2009

Denver to CA, OR, WA

Wednesday, August 6, 2009  We're off on another adventure!!!  Colorado to the West Coast

We are leaving in the morning for another road trip.  It's been a while since our last one.  Not a lot of planning has gone into this one (or any other, for that matter). My nephew, Jeremy is getting married in Seattle in August and I would like to attend.  I haven't seen my brother's family in many years and a visit is long over-due.  Also, my good friends, Meredith and Rodney, announced that they are vacationing in northern California, in a rented bungalow on the coast, and have asked me to join them.  Hmm.... do you see my plan coming together?

I'm traveling once again with my dog, Spirit, and my kitties, Ninja, Zoot Suit, and Fancy Pants.  Tonight they are skittish, as I brought their carriers into the house 3 nights ago to make them less skittish.  They are cats and will  be skittish whenever they want.  Fancy Pants, my feral kitty, had a momentary laps when she came out of hiding to have her dinner, not even noticing her little pink carrier next to her food bowl.  Ahahhhh!  Got her!  Out to the RV tonight.  Why wait until morning,?  It's really difficult to herd 3 cats who don't want to go anywhere.  I wanted to give her some company for the night, so I grabbed Zootie, who went fairly willingly.  but not Ninja.  She DID NOT WANT TO GO, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!!!  I caught her, sort of, and she scratched  the hell out of my arms.  Since this was not a planned move, I was not prepared and was wearing a short-sleeved shirt.  Oh, well.  I cornered her later in a closet and she came peacefully.   <.p>

The kitties are all captive.  Spirit wants to know when it's his turn.  He's dying to get going.  To wherever it is we're going.  He really doesn't care much where, as long as we're going.  I tell him he has to wait.

Thursday, August 7, 2009 Colorado's Western Slope and Eastern Utah

The cats have adjusted pretty well by the time we leave the house.  That's Zootie kickin' back on the left, Ninja refusing to look at me, and Fancy Pants, apparently spying a fly.

We drove I70 west through beautiful Glen wood Canyon.  It's absolutely gorgeous, with the river at the bottom, the bicycle path that stretches for miles alongside it, and then 2 elevated freeway sections.  Magnificent views from the road.  I don't know why I've never stopped to photograph it.  It's just so peaceful driving through it.  

We continued west through Grand Junction and stopped for a break in Fruita, just short of the state line.  There was a wonderful espresso - ice cream - internet cafe next to the rest stop.  Spirit and I went for a walk and then went to investigate this eclectic cafe.  It was pretty warm out , so I had a refreshing espresso coffee ice cream concoction.  The owner took to Spirit and gave him a small bowl of vanilla ice cream.  A happy dog!

After Fruita, we went into Utah. It was very desolate for a hundred miles, and then----the beautiful outcropping of rocks called the Capitol Reef.   This was followed by another magnificent pile of rocks called the San Rafael Swell, which is 70 miles long.  And then there was Eagle Canyon.  Also very scenic.  The rock formations were so beautiful along this stretch of the highway that I stopped at every view point. 

Spirit had a good time exploring. He wanted me to follow him to here  via here   but I declined.I left my 4-wheel drive at home.

We arrived in Salina, Utah at 7:30 and my GPS quickly located the Butch Cassidy RV park for us.  There are 2 bunnies, one black and the other white, who are teasing the hell out of Spirit.

We drove 461 miles today.

Friday, August 8, 2009 Crossing Utah

Salina is a very small town and we are parked next to the Blackhawk Arena. I took Spirit for a couple of walks while here and we went to investigate it. They have enough stables to accommodate 240 horses and there is a sign that states there will be barrel racing competitions tonight. Too bad we can't stay.  This morning we also found that the RV park has more than two bunnies as well as other critters.  There are chickens, wild turkeys, and peacocks.  Spirit is loving this!

I noticed this morning that my cell phone had worn itself out yesterday searching for service.  The highway we are on , Highway 50, is nicknamed the loneliest highway in the states, and for good reason. My atlas marks the highway with green dashes, indicated that it is a scenic route.   I think the mapmaker (cartographer?) must have had a wicked sense of humor.  It is desolate here.  It's even worse than the armpit of Arizona, the town of Yuma.  

We continued on highway 50 into Nevada, where the scenery  improved considerably.  Lots of beautiful high desert mountains and valleys with sagebrush and blooming rabbit bush. We had lunch at a lovely spot next to a stream.  We stopped to camp at the Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area.  The petroglyphs weren't much to look at, but there was a very nice BLM campground.  It's located just slighly higher than the valley floor so it has nice views.  We're surrounded by pinõn pines, sagebrush, and rabbit bush, and there's a nice breeze. I also found a really cool pile of rocks; I think it's the best face-in-a-rock I've ever seen. Very nice.   

We had the place to ourselves, so I dragged out my steel drum for my own entertainment.  What, you thought I would leave it home?  I hadn't played in 3 days and was already forgetting some tunes.  I played to the wind and it sang along.  Maybe it was howling. 

Current mileage is  809.6

Saturday, august 08,2009  Utah through Reno and on to Sacramento, CA

 

It was a beautiful night and I left the blinds open so we could enjoy the moonlight. The kitties all had to come at various times of the night to walk on me and let me know that they needed some affection. I slept in and when Spirit and I went for our morning walk, I noticed that there were some other campers in the park. Hope I didn't disturb them with my wild drumming. How embarrassing. At least I wasn't dancing naked around a campfire.

No cell service for miles. I finally caught Meredith and Rodney on their cell and they were already in San Francisco, getting ready to buy some fresh seafood for dinner. I'm in the middle of Nevada somewhere. I'd rather be where they are, but not going to happen today.

We drove through more mountains and more desert today, some pretty, some not. The drive around Tahoe, Reno, and Truckee was beautiful! The forest looked better than any I had remembered in other places in the Sierra mountains. The drive from Tahoe down to Sacramento was really rough due to construction. Narrow lanes. Lots of potholes. Things were rattling, especially the stove top. My blinds fell out of a window, and Ninja flew out of her loft, looking like the end of the world was upon us. She climbed into the seat with Spirit, and then came over and got in my lap, looking out the window. Ninja normally does not sit on laps. She was horrified. The other kitties were hidden beneath pillows and blankets. I made Ninja scoot and she went and laid down with her arch rival, Zootie. This is good; I think they're finally bonding.

We've stopped in Sacramento at a KOA. They always have clean showers and also free internet. Ahhhh.  

Current mileage is  1,145.3.

Sunday, august 09, 2009   Sacramento to Gualala

The KOA served an all you can eat pancake breakfast this morning.  Nice ones filled with blueberries.

This morning I asked my GPS to plan our route to the coastal town of Gualala, CA.  It politely asked me if I preferred the shortest or fastest route.  I replied that i would like the fastest route.  It then calculated the best route, showed it to me on a map, and stated, confidently, that it would take 3 hours 19 minutes.  I verified the starting point, the destination, and that we would be on a couple of freeways, and said "take me there".  And off we went.  All began well, as we headed down I80 towards San Francisco, and then another freeway north to San Rafael.  And then the GPS became a bit more adventurous.  We went off-freeway, taking a lot of little side streets, and then heading down some narrow, bumpy, country roads past farms and wineries,  and then on to some more narrow, winding, bumpy, rolling roads in the middle of the redwoods.  It was very pretty, but I was traveling at only 20 mph and wondering if this really was the fastest route.  Then, it had me taking lots of little turns, and I knew that I had to memorize these, as my friend would inevitably lost contact with its mother ship in the sky.  After all, the redwoods are very, very tall, and the forest was very dense.  It began crying that it had lost its satellite and I had to seek patches of sunlight so that it could reconnect with the satellite.  Then I would memorize the next instructions and we would begin driving again.  It would shortly lose contact again, and i would continue until I needed instructions and we would head to the light. This process was repeated several times, and eventually we arrived at the Russian River and just followed it to the ocean.  From there, it was straight up the Pacific Coast Highway.  Highway 1 has to be one of the most scenic coastal routes in the world.  It's really wonderful.  I haven't been on this stretch of it in many years, and managed to take in a few photo ops. 

 We finally arrived at Gualala about 4 1/2 hours after leaving Sacramento.  It felt like we had been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

I had told Spirit that he was going to have a lot of fun today, but I hadn't told him that we would be meeting friends Meredith and Rodney, and Spirit's best friend in the world, Maya.  We parked in the driveway, and as I was grabbing things to take with me, Meredith came outside and said something.  Spirit's head spun 360 degrees - he knew that voice!!  He couldn't believe it.  And then he saw her.  He quickly got out of the RV and headed to the yard, where he and Maya saw each other.  They ran to each other as though they were in the beach scene in the movie "10".  They hugged and kissed and danced, and then they hugged some more.  Imagine seeing your best friend waiting for you at the end of 4 days of driving.  What a surprise! 

Rodney and Meredith had stopped in San Francisco for some fresh seafood, and we dined that night on grilled halibut with fresh veggies and stuffed jalapenos.  And wine.  Wonderful meal.  We topped that off with a dip in the hot tub, which is on the deck, which is perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Did I mention that it was at sunset? You can hear sea lions in the distance.  Awesome.  It doesn't get much better than this. 

Current mileage: 1,320

Monday, August 10, 2009 Gualala Beach

Today we went to the beach. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, but not too warm.  There is a very pretty pet-friendly beach just a half mile from here. We spent the afternoon soaking up the rays and playing with the dogs.  Spirit was born to surf! He absolutely loves the ocean. We were throwing driftwood in the water and he would swim to retrieve it, catching a wave for the ride back.  Sometimes he got buried by a wave, but he always came up, looking for the stick. Maya isn't a swimmer, but she was game.  She'd run into the water trying to beat Spirit to the stick.  Then, she discovered it was a whole lot easier to just wait on the beach for him to bring it back and she would steal it from her.If he could get it past her, he would take it to Rodney, who was not impressed.  Especially not impressed when Spirit would shake off ocean water all over him. There is some really ugly looking kelp on this beach. for some reason Spirit was really drawn to it, bringing in some really big pieces to share with us.   After a while, high tide was starting to come in and the waves were getting a little stronger, so we left before he drowned.

Two tired dogs later in the day, engaging in doggie pillow-talk:

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 Gualala

Rodney and Meredith took off to explore the redwoods today while I had a totally kick-back sort of day. The dogs stayed with me and provided an audience to my steel drum playing. The morning was much cooler today and there was a fog that lasted until about 1 pm. Perfect for playing the drum outside. It was low tide and you could barely hear the waves when I played in the morning. The drum seems to like it here - it really sings.  I played again in the afternoon when the fog had rolled out and tide was rolling in, and you could clearly hear the waves. I love it here. Incredibly beautiful and pretty quiet, other than the sound of some light traffic. There's a fog bank a few miles off shore stretching as far north and as far south as we can see.  It's there every day.  Surprisingly, there hasn't been much of a wind, either.  

We went out to dinner at the Pier Chowder House up the road in Point Arena.  As we were sitting in the restaurant, upstairs and next to a window overlooking the bay, a very fat seagull came for a visit. We gave him a piece of bread and then he wandered to the other windows.  He came back a little later, and I had to close the window to keep him from joining us for dinner. The place had just opened a month earlier and has wonderful seafood.  We had fresh oysters, delicious local calamari, and cioppino with shrimp, clams, mussels, and cod.  Delicious.  

At the end of the day, we sat outside on the deck, listening to the ocean and watching a wonderful display in the sky.  There were more stars than I've seen anywhere except on the North Rim at the Grand Canyon.  Millions of them.  There was a meteor shower, with lots of little and big flashes of light.  Rodney insisted the large flashes were space debris re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.   We also saw a number sattelites, moving really, really fast across the sky.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 Gualala, CA

Another beach day!  The dogs (and I) rested yesterday and were ready for another day of surfing.  I found a couple of nice pieces of driftwood for them to fetch, but Maya only wanted the one sthat Spirit had.  I had a nice big, heavy one for her, but, noooooooo, she wanted the lighter one, that was easier for me to throw. Spirit would brave the waves to fetch his stick only to be greeted by her, and she'd steal it from him.  This happened over and over again.  One time Maya squatted down to pee on the beach, but a wave came up and washed away sand that she was standing on. Maya is a pretty big girl, currently around 190 pounds.  Her rear legs sank into the sand and she couldn't get up.  Stuck! The sand was gobbling up her feet. She eventually broke free, but you could see she was stunned by this event.

Last, year, while in Kitty Hawk, N.C. at the Wright Brothers Memorial, I purchased a neat looking kite.  Today, it finally came out of the package for the first time and soared beneath the cliffs of the Pacific.  We flew it for about an hour (even Maya flew it).  A couple of times some seagulls would hover near it, to get a closer look at this very colorful bird.

I noticed a black head poking out of the water and then it was gone. I thought it might be a diver, as we've seen them diving for abalone in "our" cove at low tide.  A while later, Meredith saw a sea lion with its head and chest above the water.  We decided that they had heard Maya barking and mistook her for a sea lion and were trying to get  a closer look at her. Later, someone told us that it is the sea lion's mating season.  Oh, my, wouldn't Maya have had a surprise.

Rodney is a wonderful cook, specializing  in grilled foods.  We've been eating well.  Tonight we had grilled steak and corn, and Meredith heaped on the  cooked mushrooms.  Not too shabby.

Later, we once again watched the sky, seeing lots of meteors, debris, stars, and satellites.  The night sky is amazingly clear here. The stars are brilliant.

Thursday, August 13, 2009 Gualala and Bodega Bay

We  left the dogs at home and had a great drive down the coast about 40 miles to Bodega Bay, the site for the movie "The Birds".  Lots and lots of photo ops along the highway;  I don't recall ever seeing the Pacific Ocean so blue.  Many of the coves had turquoise water and  great rocks with white surf pounding on them.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  At Bodege Bay we had lunch at the restaurant from the movie.  Kind of.  The original had burned down in 1968, 5 years after the movie was filmed, and was replaced with a 200 seat restaurant.  Again, we had some wonderful seafood.  Cioppini, fried oyster, crab sandwich.  Ummmm.   After that we took a little drive further south to the town of Bodega, where the movie's school house still stands.  

On the way back, we stopped at a little winery for some very fine  tasting.  The Annapolis winery has some excellent reds, including port, a syrah blend, and a sauvignon. It's just a couple of miles inland, but about 15 degrees warmer than the coast.  We had a nice chat with the owner, and, yes, purchases were made.

When we got back we discovered that Spirit had the runs and was trying to ruin our trip.  So much for him eating people food.

Tonight we had dinner at a pricey little Russian restaurant.  The food presentation was impressive.

Friday, August 14, 2009 Leaving the Cove House

It's time to leave Gualala and the Buehler's Cove House. Meredith, Rodney, and Maya are headed home. My gang and I are headed north.  I haven't looked at any maps and have no specific agenda for the enxt few days, other than to continue on Highway 1 north. I told my brother I'd probably hit the Seattle are next Thursday  or so. 

Maya is ready to go.  She voluntarily headed up her ramp into the jeep this morning.  I asked Spirit if he had said goodbye to Maya yet and he ran over to the Jeep where she was awaiting, her head out the window.  He jumped up and kissed her and then came back to me. Little do they know it will be a couple of weeks before they see each other again.  I said goodbye to Meredith and Rodney and we are off.

I gassed up in Gualala and hit the road.  We stopped at the Arena Point to see the lighthouse, but it wasn't open yet.  I still got a couple of nice photos of it from a distance.  It's beautiful day and there are lots of photo ops along the coast.  Wes stopped often.  We also stopped often to let other vehicles pass.  Highway 1 left the coast, heading inland, winding left and right and up and down over a mountain. I saw a wild turkey by the side of the road.  Meredith had seen one the day before.  Pretty cool.  It was really beautiful, but I was tired by the time we emerged on the other side.  When Highway 1 ended, we continued on Highway 101 through the Redwoods.  We took the scenic route, exiting 101 for the Avenue of the Giants.  Awesome giant redwoods. Rodney had mentioned that there were some nice looking campgrounds along here.  I stopped at  Humboldt State Park's Hidden Spring campground and we stayed the night.  This is one of the most wonderful campgrounds I've ever stayed at.  The redwoods are everywhere, providing dense shade and dampening the sounds of other campers.  And  even my diminished sense of smell easily detects that wonderful aroma of redwood.  Ahhhhhh.  Zootie is intrigued by bluejays and can't take his eyes off of them.

This is how my critters are traveling these days:

Mileage:  1,468.3

Saturday, August 15, 2009 Humboldt State Park to Crescent City, CA

I awoke at 7:30 this morning thinking it was just after dawn, since it's still a little dark.  But, no. It's just the trees blocking the sun. This is a very quiet park.  I love it.  Zootie really likes it here, too.  He's been captivated by the bluejays.  They're oblivious to him, as he peeks at them from his RV-blind.

The rangers came by this morning and placed a reserved sign on my campsite.  Darn!  Actually, the park is only about 40% fulll.  Spirit and I have walked around most of it.  The campground is on a hillside, and we have been up, down, and all around.  There are about 150 sites here.  Most are very nicely secluded from their neighbors thanks to those lovely redwoods.  No hookups, but the fresh water is good and and there are showers.  My solar panel is not very productive, as direct sunlight is pretty patchy here.  XM isn't singing. GPS has no clue where it is.  None of my toys are working.

I downloaded the photos on both cameras this morning and discovered that my little underwater camera, which I've been using at the beach or whenever I don't feel like carrying my "real" camera, will actually take photos without a memory card, (the card was in my laptop's card reader from the last time I downloaded it;  oops). When you replace the card, the photos are lost, though.  Oh, well.

It is so nice here that I don't want to leave. But we will.  We'll just mosey up the road, and find some nice place to vegetate awhile longer.  We stopped again along the Highway of the Giants and walked a bit  and I relaxed and read my book. 

We eventually started driving in earnest, heading up the 101, back to the coast.  At one point, Spitit was dozing, riding shotgun, but with his head resting on the console, when he  awoke and sniffed the air vent.  We were just approaching the ocean, and he apparently got a whiff of that heavenly scent of the Pacific Ocean.  Ooooh, surfing!  It took 2 hours to drive the next 50 miles to Crescent City.  The road was again a 2 lane road, wandering up and down through forests of redwoods. In Crescent City I checked into a KOA, hoping for a shower, laundry, and an internet connection.  Phone service has been hit and miss for the last week, and when I turned on my phone here, I found that I had 5 voicemails in my queue, going back more than a week.    Oops.  Sorry.  This KOA is situated among redwoods, close to the ocean. It's nice, but yesterday's camp was incredible.

When we walked around the camp I found some blackberry bushes, with a few berries that were ready to be picked.  So I accomodated them.   They were great on some vanilla ice cream that Meredith had given me from the rental home.

 

Mileage: 1,612.0    Less than 300 miles in two days, and I spoke to Meredith tonight and they're almost home in the same time frame.  

Sunday, August 16, 2009 The Oregon Coast

I found more blackberries here this morning.  The RV section of this campground is nice enough;  I've got a private area outside the side door, facing a redwood forest.  But.... the tent campers are in a beautiful location within the woods.  Lots of redwoods and very large ferns and blackberry bushes everywhere.  It's wonderful.

Yesterday I made a short stop at a Safeway, and when I returned I noticed that the remainder of my bag of red vines was empty.  Hmmmm.  well, this morning, I walked the dog and he pooped some very red shit.   Hmmmm again.  If I hadn't been missing some red vines, I'd be worried about him this morning.

We leave Crescent City this morning and seven miles later we're in Oregon.  Highway 101 varies from a straight 4 lane highway to a 2 lane curvy road and back again a number of times.  We made  quite a number of stops along the beach to look at the rocks and water.  It's something like the coast in the movie The Goonies.  We stopped at the Pistol River where it flows into the ocean, and took a walk.  Spirit took a swim.  Man he was happy to see the water.  Two things he loves the most  have been on this trip:  water and his girlfriend, Maya.  He's a pretty happy camper.

Later, we stopped at the South Jetty Dunes, north of Dune City.  The sand dunes run for miles here, right along the coast.  Many are covered with grass, and some are pure sand.  At this stop, we hiked a dune to get to the ocean.  Beautiful beach!  Then we went to another one and watched dune buggie races.  Wish Meredith and Rodney were here - we'd rent some dune buggies, for sure.  It looks a bit like racing  on snowmobiles.

I stopped for a quick shot of the Heceta Head Lighthouse, which looked pretty cool out on the point.  Only the second lighthouse I've seen on this trip.  A while later I passed the Sea Lion Caves.  I had a flashback to 1971 when I did a road trip with my ex, Danni, and my ex's sister, Marie.  We stopped to see the Sea Lion Caves.  I remember we went down an elevator to get to them. 

I had an internet connection this morning and contacted a high school friend, Linda, who lives in Oregon, and asked if we could meet somewhere for lunch or dinner.  I heard back from her right away and she contactedttwo other friends of that era, Betty and Judi, and we're going to meet  tomorrow afternoon.  A Mini-high school reunion of us girls, many miles away from high school in southern California.  I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

We're camping tonight at a crowded little KOA on the Oregon coast at the town of Waldport. For the first time on this trip I had to back into a parking spot.  I had a guide, and I thought it was going well, but I still got a jaw-dropping stare from a neighbor.  That's not usually good. But, we made it in just fine.  Not to worry.  The beach is beautiful here and there is supposed to be a sea lion viewing station nearby.  I'll check them out in the morning.   Since I'm a KOA "VIP" (not sure what it is or how you obtain that status, but I did obtain it last summer)  I have now received 3 very special plastic tablecloths depicting a map of the U.S. and all of the KOA Kampsites.  (They use the "K" in campsites - I didn't make that up). 

Current mileage:  1,828.6

Monday, August 17, 2009 Friends from long ago, in Salem, OR

lass the beach this morning, not far enough around the point to see any sea lions, though.  He went for a swim and dragged back about 10 lbs of sand with him.  I hosed him down, and, somehow, the sand just re-attached itself to him.  He's a sand magnet.  What  a mess in the motor home.

Linda said that we would meet Betty and Judi in Salem, with Betty traveling by bus (ala Greyhound) to get here at 12:30 and Judi would come after work.  We wanted to meet Betty at the station,  so I left  here in time for the 2 hours to meet Linda and another hour to get to Betty.  It worked out perfectly. We had a wonderful afternoon, chatting, some reminscing, but mostly just chatting.  It's like we're still  the same people we were in high school.  After lunch we wandered through the Riverfront Park, a nice quiet, relaxing park along the Willamette River.  That is pronounced "will-ah-mit", not "will-a-met", as I was told, several times.  I'm pretty sure I've heard it mispronounced over the years during sporting events; I will forever be on the look-out for the miscreant sportscasters who make that mistake and will probably be the first one who calls the station to correct them.  Or maybe not.

The Riverfront Park has a wonderful large globe covered with tiles that form a map of the continents and also objects, such as masks, birds, or animals, that represent various areas on the continents.  It's quite elaborate and very beautiful..  The park also has an overpriced, per Judi, paddle-wheeler dinner boat, and there is a really wonderful carousel.  The horses are all wooden, carved by local wood-carvers.  It was a really nice place to just kick back, chat, and walk around.  It was so nice to visit with the girls.  I had seen them all 5 years ago at a reunion in San Diego, but didn't really have much time to talk.  Linda had been in the Denver area a couple of years ago and we did meet then for a bit.  It's always fun.

Linda and Betty are both quilters.  Linda began just a couple of years ago, and Betty has been at it for a long time, even judging contests.  She currently has a quilt that is  on a national tour and gave us a photo of it: I love it!

After Judi headed for home, and Betty caught the next bus back home (thank-you, Betty, for traveling so far), Linda and I returned to her house.  It was  a warm day and the temperature in the motor home was 90 degrees.  A little warm for the kitties.  I opened the door to cool it off and headed off for more chatting with Linda.  I decided to leave in the morning before it got too warm and head back to the coast.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Back to the Oregon Coast

Linda and Paul and I had a nice chat at breakfast this morning and then off we go.  Another winding, bouncy ride along Highway 101.  Linda had recommended stopping in Tillamook to visit the cheese and ice cream factory.  I did.  I didn't see the cheese being made or aged, as I did a couple of years ago at the Gruyere, Switzerland factory, but watched it being sliced and packaged.  They have 38 flavors of ice cream.  Beats Baskin Robbins.  I did sample a couple of flavors and then hit the highway again.

 The coast is beautiful and there are a number of really cute little touristy towns along the way, especially Twin Rocks  and Seaside. Ever since I it Highway 101 I've been seeing lots of large, beautiful azaleas, in various shades of violet, purple, blue, and even white.  They're really big,  as large as my sons head. As the highway follows the coastline, it's also lines with blackberries, many just right for picking.  Literally millions of them. 

I saw the sign for a KOA just prior to entering Astoria, and took the turnoff. I've wanted to see Astoria since I saw the Movie "Kindergarten Kop".  The place is packed and there is a long line of RVs waiting to register.  It took about 15 minutes to check in because the woman wanted to tell me about all of the photo-ops, including a lighthouse, some cool rocks, and also where some of Kindergarten Kops and The Goonies were shot.  It's 84 degrees when I find our site, and I decided to park it for the night.  Looks like I'll be here for 2 nights, so I can spend all of tomorrow sight-seeing in the Astoria area.  

This is the largest campground I've ever seen.  There are at least 200 RV sites, 50 cabins, and about 30 tent sites. Many of the sites are among old-growth trees, whiles others are out in the open. Lots of activities for kids and also an indoor pool and hot tub.  This is far from rustic camping and more like a resort.  It's currently packed with young families, many with fishing boats. The campground even has a fish-cleaning station.  Astoria is located on a point, on the south side of the Columbia River, just before it flows into the Pacific, and north of Young's Bay.  There's a large state park, Fort Stevens SP, located on the point southwest of Young's Bay. This appears to be a major recreation area for Oregonians.

Current mileage:  2,084.9

 Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Astoria  

This morning we went to Astoria. Lewis and Clark came here in 1805, and Astoria is the oldest American settlement west of the Mississippi.  Spirit and I took a nice long walk along the river walk.  It's just what it says it is, nothing fancy like some city river walks. There is a trolly that comes by every so often, too.  I was headed to the Columbia River Maritime Museum when I heard the barking of sea lions.  I changed my plans and took Spirit with me to find those critters.  It was nice walk, about 1 1/2 miles and then we saw them out at the end of a pier.  Lots of them.  We had heard that this was their mating season, and that would appear to be accurate.  There are a number of pairs of sea lions in the water, while most are on the  deck, sunning.  Inoticed that some are brown and some are white.  I believe I've discovered what sea lions and ostriches have in common:  the males are black and the females are brown.  Maybe.  Well, I know it's true of ostriches and most of the sea lion pairs consisted of a black one and a brown one.  

It was cooler along the river walk than it had been at camp, but Spirit was getting hot.  We headed back and then I left him and went to the maritime museum.  It was fairly interesting, describing the history along the Columbia River, from the early hunting for animal pelts, to salmon fishing, and also a lot about the coast guard. The confluence of the Columbia with the Pacific has been the site of many ship sinkings.  It's better now that there are a lot of dams along the river, but it still  requires the assistance of specially trained river pilots to guide any and all ships up the Columbia.

After that, we did a quick swing-by of the elementary school that was used in the movie "Kindergarten Kop".  Nothing special there.  I couldn't get into the correct lane to turn to see the house that was in the movie "The Goonies", but, oh, well.

We went to the state park to see the remains of a ship that sunk in 1906, the Peter Iredale.  It was about 3 p.m., but it was a bit dark with fog. We could hear the ocean waves, but couldn't see water or the ship.  As we approached we saw the ship in the fog. The ship looked pretty spooky.  Cool.  We went further out and found the ocean waves.  Spirit was dying to go in, so I let him off leash.  What a happy dog!  You could see the ghosts of people walking along the beach in the fog.

We headed back to camp, where it was much cooler than yesterday and the air was damp with fog.  I grilled some fresh salmon, yum!  I also played my drum, inside the RV.  It felt good - it's beeen several days since I've played, and it's so easy to forget everything.

Astoria isn't as cute and pretty as I thought it would be, but it's still very nice. I love the idea of the river, the bay, the ocean, and fog all together. The riverwalk is a great place to relax and cool off on a hot day.  It was a really good day.

Thursday, August 19, 2009 Astoria to Poulsbo, WA

I did a small load of laundry this morning and discovered, too late, that I had also washed my cell phone.  It was not happy!  This presents a problem in several ways.  Not only won't I have a phone in case of emergency, but today I'm going to Poulsbo, my brother's home town, and now I won't be able to contact him except via  email, which I won't have again until tonight.

We went back to the shipwreck before leaving Astoria to see if the tide and/or lighting were much different from yesterday.  They weren't.  We drove over the Astoria bridge to Washington .  This is a 4.1 mile long bridge crossing the Columbia River.  Per the literature, the bridge's main span is at 1,232 feet, the longest continuous truss in the world. As I cross, I see several hundred small fishing boats in the water on the Washington side.  Salmon must be good. After I cross, I wonder if this was the right decision, as I see signs for "Dismal Beach" and "Cape Disappointment".  Hmmm. As we pass through the town of Chinook, I see hundreds of parked, empty boat trailers.  What a busy little fishing village.

I'm following Highway 101 up the coast. It's a gray day - gray sky and gray water.  I came to the cutest little touristy town, Long Beach, which is having a kite festival and is packed with people and automobiles.  Lots of nice shops and places to eat.  We keep going.  After about 10 miles I realize that I am no longer on Highway 101, and turn back.  Back through that cute little town, which looks even cuter from the other direction.  I hadm issed the turn as I entered town.  I'm glad, as, otherwise, I would not have seen it.  This is not the GPS's fault, either, as I withheld information about my destination from it.

I left Highway 101 again when it began heading inland.  I decided to go to the little towns of Raymond and Aberdeen, on the coast, before heading inland.  Raymond had the cutest little steel sculptures, all over town.  Most were 2 dimensional, but some were 3.  The first ones I saw as I entered town were cut-outs of deer and elk grazing, and a cougar hunting.   As I neared town, there were some of people walking, riding bikes, running an oxen cart,  sawing some trees, et al. I imagine there were probably 150 - 200 of them.  

The road was winding and very tiring.  By the time I got to Aberdeen I was really tired and hungry and didn't feel like continuing on.  Aberdeen was very busy, not very enticing, but I grabbed something to eat there.  We hit the road again and I caught up with Highway 101 again for a while. My GPS told me to take a right in 400 feet to head up to Poulsbo. There was no left.  There was a right, though.  Too late, I need to take the next exit and make a u-turn. It told me to take a left at the next exit, but there was only a right. Hmmm.  The GPS is about 6 years old, which in GPS years is about 102. Its mind is slipping a little.  I told it to take a little rest. I continued on and then I was on little State Highway 3, meandering through the hills, and then, as I rounded a corner, I saw Navy ships - we've arrived at Bremerton.  there was a shorter, quicker route here than the "coastal" route I selected, and I probably should have taken it.  I didn't see much coast.  But I would have missed the kite festival at Long Beach.

Not far from here is a town that has a Best Buy, and I had asked my GPS to take me there so that I could get a new phone.  I decided that it would probably be a hassle changing phone services and keeping the same number, as I wanted to do, and would probably be easier to handle in the morning.  I had emailed my brother that I would go to an RV park close to him and would communicate via email when I had access. I got to the RV park and it was after hours, so I found a spot and camped.  Intenet access came up to a point - I needed a coupon code to fully access it.  Damn!  I asked a camper if he knew whether he could share a code or if they were unique.  He didn't know, but he saw someone just sneak into  the office.  Ahhh.  I caught her attention and she gave me the code.  Sent an email to Jim so that he knows I've arrived safely.  Jeremy's wedding is on Saturday and they are busy tomorrow getting the church ready.

Mileage:  2,348.1

Friday, august 21,2009 Poulsbo, WA

TI woke up to the sound of rain this morning.  Yup, I'm in Seattle.  The weather stayed cloudy until late afternoon and the sun finally came out.  Definitely cooler here than anywhere else I've been on this trip.

This morning I went to a local Best Buy and got a new phone, switching from sucky  Verizon to ATT. This time, I added washing machine insurance.  It took at least 45 minutes to get the new phone, with my old number switched over to ATT, and then the sales person asked if I would like some instructions on using the phone.  Nope, don't need 'em.  Got the book.  Well, I sat out in the parking lot for a good 20 minutes just trying to enter my brother's telephone number and then call him.  I was in a loop.  I couldn't save the entry; I couldn't cancel the entry;  I couldn't call the number I had entered; I couldn't power off the phone.  I think I found a pretty good bug.  I debated going inside and asking for help, or just driving over to Jim's house and telling him that I'm here.  The latter one won, of course.

Jim has a beautiful home backing up to a wooded area.  They brought a lot of beautiful antiques and artwork from their stay in Italy a few years ago. I was greeted by  his wife Amelia's relatives and the kids spirited away Spirit for a long walk.  He was a  happy dog. Jeremy came by and I heard him before I saw him.  He speaks like my brother - same voice, same inflections, same goofiness.  I was so surprised it was Jeremy I was listening to.  I last saw him in San Diego when I visited my Dad for the last time, in September, 2002.   I arrived at the house in time for some wonderful Honduran chop suey, made by Reyna.  She's a really wonderful cook.  Unfortunately I missed out on her Honduran tamales.  I heard that she brought dozens of them with her to the airport, and security did not want her to take them onboard - something about the foil wrap.  She said she spent all night making these and she was damn sure going to bring them with her.  The guard realized that they were still warm from the pot and conceded.  

Hey, Cory - they have flowers here as large as Jeremy's head.

I heard that Jim, Amelia, their youngest daughter, Bonnie, and Amelia's sister Siobhan were all at the church, decorating and preparing the flowers, while oldest daughter Grace and youngest son Evan weren't here yet .  I got a ride with Jeremy to go over there, and all but Jim had left.  The last time I had seen Jim was when Dad died.  I hadn't seen Amelia or the other kids or Siobhan since about 1993.  I expect the kids have grown a bit, and I'm anxious to see everyone.  I helped with the flowers at the church and later Amelia, Bonnie, and Evan came by.  Evan was a toddler and Bonnie was a baby when I last saw them, so we don't really know each other. Later,at the rehearsal dinner I finally caught up to Grace and Siobhan.  I loved seeing them again.  Jeremy's fiance, Nicole, is really sweet. 

 

Saturday, august 22, 2009 Jeremy and Nicole's Wedding day

This morning there is just a bit of chaos in the house.  To be expected. Grace had called and said she was at the church for the bridesmaids' photo session, but she forgot her dress.  Would Dad please bring it to her?  Jim says this is pretty typical Grace, laughing that while everyone else will be wearing a beautiful dress, there will be Grace, decked out in a tshirt and jeans.  I'm thinking photo-op.  Hey, Jim, I'm headed to the church.  I can take the dress with me. I hadn't paid attention to how to get there yesterday while riding with Jeremy, so I had looked it up on my mapping software.  " I turn left on Bond St, right?" I asked.  He looked  deep in thought for a moment and said "no, that's the road to Kingston".  Hmm.  That's not where we're going?  Ahhh, we're going to Keyport.   I plug the info into my GPS and I arrive at the church, only to be met by Jim, pulling into the parking lot right behind me.  He said he was sooooo glad to see that I was at the church with the dress. I'm glad I sought verification of directions before I left.  Grace really would have been left to wear jeans - and I wouldn't have been there for the photo!  I wonder if Grace and I share a particular gene that is not present in the rest of the family.

This  was a wonderful day.  I wandered, camera-in-hand all day, tyring to capture the events leading up to and following the main event.  I spent some time with the bride and bridesmaids as they prepared.  A stunningly beautiful group of young women.  That was fun.  I also followed the photographer around, letting him set up the set shots and group shots, and then stepping in shooting them.  I really like having an assistant! 

The wedding was beautiful.  There were yellow and white roses in abundance, and the bridesmaids wore green.  Nicole looked beautiful.  Jeremy  looked great in a tux . I grabbed an aisle  seat in the last row so I could get shots looking down the aisle.    The ceremony was very nice.

The reception was at the church.  I heard an estimate of 120 people.  It was a pretty good crowd, and tables had to be added. I sat with Sio and her husband Dennis, and later Amelia and Siobhans's brother, Jorge, joined us.  Reyna was there, literally kicking up her heels and having a great time.  Great company.  There were at least 30 of Amelia's relatives there and we had a blast.  Unfortunately, many of them, including Sio and Reyna, left for home after the reception.  I was quick to notice that Amelia has a lot of very good looking men in her family.  

I left the RV parked in front of Jim's house for the night.  When I got back to it after the wedding, I started downloading pictures.  Of course. Can't stay away from my laptop for too long.  Well, I ran out of room on my hard drive.  I was prepared for this situation in that I had brought along an external drive that I use as a backup and another that I was using for archives.  I actually only archive photos when I need to retrieve space.   Before backing up or archiving, I took a look at the downloaded photos.  After the first 100 photos I had blank images!!!  But, they looked good in the camera's viewer.  I was tired from a long day, and I also had just had some wine, so I decided to just ignore the whole thing until morning.   

I have a bunch of photos of the wedding and reception here: Jeremy and Nicole Wedding

Sunday, August 23, 2009 The day after

I spent the day at Jim's house.  Didn't budge, other than taking Spirit for a walk. I backed up all of the photos that I had recently downloaded, archived a bunch of older photos, and reloaded the "blank" ones using different software.  Much better results.  There were over 700 photos and I went through them all one time, editing out the truly crappy ones and also some that appeared to be near duplicates. Got it down to 480 images.  At that point it's down enough to create a DVD of images, not one with a slideshow, but just plain files.  I left a couple of copies for Jim to hand out to relatives.  

Then, Amelia fixed us some bread and pepperoncini, cheese and wine, and we headed outside.  Out came the drum.  I went through my series of songs, a couple of times, struggling to remember a couple.  Just plain forget about Elinor Rigby.  People were in and out and I'd start again.  It was good for me to practice, and no one booed.  Later, after I had put the drum away, Nelson said that he wished he could play, and I told hiim we would play in the morning.

Later we enjoyed watching "O Brother Where Art Thou" and called it a night.  Well, that means I retired to the parking lot, where I can get an internet connection, and caught up on my journal.

Monday, august 24, 2009 Still Here

This morning I brought the drum out again, and Nelson took a try at it and did quite well. I think he's  hooked.  Then, I told him how wonderful it is to play on a beach, and he really lit up.  I told him I'll give him the name of my guy in Trinidad.  that was good, but then he would need to have someone teach him.  I can get the name of a guy in the bay area, where he lives, who has some amazing online training videos and also teaches the drum in the area.  Hmmm.  

I thought I was leaving this morning, but when asked to ride along on an airport run to drop off Cynthia, Nelson, and girls, and then go to Seattle, I said ok.  After the airport, Amelia, George, and I went downtown along the water and a nice seafood lunch.  We are having really beautiful, sunny weather.  Later that evening, I brought in my DVD of "Tortilla Soup" and we watched that.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Yup, still in Poulsbo

I've been trying intermittently to edit the photos I took at the wedding and get the number of pictures down to something manageable, and not making much progress.  This morning I stayed in the RV until I finished editing them, and was uploading the surviving photos to my website.  Then my laptop died.  Inside I go to re-energize my computer and complete the upload.  Jim was at work, Amelia and George went to run some post-wedding errands, and Bonnie was gone.  It was me, the dog, and Grace, and I was busy on my computer.  By the time I had finished, Grace had disappeared and I took Spirit for a walk.  I decided that we'd rather walk in downtown Poulsbo, along the water.  Poulsbo's roots are in the Norwegian community.  It's acute little town, along the water, nice and touristy.  I stopped for a bite to eat at a cute little Italian restaurant, overlooking the parking that overlooks the bay. The reason I stopped at this particualar place was that they had outdoor dining and they also were pet-friendly, having bowls of water for dogs out in the patio.  Great appetizer menu, too.Roasted garlic with brie and garlic bread.  And a glass of wine.  Very nice!

I stopped at a store on the way back (actually, I missed the turn, and ended up at a not-so close-to-home Safeway) and grabbed some cat food and also a couple of avocados and some mango, chipotle grill sauce.  When I got to Jim's house I grilled the avocados and George grilled some chicken and we all ate outside. So maybe we were inspired by "Tortilla Soup". Perhaps.  Beautiful evening with good food and company. We finished the evening watching one of Jim's favorite movies, "The Man Who Knew Too Little", 1997, starring Bill Murray.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 Alki Point

I left Jim's house this morning and am headed home, but first I have a stop to make. My Mom died on December 26, 1993.  It's been a while now, but she occassionally shows up in my dreams, sometimes as a supporting character, just passing through, but sometimes she stays to talk, and these dreams are very vivid and I remember them forever.  When I decided to do this road trip, Jim sent an email asking what type of touristy things I planned.  I hadn't thought about this and did not reply.  A couple of nights later, Mom visited in a dream, and I told her that I didn't know what to do while there.  She got the cutest grin and told me that she would visit Alki Point.  She said this while shooting a glance to her right, to someone unseen, and she looked like it was a place that held special memories for her.  She was so cute!

Okay, now what I know about Alki (I just learned how to spell it correctly), is that it is just outside of Seattle and is on the water.  It's where my parents lived after they married, and I lived there for 2 or 3 years.  I have a couple of photos of me in front of an old bungalow.  We lived in a tiny little place, probably just a shack, behind another home.  Mom told me many years ago that she used to comb the beach for coke bottles to return for cash to purchase peas and a ham bone to make split pea soup.  I remember the soup.  I no doubt accompanied her to the beach countless times.  I would guess, that as newlyweds, with me in tow, that it probably was a very happy place for her.

With this in mind, I headed to Alki today.  I didn't know what to expect, but I feel like Mom wants me to go there.  I was unable to find Alki Point on my mapping software, but the neighborhood of Alki and the Alki Beach Park were there.  At this point, that will suffice.  I chart my course and as I'm driving along the water in Alki, I come around a turn and there's all of Seattle spread out in front of me across the water.  It was beautiful.  I hit the brakes and grabbed a couple of shots.  I thought, "Wow, Mom, this is really nice - thanks for bringing me here for a photo op". The tears started.   I asked a local if there was a place called "Alki Point", and he said no.  If you see it on a map, all of Alki is located on a point.  I drove a bit further, and found a nice parking area along the water, and Spirit and I headed out.  It was so nice there, a path following the water, for several miles, and lots of benches for people to just sit and watch the ferries from Bremerton as they pulled into Seattle.  Not too shabby. I stopped at a nice spot for photos. To the east was Seattle, to the south was Mt. Ranier (barely visible today), and to the northwest was Bremerton. I asked a couple of women about Alki Point and they thought it might be where the lighthouse is, but they've never been there.  We walked some more, and met a woman walking her bishon and we stopped to chat.  She had lived there for many years, and she said that the "point" is back where I had been taking photos. It gave me a warm feeling and a chill at the same time.   There is an Alki  Point, and I seemed to recognize, or at least appreciate it, when I first saw it.  It's not on the maps, and I don't believe I had ever heard of it before, as the neighborhood we lived in was Alki .  I don't know how I could have come up with the name Alki Point on my own in my dream.  Mom knows I love photography, and she sent me to a place that was not only special to her, but was also very scenic.  Thanks, Mom!

If you look back at that photo from 2 days ago,  beyond the patio dining, the cruise boat, and the water, you will see Alki.  I didn't know that at the time. 

After Dad died, I became interested in geneaology,  gathering family records and scouring the various geneaology websites, consolidating the information into a Family Tree database.  I know that my birth certificate has my parents' address at the time of my birth, so I look it up on my laptop.  I would love to locate the site of  my first home.  Not there!  Of all the records I scanned, I neglected my own birth certificate!  As I drove around Alki, I noticed several older neighborhoods that probably existed back then.

With that, I head out of Seattle on I90 towards eastern Washington, stopping at an okay KOA , in Ellensburg, WA, just past the mountains dividing the state.  
It fronts a nice, fast-flowing river, and Spirit has a good time swimming.

Mileage:  2,685.4

Thursday, August 27,2009 Eastern WA and OR and ID

Spirit went for another swim this morning before we hit the road.  Nothing like the smell of a really wet dog.

I gassed up in Yakima at an Arco station.  It's been a long time since I've used an Arco station, and I don't know if this one is typical or not, but I had a couple of surprises here.  First, there is a $.45 "convenience" charge for using a debit card.  Second, there are stations at each pump where you may  pay by cash.  Also, if you don't want to pay the "convenience" charge, you may  apply for an Arco Optipay Debit card, which  will be linked directly to your current checking account. Hmmm.

I had been contemplating which route to take home, knowing that the longer route, via Glacier Park would be the prettiest, the longest, the most enjoyable, and the most time-consuming (photo-ops).  I just feel ready to go home today, though.  I guess the vacation is over.  Heading home via salt Lake City and I80.

Eastern Washington is nothing like western Washington, but it's sort of similar to east San Diego County. I haven't been here since 1962, when  our family took a road trip from San Diego to Zillah, WA (near Yakima) to visit  my dad's cousins at their dairy farm, and also to Seattle, where his mother and aunt and uncle lived.  I'm not sure of the sequence of the visits.  I do remember that the Seattle World's Fair was going on then.   Yakima and Zillah are still  dairy and farming towns.  After I passed Zillah, I began seeing vineyards.  Lots of them.  I finally exited I84 to check one out, but it was more than 5 miles from the freeway.  Ditto the next one.  I took a chance on a town called Grandview with a street named "Wine Country Road", to no avail.  I found wineries, but none that set "Wine Tasting".  Someone at the local Safeway told me that her town, Prosser, a few more miles south, had several, so back to I84. I did find some.  I stopped for a little taste (no, I didn't swallow; well not much) at the Hogue Winery and bought a couple of Washington Columbia  Valley wines to take home.

As I apporached the Columbia River I had a pretty strong recollection of being there before, when I was a kid.  The bridge was smaller then, but I remember the road was flooded, and Dad just drove us through it and up over the bridge.  I don't know if that was the 1962 trip or earlier.  For some reason I think I was younger then and it was an earlier trip.

Between the time I hit Oregon on I84 and drove on to Idaho, there was really not much to look at.  There was the sign just south of the WA-OR border that I passed too quickly for a shot, that said something like " Mid-point between the equator and the North Pole", and then there was the exit at mile marker 327 that said "Hungry Redneck Cafe".   Those were the highlights.  There was a brief drive through some low, but pine-covered mountains, and then back to barren land and rolling hills.  Lots of sagebrush.

I got a late start this morning and lost some time while scouting for some wine tasting, so I kept truckin' on after dark. I'm now back in the Mountain Time Zone, so my clock is again correct. 

What's a road trip without a night spent at a truck stop? Rhetorical question. It's not a real road trip without at least one. I stopped at one in Boise but it was full up. Stopped at a rest stop to let the critters stretch and take care of business, and then continued on. Found a Sinclair stop that separates the tractor-trailer rigs from the rest of the world, and staked out a spot. It was 87 degrees inside the RV after a few minutes, so I opened up all the windows and it soon became bearable. Kitties are doing ok and so is Spirit. My wine should be, too.

Mileage: 3,118.4

Friday, august 28, 2009    Heading Home

I'm about 830 miles from home this morning, heading there via Salt Lake City.  The weather forecast is for the 90's all the way. Glacier Park is sure sounding good. 

Today's drive was really dull.  Southern Idaho is all about the potatoes. No photo ops, except a brief hazy view of the northern part of Salt Lake.  Actually, there was a pretty drive - it was along I84, northeast of Salt Lake City.  It wound through a canyon, following a little creek.  Lots of rafters  navigating the creek.  Too bad that didn't last long. 

 It's hot, I'm tired, and I'm staying at a nondescript KOA in the hell hole town of Rock Springs, WY. Not to be confused with Jackson Hole, WY.  That Hole is a lovely little western town, with mountains, trees, and rivers.  This Hole only has rocks.  KOAs come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are family vacation destinations, while others are just a stop along the way.  This one is the latter. A very welcome one. The only blades of grass are behind a fence in a display.  Only another 370 miles to home.  Yay!

I'm having trouble with my phone.  It says  my signal is strong (5 bars), but I have no service.  I tried  registering online at ATT so I could check my account status, but they need to send me a temporary password, via a text message, but, guess what?  No service!!

Mileage:  3,574.9

Saturday, august 29, 2009 home again

We arrived home this afternoon, after an eventless drive through southern Wyoming to Cheyenne, and then down to Denver.  It's always good to return from a roadtrip with everything and everyone still in tact.  Still have my dog and 3 kitties, and the cats made no attempts to escape on this trip. 

Loading and unloading cats who don't want to go anywhere  can be difficult.  That is an understatement, for those of you unfamiliar with cats.  I want to unload them as soon as possible, before one sounds an alarm and alerts the others. They are all indoor cats, and are easily spooked when outside, so I transport them in carriers.  It was relatively painless this time.  Well, compared to being scratched by Ninja when we left 3 weeks ago, it was 100% painless for me.  She actually climbed into her carrier, unprompted, when I parked the RV.  I just closed the door and carried her in.  One down, two to go. My feral kittie, Fancy Pants, was hiding in a corner in their loft.  I just  placed her little pink carrier in front of her and she went in with just a little coaxing.  Boy, this just keeps getting easier with each trip.  Zootie was hiding under a pillow.  I picked him up and carried him, crying, into the house.  As I set him down in the living room, he let out a cry and quit mid-way as he looked around and realized he was home.  Ahh, cool! 

This  trip was shorter by half then last year's  East Coast trip, but it was really fun.  Sharing the beach with Rodney and Meredith in Gualala, CA, was absolutely wonderful.  A real vacation getaway for each of us. Includng the dogs.  I hadn't driven north of San Francisco in many years, so I really enjoyed seeing the California coast and the redwoods again.  The Oregon coast is stunning. Having a mini high school reunion in Oregon was wonderful, too.  We had sunny days the whole time I was in Oregon, something I had not expected.    I could understand why my friends  chose to live there. It was beautiful.  I was so happy to be able to attend my nephew's wedding and to  see Jim and his family.  His kids have grown up beautifully.  Well done!  It was really great seeing Amelia's family again.  I hadn't seen her Mom or sister Sio or brother George, in many years.  I had a great time at the wedding with the extended family, meeting many for the first time.  I'll  probably meet up with some again.  Reyna is in Kansas City, MO, which is on the way to Florida, where Sio lives.  Hmmm. I may have another road trip in me.

I'm already missing the fresh-picked Oregon and Washington blackberries that have adorned my morning yogurt and granola.

Spirit  was dying to see his girlfriend, so I called and Maya came over with Meredith in tow.  A doggie reunion with lots of kisses.  

Total mileage:  3,952