Week 2

Another week of traveling ... another weeks of visual overload!

We continued our way down the coast . From Florence, Oregon, we headed for Eureka, California.

(You gotta love the name!) We did a lot of beach wondering along the way.

We had planned to go watch the sunset from a beach in Eureka. As we ate supper, we noticed a wall of fog rolling in over the hills just outside of the city. By the time we headed for the beach the city was completely socked in!

Wednesday we hurtled down the highway to Petaluma (just north of San Francisco). It was not such a good day of driving. The road was particularly bumpy and curvy and I actually suffered motion sickness ... something that hasn't bothered me for years. I was happy to see the RV firmly parked and NOT moving. That evening we wandered out purchase a new camera. Yes ... I just got a new one about 6 months ago. But, Harry did a classic move and in the process rendered our camera useless! He was stepping backward to get a picture framed "just right". Behind him was a large driftwood log. He did a big bum plant over the back of the log. The camera did a sand dive and sand wedged its way into the lens. We got some canned air and tried to blow the very fine sand out of the lens mechanism. It didn't do the trick. :-{ The new camera works very well and Harry is not allowed to hold it when we're on the beach!! (kidding)

We boarded the dogs for Thursday and Thursday night so we could really tour San Francisco. It was FANTASTIC! We went a little nuts photographing the Golden Gate Bridge. We toured the area around the bridge -- lots of parks and places to wander around.

Then it was off to Fisherman's Wharf for a stroll and some lunch. We feasted on seafood at Fisherman's Grotto. The main floor of the restaurant is a pretty typical restaurant. But we went upstairs where we were seated by a window overlooking the harbor with the Golden Gate in the distance. It was a true old-style classy dining experience; right down to the gentlemen waiters in their jackets and bow-ties. The dining room looked like a 60's supper club! What an enjoyable lunch.

What would a tour of San Francisco be without a cable car ride? We rode the cable car from one end to the other and back. And both ways, we rode on the running boards on the outside of the car! It was so much fun and we got a really great "hills of San Francisco" ride.

Next a cruise through the Haight-Ashbury district -- the birthplace of the peace movement. We finished off San Francisco with a drive up to Twin Peaks for a panoramic view of the city. What a great city to visit!

The last two days we've been in the Monterey area (this includes the cities of Seaside, Monterey, Pacific Groves, Pebble Beach and Carmel). Tres expensive! The weather was somewhat blustery, but we had a nice day touring around anyway. I visited an amazing yarn shop while Harry walked the dogs. Later in the day, I walked the dogs while Harry explored Pebble Beach golf course. At $500 for a round of golf, he didn't golf! He just looked at the 18th and drooled.

A significant heat wave (100F) is expected for the next week all over southern California. We're re-evaluating our planned route since the RV has great AC while driving ... not so great when parked. Another day of driving along the coast will keep us in cooler temperatures.

Still having a wonderful time! -K

Week 1

Ah ... the places we've been and the things we've seen!

We began our 5-week road trip a week ago in Fairmont, BC. We spent 2 days there, getting ourselves organized and getting Louise used the idea of living in an RV. Because the Mariners were not playing any home games in the upcoming week, we opted to skip Seattle and head straight south instead.

Tuesday we hit the road with Couer D'Alene, Idaho as our destination. We drove along the Columbia River valley and took in some beautiful scenery. It was an easy driving day. Thursday we continued along the Columbia River valley headed for Yakima. Again, spectacular vistas and lots of stops to just look out over the river valley.

We had planned to stay in Yakima but "there was no room at the inn"! Well ... there was one spot in a rather seedy RV park. Had we stayed there I would have expected to be wakened by a domestic disturbance and probably would have slept with one eye open! We continued down the road to Toppenish and camped at the RV park on the Yakama Indian Reservation. It was VERY nice.

Friday we headed straight for Portland via the Columbia River valley and gorge. There are a few dams along the way and since we're kind of fascinated by dams we stopped at Dalles to see the largest concrete, man-made dam. They had a camera on the fish ladders and we could watch the fish swimming by! Way cool! We stopped off by the Cascade locks for a picnic and a chance to watch some wind-surfers. In the parking lot was a car from Blackhawk County in Iowa!

Next we went down the road to visit the Bonneyville dam. Harry decided to take the guided tour of the power plant at the dam which consisted of a 20 minute lecture standing in the visitor center followed by a 5 minute walk to the plant where they were allowed to step inside, take a look , then step back outside. I was glad that I decided to watch the fish in the fish ladders and walk through the beautiful gardens around the visitor centre.

A local recommended we take the "historic scenic route" from Bonneyville. Yeah ... that was a mistake! It truly was scenic and had about 4 waterfalls to see, but the road was extremely narrow with an immediate 100 foot+ drop on the right. Not ideal for an RV with a tow vehicle. We exited the scenic route at the first possible chance. My nerves were calmed about 10 minutes later!! Even Harry thought it was a bit extreme. Hey ... that could be a new sport: Extreme RV-ing!! Ha ha ha!!

We stayed in Portland for 2 days and had a great time. There were all sorts of street fairs and festivals to wander around ... which we did. A historic home to tour ... which we did. An amazing grotto to hike to and view ... which we did! It was hot so we put the dogs in "daycare" for Saturday so we could tour around at our leisure and not worry about them melting back in the RV.

Sunday we struck out for the coast. It's hard to make any serious mileage on the coast highway ... there's just too many places to pull over and be amazed at the sights. Yesterday, we toured a working lighthouse, including climbing the stairs all the way to the top. Today we stopped in Florence, OR where Harry golfed and I shopped and puttered around. We'll probably cross over into California tomorrow (Wednesday).