Farther East

After my two week stay at Cattail Cove State Park was over, I headed a bit south and then due east. I stopped for the night in Benson, Arizona, a tiny town about an hour east of Tucson. I picked an RV park pretty much at random from my trusty AllStays Camp & RV iPhone app. When I checked in, they invited me to sign up for a visit to the observatory. I said why not and at 7:00 showed up to see what it was all about. Wow, was I blown away. They have an 18" Meade reflector telescope in a full observatory with a rotating dome and such. The guy in charge of the "show" was a lifelong astronomy nut who landed the job after the RV park changed hands (he is also the manager of the park itself). He said this is the only RV park in the country with an astronomical observatory. How cool is that? I saw some globular clusters, a few blue and red giants, binary stars and a closeup of jupiter and a few of its moons (the red spot was visible!). But the most awe inspiring was the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery. This experience was so awesome that I had to do it again and decided to stay another couple of nights. The RV park was a very pleasant place to stay, with friendly staff and very close to a Safeway for shopping. My only complaint was the trains. Something like 40-50 a day (and night) come through and they blow their horn again … and again … and again. Kinda messed up my sleep cycle. Oh well...

I drove past mile after mile of Saguaro cactus. Almost a forest in some spots.

My spot at Butterfield RV Park in Benson, AZ

The Butterfield RV Park Observatory

A Meade LX 200 GPS telescope. I can get one of my own for only $13,000 :)

Back in the Desert

After leaving Oregon, I journeyed through lots of fog banks. The coastal fog was mostly pleasant, eerie yet magical. I spent a night in Redway (on Route 101, a bit south of Eureka).

The next day I stopped at a little grocery store in Laytonville. It was so wonderful. Filled with everything I like (and more). I got some BBQ tofu nuggets that were so good I had to force myself to stop eating them and save a bit for later. And some very tasty pesto pizza. And some really good coconut date bars. And more. While Eureka is a major city (28,000), Laytonville is more quant (1200) and the feel is total hippie vibe.

I kept going for a while and started heading east and passed through the Clear Lake area. Very nice. If I was in the mood to stop, it would be a nice vacation spot. I decided I wanted to get south of Sacramento for the night and getting past such a major city was not on my fun list. At first I told my GPS app to avoid freeways, but that was much too long a route, so I decided to allow a stretch of I-80 and managed to get through unscathed. I hadn't seen a truly big city in a long while and it was crazy … office buildings, malls, factories, warehouses, stores, and lots and lots of cars.

Once I got near Sacramento, a dark gray foreboding sky and steely fog set in and didn't let up until I was about 30 minutes from Boron.

I spent the night in a little town south of Stockton. The next day brought some easy driving straight south down State Route 99, passing through agricultural and industrial areas of the Central Valley of California.

In Bakersfield I  turned east and started heading up towards the Tehachapi Summit (4700 feet). I went through (and I'm being serious) the most intensely dense fog I have ever experienced. It was insane. I fell into a strategy of putting a car as far in front of me as possible where I could still see its lights. But I had to keep pace, otherwise it would disappear and that was scary. I couldn't stay in the right lane because some of the cars were going dangerously slow. My eyes are still burning. I had to engage my x-ray vision. Discerning the slightest change in fog density … oh, yes! … that is a semi I am passing. Most of the cars were driving very carefully … only a couple assholes who insisted on weaving through traffic. This is one of those cases where I couldn't stop on the shoulder because it would probably be more dangerous and taking an exit would mean I was stuck in the middle of nowhere in a fog bank. So I pressed on. 

Finally, just after the Tehachapi Summit, it started to clear a bit. Then, the fog and clouds vanished and bright sunshine was washing over everything. I started playing the Who song in my head … I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles. It was almost too much. It hurt! And I realized how intense the previous 30-45 minutes were. Wow.

I arrived in Boron, CA and spent the night. The wind was howling and it was rather chilly. Boron is sort of creepy, not in a bad way, but just a little bit odd. It seems very remote. It is "famous" for the world's largest boron mine and for the being the location where the movie Erin Brokovitch was filmed.

Yet another day of driving. Lots of wind and clear skies. I ended up in northwest Arizona. Two weeks at Cattail Cove State Park, about 15 miles south of Lake Havasu City. Nice to get away from the craziness of city life and I was able to enjoy some very scenic walks with Buddha.

Some gentle coastal fog, feeding the redwoods with moisture.

The Eel River in Redway, CA

Lake Havasu is a man-made lake formed by a dam on the Colorado River. The water is clear and blue.

Notice the shadow figures of me & Buddha :)

Desert life. Lots of cactus (and rattle snakes and scorpions, though they are quiet this time of year)

A Quick Dip Into Oregon

Next up, a weeklong stay in Brookings, Oregon. Just over the state line from California, on the coast, Brookings is a nice little town with an easygoing atmosphere. To get technical, I actually stayed in Harbor, Oregon, an even smaller town (2500 people) and just across the Chetco River from Bookings. But "Harbor" sounds rather nondescript, so I'm going to say I was in Brookings.

I arrived on a beautiful sunny day, but was treated to a full-on storm for the next several days. Lots of rain and wind. Very much fun! Then back to a mix of sun and clouds. I took some long walks with Buddha, got a bit of work done and feel happy to be back on the move again...

My spot. Nothing exciting, but very close to the harbor and the beach.

There was a lot of damage to the harbor from a tsunami caused by the March 11, 2011 earthquake in Japan.

I've been a couple of miles from the ocean for the past 6 months, but have only rarely made it to the beach.

The Chetco River. Lots of salmon!

The port filled with boats, mostly commercial.

Crab pots. The dungeness crab season starts back up on December 1st.

On the bridge between Harbor and Brookings, overlooking the Chetco River.

Eureka!

Five months. In one town. For me that is like growing roots :)

I continued my journey from Cloverdale and wound up in Eureka, a smallish town on the coast in northern California. I had intended to stay for a few weeks, but several things kept me there all summer:

1) The weather. It was almost an ideal climate for me. With a few exceptions where the temperature hit a blisteringly hot mid 70's, most days it settled around the mid 60's. And I was a couple of miles inland, so away from the cold blankets of fog.

2) Errands. This was the first app that I wrote for iOS. I am proud of what I did, but it was in need of a major update. I kept putting it off, partly because it needed a lot of refactoring work and partly because I just wasn't motivated. Sometimes being my own boss isn't good for productivity. It is too easy for one part of me to convince the other part of me that procrastination is the best policy. Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow. I decided that staying in one place would eventually lead me to the desperate realization that I had nowhere to hide and might as well do the work. And I did! Errands 3 is out and is doing great and I feel re-energized as far as my work goes.

3) The name of the town. Just being silly, but I started watching the Eureka TV series on Netflix while I was in Eureka, so I had to stay, right?

4) Walking to stores. I often stay in state parks and generally remote areas, sometimes 15 miles from the nearest tiny town. In Eureka, I could walk to grocery stores, the laundromat, etc. It was kinda fun to be in a town for a spell.

It seems like Eureka is burned into my retinas. Seared into my consciousness. But I am back on the road again and it feels very liberating. Here are a few photos from my stay in Eureka...

I stayed in this spot the whole time I was in Eureka. I only drove on a couple of occasions, instead walking everywhere, usually several miles each day.

Shortly after I arrived, the Humboldt County Fair took place. The loop ride behind me was amusing. Hours of cyclic screams. And the folks camped next to me for a few days were true "carnies".

A few weeks after the fair, the Monster Truck show came to town.

I went to the Monster Truck show with this wonderful family that camped next to me for a month or two. The girl with the dog print shawl really loved Buddha and had a great time playing with him.

This bread is from a bakery in nearby Arcata. It was wonderful and delivered daily to a small grocery near where I stayed. I had literally stopped eating bread as I can't stomach the factory stuff, but this summer it became a renewed part of my diet. I miss it already :(

I was right next to a redwood forest that was on private land (complete with no trespassing signs, which I ignored after noticing others do the same). I took some nice walks with Buddha, though occasionally a logging truck would come by and throw up a bunch of dust.

Humboldt County is renowned for both the quality and quantity of herb it produces. It is big business in these parts and I was constantly amused at how openly it was talked about in the local press. There were many other little signs of the business, such as trimming scissors sold in in little country stores, turkey bags sold in bulk packs of 100, organic fertilizers and root hormones sold everywhere, numerous hydroponics stores and so on. However, the overall vibe was that of normal small-town USA.

Redwoods

I spent a weekend with my lovely daughter and my ex-wife, camping amongst the redwoods in northern California. A VERY enjoyable weekend. Filled with laughter, lots of yummy food, an insane drive to the coast, a really nice hike, campfires and more.

Notice the blue tongue (silly girl!)

The Shrine Drive-Thru Tree in Myers Flat, CA

In Shelter Cove with the ocean in view.

It was very foggy here ... a bit creepy in a Stephen King sort of way...

Our campsite at Richardson Grove State Park, outside of Garberville, CA

There's that tongue again ;)

Never far from her iPhone...