South Beach, OR and home

Monday April 11th (Day 500)


We left Brookings and Harris Beach State Park on Monday morning and meandered a bit up the Oregon coastline. We love camping in Oregon, and the coast is beautiful any time of year.

We stopped for a quick lunch and walk at the Coquille River Lighthouse. Looking at our jackets, you can tell the weather is changing.

Another stop at Devil's Punchbowl close to Newport. We didn't get good pictures of the wave action which rushes into a tiny channel and boils up at the end into fantastic sprays.

That afternoon we stopped and camped for the night at South Beach State Park outside of Newport. We had never camped here before and we'd like to come back. It is a large park with just a short walk over the dunes to the beach. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was for rain and more rain the next few days, so we decided to just head home in the morning.

This was a great trip with Candy and Rick. We went from the deserts of Phoenix and Death Valley to the mountains to huge trees, through Napa Valley wineries to the Oregon coast. So much variety in the scenery along the way. Huge temperature changes within just a few day. Lots of good food, wine, card games and laughter.

Over 500 nights now in Howie! 

Brookings, OR

Sunday April 10th (Day 499)

Harris's knee was still bothering him so he skipped the hike through the Redwoods by Crescent City while Joe, Rick, Candy, and Judy. Judy was the official photo recorder.

This is the view from Helen and Joe's place looking toward our campground at Harris Campground.

And the views north and south.

Helen prepared a great meal.

Seafood salad, chicken, beans, potato salad, strawberries.

And the sunset followed by card playing 

To the Redwoods

Saturday April 9th- Sunday April 10th (Days 498-499)


On the way from seeing the largest/widest redwoods to the tallest redwoods, we decided to stop at a few wine tasting spots.

At the first winery, the Nelson Brothers hostess was showing a couple the property as a wedding venue and because Candy was being her charming self, the hostess gave us a bottle of wine and some passes to a nearby winery since she could not take care of us. Not bad.

We followed Goldie to the next winery where Candy and Rick bought a bottle of red so that Candy could stay ahead of the wine demand (and Harris could mooch yet some more wine).

We moved on until lunch time where we stopped at a (you guessed it) another winery.

We finally arrived at Jediah Smith campground in the Redwoods National Park where we found a site that could accommodate the two rigs.

This has become our new favorite national park campground because of the great sites and the new bathrooms and showers.

Sunday morning we hit the road early because our good friends Helen and Joe promised to treat us to Sunday breakfast at Star of the Sea Catholic Church in nearby Brookings, OR.  Biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, ham, sausages, hash browns, pancakes, coffee, juice, and lots of attention... all for $8 per person. Wow, what a deal and a meal!

We then took a walk through nearby Azalea Park which was stunning in its beauty. Lots of landscaping and volunteer help was evident.

An interesting feature was the Capella by the sea building. Details here:  http://or-brookings.civicplus.com/Facilities/Facility/Details/2

We then did a couple of geocaches which gave us an opportunity to drop off a travel bug we've been carrying since Phoenix, AZ. We thought it was appropriate to drop it off at the Boy Scouts building in Brookings.

Off to Sequoia National Park

Thursday April 7th- Friday April 8 (Days 496-497)


Off to the mountains


A last look at our campground near the town of Three Rivers.

On the way to the park we noticed a fantastic place for dinner...notice the place setting?

Climbing into Sequoia National Park along the General's Highway.  Up and up very windy roads.

Stopping at a sign just to see what we can see! Weather is getting cooler! Air is getting thinner as we climb above 6000 feet.


 



We took a short walk along the Big Trees Trail. We can't get the whole tree in the picture, of course. We liked ones such as this that looked like it was "birthing" a rock. Harris wanted to send a picture to Serenity, but Judy vetoed the idea.

A view across the meadow. At one time, this was a parking lot for a restaurant and cabin resort. Those have been removed and  the meadow is returning to its natural state.

Hey, we almost got all of this one!...or actually two...twin trees that make us think of our twins. We started calling them them the Keith and Tasha trees.

 This is a view of the General Sherman tree. It is billed as the largest tree in the world, if you count the total volume of wood. It's in the center of the picture. The top is dying....the sign says it has stopped growing up, but is still gaining girth...sort of like us old folks! General Sherman is estimated to be 2,200 years old. Its largest branch is almost seven feet in diameter. Ever year the tree grows enough new wood to produce a 60 foot tall tree of usual size.

A view of the largest tree from the bottom. Can you see the ant sized people near the trunk?

The trail to the General Sherman tree goes down and down and down, 275 feet, which is the size of the tree from top to bottom. Of course, what goes down must then go back up. Some enterprising soul wrote words of encouragement along the way.

We spent the night at a campground in Kings Canyon National Park which is connected to Sequoia National Park. Azalea campground was beautiful, and only one of 2 camping spots open this time of year. It's hard for us retirees to remember it's only March! (especially when it's sunny and warm).


On Friday we drove down and down and down the windy roads, eventually stopping in Fresno. Candy and Rick are buying a new camping rig, and it's being outfitted at the Sportmobile factory there and should be ready in May!

Then we decided we better drive a little faster and a little farther if we were to get to the coast to see our friend in Brookings this weekend. So we had to drive a bit into the night to get halfway there. We stopped at the River Bend RV in Healdsburg.

Heading North with the wives

Friday April 1st- Wednesday  April 6 (Days 489-495)



  Judy and Candy arrived very late on Thursday night. Their 7:30 PM flight from Seattle was delayed by about 4 hours, so they were tired by the time they finally got to bed.

On Friday, we moved to Lake Pleasant RV Resort, which is a little north of Phoenix. We've stayed there before, and enjoy some of the amenities, like the pool.

We played bocce ball, kayaked on the lake, had a bbq on the lawn, and ate some terrific fresh pineapple....almost felt like we were in Hawaii!

We headed west on Sunday towards Lake Havasu, looking for some scenic drives. Harris took this picture of a "dust tornado"...one of many we saw along the way.

We spent Sunday afternoon and night at Buckskin Mountain State Park, and thought we'd like to come back and explore this area some more.

The state park was right on the lake, peaceful and picturesque. We found a spot that was as far away from the rest of the camp as possible.

Monday we drove north to Bullhead City and crossed into Nevada at Laughlin. We thought it appropriate that the first street you see is named "casino drive".

 We didn't stay in Nevada long, as we were heading for Death Valley National Park in California. We entered on the east side of the park, stopping first for a walk up a small hill to Zabriskie Point. The informational plaques there informed us that this area became a national park in 1994....something we didn't know!

Our first sunset at the Texas Spring Campground, just above Furnace Creek....we don't know where the spring was...maybe back in Texas?? But it was a little higher than Furnace Creek, and so had a bit of a breeze. Since there were no plug ins here, the breeze was very welcome.

The temperature when we arrived at Furnace Creek visitor center shortly after 6 PM.

Candy and Rick did some repairs on the rubber seal of Goldy.

Once again we found a quiet spot away from the "maddening crowd".

Walking out to the Badwater Basin salt flats, the lowest point in the US at 282 feet below sea level.

A picnic lunch in some very hard to find shade!

Tuesday we drove north toward Beatty, which is outside the park in Nevada. We were told this was a good place to look for wildflowers. We saw yellow, white, purple and orange flowers, but were really taken by the vivid pink flowers blooming on the cacti.

Rhyolite is a ghost town near the border of the park and Nevada. It was briefly a thriving mining town.

One can almost picture waiting for the wagons to arrive while sipping a frosty beverage.

We couldn't figure out the actual function of the building... a casino, barroom?

 Wednesday morning Rick decided he didn't like Harris's french press coffee anymore, and threw the glass body onto the rocks, breaking it into many pieces. We'll have to find a new one for tomorrow's brew!
We left Death Valley (and the overwhelming, scorching heat), driving out through the west side, down by Mohave, through Bakersfield, and then north and a little east toward Sequoia National Park. The scenery today has been desert (desolate and beautiful), mountain passes, really desolate desert, oil fields, orange groves (which perfume the air with an incredible scent...really made us think of Hawaii!), and windy roads near Three Rivers. The temp has dropped to a manageable 70 something, and even a bit lower after dark. Yea! We might sleep well tonight (especially with electricity and air conditioning)!