Aug 14 Seattle

We boarded the Bainbridge Ferry to Seattle on a bright, clear, sunny morning. Expected high today in the high eighties. The locals are sweating, were a bit hot and grateful to be free of the fog.

We haven't been to Seattle in 20 years, it is a spectacularly scenic city with modern skyscrapers, the blue sound and snow covered Mt Rainer in the background. We hopped off the ferry and headed off to the Pike St market. It was packed, but the same zany atmosphere as I remember, fish mongers throwing huge salmon to each other to the thrill of the customers, huge stacks of sea food, fresh veggies, and cut flowers. Even as crowded as it was on this Saturday morning it was a fun and exciting place to be.

We left the market and headed toward the Space Needle via the waterfront bus. I first visited the Space Needle in 1962 with my parents when I was 14. It used to be red, but now its white. The line to go up in the Needle was far too long for our sensibilities so we took a pass. In '62 Seattle hosted a World's Fair with the Space Needle as the signature theme. I remember an exhibit of the home of the future, with microwave ovens and modern furnishings. And then there was the monorail, the transportation of the future.

Today there is the Experience Music Project, a Rock and Roll museum housed in a really far out hall with wavy walls and and undulating roof lines... talk about cool. It was so big there was really no way to take a picture of it from the ground. You will have to Google it. Inside there were exhibits dedicated to various artists, Jimi Hendricks, Mary Wilson and the Supremes (Diana Ross not mentioned) and lots of others. There was a stage where you could perform your favorite song backed up by the band that made it famous. Given my lack of talent, I passed up that opportunity to embarrass myself in front of strangers.

We rode back to the city center on the Monorail, the same one built in 1962. Somehow it didn't look or feel like the transportation of the future... just an elevated train that has no intermediate stops and only goes about two miles. We walked back to the ferry terminal and sailed back to Bainbridge Island. It was a brief trip but very satisfying, to visit a familiar place not seen in many years.

Aug 11,12,13 Willapa Harbor to Poulsbo, Wa.

We left Tillimook with the intention of going to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. It was a cold, grey, foggy morning and by the time we arrived at Astoria around noon it was still grey. Not seeing anything of the town or surrounding rural areas that seemed appealing, we crossed the long bridge over the Columbia into Washington. We stopped at Dismal Nitch on the Washington side of the Columbia,aptly named on this foggy August grey day.

We headed onward hoping for a break in the fog away from the coast slightly inland. About 50 miles inland we arrive at Raymond Wa. to a place called Willapa Harbor. Looking for and RV park we saw a sign Golf and RV Park 1 mile. We turned in and drive a mile or so until we came to a clearing in the forest and there was the golf course and along side of the first tee a bunch of short posts with electrical hook ups and water taps. We thought we were pulling into the fairway at first, but there was a sign telling us to select a site and report up to the clubhouse to check in. By this time the overcast had lifted and we found our selves surrounded by green parked on a huge lawn that was an extension of the driving range. There were 20 sites or so but we were the only ones there in the RV park. We used the driving range to hit some balls and I played a couple of rounds on this pristine 9 hole course.

Willapa Habor today is pretty grim, its heyday was about 100 years ago when the harbor was lined with lumber mills, today only one mill remains and I'm sure it is automated. The two local establishments that seem to be still in full swing is the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion Hall. Most of the buildings are pretty old and in disrepair. In all this grimness this town has a great sense of humour, just about on every block were full size silhouette plate steal sculptures of people and animals in various poses, activities, past and future. They were all done with a touch of whimsee.
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We pushed on today with the promise of warm weather in the Seattle area, mid 80s. Our goal was to get as close to Bainbridge Island as we could. From Bainbridge you can take a passenger ferry into Seattle that puts you into downtown. We found a park just a mile or so from Bainbridge in Poulsbo. Poulsbo is a town that celebrates its Norwegian heritage and has the cutest downtown. They also celebrate the banana slug, dressing them up in costume (clay figurines) and have some sort of treasure hunt in one of the local parks to find them. And we thought we were the only ones to venerate the humble banana slug.

Aug 8-10 Bandon to Flornece to Tillamook

Left Bandon headed for Florence Or., almost in the center of the Oregon Coast. Advertised as one of the best towns in the country to retire to. I'm not sure what a town has to have to get that distinction, but Florence seemed pleasant enough. Most these coastal towns seem mostly to rely on tourism. The boom days of logging and of fishing seem to be over. Lots of aging infrastructure from those industries still exist, but for the most part do not look to be in operation. The historic downtown buildings are mostly geared to the tourist. There are lots of vacation homes and upscale neighborhoods on the fringes of these towns, so I guess the coast must be an escape from the greater metropolitan cities from the interior valley.

We stayed in Sutton Campground about 4 miles out of town. Being a national park, and we being old got to stay for a mere $10 a night. We had a secluded site with no hook up but close to the camp facilities. Near to our camp was the beach and sand dunes. We trudged across the dunes to a beach maybe 10 miles long with not a soul in sight. We left our shoes on the beach so we would know where to traverse the dunes to get back to our car.

The next day we took a day tour to the attraction that has been a must see for the last 70 years or so, the Sea Lion Cave. For years if you visited the Sea Lion Cave the proprietor would put a bumper sticker on your car, bright yellow, SEA LION CAVE. Travelling along Highway 101 for hundreds of miles you would see those signs on cars. I think the Mystery Spot folks in Santa Cruz did this as well. I wonder who started this scam first. There were no sea lions in the cave right now, but we did see some on the shore near the mouth of the cave.

We went on to visit the Heceta Lighthouse, built in 1892 one of forty or so lighthouses built along the Pacific coast. It is still operational, but more of a tradition than a vital navigation aid. It is operated by the Oregon park service, the lighthouse keepers house is now a bed and breakfast.

Today we moved on to Tillimook, famous for its cheese. We visited the cheese factory, bought some cheddar, had an ice cream cone. They too have a lighthouse, and a great beach. There were some 14 year olds actually swimming in the surf without wet suits. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. They eventually emerged from the surf to the beach clearly suffering from hypothermia. After much jumping and rubbing of limbs they seemed to recover.

Aug 7 Klamath River to Bandon Oregon

Woke up to wet, drizzly fog. Drip. drip, drip so much for summer on the coast of California this year. Took off at the crack of 10:00, as it takes a while to make breakfast, walk the dog, and hitch up the trailer to the truck. We are getting better at it but it is still a learning experience. Off through the fog with headlights on to Crescent City. Since we had little or no cell phone coverage for the last couple of days we checked in with family and friends once we got near town. A few miles out of Crescent City we crossed into Oregon and in a few more miles we broke out of the fog to a beautiful scenic Oregon coastline. The coast here is wild a dramatic, steep cliffs, large rocks strewn along the coast and many a mile or so from shore, rough surf crashing around the rocks, white spume tumbling in the waves. While you really shouldn't get in the water, this coast is very appealing to walk along the beaches or view from a vista.

Our goal today was to drive to Bandon, a small harbor town, with a historic downtown, rugged beach, and apparently world class golf at $275 a round in a remote part of southern Oregon. We wanted a good seafood dinner in a nice restaurant with a view of the sea. That we were able to accomplish. We walked on the beach in a misty fog that drifted in and out. One moment we would be in white cloud and then suddenly in bright white sunshine and then back into white cloud. We met people who were sifting through the gravelly patches of the beach with their fingers looking for small agate stones. I guess they were going to make jewelery from them.

Aug 5 & 6 Willits to Myers Flat to Klamath River

We left Willits at around 10:00am headed for Myers Flat which is on the Eel river and next to the Avenue of the Giants. Only about 90 miles up the road we had a leisurely trip up 101 which alternates from two lanes to four lanes every few miles. We stopped at BenBow for a break, did not go into the fancy old english style hotel, but look on at the Eel River. This is normally the site of the annual Reggae Festival but for some reason this year it was cancelled.

At Myers Flat we stayed at the Giant Redwoods RV park. Very rustic, bathrooms to be avoided at all costs, but the river ran close by and the camp was less than half occupied. These rural areas look to be quite depressed, boarded up stores and restaurants depressed looking locals walking along the roads. These areas obviously depend on the tourist and dope trade and there doesn't seem to be a lot of tourists. We went for a walk amongst the giant redwoods and they are grand. Even the ones toppled on the ground are impressive in their massive size.

Next day we moved on to Klamath River, where the river meets the Pacific. We had visions of big salmon dinners at homely restaurants with fresh caught fish out of the river. Not to be, the only restaurant was a Subway and the only fish we could buy was some smoked salmon which was very good but not exactly what we were jonesing for. We tried to buy fish from the local Indians but they had none to sell us. Were staying a park right on the river which caters to fishermen but we din not see any one with fish. Tomorrow it is on to southern Oregon and maybe fish for lunch at Coos Bay.

August 4,2010 Ben Lomond to Willits Day 1

Well the day to leave finally arrived! We tried to start out the day as if it was our normal routine; Pats got up first and took Dede (our dog) for a walk in the park. I muddled around with my usual morning routine, substituting a few tasks in place of reading the morning paper which we stopped taking delivery of. Pats went off to get a real walk with Bobbie after bringing Dede back. I continued to gather up last minute stuff to put in the trailer or to pack, cleaned up the kitchen, watered some plants. Pats and Bobbie returned and Bobbie bid us goodbye and took our car to be stored at her house. We had one load of laundry to do, so as to put clean sheets on the beds. Bobbie called after a while to let us know that Patsy's wallet was in the Prius and that we might want to pick it up on our way out of town.

At the crack of 10:45, with laundry done and beds made and nothing more we could think of to delay our departure, we locked the house, locked up the trailer, and slowly dragged the trailer off our driveway onto the street. Our driveway, while short, is a bit steep and the back of the trailer scraps across the tarmac with a terrible grinding noise. It has little wheels on the back bumper, but it sounds as if the whole trailer is coming apart. Because we are also on a blind corner on a busy street, Pats has to stand out in the street to let me know when I can pull out on to the road. Once on Glen Arbor, I usually drive a little bit to a straight stretch of road before I stop. This means that Pats has to run after the truck and jump in quickly before the next cars coming careening around the curve, potentially to run into the back of us. Off we go to Scott's Valley to get our wallet and one final "Goodbye"

Going over Hiway 17 is always a slow affair towing a trailer; cars just hate to get behind a trailer. As luck would have it, we got in line behind a logging truck with a full load of redwood logs. He was travelling at 30 to 35 mph, a speed that we could keep up with and not feel guilty about holding up the line of traffic behind us. We could always blame our slow speed on the logging truck in front. On the flat we can usually drive at 50-55 mph. The trip through the Bay Area was uneventful, lots of traffic, but life in the slow lane is a lot less stressful. Onward north up Hiway 101 we go.

Just outside of Ukiah we started making calls to couple of RV parks. We used to have a big RV park directory with thousands of listings to leaf through and call ahead to see if there is space available in the park. Now a days it is all online, but if you don't have a cellular data connection, you are out of luck until you can find a hot spot. Most trailer parks now offer WIFI, but the speed is minimal given the number of users. Google Maps is great, but tonight we found that it was painfully slow to respond to searches and to paint the maps.

After a couple of calls, we were able to book into a KOA Willits, at $50 per night. A big park with lots of activities for families with kids. Swimming, disc golf, catch and release trout pond, camp fire shows, a dog park, petting zoo, and a stable were all available. The first RVers I met (in the hot tub) were John and Kate, "full timers". The State of Missouri demolished their house to widen the highway, so they sold everything, bought a big ass RV and hit the road...Didn't look back. They like to travel about a 100 miles or so and stay at a place for two or three days and then move on. They plan on spending the winter in Texas.

Almost Ready August 3, 2010

Tomorrow is the day we leave. I think we are ready, but it is daunting to think that we are really leaving for nearly a year or so. This past week or so has been a whirl wind of activity not particularly related to this trip.

My son Don, got married to Julie last weekend, which meant that as parents of the groom we held the rehersal dinner at the house. In addition, my daugther Liz and her wife Stephany came to stay with us along with Noah Lee my new grandson! Noah being only 3 weeks old slept most of the time throughout all of the festivities including the wedding ceramony. He was a very good house guest.

After all the partying, and saying goodbye to friends and relatives, we were able to get to the task of packing the trailer and the truck. It felt more like we were moving away as we pretty much packed up most of our personal stuff either for the trip or for storage. Now that alot of our stuff is out of the house, the house echos when we talk. Just like when you go into an empty room. At this point I think we are both pretty tired and just want to get on the road and start the adventure.

I have been reading "Travels with Charlie" by John Steinbeck a book about his 3 month camper trip which he made in 1960 alone but with his dog Charlie. Steinbeck used Charlie to meet people along his journey and made many friends by plying them with free booze. It seemed to work pretty well for John, we'll have to see if that socilizing style is still in vogue.

Well tomorrow is the day, and we plan to get on the road by the crack of 10:00am. No point in trying to add to the commute when you can only go 35 mph over the mountains. I'm sure we will need the time to take that last look around to see if we forgot to pack something.