26 October 2018  Escape from LaLaLa land to land of the Saguaro

We last were leaving Vandenburg Air Force Base to cut across the top of the Los Angeles basin to the town of Fontana for RV repair on Sunday.  The plan worked.  We didn't hit big traffic until Pasadena about 3 hours into the adventure. 

When I drive in LA, I have to go into combat driving mode.  People are aggressive and don't often allow for lane changes.  I try to always use turn signals but a lot of LA drivers have forgotten the art of signaling.  If there is a space they swoop in and take it often without signaling.

The one saving grace is that there is one of these every few miles.  We were good patrons while the RV was getting repaired.  The repair shop offered electricity so that we could camp in the parking lot at night on the repair days.  They had a resident pit bull to protect the back lots at night.  Bruno and the guard dog didn't much appreciate each other.  It was good that there was a sturdy fence between them.

The back of the car is his favorite place to be.  He has been traveling with us for most of the >30,000 miles while visiting the lower 48 states over the past 4 years.  From his "dog house" he can eat, sleep, and bark at all of the surrounding evils.

While fixing the slide out, drawer locks, water heater, and a new refrigerator, we visited people in the area and took several road trips in the car.  Neither of us had been to Palm Springs.  It was as beautiful as one might imagine with palms on the many boulevards.  We were looking for some green grass and shade in order to enjoy the warm day.  Unfortunately in the green grass and shade were several people setting up their long term housing situations under the no loitering signs.  It wasn't comfortable so we forged on.

There were several beautiful mountains on the south side of the city.  We were thinking about doing one of the hikes up a canyon but they were asking $12.50 a person to do the 2 mile hike.  Ironically this canyon was "occupied" in the 1970s by the hippies.  The newest generation seems to have moved down town.

We found a beautiful road Hwy 74 which wound up the mountain range.  The picture below shows the road if you look closely.  This is towards the top looking back at the Palm Springs area and Joshua Tree National Monument in the background.

The road continued back towards the city across some remote beautiful areas.  It crosses the Pacific Crest trail.  I have new respect for my nephew David who crossed here hiking last spring.  You can follow his journey at:

http://teeheepct.blogspot.com/2018/04/backup-april-18th-day-2-less-than-36.html

The RV repairs kept us near LaLaLa land from Monday until Friday morning.  We made our escape east on the 10 freeway overheating a few times on the hills past Palm Springs.  Crossing the boarder to Arizona we finally felt the comfort of yet again escaping the city.

Tonight we are camping cheap with full RV services including internet at Quartzite, AZ.  This is the RV capital of the United States during January and February for snowbirds.  During that time several thousand RVers camp for free on the surrounding public lands.  They have a big RV show and swap meet here during that time.  Presently near November the heat is near 100 degrees and the place is fairly empty.

Thanks for reading; until next time..........

October 19, 2018

The "joys" of breaking into big cities with the Land Yacht

We planned fairly well.  We were going to spend Saturday night somewhere near Ventura,   Sunday morning we were going to sneak across the top of Los Angeles thus avoiding any severe traffic on the way to the Fortuna, CA RV repair place.  Surely Ventura would be far enough out of the big city to avoid what we call "Urban Jungle Camping Syndrome"!  Nope.

This syndrome can be described as sparse, expensive, uncomfortable RV parking that comes with a plethora of rules and regulations   Only the bold without pets driving newer rigs and with lots of money to spare dare participate.  As one would expect the majorly of populated areas do not have much land mass to dedicate for RV usage.  There just isn't enough RV parking to go around.  This allows the existing parks to become exclusive.

In Ventura the only commercial park wanted $106/night.  For obvious reasons there was availability.  Others wouldn't allow pets.  Still others were long term contracts only.  There was one on a dried up lake in the hills that might have worked but they had a 2 night minimum stay.

In Portland we were told that our RV was too old at some parks.  There was a two week maximum stay due to regulations.  Most of the inner city parks had inches only between rigs.  At times especially weekends and holidays we had to travel many miles out of town in order to camp for one night.  In Seattle and San Francisco you had to commute to the city.  Even doing the commute you had to survive in questionable neighborhoods.

Heavy traffic can get uncomfortable in the big cities.  You leave extra room in front of you so that you can bring the 25 tons to a stop if needed.  The more room that you leave, the more that people try to fill the space in front of you.   In New York near the city someone ran their vehicle into our side verses merging with traffic.  Size matters; the collision felt like another bump in the road.  We hardly noticed. 
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Another problem is quick yellow lights with red light cameras.  If one is going with the traffic there is now way to get stopped that quickly.  Our current GPS was made for RVs and warns of the red light cameras.  Our goal is to stay far away from city traffic if possible.  There are plenty of areas with lots of room; unless you are hanging in southern California, Washington DC, or near New York City.

So a couple of extra days on the Air Force Base won't be so bad.  The 200 mile trip across the top of LA will be a challenge.  I had better start working out!

Thanks for reading.

October 17, 2018 



Vandenburg Air Force Base was converted from an aging Army Base Fort Cooke around 60 years ago to provide a west coast space base.  It is located near the elbow turn of central California along the Pacific Ocean.  They picked this area due to the remoteness away from population centers since the purpose was to launch spacecraft.

One unique aspect of this base is that the Amtrak Coast Starlight route cuts through the base near the ocean.  This is considered one of the most scenic ocean side train routes.  I would suppose that they coordinate the rocket launches around the train intrusions.

Last weekend while most of the country was distracted by political issues, history was made here.  Space X launched a rocket into the sky and then landed it intact on a pad a short distance from the launch area on base.  This was the first time that this feat was accomplished on the west coast.  In the past the landing had taken place on a floating platform in the ocean.

We did our usual exploration of the area and found what may be the closest Amtrak station to the ocean.  The beach beyond was closed most of the year in order to protect a bird and was part of the Air Force Base.  Unlike Portland, Oregon mayors we always try to respect and protect federal regulations no mater how much we think that they are unreasonable.

Out of Lompoc on the Santa Ynez river is a delightful park just before the Amtrak station.  There is a lot of opportunity for bird watching.  There is some beach access under the rust and falling apart Amtrak bridge.  I was convinced that it wouldn't be a good place to hang if the train was overhead.

Just a few miles south on Highway 1 and 14 miles on an extremely curvy, scenic road we found a great  beach front camping ground run by Santa Barbara county named Jalama Beach.  Of course it was on the beach side of the Amtrak line and not on our map.

We are enjoying the relative quiet of the air force base camping.  Kate spotted a coyote roaming around the other evening.  On Saturday we are headed south to stage for our dash across the Las Angeles area on Sunday morning.

October 16, 2018

We last pulled into Fortuna, CA on October 10th for two nights.  As normal we try to travel around 200 miles then enjoy the destination for around two days.  This allows for rest and recovery as well as lets us take in a taste of the area.  Fortuna is known for its many antique shops.  We can't do that because in order to add to the Land Yacht you need to get rid of something to preserve space.  The lost coast where they weren't able to build a highway due to extremes in geology was near by.  Also the giant Redwoods were everywhere here.

The next segment on October 12th we traveled to Santa Rosa around 50 miles north of San Francisco.  We stayed at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds due to the extreme prices for the RV parks in the area.  This was fairly tight camping with neighbors close and the Monster trucks roaring nightly.  This area had a security guard at night due to recent urban problems.  We really don't enjoy this area much any more due to the overpopulation, traffic, crime, and congestion.

Our main mission during this two day rest was to fight our way into our first In and Out burger experience in California.  This is usually well worth the adventure.  After around nine years spent at Travis Air Force Base we know  the area well.  What was new was the extent of the fire damage that took out much of the town and jumped highway 101in 2017.  The recovery continues.

With the Land Yacht we absolutely hate hanging out in the overpopulated areas.  We plan to traverse the areas on Sunday mornings in order to avoid the extreme traffic.  This was the case with San Francisco.  The Golden Gate Bridge was typically tight for us for staying in the lane.  We had to depend on the bumps for the lane dividers on the left in order to insure clearance on the right.  My mirrors wouldn't show the edge of the bridge on the right due to the lack of a fog line.  Scary stuff!

There are no active toll booths any more.  Our cost was $21.00 due to $7.00 for the first 2 axles and $7.00 for each extra.  Due to the lack of mail service on the road there is likely to be some late fees added by the time we get the bill.  This happened in Virginia a few years back.

Even on Sunday there was too much traffic through San Francisco as we headed south.  Miss Kate was certainly glad to make it through the city without incident.  Our goal was to make it down to King City.

There we stayed at an excellent county park with reasonable prices called San Lorenzo.  This was also included a local historical museum of agriculture equipment.  Some were from the 1920s nearly 100 years ago.  We traveled to the San Antonio mission which was near an Army base 20 miles out of town.  Unfortunately it was closed on mondays.

The town in the middle of California was mainly Hispanic.  The local grocery stores only listed the products in Spanish.  We were observed as foreigners as we traveled through town.  The majority of the radio stations were broadcasting in Spanish.

The town was clean, well maintained, and we felt safe.  Our radio broke in the RV.  The replacements were considered obsolete.  Who needs a CD changer anymore!  Were able to get a new sound system installed in a timely manner cheaply.

From there we traveled south to Vandenburg, Air Force Base today.  The family camp comes 1st come and 1st served.  We will be able to save some money here as long as we follow the rules.

Next Sunday we hope to sneak through northern Las Angeles to Fontana to get needed RV repairs for the land yacht.  We are both excited to get back to the real America outside of the urban jungles!

Thanks for reading.

 
October 11th  We made it down to Fortuna, California south of Eureka with clear blue skies and sunshine.  Yesterday we traveled from Cannon Beach to North Bend, OR with a free night dry camping in a parking lot.  Free is good!  The road side beach front parking along the road in southern Oregon is now mostly marked with "no overnight camping" signs.

So glad that we got fuel in Brookings, OR.  California diesel is one dollar more per gallon presently probably due to the tax difference.  Climbing up and down the hills south of Crescent City, CA was a bit sporty as usual for the land yacht.  At Fortuna we stayed two nights at a nice park called Riverwalk.  When hitting the road we prefer to travel a two hundred mile day then play for to days at the destination.

The land yacht is a 40 foot class A 2003 Alfa See Ya.  It is powered by a Caterpillar 325.  When towing the Honda CRV it can overheat in the summer on the hills.  We had very little of that on Hwy 101 in October.  We often consider that this is too big for two people.  With the two slides there is more room than many apartments.  Next time we may go with a 30 foot.  We could fit into more places.

On the last blog we were headed out of Portland north and east in August.  On the way we had to change course due to an active wild fire. Traveling the Columbia river gorge is about the easiest way to pass through the Cascade mountain range without having to climb too many hills.  We ended up in Hermiston, OR for two weeks.

Hermiston is known for great watermelons and hot Augusts.  Most everything grows well with the plentiful sunshine if correctly watered.  This is a huge agriculture area.  It seems that my sister needed someone to water plants and house sit during their vacation.  We enjoyed all of the fruits and vegetables from her garden.  Somebody had to!

From there we traveled north to Soap Lake for several days.  The lake is known for its healing powers due to the chemical make up in the area.  It actually cured some of the inflammation from the summer bug bites.  Many people would wade out and smear the black mud on their bodies.  The area was near the Grand Coulee dam and the great dry falls.  There is a lot of impressive geology in the area due to ancient lake over Montana breaking the ice dam flooding much of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.

Our goal was to get into the Wells-Gray provincial park in British Colombia.  This is a fairly large, mainly road less area west of the Canadian Rockies with lots of lakes, rivers, and wild life.  We stayed about a week at Wells Gray Golf and RV park.  This park was around twenty miles from the nearest town complete with swimming lake and the occasional bear. 

We were able to observe first hand the salmon attempting to jump up a waterfall.  They gave it their best but the water was too fast and the needed elevation too far.  It was rumored that after failing after several attempts and fatiguing they would lay their eggs in the quiet pools below.

Our next goal was to meet our nephew Jesse at Radium Hot Springs in the Canadian Rockies.  On the way we stayed at Golden, British Columbia near Highway 1.  Here bike trails were everywhere.  Just out of town you can bike to the ski lift which would take you to the top of the hill.  We didn't do it but there must be quite the adrenaline rush mountain biking down a ski trail.

At Radium Hot Springs there were wonderful mountain vistas everywhere.  We stayed at a huge provincial campground just outside of town.  There is a 3km trail from the campgrounds to the hot springs.  In the town there were around 200 mountain sheep settling in for the winter.  We missed the Headbanging festival by 3 weeks.  This is when the mountain sheep rut and bang horns for dominance

and breeding rights.

Canada is expensive but it is fun to be in a foreign country and able to speak the language.  Diesel was over five dollars a gallon.  The exchange rate was US 75 cents to the Canadian dollar.

From there we headed south past several more hot springs and ski resorts to Idaho.  We ended up staying at Sand point for a few days.  There are houseboat opportunities on those lakes but not much for public access or RV parks.

Our next destination was the Spokane area and Fairchild Air Force  Base in particular.  Being retired military we can stay at the base campgrounds.  They are some what cheaper.  This was the first time that our vehicle was searched with the assistance of bomb dogs.  There are many rules and we must behave!  We really enjoyed the roar of the jets again and the sounds of freedom.  At 5pm the star spangled banner is broadcasted over the base and activity stops.  At 9pm they play taps.  At 7am the revelry is played.

 We traversed Washington on Highway 2 stopping at at Cle Elum.  From there we ended up at Joint Base McCord-Fort Lewis for a night.  From there we chose to go to Ocean Shores for some bay front camping at the marina RV park.  This place was very scenic being so close to the water.  There is a lot of ocean front RV opportunities in this beautiful area.

On the way to Portland we stayed at the Chehalis golf course.  Here they included a free golf cart as a part of the deal.  Nice!

This brings us back to Portland and the start of the snow bird adventure.  It is nice to be caught up!

Until next time.  Thanks for reading.

October 8th with rainy Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.  This is the first night of our "Snow bird" trip to the warmer winter states.  After a fairly dry summer for Oregon and the NW in general we now have our first string of fairly gray days and wet weather.  The current plan is to take the 101 south to Los Angeles then turn left towards Arizona.

The last blog ended as we were headed across the center of Oregon turning north towards Lewiston Idaho through Washington on Highway 12 last June.  Lewiston is your typical rural American charming town with several rivers running through it.

If you follow Highway 12 east through the Clearwater River valley towards Montana you are in for a treat.  The river is truly clear and beautiful.  Towards the end is the nice but dated Lolo hot springs and camping area.  You can dry camp for free at the casino near Lewiston.  We also found free dry camping at several spots along the Snake River north of Lewiston with porta potty and garbage support.

Central Idaho is for RV campers who want to get away from it all.  If you take a close look at a map there aren't even roads through much of the area.  There are places named "River of no return".  We would set up a base camp and venture out into the wilderness with our all wheel drive dingy, Honda CRV.  At times we were on dirt roads driving more than 40 miles without seeing another vehicle.  One of the problems with this high adventure was that there was no cell phone service or any other way to ask for help should something fail.

We were able to take a jet boat on the wild section of the Snake river in Hell's canyon for 40 miles.  This was well worth the price.  The vendor was Killgore Adventures.  We also went to the McCall area which was an upscale resort area in the middle of many wilderness adventures.  This was a bit of a climb for the land yacht.  From there we discovered several wilderness road trips.  One of our favorites was to the remote town of Yellow Pine and beyond.  Yellow Pine is around 30 miles from the nearest paved road with many friendly people and few businesses surrounded by many wild rivers.  It would be the ideal area to get away from it all.

From there we headed back towards our home base in Portland, Oregon via Interstate 84.  There were several hills that over heated the Land Yacht during the summer heat.  In La Grande.  The local RV park was limited and expensive.

We were able to stay at several places near Portland for the next few weeks.  In general there are very few places in Portland to allow short or long term RV access.  The few available have many limitations because they can and due to ridiculous laws.  We stayed at Beacon Rock State park which had a 10 day limit and the Skamania County fairgrounds in the heart of the Columbia River gorge.  This is only about 40 miles out of Portland complete with charming towns, scenic views, and summer festivals.  Our favorite was the Gorgegrass Festival featuring Bluegrass music.  There were smaller jam sessions throughout the campground making for some great music fun.

Until next time when we head back on the road to Canada in August. 

October 7th is a long ways from May 31st.  We have been to Canada and back with the land yacht and now are prepared to go south for the winter.  In the mean time my nephew David has finished the Pacific Crest Trail (around 2800 miles) and may have some time to help me with the technology. 

He could help with the motivation as well.  Imagine hiking over 30 miles in one day then taking time to blog!  He then had to find a hot spot in the wilderness in order to broadcast.  I only need to keep my rolling home on the road and then find some internet in order to post.

By the time we got to Sisters, Oregon last June it was clear that we needed new tires.  Our coach vibrations were growing.  We found some flat spots on the tires and some threads in the treads separating.  6 new truck tires cost us about $3300 installed.  The RV is oh so much smoother with the new tires.

A few miles north of Sisters is this small out of the way town called Camp Sherman near the Metolius River near the Deschutes National Forest.  This is where we spent over a week without internet or phone service.  There was a wide spot in the road on the way to the highway that was locally known as the phone booth.  This is where you had to go in order to pick up a phone signal.

We learned that in every national forest there are areas where you can camp for free.  The program is called dispersed camping.  You have to find a safe area a few feet off of the designated roads but not too far into the forest.  For small rigs this would be an opportunity.  For forty foot land yachts it isn't always that easy.  For practical reasons such as dust and vehicle vibrations we try to avoid dirt roads.

The Sisters area is surrounded by beautiful cascade peaks often covered by snow offering great hiking and off road driving.  We made it up the original toll road over Santiam Pass from Sisters to Big Lake near Hoodoo ski area just barely.  Many opportunities for failure with our semi off road Honda CRV all wheel drive.  At times our low clearance wasn't high enough.  The Sisters rodeo shouldn't be missed.

From Sisters we followed Hwy 26 across the rural center of Oregon to pleasant state park near Mount Vernon before following Hwy 395 north to Walla Walla.  There were some extreme hills which caused the land yacht to overheat in the 80 degree days.  Rural Oregon is so much more pleasant than the populated big city messes.

More soon; as David would say:  Thanks for reading.