Category: 2021
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Crater Lake
The plan had been to bike around crater lake. Then we learned that the road was not open yet. Although it is May 22nd, they had not yet opened the rim road due to heavy snowfall this year. The Rim hike was also closed due to snow, so we ended up walking the part of the road that was open to hikers ā Discovery Point to the Wizard Island Overlook.
It was cold! We are not used to temperatures in the 30ās! I personally did not pack well for this trip. I usually bring way too many cold weather clothes and not enough warm weather. But this trip is the opposite. So I have on my biking base layer, a long sleeve T shirt, a vest, a sweatshirt, and my rain jacket! After our hike we did stop at the gift shop and I scored a nice wool camping shirt. That will help, but I think Iām going to miss my puffy jacket.
We did enjoy some great sights on our two mile hike.
After our Crater Lake hiking we stopped at Beckies for lunch. Its amazing how smells bring back memories. Sitting outside this walkup restaurant waiting for my burger I was transported back to the drive-in in Storden Minnesota. Yeah, its just hot grease, but still.
On the way back to the campground there were two more opportunities to see the beauty of the Rogue River.
Meanwhile, back at the campground, the plan was to make some soup for supper in the instant pot. But it seems that the electrical cord has gone missing! Another stop at Wal-Mart or best buy I guess…. I donāt know where it could have gone as it has never really left the camper, and Iāve used it at least once before. But we looked everywhere, and by we I mean both Jane and I so it wasnāt just āman lookingā
Tomorrow we have a fairly long day heading North to Cascade Locks.
The Avenue of the Giants
8:00 This morning we are getting an early start and Iāve decided to record this in real time, or at least near real time. We have another 50 miles on Highway 1, so more slow going on twisty winding roads. Iām writing this as we go today. We have left the coast and are amongst the redwoods. The road is super narrow but lined with trees, its just beautiful the way the sunlight filters through creating shadows all around us. There are few turnouts , so no real opportunities for taking photos.
9:25 still a few more miles to go before we get to the 101.
9:39 Just saw our first advertisement for the āDrive Through Treeā! We will not fit, but hopefully we will see it.
9:45 We are on the 101, but a sign advises us that there are sharp curves for the next 9 miles and we are advised to slow down. š. Lots of tourist traps for ātree housesā and Confusion Hill House, and the āone log cabin!ā An entire log house made out of a single log. It looks like more of a hobbit house or a culvert with a door, but whatever.
9:52 We are on the freeway, at least for a short time…
10:03 - the legend of bigfoot! complete with three highway patrol officers with their lights flashing. I guess we will not stop to buy any bigfoot souveniers.
10:20 We are now on the Avenue of the Giants. We are heading for Founders Grove to make a stop and enjoy the Redwoods for a bit. Some of the Redwoods in founders grove are over 350 feet tall!
Lots of pictures looking straight up today!
11:08 Just finished the nature walk at the visitor center. Amazing! There is no way our pictures are going to capture the size and beauty of these trees!
12:00 Just finished our walk at Founders Grove! Amazing, Amazing, Amazing. The Founders tree is 349 feet tall! More than a soccer pitch! The diameter is over 12 feet and the circumference just over 40
12:10 pull over by some big trees for a picnic lunch along side the road. A most picturesque lunch spot!
12:24 back on the road ā 2:17 minutes left to our destination. The rest of the day will be on Hwy 101.
1:30 Gas stop in Eureka! Last stop before our campsite…
2:25 Arrived - Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
2:45 We have determined that our campsite and our camper are incompatible. The site is steep and it is impossible to get our camper anywhere near level. Jane seeks out the Ranger to see if there are any cancellations.
3:00 they have two possibilities for us. After a little walk around the campground we determine that one is super small, and level, but there would be no room for the truck. Luckily the other will work great for one night. Its a bit exposed with the slide hanging right out to the road. But most sites near us are already occupied so we donāt expect much traffic.
3:45 we are finally in our campsite with the trailer leveled up and the solar panels plugged in.
4:00 we take off for a hike, having abandoned the idea of a 20 mile bike ride.
4:20 we arrive at Fern Canyon for our hike. It is for the best that we didnāt try to ride our bikes here after all. Its a steep one lane road with the barest of turnouts for when you meet someone. Thankfully the hike makes it all worth while. Fern canyon is a coastal bluff left behind by the retreating oceans years ago. The steep walls of the bluffs are covered with ferns, and the little steam running down the middle makes for a beautiful hike. Again the pictures surely do not do it justice.
5:25 depart Fern Canyon for Lady Bird Johnson Grove. This is completely different than Founders Grove as it is higher in elevation, on a ridge top where the winds challenge the trees all the time. Its great that this is named after Lady Bird Johnson, who fell in love with this grove when she came to dedicate Redwoods National Park in 1968, but it is pretty humbling to consider that when many of these trees have been here for 1,000 years!
7:00 Back at the campsite! Time to make some dinner and relax. Tomorrow we head to Crater Lake where we will stay for two nights.
El Capitan State Beach - The Adventure Begins
This morning began with Coffee and a quick, but promising, Zoom meeting with the folks from ProjectSTEM.org, about how Runestone and ProjectSTEM can work together. After that energizing call I quickly transitioned to camper loading mode, before heading out for our final nine holes of golf with the couples league at 9AM. In the meantime the guys showed up to start laying the Pavers 
in our new courtyard area! Talk about a busy last day in the desert!
Our latest journey will take us up the california coast following Highway 1 and 101, through Oregon and into Washington state where we will retrace the steps of our honeymoon from 34 years 11 months ago! Weāll call it 35 years. when we finish our visit to the Olympic Peninsula weāll head east and meet our friends Jim and Karen in Chelan Washington, and then make a beeline for Minnesota across the barren north! We are looking forward to 3 weeks of beautiful scenery, eating seafood out, hiking, biking and our little camper.
We are now experiencing LA traffic, sitting on the Ventura HIghway, going slow., the free wind is not blowing through our hair as we have the AC on. We also havenāt been hit by any purple rain, so we got that going for us. Only 98 miles to go to our campsite but the estimated time of arrival keeps holding steady so I guess all this traffic was anticipated. Iām happy to report that the temperature here on the 101 is a good 20 degrees cooler than when we left Indio just a few hours ago. That is down 20 degrees from 100!
We are now happily in our campsite at El Capitan State Beach! It is only 65 degrees here so its starting to feel like Minnesota, but we are so happy to be on the road and are already enjoying this new adventure! 
We got the camper set up and went for a short hike! 
Next up happy hour, dinner, and then some rest after a very busy day.
Katie Kukulka, an information officer with the California Energy Commission, takes photos during a tour of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojave Desert in California near Primm, Nev. Feb. 13, 2014. The project, a partnership of NRG, BrightSource, Google and Bechtel, is the worldās largest solar thermal facility and uses 347,000 sun-facing mirrors to produce 392 megawatts of electricity, enough energy to power more than 140,000 homes.
