OTTER NONSENSE

Stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to have a look at the waterfalls there. Saw a stellar jay and what we think was a Western Blind Snake but neither the snake nor us got a really good look at each other. One for Blair to identify from the picture. Fabulous view of the falls dropping 50 feet off of a rock face to a sand beach in a little bay while breakers tossed into foam on the rocks at the narrow bay entrance. The ocean in this location was extremely blue. Stopped at a Sea Lion Nursery with thousands of sea lions.  What a noise!  Males were fighting for their rights.  Scary coast ride again down to Morro Bay. The huge rock protecting the harbour at Morro Bay is one of a series of volcanic plugs. There are several up and down the coastal fault line.

Told about otters that swim in the bay and went out find them. Only saw one, but he gave us a couple of good shots. 315 days of sun in Morro Bay and we get clouds and a few minutes of drizzle. Sun came out in the afternoon and I finally bought a shirt for Sara. Marty has loved my shopping so far. This is the first thing that I have bought since he picked me up BC. Left town with fresh fish and smoked salmon bought at dock side next to the fishing fleet, after playing a game of tennis at a neighbourhood park.

Headed inland on secondary roads and crossed the San Joaquin Valley and the California Aqueduct. Land very flat, no crops in the fields, cotton just picked. Saw a cloud of what appeared to be smoke ahead of us. When we got there, we were engulfed in a cloud of chemical fertilizer being spread by a monstrous tractor and being carried by the wind onto the road. I tasted and smelled it for hours and had to stop and wash after we got away from the farm fields. We passed a convoy of these huge machines. They were two lanes wide on a two lane road and they had to pull over to let any traffic by.

Plugged a county park into the GPS but it was closed when we got there. A gate beside the county park looked interesting and we followed a truck through. Up the hill on the other side, found a Corp of Engineers Recreation Area at Success Lake. Pulled into the dead end of the road about two miles in and parked for the night. What a find!!!! Nobody here but us and a beautiful view of the lake. Next morning a dozen trucks came in with guns and dogs--opening of pheasant season. Ranger came in and told us where the camping area was on the other side of the lake. This is November 14, Happy Birthday, Mom.

BIG SUR COFFEE BREAK

Decided to take Hwy. 68 around Pebble Beach to Carmel—mistake—they charged $9.25 to drive the road probably to keep the low life out. Saw how the other half lives, beautiful houses hanging on cliffs overlooking the bay and mixed through many golf courses including the famous Pebble Beach Course. I thought of Gina all the way around, she would have loved this. It was 17 miles around the peninsula. Picked up a pebble from Pebble Beach. That was about the only thing we could afford in this neighbourhood.

Stopped in Big Sur Campground for the night. There is not much there, just a few lodges and artist’s shops and a number of restaurants. Very back woods rustic. Apparently they rent rooms in one of the lodges to LA movie types for $4,000 per night. It is on the Big Sur River and there is no view of the ocean from the “town” site.

Marty had a chat with the 81 year old Camp owner who was also in the construction and saw mill business. He looked like a taller version of Jed Clampet complete with old clothes and suspenders. He spends his summers on an island near Gabriola Island in BC where he keeps his 60 foot sail boat docked at his home there. You wouldn’t guess to see him. He was interesting in that his politics was just to the right of Charlton Heston and the NRA and believed that no problem existed that couldn’t be solved with a gun.

He said that he once was shot in the left side of his chest with his own 45. Apparently, his Mother-in-Law was of the same mind as him when it came to fixing problems. She had grabbed his pistol and was going out to fix the zipper on her husband’s pants when she found out it wasn’t staying up the way it should. He stepped in front of her and said she wasn’t doing any such thing with his pistol. She must have been a woman of few words because she quickly explained that being 6’6” and full of work hardened muscles didn’t do you much good in a gun fight, by pulling the trigger.

He had refused treatment for colon cancer some twenty years ago and had used a cleanse expounded by a Doctor Gersen. It required a strict organic diet and saturation with vegetable puree plus multiple coffee enemas each day. It worked! He said that he still starts each day with a back end coffee and claimed his only discomfort is completing this deed in the somewhat cramped head on his yacht while under way. (Sorry for the potty humour.)

He claimed that this procedure was so regenerative to his body cells that his grey hair started growing in dark and that the gun shot scar on his chest started to fade so that you could hardly see it.

Now the man might have been capable of embellishing the truth to some degree, but he couldn’t be totally full of shit when you consider his morning coffee habit. In any case, he sure made for entertaining listening.

CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME

Got to Eureka and stopped at a mall. Still drizzling but we were too tired to drive any further. We decided to go to a show and saw 9/10th of “Capitalism-A Love Story” by Michael Moore. The film blew up and caught the projector on fire just before the end. We thought we saw a guy who looked a lot like George Bush running from the projection booth. Is there a moral here?!!! Anyway, a very well done documentary and I would recommend it to anyone. It sure made me want to take my money out of the stock market.

Next day we drove through winding mountain roads and red wood forests, numerous switchbacks and then back to the coast after one final climb. What a sight!!!! High, high waves and cliffs. The view was great because there are no shoulders on the road and no guard rails. I was looking almost straight down. Marty’s view from the driver’s side was often obstructed by my leg as I jumped onto the dashboard brake at tight switchback turns. Had lunch at an overlook and walked to the coast. Beautiful stretch of road from Eureka to Mendocino. Mendocino is a beautiful little tourist town on a bluff overlooking the water. Lots of trendy shops

From Mendocino, coast got very rugged and scary. I started using the two foot brake method. While we stopped for breakfast at an overlook, we thought we saw elk in the distance. Upon reviewing the pics, they were deer, but one buck with large antlers was the cause of the confusion.

From Bodega Bay, we left the coast and travelled inland on a better highway. We were advised the coastal route would take four hours, was very twisty and winding and there were no coastal views in any event. Camping near San Francisco is $105 per night on weekends and $69 for a week night and would have to commute 40 minutes to town. Had to come up with a better plan.

Drove into town across the Golden Gate Bridge and thought we were really lucky to negotiate a $25 fee for two nights in a parking lot. Ha! Ha! Joke’s on us. We paid our money to the attendants who quickly absconded with the funds down an alley when a police car rolled into the lot, which led us to believe that our deal wasn’t going to stand the test of time. Behind the attendants was the pay box, no attendant required. Crossed the street to a legitimate parking lot attendant and renegotiated for $20 for the night and still thought we had a good deal. Next night, same lot, new attendant and managed to pay $14 provided we left before 7 a.m.

Walked to Pier 39 and had my clam chowder overlooking the smelly sea lions and had a fantastic 2.5 hour tour of the town on the trolley. Went to Fisherman’s Wharf after and decided to go back to Pier 39 for dinner. Marty had to have meat—not available at Fisherman’s Wharf. I had scallops and fries, not exactly diet food but tasty.

Next day we shopped till we dropped in Chinatown and had lunch in Little Italy. After lunch we rode the cable cars, every route, and admired the turn of the century architecture. First cable car, we had a great view from the front side seats; second one, we had a half hour line up and had to stand up in the interior of the car. On the third one, the best, we had to stand up on the outside running board clinging for our lives as we rode over the hills and had to lean in to miss folks doing the same thing on trolleys coming the other way. Clang, Clang, Clang went the trolley!!!

Walked down the steepest and windingest street in town, wouldn’t want to live here. Tourists are constantly driving on it. Marty found his shoes uncomfortable on the steep grades and we had to go back to the RV to get another pair with better support for the hills. Really a nice couple of days in San Francisco. I would come again.

I THINK I LOST IT!

I think that I have not been able to find the first part of this blog, I don't know if it is published or not but I am going ahead with the rest of this issue.

Thought the Oregon Coast was pretty spectacular, however it was just a tease for the more spectacular California Coast to come. When we stopped for gas, the attendant advised that winds were to be up to 60 mph and driving rain, so we quickly drove through Oregon and into the California Redwoods and into Crescent City where the harbour seals are actually in the harbour. It was starting to drizzle when I took the pic of the seals. While rushing to get back to RV and looking at the seal pictures, I stumbled over a curb. The fall hurt my right thumb again and the camera took a beating on the pavement. Yes, this was my new camera after drowning the last one. Batteries went flying over the parking lot together with chips of bakelite from around the lens. Well, the camera now looks used, however it survived. I think this means I am getting better at photography or at least moving in the right direction. Still stumbling along the way though.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Left Sara’s about 10:30 a.m. mistakenly trusted the GPS to lead us out of town. Of course, it led us to a dead end road. We could see our highway below us, but we had no access. Off we went without the GPS along the bus route and found the right road. We ascended from the low lying fog up into the clear mountain air. Had beautiful driving weather. The view coming into Osoyoos from the mountain top was astounding and the ride down the hill with at least five switchbacks was breath taking. Little did we know at the time it would be the first of many.

Spent the night in Osoyoos, a pretty resort town on a lake extending several miles into the US. Had no problems crossing the border at all the next morning. Followed the Okanagan River through Washington and I learned that Olympia is the capital, not Seattle as I had thought. The Okanogan joins the Columbia River at Chelan and we started following the Columbia right to the coast to the Town of Aberdeen where we spent the night. The Columbia River is very wide with dams/power stations every few miles. At Aberdeen we crossed over on a bridge high enough for shipping passage underneath and entered Oregon. Had our first view of the ocean. It was a very grey day but we could still see Mt. St. Helen’s in the distance.

Bridge across Columbia River

Mt St. Helen's from the mouth of Columbia River