Archive for Uncategorized
June 15, 2006 at 9:06 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
At last, the weather has cleared, the temperatures have risen, it has become a gorgeous day, and I’ve taken advantage of it by …. working at my computer all day.
You see, I made the mistake of drinking a glass of Coca-Cola last night at 6 pm and then taking pseudoephedrine (12 hour Sudafed) for the congestion around 9 p.m. The combination kept me up until 1 a.m. Got a lot of work done but sleep was fitful and I popped up again at 6:30 a.m. There wasn’t anything to be done for it except get back to work, but Eleanor and Emma were still sleeping and so I needed to be quiet.
The upshot was that a few of my early-rising neighbors here in the state park were treated to the sight of me wandering around the trailer in my pajamas, gibbering distractedly on the cell phone to people back east. There goes the neighborhood.
Such is the trailer life, sometimes. I’ve wandered around in my pajamas in more parks that I can count. I think all modesty about such things was lost about 18 states back, somewhere in Nebraska last October. I am only glad that the button-down people sitting in their cubicles that I am occasionally chatting with can’t see me.
So although today was a miraculously beautiful day, calm and temperate, I spent most of it inside the Airstream. Eleanor and Emma went out to re-provision the trailer, and of course then it all caught up with me and I got a blissful nap. There’s nothing better than a nice sunny afternoon nap in the Airstream with beautiful views all around.
June 13, 2006 at 10:28 am · Filed under Uncategorized
We are heading off this morning to Oregon Caves National Monument. The route takes us up 101 to Crescent City, where we were stuck last November for a few days when our kitchen faucet began leaking. Then we’ll cut northeast on Rt 199 into the lower end of the Klamath Mountains and then into Oregon. It should be very scenic. Route 199 even has its own website (although it seems to be down today).
We had considered going up 101 into Oregon along the coast, but decided against it for a few reasons. (1) The weather along the coast is going to stay cool (60s) and cloudy for a while. (2) We know from going south on 101 last November that there’s very little Sprint coverage along the coast and that means no Internet, for us. (3) The inland route along 199 brings us to stuff we haven’t seen before, and sets the stage for Crater Lake National Park, which has been on our “to-do” list for a while.
Pronunciation lesson: Being from the northeast US, we say “ORE-uh-gone” but the locals harass us for it. The local pronunciation is “ORE-ee-gun”. Everybody practice — we’ll be there for nearly a month.
I can see from the network coverage maps we won’t have Internet tonight. So this is all the blog entry I can do until we drive out tomorrow and cross I-5 around Grant’s Pass. Stand by. There should be some good pictures coming out of this overnight stop.
June 12, 2006 at 6:35 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The foggy coast near Klamath, CA
Yesterday had patches of sunshine amidst the fog, but today has to be one of the most blah days we’ve had in months. Predictably, the north coast of California is foggy, but today it has been rainy too. Normally that would be no big deal for us, but everyone is feeling some degree of illness today. The cold Emma caught has affected everyone to a certain extent.
A sunny moment from the 4-mile “Seaside Drive”.
Rich C and I went out this morning in the cool rain to scrub the bugs off the trucks and the front of the trailers. Looking at the bugs smashed on the front, the word “carnage” came to mind. Plus the trucks were still coated with green pollen from Lake Almanor. We got the rigs clean but both came away feeling unusually tired. I stayed in the rest of the day catching up on desk work while the rain dripped down.
However, you need a “down day” in this life once in a while. In addition to getting some work done, this has given us a chance to do some trip planning. We’ve worked out several alternate routes through Oregon, which we can choose according to how everyone feels from day to day. If we’re congested and having trouble equalizing, we can take the coastal route. If people are feeling good and the weather is right, we’ll head inland to Crater Lake. Either way, we’ll end up at George M Sutton RV in Eugene in a week or so for some service and a visit.
We are planning to arrive at the International Rally on the 26th. During the rally, we will be reporting on certain events at the rally that blog readers have asked about. This includes the vote on the club’s name change, and any action on the Base Camp debate.
Tomorrow we plan to start heading north again, and hopefully into some nicer weather. The next anticipated stop is Oregon Caves National Monument.
June 11, 2006 at 1:11 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Our Internet connection (via Rich C) was not available most of the time due to a very poor signal, so I couldn’t update the blog until we pulled into this campground about 80 miles north of the state park. We’ve got wi-fi here, although as usual I wouldn’t be able to access it without the range extender in place.
Saturday was a nice day in hobbit-land, among the giant trees. Waking in the morning I had to check the clock to know if it was even daytime, since so little light filtered down through the tree at 7 a.m. it might as well have been night. The photos don’t really do it justice, since the camera automatically compensated for the general dimness. But it was very neat to be waking up in the redwood forest. The temperatures were very steady (in the 60s) and I never saw any bugs at all. That’s a big plus compared to most other forests we’ve camped in.
Emma slept 13 hours (a direct result of having a cold) and woke up saying she wanted to just hang out at the trailer. That’s pretty unusual for her, so we took her seriously and let her have a quiet morning with Mom. Rich C and I headed out to Fortuna to satisfy Rich’s endless craving for Jelly Bellies.
Fortified by Jelly Bellies, we then we hiked an easy 2.5 mile trail in the park, near the town of Pepperwood. There’s more than redwoods to be seen. Ever spotted a banana slug?
This guy was about 7 inches long.
Emma was the only kid at the 3 pm “Junior Ranger” field trip. She used binoculars and a magnifying glass to learn how to look for animal signs. By this time, I was feeling the effects of the cold (yes, I’ve got it too now), and headed back to camp for a big nap.
It was starting to get depressing in the constant darkness. It felt like wintertime. Rich C came by and said, “I miss sunshine,” so we decided we weren’t going to take a third night in the park. But I’m not saying it’s a bad place to go — quite the contrary. It’s a spectacular park and well worth the visit. Just don’t expect any solar power!
Speaking of which, we arrived at Humboldt showing a deficit of 10 amp-hours on the Tri-Metric (we had regained most of the power we used the night before, during the towing, thanks to plentiful sunshine). By the time we left this morning, we were showing a deficit of 95 amp-hours. We used a lot of power and replenished none of it in the dark forest. But I was interested to see that as soon as we pulled out and into the foggy, overcast sky, we started generating 6 amps. That’s not bad for a cloudy day.
Rich C followed us up Rt 101 today, and we made a group lunch stop at the coast. The wind was picking up so Rich ran to get his kite out. Emma helped him.
And now, we are camped in Klamath, only about 50 miles south of the Oregon border. We’ll stay here a night or two to catch up on work and see some local sights, then head into Oregon.
June 8, 2006 at 10:33 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Our travels have taken us west down the twisting forest roads from Chester, CA, past the still-snowbound Lassen Volcanic National Park, and descending eventually down to the Sacramento Valley. We would have loved to stop at Lassen, but the roads are not expected to be plowed until July. At last report, there was still 15 feet of snow in one of the parking areas.
Poor Emma has caught a cold, apparently from her days of kid interactions on the inflatable slide in Reno. It showed up yesterday, and caused her plenty of grief on the way down from 4,500 feet to the valley floor, since her ears were slow to equalize. We had to take 20 minute breaks at 2,000 feet and 1,000 feet to let her catch up.
But eventually we arrived in the Sacramento Valley. Instead of spending a couple of nights at Lake Shasta, per the original plan, we’ve to go directly to the pacific coast via scenic and exciting route 299 from Redding. This route brought us past the Whiskeytown-Shasta National Recreation Area, and Whiskeytown Lake. It looks like a fantastic lake for boating and quiet recreation, at least mid-week. It is locked in by mountains, like Lake Almanor, and there are numerous quiet coves to explore.
Our destination was further west, past the tiny mis-named village of Douglas City. We’ve found a nice BLM campground for $10 per night (water, no hookups, no dump, scenic river access). The water is high on the river due to planned water releases ““ part of a program to restore native spawning fish to the river.
All the campsites are deep in a valley and shaded by 200-foot ponderosa pines, so our solar panels are not very useful, and there is no cellular service at the campground to speak of. But for one night it’s a great stopover.
Coming here reminded me once again how glad I am to have upgraded to disc brakes. Every road we drove today except I-5 was either twisty, steep, or both. The descent into the campground is probably an 8% downhill grade. Unlike last year, I didn’t have to work to manage our limited brake capacity. Now, I just tap the brakes and the trailer stops the truck. It’s a huge convenience when driving in these mountainous areas.
Our next stop will be Humboldt Redwoods State Park for the weekend. On Saturday we will probably do some hiking in the damp, cool, redwood forests. Internet access in the state park is iffy, so don’t be surprised if I can’t update the blog until Monday.
June 5, 2006 at 3:30 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We pulled out of Mountain Family RV this morning. Staying with the crew there was fun but we are heading northwest toward our eventual rendezvous with friends at the International Rally. So it was time to start moving again.
I forgot to mention that practically next door to Mountain Family RV is a famous old hot springs resort, called Steamboat Springs. This part of Nevada is riddled with hot springs, and this resort is a great example of the old-time style that went with “taking the waters.” I can imagine dropping off an Airstream for service at the dealership and then riding over to the mineral baths for a relaxing soak. We didn’t do it only because we were busy … although I have to admit a $16 bath seemed a bit expensive.
A blog reader asked today to tell a bit more about our wi-fi range extender. I’m using the Linksys WRE54G. It’s about $90, and I’ve seen them at Staples, OfficeMax, and Wal-Mart. It needs AC power, which is a shame, but otherwise I love it. You just take it within range of the wi-fi hotspot you want to extend, press one button, and it locks onto that network. Blue lights on the top tell you when it is locked on. That’s it. The wi-fi hotspot will appear exactly as it should, only with a strong signal. With this, I can easily get onto networks that would otherwise be out of range in my trailer.
The only catch other than the need for AC power is that it doesn’t work very well with encrypted networks. It can be done, but it’s a pain. I recommend it only for extending networks that are “open” (unencrypted). I’m using the repeater today, since my Sprint cellular Internet system doesn’t work here, and Rich’s Verizon Internet system is working.
Where is “here”, you ask? We are in a very nice campground at about 5,000 feet on the north shore of Lake Almanor, under towering ponderosa pine trees. The lake is a striking blue (from a distance), ringed by green mountains with snowy caps. The water in the lake is frigid, of course, but who cares? It’s beautiful. We were going to stay one night, but since we have Internet and phone, we’ll probably stay longer. I’ve got work to do but at least Eleanor, Emma, and Rich C can have fun. Right now they are at the water launching boats made of driftwood. I’ll join up tonight for the cookout.
June 4, 2006 at 7:07 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Two of our favorite things are meeting happy new Airstream owners and meeting blog readers. Today we had the pleasure of both. Blog reader Ned came by to talk about his plans and ideas for post-retirement travel. He’s already got an Airstream (Safari 25) but not enough time yet to go where he wants to go. Still, he had a few good ideas for us, which we will check out along our route tomorrow.
Ned signs the guest book
Emma spent much of the day bouncing down the giant inflatable slide with a bunch of other kids. Running up the steps to the top is serious work (I know, I did it a few times myself). So while she had a great time, she came back completely wiped out.
Then we met this happy family, who just bought a new Airstream Safari Special Edition 25FB at Mountain Family RV this weekend! They’ll be taking delivery on Wednesday. We spent an hour talking to them about everything Airstream related. (I’m embarassed to say we never got their last name — so when you guys read this, be sure to send me an email, OK?)
Thus winds down our visit to Mountain Family RV, and to Reno. We’ll be heading into California tomorrow, with Rich C leading the way. We’ve discussed a few campgrounds we’d like to visit, and he’ll pick one out as he drives through the Plumas County area, since he will be hours ahead of us. We’ll try to rendezvous at the end of the day.
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