

Along the banks of the Chetco River, where we are staying, are a variety of flowers in bloom, including the daisies shown above.  We harvested a few, and Honey made a bouquet for the trailer.

Included were Daisies, Marigolds, Sweetpeas and Bird Vetch – the tall spikes with the trumpet-shaped purple flowers; all collected along about 150 feet of riverbank.

It looked really nice and brightened the living room, but about an hour after it was finished we started smelling puppy poop.  We scowled at the dogs, checked under table and chairs and behind the couch.  Honey inspected the bottoms of all our shoes with no result, but we were still getting an occasional whiff that was unmistakably doggie doo.

We endured it for several hours; then, just before bedtime, Honey smelled the bouquet.  Wild Oregon Daisies smell just like dog crap!  We had noticed the smell in spots along the path – blamed irresponsible pet owners –but we never made the association.

Who would have thought those pretty flowers would smell like that?

Brookings, Oregon

Arrived in Brookings, Oregon yesterday.  The 200 mile drive from Klamath Falls felt more like 400 – Lots of sharp curves 6 and 7% grades, but definitely worth the trip.  It’s a beautiful drive that actually dips down into northern California and the Redwoods National Park before swinging back up to Brookings on US 101.  Saw our first redwoods on the way down – amazingly huge, and these are not even the biggest ones.  No pictures yet, but we are touring the coastal redwoods tomorrow or the day after, so there will be some soon.

Our campsite is on the banks of the Chetco River

Went down to the beach today at Harris State Park and Lone Ranch State Park, two sites just a couple miles north of town. First at Harris SP :

Then, after the fog lifted and the clouds burned off, at Lone Ranch SP.  We met an old man who told us that Lone Ranch used to be a sheep ranch, and he worked there herding sheep for fifty years before it was donated to the state a few years ago.  He wanders around the park looking for artifacts – says he often finds arrowheads and pieces of farming implements.

 

The beach is beautiful, but cool.  Adults in sweatshirts or jackets, kids in the water in bathing suits. 

Oregon Variety

No posts for a while – on the road with limited access.

In the past few days we have gone from enjoying the waters of the Crystal Crane Hot Springs in the western Oregon desert at Burns, Oregon

to the snow Crater Lake National Park.

Next stop – the Pacific Coast.

Nice to Have A Spare

Forgot to mention that our friends, the Sheltons, caught up with us again in Buffalo, Wyoming. They called that morning saying they were in Colorado and on their way.

I said “ They got it fixed already?”

“No,” they replied. “We got our kids to bring us our other motor home.”

South Dakota