Trip Diary

January 1, 2005

Left Spanaway 10:11 a.m. Ate in Portland, Safeway exit 11. Arrived in Salem, Phoenix campground 2:00 p.m.. Note made to check water at the campsite to make sure works before unhooking the fiver. Keiko remembered where the dog walk area was. Decision made to go down Oregon coast at Reedsport given snow and chain requirements on the Siskiyous. Had to look at AAA book to see what we could be seeing on that route.

January 2, 2005

Fueled in Salem, 9 mpg. Drove to Reedsport. Saw several herd of elk. Probably 70 total. Pointed them out to Keiko, who was rather confused. She has never seen elk before and never heard the word elk. Mel developed a migrane and wasn’t feeling well. So we decided to stay in Reedsport at Coho RV park. Grass between the sites is swampy. We remembered to check to see that the water worked, but failed to check to make sure door didn’t open on mud puddle, thus we wipe Keiko’s paws upon entry. Chris and Jim called and were in position to join us at the campground. Had pleasant visit with them.

January 3, 2005

Fueled in Reedsport. Departed at 10 am. Jim and Chris followed. Good drive through Oregon. Frost in shady spots. Road overlooking ocean. was a beautiful drive as sun was out. Road goes up between towns. This is really noticeable in California. Towns below 100'. Road in between much higher. Saw snow on hills. Went to see Trees of Mystery . They have nice sky train/gondola that goes up the hill. Saw more Elk. Saw snow on hills. Fueled in Trinidad after some major hills. Camped by ocean at county park. Keiko not impressed by camping spot, no grass to be let outside on. Saw movie at Jim and Chris’ trailer.

January 4, 2005

Beach was frosty in the morning. Keiko discovered that not all creeks are created equal. Some are deeper. She plunged into one and was startled at the depth and cold. Road had lots of curves and hills. Some of the drive went through some nice redwood. Saw more elk. Willits had interesting people that had tendency to step out or pull out in front of us. Willits also had a city hall reader board mentioning a goal of sustainability for the upcoming year. Spent night in Cloverdale. RV park was atop a hill and squirrels had used telephone outlet boxes to store nuts. Steep switchbacks to get there.

January 5, 2005

We wondered if there was diesel to be found and if any place got trailer traffic given the inaccessibilities of the pumps. Went over the Golden Gate bridge . Was impressive. Though southbound had a $10 toll based on trailer pulling. Cars had $5. Went through San Francisco at good time, road somewhat narrow. Spent evening at Kelly’s. Her girls are cute. Her house is huge and beautiful. Saw large amount of outlet stores which may be worthy of exploration at some point. Stayed in Maple Leaf park in Morgan Hill. Train tracks nearby, but no crossing at which whistle would be blown.

January 6, 2005

Saw Winchester Mansion today. We were there 2.5 hours with just doing the mansion tour and the outside garden. Saving behind the scenes tour for future. Gift shop was not impressive, as most of the souvenir failed to capture the essence of all the additions, remodeling, and craftsmanship. Went to Jelly Belly outlet and Garlic shop. Trains not to bad for noise in park, though rumble sometimes noticable.

January 7, 2005

Spent day at rv park. Winds were at 60 mph. We heard of a trailer that got blown over and was blocking 101. Decided that it was best to stay put for the day. Went over to Kelly's to visit with Chris and Jim while they babysat. On way home we met the smallest rainstorm I've encountered. Within a tenth of a mile it went from not raining to downpour to not raining.

Trip Diary--January 8-14