Oct 12-17 Jamestown CA

We camped at a county facility on Don Pedro Lake--Moccasin Point. Unfortunately the only site big enough for our trailer was not level so it took us quite a while to set up.

The next day we were off to Yosemite National Park. The road was extremely winding and fascinating to track in the distance.


Notice the roads cut into the hills.

We wandered around Yosemite Valley stopping at various pull-outs to enjoy the rock formations and views.





We then drove to Mariposa Grove, but missed the last tram tour to the giant sequoias. We spent the night at Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp CA and revisited the grove the next morning.

The trees are simply amazing, but I think Ray and I were both more awed by the redwoods. Perhaps it had something to do with being alone and able to touch the redwoods vs having lots of people around and fenced off trees. It is astonishing to think that these giant sequoias have stood for 2000 plus years

Ray in front of the sequoias

The Giant Grizzly from below

The Giant Grizzly from afar

We returned to our campsite via a different route, through miles and miles of dry countryside. It was a pleasure to arrive back at Don Pedro Lake.

Many of the trees looked dry and half dead

Don Pedro Lake in the distance and approaching greenery

The next few days we enjoyed hot weather so we spent time near the lake gazing at the houseboats on the opposite shore.

This was the most ornate houseboat. It was named "Unorthodocks".

We also did some animal watching. Ray caught sight of a big, dark “hump” at a dumpster, so we parked the truck about 150 feet away and waited. The animal returned--it was a black bear! We’ve gone a lot of miles through bear country and barely (pun intended) caught a glimpse of one. Here, where bears are not expected, we see one at close range. Unfortunately it moved quickly away and I wasn’t able to get a picture of it. I did however get a great picture of a squirrel (they don’t look like the squirrels back home).

Oct 8-12. Olema, CA

After a long drive we set up our trailer at Olema RV Resort.

The next day we explored Point Reyes National Seashore, driving to the lighthouse and descending 350 steps to see grey whales swimming just offshore. It’s a beautiful area with great wildlife viewing.

The lighthouse and steps

A whale tail

The beach where we ate a picnic lunch

Yet another beach area

Local elk

We decided to make Sunday, Oct 10 our San Francisco excursion day. In the morning we wandered around Pier 39, seeing the sights and watching the sea lions which make the pier their home.

In the afternoon we cruised to Alcatraz to tour the prison.

We were fantastically lucky to be at Alcatraz when the Blue Angels put on an air show for “fleet week”. We watched the show from the prison recreation yard.

We caught the 5 PM boat off the island, but it took us a long time to get out of San Francisco due to very nasty traffic. The sun was going down by the time we approached the Golden Gate Bridge and the winding route home, although stunning, was a challenge—especially in the dark.




The next afternoon was devoted to Tomales Bay at Millerton Point, Point Reyes Station (a very nice place to sit by the water and read a book).


Tomales Bay from the opposite shore

Tomorrow, we head inland!

Oct 4-8 Arcata CA.

We drove along the coast (more spectacular scenery) to arrive at Mad River Campground in Arcata.

The coast

Our campsite at Mad River

Our first excursion—an all day one—was to the Avenue of the Giants to see redwood trees. They were amazing—majestic and humbling.



The next day we stayed closer to home and visited the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. You can’t tell by looking at the following picture, but the whole sanctuary is a waste water treatment facility!


We also drove to Samoa and Ray wandered out on the Jetty (despite the signs). It was nowhere near high tide so he felt safe.



The jetty

On the following day we dared a tsunami hazard area to see the Pacific Ocean from the California coast.



That's the Pacific Ocean behind me.

Wow, we have made it to the California coast! You could say that when we leave Arcata, we will be starting the journey home...

RAY’S RANDOM RAMBLINGS III – OCTOBER 2010

For the number-crunchers in our group, after five months on the road we have added over 11,800 miles to the truck. With a combined towing and touring average of around 15 MPG, we have sucked up about 780 gallons of diesel fuel. If you estimate the cost of diesel at about $3.10 per gallon, you can do the rest of the math – with or without the assistance of some electronic device - to calculate the total fuel cost.

As many of you know, I believe you should always use an electronic device whenever it is within reach. I am reminded of the time when the moral dilemma on campus was whether or not a slide rule could be used during an exam. My thinking has always been “why waste time and brain power confirming what is already known”? If your goal is to explore and conquer the unknown, then you should move as quickly as possible through the known, using whatever mechanical device makes that possible.

The purist argument in the slide rule debate was that if the slide rule was broken or not available, humans might have to rely entirely on their brain. If we fast forward fifty years and apply the same logic to today’s way-more-advanced technology, than the question becomes whether or not I can use my laptop or iPhone. My response is of course the same, use technology.

If an electronic aid is not available to me, then I must be in some truly remote part of the world, where it really doesn’t matter if my hut has a perfect right angle. Or, it means we are all starting over, in which case we would need to reserve our brain power for far more urgent issues, such as how to get coconuts down from a very tall tree.

So, what does a moral dilemma have to do with recounting and recording our RV journey of a lifetime? Absolutely nothing; but, that is what is called “editorial privilege” – and precisely why this section of the blog is referred to as “Ray’s Ramblings”

I continue to have a wonderful time on our journey. I am certain that Debby is too because the other day we met a couple at a cocktail lounge and Deb asked them “Do you want to come to our house and play some Hearts?” Our HOUSE!!??? That is the way she and I both think of our portable home – with less than 300 square feet of living space.

We are having so much fun that the trip will very likely extend into a full year – or more. We have too much of this great country yet to see. I am constantly reminded of how much we have not explored when I look at our new vanity map of the US, which has a brightly colored sticker representing each state where we have camped. It is a great ceremony each time we add a new state – and filling the white spaces is a very competitive activity among fellow campers.

Of course the map is always affixed in a conspicuous area on the outside of the trailer, so that it is visible to everyone and they can compare our map with the achievements of their own map. It is very rare indeed to see a map with all the states filled in, but we have seen a few. The RVs in these cases are apt to be very old and decayed – as are the owners.

Our map has the east coast pretty well filled in, as well as the north and northwest perimeter of the US. Looking down the road though, what I am seeing is a map at the end of this journey that will have a huge empty space, with Kansas or Oklahoma as the epicenter. Our current plan calls for heading for Texas after visiting our son Jeffrey in Nevada. We have been telling poor Jeffrey that we are “on our way” to see him for the last five months. After at least three weeks with Jay, Debby is thinking we will want to visit her sister in Florida. In this scenario, we will have to traverse the Gulf States – which mean more state stickers on our map!

Following the route I just described, you can see how we will have the huge white space in the center of our US map – staring out at other campers, reminding them we don’t have the intestinal fortitude to see ALL of the US. The only way to fill in the big white space on our map is to start planning a second voyage in our RV, which I think is what Debby is actually doing when she spends so much time on the laptop. As most of you know, I wear the pants in the family, but when it comes to RVing, all I do is connect the RV and drive. I am happy to drive any course that Debby and Jill have plotted. Jill, of course, is the Garmin GPS – one of our many electronic devices that is always within reach.


But I am here to enjoy the present moment and not dwell on plans that are so far away, right? So, let me tell you a little about the present.

As we make our way down the west coast, the continuing theme for me is the incredible diversity of the landscape. Every imaginable landscape is there for us to enjoy - and believe me, photographs never do justice to what we actually see. Within a space of less than 100 miles, you can go from rolling hills spotted with cows and sheep, to a 300 foot deep gorge with steep cliffs, crashing waterfalls, giant Cyprus trees, and a 15 degree drop in temperature.

All of us have at one time or another experienced the awe that comes from something like watching a sunset over the ocean. Now try to imagine five consecutive months of awe. Your jaw begins to hang away from your face permanently.

A typical example of “awe” was the recent sight of a 300 foot sand dune off the coast of Oregon – supposedly one of the largest in the world. It was so huge that as you approached it from about a quarter mile away, your entire field of vision was filled with the dune. It must be exactly the same perspective that an ant has. Even more surprising was that you could see tiny specks that appeared to be ascending the dune. Those little dots were actually people – it was just like trying to find Waldo!

With all the diversity in our nomadic life, the one constant is the RV. We are so happy to be living in the comfort of our familiar RV. I always know where the TV remote is, how to use the microwave, and where the beer is stored. It is very much like “home”!

Coos Bay, OR Sept 30-Oct 4

We had a great drive skirting the ocean on Hwy 101 to Coos Bay.


With various picture stops and two construction stops, it took us 6 hours to go 160 miles! I never knew that driving along the coast would entail so many curves at high altitude. Ray did a fantastic job of driving safely.

This was one of our stops.

We camped at Midway RV Park in Coos Bay and ventured forth from there.


We drove north to see an elk herd, but they were so far away I couldn’t get a good picture. It was a different story when we drove south to Cape Arago to see the coastline. We saw spectacular rocky beaches




and beaches strewn with huge driftwood logs.

(Note woman standing at bottom center.)

When we stopped at one particular beach, we heard a chorus of barking. Just offshore on several rocky islands were hundreds of sea lions and seals!

On the way back we made two stops: Charleston, a fishing village, and Shore Acres State Park, the former home of Louis J. Simpson. At the first we watched fishermen clean their catches, at the second we viewed formal gardens and an orchid show.

Freshly cleaned salmon

Our final excursion was to two boardwalks. From one we could see lumber being loaded on trucks and a freighter from Hong Kong. From the other, the view was more traditional.

The Oregon coast has a lot to offer.

Tillamook OR Sept 26-30

We had a campsite at Cape Lookout State Park that was a two minute walk from the beach. There were so many waves constantly crashing that at first we didn't recognize the sound. Ray thought it was a diesel engine running and I thought it was an airplane! The fog was different too. It rolled in at any time and simply stayed for half the day or more. (We considered ourselves lucky when it decided to roll out every once in a while.)

Our campsite

The beach and fog

On not so good weather days, we did some touring: the Tillamook Cheese Factory, Pacific Seafood (where we watched oysters get shucked) and the Air Museum, a huge wooden building that housed dirigibles during World War II.







When the weather cooperated, we enjoyed the beaches and the spectacular coastline. The Pacific City beach just south of us offered a 300 ft sand dune and some interesting rock formations. To paraphrase Dorothy: Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Virginia any more.

Our beach as seen from the day use area of the park

The sand dune at Pacific Beach


Me in front of one of the smaller formations


Ray pondering on the differences between east and west