Day 59...Nov 12
Why go to the trouble to set up the stove, make French Press
coffee and have to deal with the cleanup afterwards when one could simply
get in the van and drive to Starbucks, only a few miles down the road? This
was where my mind was at as I woke up to the day. Kerry agreed....she loves
her Starbucks. To my surprise there was a Subway right next door. Subway
for breakfast sounded good to me.
As we continued making our way along highway 1, we passed
through some amazing little towns that neither of us had ever heard of
before. There were fishing villages selling fresh BBQ oysters and other
towns selling the freshest produce.
The fields of artichoke and Brussels
sprouts ran from horizon to horizon. We even stopped at the Pigeon Point
Light House to capture, or at least try to capture the impressive
image.
For lunch we stopped in Half Moon Bay, a favorite place of
ours and our Aunt Bernice and Uncle Ed. They are both gone now. When
Bernice passed, after her ashes were scattered at sea everyone gathered at
the Half Moon Bay Brewery in her honor. Today Kerry and I enjoyed sitting
on the bench in front of the brewery, dedicated by the family in the name of
Bernice and Ed. Touching...
\
After lunch we continued north to where the 1 merged with
the 101...or at least it looked that way. We found ourselves following the
instructions of the GPS which took us through neighborhoods in San
Francisco eventually leading us across the Golden Gate. I never realized
that there was a view point where one could pull off and get some bridge
and cityscape pics...and that is just what we did.
Soon we made our way back to the coastal route highway 1.
After a couple more hours of winding, twisting 20mph roads we decided to
get back to the 101 and get some miles behind us (plan B).
We enjoyed an amazing (and restful) stop at Clear Lake in Lake Port...
By the time the
sun started to set we were passing the town of Healdsburg. The sign up
ahead said camping so we veered off in search of the camp ground. We
continued to follow the signs, for miles. The road narrowed as it climbed
up the side of a hill. Potholes all around us as we continued to blindly
follow the signs. There was a bridge that was only one lane wide and as we
stopped for an on-coming car I couldn't help notice the look on their
faces. Were they laughing at us? I wanted to turn around but the road was
too narrow. Kerry wanted to continue. Then we saw the sign up ahead that
read...Do Not Despair ... You Are Almost There. Eventually we found a KOA
perched atop this hill, tucked away behind the vineyards.
Looking at the weather forecast at home we decided to see if
we can get back home by Saturday. Next stop, Crescent City and from there,
home!
Day 60...Nov 13
When we woke up this morning we continued, as planned, to
navigate up the 101. After a couple of hours we thought about the weather
that was heading towards home and decided that we were better off getting
home a day before the bad weather was due to hit. I was not interested in
navigating snowy passes...been there, done that! The option we pondered was
to head over to highway 5 and slam it home, stopping in Redding for an overnight
stay at a cousins house. We decided that this option was the smart way to
go.
We found a small road that took us to highway 5 and the
north bound road home. As we arrived in Redding we decided to make two stops
before heading to Adrienne and Nicks house (Kerry's cousin and her
husband). As we left the KOA this morning the manager told us about a bridge
that was built in Redding. This bridge was attracting a lot of attention.
It was called the Sun Dial bridge at Turtle Bay.
This was a great outing
opportunity for Kerry, Rosie and me. As we walked over the bridge we
noticed a couple of guys in a boat looking for salmon. I told Kerry that
they must be Indian because they were gaffing the salmon. Then as one guy
gaffed a fish and lifted it out the water, the other guy used a large
scissor to cut the salmon in half, leaving the two body parts to slowly
float away. I yelled down to them asking them what they were doing. They
told me that they were with the Fisheries Dept. and this is how they count
the dead salmon after the spawning is done. By cutting the already dead
fish in two they are assured not to count the same fish twice. Interesting.
From there we drove to Costco to top off my gas tank. This
was the second time during this trip that we found a Costco who didn't sell
gas. We ended up getting gas somewhere else...then we went to Kerry's
cousins place. Kerry's other cousin Charlie also stopped by to see Kerry.
It was like a mini reunion. After a great take out Chinese dinner we all
sat around chatting for a few hours. We parked our van on the street
in front of the house...that was where we would sleep tonight...on the
street...in this gated community.
Day 61...Nov 13
After a few cups of coffee with toasted bagels we hit the
road once again. It was Friday morning and we were 140 miles from
home. We were on a schedule that would have us home by 2:00pm. The
passes were clear and traffic light. We never did make it to Crescent City.
Before we knew it we were watching
Mount Shasta disappear behind us. Ashland was up ahead and it too arrived
quickly before disappearing behind us. Next stop would be Costco to load up
on needed supplies.
Then the moment came when we pulled into our driveway and
entered our home. It was a weird feeling. Everything was just as we
left it, with maybe a little extra dust here and there. Chloe, our house
sitter and her belongings were gone. The house felt cold from the chill
outside. While Kerry got the heater turner on and put away the groceries, I
started unloading the van. All of the laundry we had was dropped in the
laundry room for Kerry to sort while I continued removing items from the
van, one piece at a time. I couldn't believe how much stuff we had crammed
in there, a lot of which we never used.
It took me a solid hour and a half to finally get to the
point where I was ready to remove the memory foam mattress. Once I had it
securely in its plastic bag and taped shut it slid easily to its final
resting place in the back of one of the downstairs closets. Next order of
business was to unload the Yakama on top of the van. This went a lot
quicker. With the van nicely tucked in the garage it was time to sit
back and do something we did very little of during the past 60 days...enjoy
our home.
It was really nice and sort of strange to be sleeping in our
own bed. Tomorrow will be one last push to get everything back
into its place...then it will be done...
Red States = States Visited
TOTALS
Gas
$808.26
Miles
9550
Days
61
States Visited
34
BLOG Word Count
18,472
ACCOMODATIONS
Hotels/Motels
4
Family
24
Friends
6
Camp Sites
26
WalMart
1
|
