Airstreaming with Sally & Betty

Pt. Reyes National Seashore We have now been staying 4 nights in any given campground along our way down SR1. It really makes the trip much more enjoyable, especially now that our weather could start changing on us. Since we stayed out of order (meaning we first stayed in Olema and then traveled back north to Bodega Bay) on our way to San Francisco, I am mixing up the blog entries a bit so that it actually makes a little more sense. The Olema RV park was very nice. There were lots of Airstreams here and we even met a couple who were pulling their 25 foot with a VW Toureg. This vehicle is basically the same body frame as Sally but without the Porsche styling. We have also seen a Mercedes SUV pulling an Airstream, but everyone else has trucks. Both Jeff and I have wondered if Sally was the right call for us, but so far so good. We certainly look good while driving down the road, for whatever that is worth! The following passage is copied from a postcard, actually THIS post...

From Trinidad we had over 6 hours of driving to get to our next desired campground. However, that is well above our normal driving time, so we split up the trip to Olema, CA by stopping for an overnight in Fort Bragg. We continued our journey south on US Hwy 101 for a little over 100 miles to the northern terminus of California State Route 1. Our goal was to drive as much of SR 1 as possible all the way down to Paso Robles, CA. We knew from the beginning that parts of the road were closed near Big Sur due to land/mud slides and we expected that we might run into other issues. It was a rainy day and Jeff was still recovering, so it would have been wise for me to be on my best behavior, but... I do get really anxious when driving on the side of a mountain with seemingly a thousand foot drop off to the Pacific Ocean a couple feet from my side of the car. To make matters worse, there were several sections of the road that were under reconstruction due to slides, forcing us to travel...

Well, we were back in California for the first time since the end of July. Our first stop was not far across the border in Trinidad. We stayed at The Emerald Forest, a beautiful resort that really felt like authentic west coast camping. The grounds included at least 10 cabins, some old enough to have a blanket of moss covering their roof shingles, and both tent and RV campsites. The picture to the left of Jeff and a redwood stump is actually IN our campsite - I am standing next to the car to take the shot. We were so thankful to be staying in our very own little Redwood Forest since Jeff got very ill while we were there. I still think it was allergies; he got very dizzy and couldn't hear (worse than normal) for the better part of the two days we were there. Behind our campsite they were storing chipped redwood for compost or mulch to keep the campground pristine. It smelled really lovely and woodsy, like the first day that you bring in your Christmas tree, but was so extreme tha...

I know I am repeating myself, but it must be said! Oregon is by far one of the most beautiful states I have visited! It just keeps getting better! The drive from Coos Bay to Brookings provided seemingly continuous jaw dropping views. My pictures truly do not do the scenery justice. Example of bad light on a beautiful beachscape Since we travel generally between 11:00AM and 3:00pm, the sun is never well placed. Taking this into consideration means that 50% of the time, I would have to shoot into the sun to get the most beautiful views. So, take what you see and double it and you start to understand the beauty that is everywhere on this coastline. Brookings is pretty much the most south western town in Oregon, close to the California border. We stopped for a great lunch on our drive down in Port Orford. It was a tiny little town but our restaurant had a great view and amazing menu. Of course I found bay view real estate for sale! This was not the first time that we half-...

Jeff's Coronado garage Any of you who know Jeff even remotely will understand that his favorite part of our home is the garage. In fact, getting a two car side by side garage was pretty much the only reason that he got excited about finding a new home in Coronado a few years ago. In fact, even after painting and cabinetry improvements, the garage is our number one project when we get home. We need to epoxy the floors and perhaps add a coat of paint, at least to the trim. So back to the blog. As I was walking through some nearby neighborhoods one day in Brookings, OR, I started to notice all of the HUGE garages that are either attached to homes or built standalone beside homes. I would estimate that 50% of these homes had garages with big tall bays and every last one of them seemed bigger than the houses. It should also be noted that a majority of these houses were pre-manufactured homes of some type or another. Being from TN, my first thought was long haul tractor trai...

New Sisters-in-law We detoured inland to Eugene for four nights to visit again with Scott Clark (the youngest of the three) and his new bride, Judy deGrandpre.  We told a lot of stories and one of us drank a lot of wine :) Oh, you remembered that I was on a diet? Yes, sometimes celebrations with new family BFFs call for libations as well. Jeff shot antique rifles with Scott, Evan and Marshall's girlfriend, Katie. Scott and Judy entertained us by making dinner together and Jeff and I even hosted a dinner at our place. We really enjoyed our time there. South Tree Island Back in Florence we energetically tackled a one and a half hour hike through the sand dunes.  The Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area is found in the Siuslaw National Forest and is another gem to visit along the coast. This is one of the largest expanses of temperate coastal dunes in the world! We found them mesmerizing - like something in an Indiana Jones movie - without the snakes! App...