Saturday, April 23

Drove down to Banning to be with the Emersons for the day. It's always good to see friends looking the same when you haven't seen them for a few years. Did lots of catching up, ate lunch at their clubhouse, and then tried to find Mystic Lake and the San Jacinto wildlife area. On both we were foiled by closed roads and poor directions. We did walk in some fields and birded as best we could (many Western Kingbirds). Stopped off at a produce stand on the way home and have been enjoying fresh veggies again (we'd pretty much run out). Longer trip than we'd expected down to Banning and back, and we got home (Jumbo Rocks) just after dusk.

Sunday, April 24

Slept in for a change, then drove down to Coachella Valley Reserve, an oasis with two remaining stands of California Fan Palms (the area used to be covered with these). It's supposed to be an area with many birds, also, but perhaps because of the time of day--and probably because the wind was relentlessly intense--we saw very few. This area came together under TNC, DNR, Parks and Wildlife and several other organizations. Later, we stopped by the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center which is right next to a sewage treatment plant, but again, because of the relentless wind we were driven back to the car. Guess we're lucky, though, because it seems the whole west part of the country except here is dealing with rain.

When we had cell phone signal we started calling to make reservations for the Monterey area. Tried Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park, but there was no room for us. We'll go to a private park nearby and we'll be about 30 miles out of Monterey. We had to cut Yosemite out of our trip--just too many miles crisscrossing the state, and it is a bit early for a high country excursion.

Monday, April 25

What a great day--wind has finally died down and we had a nice time at the Morongo Preserve south of Yucca City. It is such well constructed boardwalks and good trails in a variety of environments--marsh, desert willow, more. Saw both Western and Summer Tanagers. Covington Park next door has a great assortment of birds in its tall trees, also. Today we managed to see five different wrens: House, Cactus, Rock, Bewick's, and Canyon.

After a Sizzler lunch and some food shopping and back again at Joshua, we took a walk to Barker Dam, a desert cattle reservoir from olden times. What a gorgeous (only a mile of so) loop with great rocks, cacti in bloom, a small and pretty lake, a stream below the dam with mama Mexican Duck with eight ducklings holding forth. Don't tell us that CA frogs don't say "ribbit" 'cause we heard them!

Got stuff ready for tomorrow's get-away: we have 280 miles to go. We've enjoyed being here at our $2.50/night campsite-on-the-road (#91).

Tuesday, April 26

Made it to a KOA in Lost Hills in the south end of the central Valley. From Joshua Tree (jackrabbits--some with black tails and some with white--and desert cottontails were out in full force in early morning hours) we went through Yucca City, turned right toward Victorville, up 395, over to Tehachapi, over to I-5 and up to Lost Hills (no hills there…) Passed through gorgeous green hills before getting down into the valley. Numerous large signs are posted along the way having to do with food growing only where there is water.

Drove over to Kern NWR not far from "home". This is a roosting spot for thousands of waterfowl in the winter. In summer they let the lakes dry up. We did see a good assortment of grebes and ducks and White-faced Ibis and also many mama Coots with their new babes--many with their halos of henna still glowing brightly. The redeeming features of the KOA were a clean laundry and a large puddle in the adjacent campsite where blackbirds took lavish baths. It is across a road from a truck stop but we were both so tired that the vrmmms of the trucks didn't bother us.

Wednesday, April 27

What a varied day we had from valley with vineyards to incredible green hills to coast. Winding the mh around some of those severe turns on coastal Rt 1 was a challenge! Reached Big Sur Campground (private) after noon, and it was raining as predicted. Crossed over a bridge where we exceeded the allowed weight. This place is pretty much of a quagmire--many standing puddles, especially just outside our rig! From the front window we can just see the river (if someone doesn't park over there…) We are fairly private, though, with large redwoods around. We hawere surprised to see Acorn Woodpeckers here in large number--we'd always associated them with Arizona.

Drove north to Carmel, looking forward to a return to a really nice bookstore there--but it was gone. Wanted a good bird-finding book for Northern CA. I realize how much I miss the ocean when I finally get to see it--and the views, despite the cloudy weather, were awesome. At one point we pulled over and watched five sea otters down below in the undulating kelp--three old codgers on their backs trying to sleep while two young pups rolled and played endlessly.

Thursday, April 28

After rain all night, what a glorious day. Our major venture visiting the Monterey Aquarium, and we got there at 10 AM, opening hour. Since it was a "feeding" day we attended the feedings--to the sea otters, to the fish in the large three-story kelp pond and to the huge tunas (and sea turtles and others) in the "Outer Bay" exhibit, which was huge. There were lots of folks there, especially students filling out papers with questions. We found ourselves lingering at the incredible jellyfish exhibits--the beauty of these critters is so exquisite as perhaps our pics show. Another incredible favorite was the Leafy Sea Dragons from Australia who blended into their seaweed surroundings so amazingly. There was so much for all folks to do--this place is beautifully planned for children with interactive activities, tide pools to explore, critters to feel, holes to crawl into and peek through. We attended a presentation on the white shark which lived at the aquarium for several months and which was released recently when it had its eye (and teeth) on too many of its tank mates (in that time it had gained 100 lbs. and grown over a foot!)

In the book store there we found the books we needed for birding and camping in Northern CA. We took a ride around the harbor, spotted Black Oystercatchers, Common Murres, Pelagic Cormorants, a Whimbrel, Herring Gulls, more.

Friday, April 29

Ran down to Pfeiffer Big Sur St. Pk. and found all kinds of sites we could have had, so again reservations folks gave us bad info. We contemplate staying longer--not sure.

The main part of the day was spent at Point Lobos Reserve just below Carmel. How this place has changed since I lived here in '59-'60, when there was only a rocky path down toward the ocean, many cypresses along the way. Now the preserve is nicely developed with good trails and fine roads and picnic spots in various niches. There were numerous pleasant and helpful docents around to talk with, and I think their love of this place showed well. We watched sea lions and seals and sea otters from various vantage points and saw Black Oystercatchers, Brandt Cormorants displaying their bright blue throats, Western Gulls, White-throated Swifts, Pygmy Nuthatches, Violet-green Swallows, and so much more.

Later, we drove up and up and up Boettcher Gap Road on the way home--all the way up a narrow, dark and curvy road to a "campground" at the top of the mountain (a small parking lot with maybe a site or two). Along the seven miles there were homes of all sorts--from shacks to great places--clinging to the hill. Many of the buildings looked pretty rotten from having little or no sunlight since large redwoods shaded most everything. Near the top we saw several Mountain Quail with long plumes trailing from their heads.

Saturday, April 30

Our day was spent at Andrew Molera State Park, known as a good birding spot with an ornithology staff--these guys track CA Condors in the nearby Ventana Wilderness. We didn't get to meet them but did consult their bird list tacked on the door. Our walk took us through high brush, a long meadow-like campground and eucalyptus trees before we reached the end of the Big Sur River--where it meets the Pacific. We also walked across the headland and looked down on the surfers and enjoyers of a nice day on the beach. 32 species total, (including an unexpected life bird--Vaux's Swift).

Sunday, May 1

Decided to stay one more gorgeous day. Took off for Carmel and walked on the beautiful beach. It's longer than I'd remembered it and it was such a joy to people-watch and doggie-watch. Virtually all dogs were off their leashes and they were incredibly well-behaved and having such a delightful time in and out of the surf. Off the coast we saw Surf Scoters, a Pacific Loon and a Common Loon.

We then paid the bucks and took the 17 Mile Drive. Sometimes got a bit lost when the signs let us down but we got to see the Pebble Beach Golf Club up close (no real highlight but it satisfied our curiosity!) and the incredible coastline. A bit was closed off because of seals having new pups. We stopped off for a picnic and watched with scope more rocks populated with Brandts and numerous Brown Pelicans--not quite in breeding plumage yet. There was a good deal of traffic on the road--it was Sunday, after all, but what a nice day. On the way home we did some driving through the town of Carmel. Then saw the real estate pages/prices in the local paper. Whoo-eee.

Monday, May 2

Breakfast and quick start toward getting ourselves up to Bodega Bay. Took Rt. 1 up to Castroville, then 101 up through San Jose and 880 through Oakland, then over the Richmond-San Raphael Bridge and down to the coast through Petaluma. Doran Beach Park is a jetty, and from our site we can see both sides. We made no reservations and find that they are almost necessary--we have our site till Friday when we need to vamoose to another area or another site. Wind is blowing like crazy but the sunshine holds, so no complaints.

En route from town, where we had to find a P.O., we did a scan of the immediate area and know some places we'd like to visit. Also, Dungeness crab was advertised at one place for $2.99/lb., so we'll investigate that too. Along the coastline so far we've seen numerous Loons, some Curlews, Godwits, Surf Scoters, and more.

Tuesday, May 3

Took a drive southward to Pt. Reyes, a huge peninsula of bays and lagoons, coastal prairie, fir forests, headlands, mudflats and sandy beaches, ponds, many hills and narrow crooked roads. There are a number of old farms still in this area, still working. Nothing huge in the way of birdlife that we could find but it was a pretty ride. Some fog rolled in to make it look real genuine for us touristos. We did see seals and sea lions down below the cliffs on rocks and in kelp. As we were picnicking down at Drakes Bay we watched a Raven wrestle and finally devour a rather long snake up on a hill. Ate the whole thing. On the way home we picked up some fresh Dungeness crab and pigged out royally here at home.

Wednesday, May 4

A rainy day--just good old steady rain. Sounds so good on the roof. This area certainly does not know what drought is this year. Charlie worked on pics for the journal and I got through the thick Influenza book! (The Great Influenza--John Barry-500+ pages). Took a ride up the coast to explore other campgrounds. Bodega Dunes looks nice, is cheaper than here, and though they limit motor homes to 31', there certainly are spaces which would fit us easily. Up the coast a ways is another campground is on the beach and from what we read it costs $35 without power!

Thursday, May 5

Rain predicted but sun appeared. Walked as far along the beach as we could. Whimbrels, Godwits, Semi-palmated Plovers predominated. Drove twelve miles north to Jenner where we'd heard there were many seals with pups. Indeed there were--a couple hundred of them, lined up along the beach--and along the outlet of the Russian River. While we were concentrating on these and on sea birds, we almost missed the whales quite close in. Three Gray Whales stayed there and entertained us for a long time, swimming back and forth and blowing--probably taking advantage of the fresh water. What a gift.

Saturday, May 7

This place has turned into generator city. The campground is weekend full--many folks who have made reservations so as to be near one another--and one or more generators are grinding away constantly. As I write, Charlie is over across the road advising the owner of a huge Allegro Bus how his generator works (he found it wasn't charging the battery at all-- it has been on for more hours than we can count). At least this guy (he wears a "Viagra" jacket ) asked about our solar panels. It is definitely time to move out of this prison of motor homes. We've taken the time for a long walk in the AM, updating the journal and some reading. Noted that the best sites here are #104 and 103, for future reference. Gas prices are around $2.79. Gulp.

We heard that an earthquake had happened around 1:30 AM--around 4.5 on the scale, centered near Napa. Didn't feel anything. The San Andreas Fault runs exactly right through where we are, though! Rain in the evening…

Sunday, May 8

...and into this day. Sheets of rain, tents blowing, 'brellas blowing inside out. A wet Mom's Day. Took off around 8:30 AM for MacKerricher St. Pk., three miles north of Ft. Bragg. This was a day of many ups and downs and curves on Rt. 1. Hard to see the beautiful coast sometimes because of the weather but it began to clear up a bit the farther north we got. Funny male attendant greeted us merrily and we found a good site. Price had jumped from $12 to $20 since our book was published two years ago (we got a $2 discount for being geezers). Another jump to $22 starts May 15. We were told that CA state parks were being extremely poorly funded--and that began a political chat in which we all agreed: things ain't so good in Ole No. One. At any rate, this park has a nice beach, some trails, a smallish lake which seems to be a great attraction for fishing. Our "Surfwood" loop seems to be more open than Pinewood (and with less puddles after the rains).

Monday, May 9

It rained overnight and more enormous downpours came again during the day. Good time to do laundry and get errands done. In the PM we drove down the coast to Mendocino (great little town!), turning off at Russian Gulch St. Pk. and other scenic spots. Later took a short trail from our park to a lookout where we could see seals and pups (only one of the latter so far) and on the rocks we spied a Wandering Tattler. At Russian River we saw a Black-shouldered Kite, and then back "home" again we saw a Red-neck Phalarope which was a life bird. Loved the looking and the researching! There is a small lake (Cleone) at the park which is popular for fishing, and it was in the marshes at one end where we saw the phalaropes.

Tuesday, May 10

A gorgeous day, which was supposed to be one of showers. We took bikes on an old road which parallels the coast for several miles here, took time to walk down on the beach for a while (and collect beach goodies, of course) and watch Oystercatchers running and out with the waves and seals and pups on rocks. Many of the headlands are covered in carpets of bright yellow flowers. Took the same road back toward town (Ft. Bragg) and found another life bird on the way--finally!--the Tri-colored Blackbird. Thought that one would evade us for life. A man I spoke with told met that Ft. Bragg is still occupied with 7000 military people (we're ignorant enough not to know if it's soldiers or Marines!) Had to laugh--in the evening a neighbor asked our permission to run his generator to see a movie (he had been running it for hours anyway but came over to talk to Charlie as he was packing up the solar panels.

Wednesday, May 11

Early start for the 138 miles up to Eureka, which took over 4 1/2 hours. Went around an unimaginable number of turns and up and down numerous hills. On the day there were unusually interesting satellite programs we spent much time under tunnels of trees, cutting off the audio. It was indeed a another beautiful drive--till we got to not-so-lovely Eureka. Plowed through this long town and its many lights, then turned onto the Samoa Peninsula and down five more miles past several pulp mills to the "campground". On this one we disagree with the rating given in the otherwise helpful CA camping book. This place is a parking lot, pure and simple. Pretty Ugly at that. It is also a boat launch site. Once in a while you can hear loons close to shore. We drove back through town after lunch to get to the Humboldt NWR where we walked along shallow waterways in a beautiful setting Don't think we've ever heard/seen so many Marsh Wrens!

Thursday, May 12

Trip up to Crescent City, another rather unattractive city. Another day of ups and downs and tree tunnels and views of gorgeous blooming rhododendrons along the way. Our destination was Jedediah Smith St. Park, written as a "10" in our camping book. When we got here we could hardly believe that this campground, among much undergrowth and smaller redwood trees, is all but closed. Loops are closed off, numerous good sites have large stones blocking entrance to them. Hardly a soul is here. We were hoping to find a site on the Smith River but none were open, so we're deep into the woods. It was difficult to locate a site large enough for us.

Took a drive to up the coast to Tolowa Dunes--what a weird area up there with a labyrinth of parallel roads in an area of rather barren wetlands--actually a lagoon which formed years ago after the area was logged off--and absolutely no buildings (perhaps someone's long-ago dream for a development??) While trying to find Lake Earl, about which we'd read, we came across a family whose car had plunged into a rather large "puddle" on the cratered road, so we spent some time getting one lady we could stuff into our loaded Jeep to a phone and doing some transport. After a drive down to Crescent Beach below Crescent City, we drove through nearby Stout Grove, a large area of immense redwoods, some nearly enveloping the rutty dirt road. Many are well over 300 feet tall. In no way could my camera begin to take a photo of any of them. In the evening we decided that we'd leave here in the AM, and that we'd probably forego going to Malheure in eastern OR this year because of all the additional traveling miles.

Friday, May 13

To Harris Beach St. Pk., Oregon-- near Brookings. Arrived early enough to secure one of the best sites which overlooks the ocean (#A10, $22 w/power and cable TV even). Spacious sites in a very well maintained park-what a refreshing change from California's very expensive and shabby state parks. The beach here is one of the best--rocks, sand, sea stacks, seaweed and tide pools--and we each explored it in our own directions. After shopping briefly at Freddy's (how I do miss Freddys!) we drove up the Chetco River--so blue like Lake Tahoe. There's another state park on the road up the river--Loeb--and it looks refurbished and quite attractive with ample sites among myrtlewood trees.

Sunday, May 15--Tuesday, May 17

In (mostly) rain we arrived at Bullard's Bay St. Pk. and got settled into site #A45 ($20). Came to Bandon thinking of all the sea birds we'd seen here before, but alas, our timing must be off. Even in the NWR wetlands there were 0 birds at low tide (why??) Puffins were #1 on our list but eventually learned from a visitor center attendant (who didn't care if he ever saw another Puffin) that three years ago a fox made its way at low tide to the island where the puffins came and that was the end of the puffins--who have not recouped or regrouped, apparently. At any rate, we drove nearly 30 miles south to Pt. Orford to fine Puffins and they weren't there, either. In the meantime, we visited a museum, an old building in dire need of paint but with WW2 stuff in it--uniforms, a dog tag-making machine, old ration books, Coast Guard history, etc.

Another place we stopped off was Cape Blanco, a place we were hoping to have stayed--they were doing electrical work on the campsites, so camping was closed. While there, we watched a huge crane lift up the back end of an enormous flatbed truck which was carrying a large transformer up the narrow, curved road up to the lighthouse. The right back wheels ran off the road and dug deep into the rain-soaked earth, visitors were stuck up there while the lifting was going on. We were impressed how seemingly easily the crane lifted and placed the truck's rear end!

The beach here at Bullard's is long and nice, and there is good driftwood to sift through, as well. Watched a couple surf fishermen pull in quite a haul one evening. The wind has been stiff during our stay here but the rains predicted came mostly at night and while we were on the road. We haven't been able to get/send our e mails here so stopped off at a cyber café in Bandon. (Although we have a Verizon cell plan that allows us to make phone calls from anywhere in the US for a basic price (expensive), we find we often cannot connect digitally when not in a Verizon area - which can be quite large - leaving us without e-mail for quite a while.) Since the weather was predicted to be terrible, we stayed one more day and ran up to Coos Bay to get a WiFi card, stopping to do errands, stop for lunch, and later at the cyber café, where we can't seem to get the WiFi card to work.

Wednesday, May 18 and Thursday, May 19

Left Bandon after a last stop at the cyber café to try some potential computer fixes (they didn't work either), and another look at the rocks to see if more birds had arrived after last night's heavy storm. Stopped again at the Coos Bay area to sort out computer stuff. Fortunately, Walmart has a good parking lot right next to Staples (finding a place to park this outfit isn't always easy), and Charlie, having decided we had a bummer card which he traded for a different brand, made changes to his WiFi system--and this did work when we later went into Florence to test it out. We're beginning to gurgle from all the coffee and lattes we're imbibing at cyber cafes as we work at the computer! What nice and friendly places these are, though--friendly folks-and the coffee aroma does smell so wonderful.

Our campsite is in the Siltcoos National Rec. Area with several close-by Forest Service campgrounds with very neat and attractive sites. Our area is called Lagoon and the site we chose is #22 ($10) w/Golden Geezer pass) which overlooks a marsh/lake, which is actually an oxbow of the Siltcoos River, where we've been seeing a couple muskrats, a pair of gorgeous Wood Ducks, and a mom and cub beaver and Kingfishers right from our front windows. The weather is being quite dramatic--heavy rains, then sun, much wind at times. We rode our bikes down the road toward the ocean and the skies opened up--leaving us both dripping and laughing. On one trip to Florence we had a sandwich down by the port and watched birds flying backwards, the wind being so strong. The surf is quite whipped up, of course.

Friday, May 20 to Sunday, May 22

Decided to remain in this campground for another two days, then head home. This is the first time we have planned so far ahead--one week! We especially love the marsh next to us and have been hoping for no one else to come camp nearby. With that, two cars rolled up and ten people emerged! A church school senior class outing--at least there's no beer (that we know of!) Unfortunately, the group had a pretty rainy stay while we were there.

One morning, since it was raining hard we drove south 20 miles to Winchester Bay and the Umpqua River and explored around that area. This port used to have a large commercial fishing fleet but with the demise of fishing, those are now gone. There is all sorts of camping around piers, plus a county park, as well as Umpqua Light State Park just up the road. Came back and did a 2 1/2 mile hike through a campground across the road and down to the beach. Along many beaches here in OR there are Posted signs--May 15 to Sept. 15--to keep folks out of the nesting areas of Snowy Plovers--they nest right on the sand above high tide line. Snowy Plovers are rapidly disappearing because of beach development and use, dogs, cats, and the like. We've looked for them in the dune areas but haven't seen any plovers yet, but we have seen several feral cats in the last couple of days.

It was difficult to leave this particular camping spot. We never knew who we'd be seeing out our front window--beavers, muskrats, Kingfishers, Herons, Wood Ducks. Not many places are so intriguing. Much money was put into Lagoon Campground: there were substantial trails built on hillsides, boardwalks, sturdy construction on all. The walk circumscribed the oxbow. The ATV gang was down the road and fortunately the loud campers roosted in Waxmyrtle Campground across the road.

Florence was having its Rhododendron Festival over this weekend and it was getting pretty well buffeted by the rain. There were numerous motorcyclists in town, motels were full. There were many chairs lined up along Rt. 101 on Sunday as we drove through--ready for the parade--which we're glad we were fortunate enough to miss!

Sunday, May 22

The ocean is whipped up today--surf very high. Many folks pulling over to watch from the roadside. After roosting at Cape Lookout State Park, (D-11/ $20) we drove the scenic road north a way to just south of Tillamook, stopping in Oceanside and Cape Meares. Still off-and-on rains. There were several paragliders in the air, some flying quite high. Everywhere we go we are noting how many hills have been clear-cut.

Monday, May 23

Did lots of driving--back to Cape Meares to see the lighthouse there and inspect the rocks for Puffins (finally did find those while using the scope at Oceanside). The motel where we'd stayed several years ago is being enlarged. In the afternoon we drove north to Nehalem and Manzanita, hoping to find a good restaurant on the way back--but didn't. Many of the little towns along the coast are a-building with many attractive vacation rentals. Tillamook is not that kind of town and certainly could stand some invigorating!

Tuesday, May 24

What a fine day we have had on this, our last day of this journey in OR. Went on an early AM beach walk--tide minus 2--and just walked and picked up beach junk and admired the incredible colors of the scores of starfish along the beach. They are pink and shades of purple and orange--both regular starfish and basket stars. Several gulls were running around with starfish in their bills. We then threw lunch in our pack and took the Cape Lookout Trail--2.5 miles out to the end. It was a clear and incredibly beautiful day for this hike, looking out over the sparkling azure water as we rounded the many bends. We saw several immature Bald Eagles frolicking in the air, Turkey Vultures soaring, Brown Pelicans down near the water, sea birds we weren't able to identify, sea lions. Other folks saw whales but we didn't. The forest is very mossy with ferns--semi-rain forest.

Wednesday, May 25

One last early AM walk on the beach--low tide again, but not as many starfish. It seems the stormy sea brought in more beach junk and now it's calm again. Drove through Tillamook, gassed up and started toward Portland on Rt. 6, along the Wilson River. Rt. 6 ran into Rt. 26 which took us into the Portland spaghetti bowl of traffic. Mt Hood and Mt. Saint Helens stood out perfectly in the clear weather. Notice that the cost of gas has plunged from the $2.40s down to the $2.20s--even $2.08 at Pilot. Temp is soaring into the 80s. A truck hauling half a trailer house was ahead of us and as we passed a hunk of roofing came flying at us. It scratched the front of the mh but not as badly as it might have. Along the way we did our best to take pics of this rig and catch its license plate. Tried to get 911 to call the state police but that didn't work. Finally we got to a rest stop and Charlie got hold of the state police who were nonchalant and rather disinterested about it all. We had fear that real damage might be done to someone's vehicle. The rig passed us while we were at the rest stop and I could see from above the ragged condition of the roof which had lost at least half of its shingles. We missed a good deal of the Columbia Gorge scenery as we focused on all this!

Arrived at our destination, Le Page Park (COE #2, $9), near The Dalles around 3 PM. It took the hosts 20 minutes to get us through the line and registered (OR. State Parks let you register yourself and select your own site; here, they are assigned.) Many sites are beginning to become reserved for the holiday ahead. We're sitting alongside the John Day River, motor homes lined up against the curb, other vehicles facing us from the side.

Thursday, May 26

Early start to get to Beauty Creek, ID Forest Service campground (#8, $7) a gorgeous area with fields and woods, not far from Coeur d'Alene. The trip through Spokane wasn't bad--guess the holiday crowd isn't on the road yet. Our Topo map/GPS program is beginning to occasionally fail--for no reason we know--and we now realize how dependent we are on it!

Friday, May 27

Off for our final leg to home--we arrived mid afternoon. And so ends our Spring 2005 journey!!

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