Melrose Place

It's not a TV show in Oregon but a really nice vineyard gracious enough to let us spend the night in their parking lot.

We left Crater Lake late morning for the, supposedly, short drive to Roseburg where the vineyard is located. We ended up on a scenic by-way which translates into narrow and curvy but it did follow the Umpqua River and made for a pretty drive. After reading about a waterfall along this road we decided to stop and see it for ourselves. Toketee Falls were worth the hike but not worth the trouble we had in the parking lot. The turn around at the end of the lot was too short for our RV and we had to stop, un-hitch, move, and re-hitch the Jeep. In all the years that we have towed a car behind an RV, this is the second time in this coach we have gotten ourselves in that predicament. So, instead of a 3 hour drive, we ended up on the road for 4.5 hours.

We pulled into the Melrose Vineyards in plenty of time to taste and buy some of their wines. We belong to a group called Harvest Host who line up vineyards, orchards and farms where RVers can request the opportunity to spend one night on their property at no cost. This winery is set up as an event destination. They have a huge, lush green yard surrounded by their vineyards. Near the tasting room is the outdoor event center with lovely patio and fountain. The tasting room itself has a couple of patio's and pathways through the yard. Once everyone leaves for the day, we have the whole place to ourselves. It is so quiet and peaceful after a long stressful drive.

Inside a Crater

We left the campsite earlier than we needed to catch the boat tour of the lake but it gave us an opportunity to drive the Rim Road one more time and to have a nice picnic lunch sitting on a log swatting mosquitoes.

The Crater Lake Boat Tour was definitely the highlight of this trip. Again today we had to hike a mile down (and back up) to the lake's edge where we boarded a boat that circled the lake while Ranger Mike gave us descriptions of what we were seeing and answering questions. The day was sunny and hot but on a cold lake surface, it was very pleasant.

There are many features of the rock walls that geologists interpret were caused when the volcano erupted. It happened over 7700 years ago and may have been witnessed by native Americans. There were actually 5 volcanos that made up this mountain with lava tubes and vents all around the lake. After the initial eruption which would have lasted about a week, the collapse of the mountain top only took a few hours. Later other smaller lava flows and eruptions left new volcanos inside the crater, one of which is an island visible in the water.

Wind, rain and snow have changed the landscape and will continue to do so. In one of the pictures you will see Wizard Island towering 700 feet over the water. Pumice Castle is due to erosion, and Phantom Ship is a small island made of lava rocks and is actually as tall as a 16 story building.

We learned about the scientific reason the lake is so blue but suffice it to say it involves the purity of the water and the depth of the crater and the way light is refracted in the water. You will find no purer water or air in the USA and no other lake will ever be this blue.

We had a delightful dinner at the Crater Lake Lodge but then the mood of the evening was ruined when the Jeep refused to start due to a totally dead battery. The park maintenance man tried to jump it once, it wouldn't start so he took us to the RV. That's when we discovered we had left the keys in the Jeep so back up to the Lodge, 13 miles of curvy roads. The maintenance man then drove to his personal pickup truck, got a spare battery out of it and jumped the Jeep. This is an employee who went above and beyond the call of duty!

Bluest Blue Ever

First thing this morning we went to the visitor center to check out hiking opportunities and to get the lay-of-the-land. We saw a great video that explained how the crater was created. The short version - a volcano blew its top off and the mountain collapsed into the hole left by the explosion. Over centuries snow melt and rain have filled the hole. Because no other water has entered this hole, no creak or river has flowed into it, Crater Lake is the purest water in the world. The lake is almost 2,000 feet deep. We heard one man say that if you stacked the Eiffel Tower, George Washington monument and the Statue of Liberty on top of each other, the statue's torch would still be 100 feet below the surface. The blue color is due to absorption of light with only the blue spectrum visible to the human eye. The lake is 4 miles across at the narrowest and 6 mile across at its widest.

It is Beautiful! We've never seen such a deep, pure blue water. The towering sides add to it grandeur and impact and while snow is on parts of it and on the surrounding mountain peaks that just accentuates its purity. The closest part of the rim to the surface of the lake is a mile hike over about 1000 feet. A Rim Road goes all the way around the lake and if it were open, it would be a 33 mile drive but they have closed about 1/3 of the road due to repair work and snow. Speaking of snow, we discovered that summer doesn't start at Crater Lake until tomorrow, June 28. The boat rides on the lake start then, the ranger talks start then and so do the trolley rides around the rim.

We drove the rim road to take in different vistas of the lake and then hiked the mile down to the boat dock which we will do again tomorrow. We also took a short off-trail hike after our picnic lunch and almost got lost! But it was so pretty and peaceful in the woods despite all the mosquitoes.

Onward To Crater Lake

We pulled out in rain this morning and it appears we will be in rain most of the day. We drove up Hwy. 101 thru Del Norte Redwoods State Park and Jedediah Smith Redwoods St. Pk. So saw a few more trees and some awesome Pacific coastline. It would have been better if the clouds weren't so low.

Just across the Oregon border we turned onto another winding and narrow road towards Crater Lake but first a stop for groceries and gas. In Oregon you cannot pump your own gas but it is about $.46 cheaper than in CA and when you are filling an RV that's a huge savings!! Plus Oregon has no sales tax.
We got to Crater Lake National Park about supper time so took the first site we came to. Tomorrow we'll get one that is a little more secluded.
A crackling campfire rounded out the evening.
(By the way, we have no cell or wi-fi service here so these next few posts will have been delayed and all coming thru at the same time. )

Eel River Rockbar

It rained most of the night and into late morning with more rain predicted. We have decided we need to get to Oregon if we are going to have enough time to see every thing on our list so today we found a commercial RV park in Eureka, CA to clean and do laundry in preparation for the next leg of our journey.

Before we left the Redwoods we took one last drive along 'The Avenue of the Giants' to sate our love of these trees. But then John found a road down to the riverbed where we could drive on the gravel bar and he could dream about fishing for trout. We always wonder how many pickup trucks get stuck there!

After a nice seafood dinner in Eureka we walked around the Old Town and then spotted this beautiful Victorian mansion.

Bull Creek Flats

After a very lazy morning we suited up and went for a long hike among the giants. The area of the state park we chose, Bull Creek Flats, is considered the largest old-growth area in the Redwoods forests. Old-growth refers not to just old trees but to a forest community for we saw ancient redwoods among many other types of trees; ferns and clover coated the floor of the forest, and dead trees and stumps littered the area while some dead trees remained standing. We found ourselves saying, "There's a really big one!" many times. Monstrous logs, cave-like holes in the bottom of living trees, or trees leaning so far we were afraid they could fall had us explaining "Wow!" Our necks grew sore trying to locate the tops of the trees or examining the canopy.

We saw the largest living Redwood and one of the widest logs but, I swear there were bigger logs in the forest! Flat Iron Tree,the name given the log John is standing near, was measured at 7.5 X 17.5 feet in a cross section but it looks like the tree I'm next to is even bigger. We also tried to convey in a picture the serenity we found among the trees. It was very quiet and peaceful wherever we walked. As it was a very cloudy day, we didn't experience the dappled sunshine many brochures mention.

The trail map showed the trail we walked to be about 7.5 miles but our pedometers indicated we walked over 9 miles! A beer at the end of the day was very welcomed! And the rain that was predicted to arrive at 3 PM didn't start until 9 PM! Good Day!

Rain and Redwoods

This morning dawned foggy and cloudy and rainy. The forecast is for lots of rain for the next 2-3 days all along the coast. The Redwoods were beckoning and we felt that hiking in the rain under their tall canopies was more appealing than sitting in the RV. Hwy 1, the Coastal Highway, is just as narrow and winding as the other roads we have driven and when we added in rain, the drive got really slow.

We are staying in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in the Burlington Campground. The California way of reserving all the campsites puts us at a disadvantage when we pull in without a reservation. We did get a site for two nights but if we want to stay longer, we run the risk of having to change sites. This campground is in the midst of a Redwood grove that is so dense, we didn't even realize that the sun had come out! We both enjoyed a nice 2 mile stroll among the giants. I wish we could show you a picture that could help you visualize the massive size of these trees. Some are over 2,000 years old, the tallest are longer than a football field and the largest diameter is 20 feet.

My neck hurts from craning up for a look at the top of the trees!

Wine Tastes Better in Anderson Valley

John had read about the up and coming wineries located in the Anderson Valley region of California's wine country. The wineries we chose to visit were located north of Booneville on the same twisty, narrow road we drove up here on, Hwy 128. It took us about an hour to drive the 40 miles to the first winery on our list.

Almost all the wines we tasted were estate wines or a blend of grapes from vineyards located in Anderson Valley. Our first stop was Roederer Vineyards. They specialize in bubbly wine and was a real treat for me so I insisted that we buy a bottle. Next was Handley Winery. We bought a bottle of their Pinot Noir and when John checked it out, it has a rating of 91. We knew it was pretty good but had no idea it was rated that highly.

We did a tasting at Navarro Wines, which came highly recommended by Wine Spectator. We bought a half bottle to have with our lunch on their lawn. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Not too many people are visiting the wineries today, most likely because of the music festival. Therefore, we had two empty benches where we grabbed a quick nap.

The fourth winery was Toulouse but we didn't find any there that we liked although the people really knew their wine and had some good suggestions for food parings. More than four wine tastings in one day is really pushing the limit. At this point we couldn't decide if we liked a wine or not as our taste buds were becoming overwhelmed (or was it the alcohol affecting our brains?) but we pushed on to our last stop, Breggo Winery. We liked their wines, we think, but we really enjoyed visiting with the other customers and the young lady serving the wine.

We returned back to the RV via a short cut more directly over the coastal mountains but it took about the same time since the road was so narrow and curvy. In the little town of Manchester we saw these sculptured trees.

California State Parks

The reason we can only stay in the Hendy Woods State Park for one night is that they are completely booked for the weekend due to two music festival nearby. And California parks are completely reservable. One can reserve and pay for a site for three nights and never show up and the park cannot give that site away. Other places we have stayed will give that site away if not occupied within 24 hours.

We sure wish we could stay at Hendy Woods. It is deep within a forest where several Redwood groves are located and has a bunch of hiking trails running thru them. It is a peaceful location. So before we left we took advantage of the trails and saw our first Redwoods. Late morning we pulled out and had to drive another 20 miles or so on the dreadful narrow, curvy road up to Hwy 1, the coastal highway, which is also very narrow and curvy, plus they are repairing evey bridge and they are closed to one lane. This time I'm driving the Jeep following John in the RV. But we did find Manchester State Park with lots of empty sites located near the Pacific coast. We are close enough to hear the waves but far enough away to avoid some of the wind.

From our campsite we can see the Point Arena Lighthouse which is actually about five miles away. Late afternoon we decided to go to the lighthouse and then on into the town of Point Arena for some wine and dinner. Of course, the lighthouse and museum were closing as we arrived so we will have to come back. The little village of Point Arena is quaint but has a couple of very nice places to dine. The wine bar was having a Tango Dance evening including lessons which we declined but we did enjoy their wine. Dinner was at Uneda Eat, very cozy and nice food. We sat at a communal table so had an interesting conversation with a couple from Boston who are in the area on vacation.

We watched the sun set into the ocean and the moon rise over the mountains for a pleasant end to the day.

We Have Arrived FINALLY

It rained most of the night but cleared up Wednesday morning as we crossed from Wyoming into Utah. Still on I-80 we crossed the mountains, passing by Park City ski resort and into Salt Lake City where we had decided we would gas up. Now we discover a BIG problem with our GPS. The Love's gas station is on our "route" according to the GPS but she has us exit into downtown Salt Lake City, pass the temple then turn left to travel along the tram tracks then left again through an industrial part of town and then left again and into the gas station which is 1 block off of I-80!! A big circle all for nothing.

As we are leaving Salt Lake City the wind starts to pick up which makes it very difficult to drive the RV even with all the suspension upgrades. Since I don't feel comfortable driving in the wind, John drives all day. We have several misconceptions about northern Nevada. One being that it is all flat desert and two that it will be hot. Both of these are wrong. We traveled up and down mountains all day and it was a bit chilly, not the least bit hot. But one thing we knew to be true was that there are not many places to stop along this leg of our journey. We pulled into the suburbs of Reno about 9 pm and found a casino parking lot that allowed RV's to spend the night if you sign up for their 'players card'. We did not play but - we went to bed! They did give us some coupons so we had the $2.99 bacon eggs & all you can eat pancake breakfast.

Thursday was the travel day from HELL! From Reno into CA we have to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains over Donner Pass with lots of altitude changes and many curves. Then we drop into Sacramento and lots of freeway and city driving. Once through there we get on the absolute worst road we have ever traveled along thinking we would take a short cut and miss the bay area freeways. Hwy 128 is a narrow, squirrelly route through most of California wine country. If we had been in the Porsche, it would have been lots of fun but not in this top-heavy, tall and long RV! We never drove over 45 mph, we hit tree limbs, we narrowly avoided several oncoming logging trucks and the edge of the road by inches.

John has now been driving for two days over 900 miles with no break. His back, knees and arms are killing him and all I can do is try to warn him if we get to close to the edge or to an overhanging tree. By the time we pull into the campground he is exhausted! Then we find out the campground is full but they might be able to get us on one site for only one night. I take it!!

2,240 miles

We left the Newmar Rally on Saturday morning and drove to St. Charles to visit my mom and step-dad, my brother and sister-in-law, my sister and niece and our grandson and his parents all at my mom's home.  We had a really nice mini-family reunion and visit!

Monday morning found us on the road headed west.  It took us most of the day to get to Lincoln NE where we got onto I-80 which we will travel all the way to CA - 2240 miles total.  We spent Monday night at the Walmart in North Platte NE. 

Today we finished crossing NE and most of WY staying at a KOA in Lyman WY. Only about 920 miles to go. 

We were only getting 6.3 mpg driving 65 so John drove 70 on one tank of gas and we got  6.0 mpg so we slowed to 55 mph and we improved to  6.4 mpg. Can you guess how fast we are driving now?

Getting Lots of Exercise

At this rally, there are not very many activities or seminars which John and I are interested in attending but we are getting plenty of exercise. Every morning we join the walking group for 30-40 minutes of brisk walking. Today we rode our bike for about 8 miles. Then, any time we walk up to the event center we are logging about 1/2 mile there and back plus it's a big event center so we get lots of steps in there as well.  And it seems we go to the event center often! 

Today we drove to Carbondale, home of Southern Illinois University, and had lunch at Fat Patties. We had great hamburgers! John's was a 'heart attack waiting to happen' -  burger, brisket, bacon, cheddar, fried egg - and mine was a blue cheese burger. 

We are so ready to really start our adventure now!!

Rally Days

We arrived at the Newmar International Rally Monday morning after taking a wrong turn. We have met a few couples from last year and are making new friends. We have upgraded some of our interior lights to LED's, gotten the coach washed by someone else, and we are considering chassis stabilizing improvements. Other than that, there is not much else we are interested in doing. 

The weather has turned very hot but luckily the A/C works and we are parked under a large shade tree!

Summer Adventure Begins

We are headed to the Pacific Northwest this summer but first a short trip eastward to Du Quoin, IL for the Newmar Kountry Klub National Rally. 

We stopped for the evening at Cave Vineyard near Sainte Genevieve. We belong to a organization called Harvest Host. As such we can spend a night on the property of their members' wineries, farms etc. at no charge. We are encouraged to buy some wine or food. That's not hard. 

This place is so pretty and peaceful. And they have some nice Missouri  wines. But the unique aspect of Cave Vineyard  is the natural cave on their property. They have made it into a great tasting area which is a cool place to be in the hot summers afternoons. 

Tomorrow we join the rally.