February 2019
We are away on a new adventure which will have us
circumnavigating the US and lower Canada over the next 3 months or so. We left home February 5th, between
snow storms in -10 C degree weather with our new to us truck and Geo Pro
trailer. We were very glad to have the
truck right off the bat. Of the three
border crossings options, we had missed the Kootenay Lake ferry for the route
to Creston, didn’t want to brave the steep decline into Madeleine falls on icy
roads through Salmo, so we went over to Trail and crossed into the USA at
Waneta. We hadn’t been on that road
before so didn’t know about the steep icy hill we had to get up… so thankful we
didn’t have to do it with the Flex we used to have, …our trip would have been
short. The truck made
quick work of the hill and on we went. We got as far as Pasco Washington this night
and stayed at a KOA there so we could plug in and use our electric heater and
save on the propane the furnace would use all night. It was -10 C overnight. We were supposed to have been left an
envelope with bathroom codes etc., as we arrived after they closed…hmmmph, no
envelope!! I wandered around the
campsite until I found a warm body that may know the codes. Unfortunately, for me, the one I found was of
the male persuasion and as it turned out, the women’s bathroom has a different
code. So, still wandering in the cold
and snow I finally found a lady who had just driven in, and she shared the
code. What a relief.
The reason this was important is because our trailer
is still winterized until we get far enough south to flush out the antifreeze
and start using the water system without fear of it freezing and pipes
breaking. So, you (well all the women
reading this) can see the importance of bathroom codes!!
We had a snug night, Al had made supper while I was
out wandering about in search of a code, which helped warm up the trailer
too. The major bonus in our trailer is
the electric mattress, oh how I love that.
It does, however, make it rather difficult to get out of that warm
snugness in the morning.
The next day we headed west to the coast through
Portland which generally avoided high passes and snow. There were foggy patches and sunny stretches
which was a great start to this trip.
We passed a place called Umatilla in Oregon, which has
quite the history. I never knew about it
but there are acres and acres of rows of dirt covered bunkers all perfectly
aligned. This area used to house 12% of
the USA’s chemical weapons during the Cold War, but before that it housed
anything from ammo to blankets needed during WWII. The UN passed a resolution in 1993 that
banned all storage and use of chemical weapons, so the US spent many years
destroying them using high temperature incineration technology. That project was completed in October 2011 so
the bunkers are now all empty. It’s a
freaky feeling knowing now what used to be there.
We found Highway 1 to be very curvy and lots of ups and downs but
with spectacular views everywhere, my poor camera is being overloaded already. There are signs that say it’s a bicycle route
– OMG there is no way I would ride this road on a bike. Motorbike, sure… There is not really a
shoulder in many places – the white line on the side is the shoulder,… all 4
inches of it. In other places you could have reached out the window and touched
the rock of the mountain, it was so close.
We walked among the Redwoods, including seeing the 3rd
largest tree in ‘the avenue of the Giants’ – they are so massive. I can’t imagine the sound one of those would
make when it fell. Al found it
interesting that the power poles are very small in diameter with so many huge
trees about, they indeed look like toothpicks in comparison. 
At a place called Leggett we turned back towards the
ocean from to highway 1 in now in California. This stretch of road was a little
frightening. It was like driving on a logging
road way up in the mountains of BC, the only good part was that it was
paved. There were 10 mph corners to
maybe 25 mph corners as we climbed back up over the mountains to the coast. The
scarier part is that the speed limit on this road was 55 mph…I don’t even think
a sports car could have made it up to that speed.
We finally worked our way to San Francisco where we
played tourist for a day. We dropped the
trailer in a campground in Vallejo as the plan was to take the ferry over to
Fishermans wharf. Hmmph, best laid
plans. We were there on the weekend, and the ferry service has way fewer
sailings than on the week days. So, we
drove to downtown San Fran via the Golden Gate bridge. Parked right downtown and wandered around the piers. Definitely, a tourist trap
now, though a nice one. There was a
cruise ship in dock, two more joined her by the end of the day. 
I took riding on the trolley off my bucket list. What an amazing feat of engineering they are,
that trains on tracks can climb up and down such steep inclines. I know they are connected to a cable but it’s
still pretty darn amazing. Views from some of the streets were stunning to say
the least. We didn’t stay long in Unions
Square at the top of the trolley line as there was an hour long wait to get on
the trolley and back to Fishermans Wharf.
Once back down to sea level we had chowder at Scomas, a seafood
restaurant, good food, though the building the restaurant inhabits isn’t quite
in sync with the classiness they exude.
Well dressed staff, good food, good service but a room that has old wood
panelling from the 70s, old pictures of Joe Namath adorning the walls, and unfilled
nail holes too. 
Leaving San Fran was interesting in that we wanted to
go back to the coast. Getting there was
an exercise as it was Monday morning, not quite through rush hour and we had
the Bay bridge to go over with the toll booth to tie things up too. Probably 20 lanes of traffic intersecting
just before the bridge that had to merge down to about 15 to get through the
toll booth then down to 4 to cross the bridge.
My goodness, some very inconsiderate drivers. In some states, lane splitting by motor bikes
is allowed, California for one – that adds another level of stupidness… just
saying. We survived with no incidents
and got back on 1 and the coast highway.
Travelled through the Big Sur area, spectacular is a
much over used word in my blog, but it is.
We stayed in Pfieffer Big Sur State Park for a night, off the ocean
among the big trees. There is a skinny
road down to the ocean to an area that is great for sunsets. This night the
sunset did not disappoint. The rocks in the bay had holes carved out by the
waves that the sun hit just a bit before sunset spraying water and sunlight in
towards the beach. The waves were
impressive as well, spilling far up the beach, so much so that we couldn’t tell
if the tide was going or coming in. It
is obviously a popular place as there were lots of people with their cameras
all set up when we got there. 
There was a small creek that we had to drive through
to get down and back from the beach, and if one took their time, all vehicles
should be able to get through it.
Someone didn’t take her time and she was sitting on the side of the road
after the creek, hood up busy working on her cell phone. I’m assuming help was on the way for her as
she didn’t look anxious or look at any of us passing for help.
Further down the coast we passed road construction
sites with crews busy fixing up past mud slide damage. One mud slide schute had a shed to drive
through that looked very gothic and appeared to be built so that it was going
to stay there for some time. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see catapults
along the way.
Al was watching for the famous condors along this
section, though we didn’t see anything other than vultures.
We pulled off at a lookout near San Simeon
where the Elephant Seals were beached.
Only a few seals used to come to this area, but now the herds have grown
in size with the area now being protected as a rookery for them. 
They are huge – the males can weigh more than
our trailer does. There were a few
scuffles amongst the boys, but generally everyone was happily basking on the
beach, though it wasn’t that warm out.
The babies definitely had not been born many days ago. They are noisy, and Al says smell like rotten
fish.
There is supposed to be some bad weather coming our
way in the next day or so, so we have chosen to camp in land tonight, and not
on the beach where we hoped we’d be able to park and have the ocean at our
doorstep. The winds were originally
forecast to be 70 mph gusts, which would topple our trailer for sure.
We stopped in Santo Paula at a KOA next. It was surrounded by orange groves and
peacocks, they had free reign of the area, but I didn't to get the oranges. There was a male that was strutting his
stuff, quite pretty. We had our first
campfire since leaving home, and I shed one coat layer and the socks came off. Its warming up.  |
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Today we are starting the eastward leg of our trip to Florida. We arrived in Nemet California
where we stopped to visit friends of ours from Grand Forks, BC that live there
seasonally. Lovely couple who made us
feel very welcome. We got there in time
to set our trailer up for the night, have a wander with them around their
neighbourhood, pick a few grapefruits and back to their place before the rain
started. Rain it did.
From midnight to 3 the next afternoon, 4
inches of rain came down, setting off flood warnings, and a few wind warnings
as well. I have never experienced rain of
that magnitude in such a short time span.
We had a river running down the street where our trailer was that at
times was 4 to 5 feet wide and around 5 inches deep. We didn’t get the floods like
other places around us but still we decided to stay an extra night because
of the aftermath. Driving would have been a bit sketchy for sure. Our friends took us on a bit of a tour the
next day to see that the area was green from all the rain they’ve been getting,
its usually brown and hot at this time of year.
You could see rivers of mud and sludge around the area from the view
point they took us too.
Next day we bid our friends farewell and headed
eastward, only encountering two closed roads before we could even get on the
Interstate. Once there, it was clear
sailing on to Quartzite then Yuma. Lots
of desert landscape, a few ups and downs but getting some more sunshine. Another couple we know from home live in
Yuma, so we stayed the night in their RV resort they stay in seasonally. Had a great visit with them as well. These, over 55 communities, are quite
something. Lots of activities to keep
one busy on site, or lots of areas to go explore not too far away and no
shoveling of snow…
More to come......
