Where are we?
January 2006
Subj: 164. Where are we?
Date: Thursday, January 19, 2006
Well, we left Manchester today and started traveling again. This time
it will be for about 6 weeks. Then we will return to the Manchester
Beach KOA where we will stay until the end of November 2006.
We are now in a town in the Eel River Valley. This area is known for
lumber, agriculture, and fishing. We aren't going to do much touring in
this area because we will be heading north. But we do know that some of
the nearby towns are known for their Victorian Architecture.
The drive today was quite interesting. There has been lots of rain in
northern California and the impact of that rain really shows. The road
from CA highway 1 to Booneville had obviously been flooded. Although
the road was dry, the sides of the road were wet, there we standing
puddles and ponds. Debris from the redwood trees and even several trees
were on the ground. Mud was really thick and the Paul Demick campground
(where we visited to do some tent camping) was covered in mud and
debris. The Navarro River must have really been something.
During the New Year's Eve storms, roads both north and south were
closed. However, we did have some happy stranded campers. Especially
after the Happy Hour were provided New Year's Eve with snacks and
champagne!
CA Highway 253, which goes from Booneville to Ukiah over the Coastal
Mountains also showed the result of the rains. In one place one side of
the road had obviously been washed out. Most of the wash out had been
repaired but CalTrans was still working on it. Judging from the many
spotlights in the area, they had to be working 24 hours a day.
Parts of US 101 had also been washed out. With all the rain damage,
today was a very interesting drive.
This past week, we met a very interesting family from Haines Alaska.
The family of nine (mother, father, 5 boys, and 2 girls) are traveling
the lower 48 states to try to sell their children's books. The books
were written by the father (Billy Brown), and illustrated by his wife
or some of his kids. He shared some of his writings with us and we
bought some of his CDs where he reads the books. He is a great writer,
and his stories are interesting. It's obvious that many of his stories
come from the heart. We certainly wish Billy and his family well and
hope they are very successful. If anyone knows of a very low cost
recording room where Billy can make more CDs, let us know and we will
try to let him know.
Now, where are we? We are in Fortuna California but just for the night.
Tomorrow we will head out again. After being parked for about 11
months, it sure is great to be on the road again, even if is for only
six weeks.
The Brauers
Havin' Fun
Subj: 165. Where are we?
Date: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 11:01:25 PM
Well, it's been a while since we last sent a "Where are we?" so this
one will cover a lot. First of all, we are in an area where gold was
found in 1851 by members of a mule train party who were passing through
on their way to the Scott Valley gold fields from Oregon. Another more
significant hint would be that we are about 16 miles south of Oregon.
Our last "Where are we?" was sent from Fortuna California almost two
weeks ago. We've covered a lot of ground since then, and had some major
events happen in our lives.
After Fortuna we drove all the way to Crescent City. That's maybe about
100 miles. In Crescent City we stayed at the Crescent City KOA. Thanks
to being workampers at a KOA, we were comped for the night. The
Crescent City KOA is really nice. The Kabins and the tent sites are all
in the woods with redwood trees. Crescent City does have a couple of
lighthouses within a few miles of each other. One of them, Battery
Point Lighthouse is just off the mainland. One of the interesting
features about the Battery Point Lighthouse is that it is on an island,
except at low tide when you can walk to it without getting your feet
wet.
Several miles north of the Battery Point lighthouse is the Saint George
Reef lighthouse. This one is somewhat unique in that it is about six
miles off shore. Frankly, it's not a pretty lighthouse. It looks kind
of like a turret from a European Castle.
After Crescent City we drove to Florence Oregon. Florence is always a
nice place to visit.
Finally, we drove from Florence to Eugene. Eugene is where Larry's
grandson lives (our youngest), as well as his mother and father. Yes,
we visited Tristan (as well as Michelle and Keith). We even stayed with
Tristan for a night while mother and father took some much needed time
away. We think that everyone had a good time. Tristan didn't even want
us to leave. We have to mention that Tristan knows some sign language.
No, he isn't deaf, he seems to have normal hearing. However, he has
been fascinated by watching CDs of sign language. It's really cool. We
watched several of them and learned some signs. At 18 months, he was
able to tell us he was hungry, that he wanted milk, and several other
things. After we fed him, he also said thank you in sign language. The
CDs claim that if a small child can communicate using sign language,
the terrible twos aren't so terrible. We're sure that Keith and
Michelle will let us know if it's true.
While we were in Eugene, we spent some time looking at new motorhomes.
That was a major mistake. We traded in our 2001 35 foot Winnebago
Adventurer and we now have a 2006 39 foot Winnebago Journey. There were
a few problems with the new motorhome that we had to have fixed before
we left Eugene. Although we had planned on leaving Eugene on Saturday,
January 28, we actually left today January 31. In fact, today was
actually the first time we drove the new motorhome. It's on a
Freightliner chassis, has a 350 horsepower Caterpillar Diesel Engine,
and is a joy to drive. As soon as we get to someplace where the sun is
out, we'll send some pictures.
We did have a new and positive adventure today before we experienced
the snow over the Siskyou Pass. Adrienne had a gum infection and the
antibiotics were not working. When we approached Roseburg, Oregon.
Adrienne checked the Interstate Book and read that a large WalMart was
not far off I-5. We parked the MH and went inside WM. Adrienne told the
greeters that she was having problems and needed to see a dentist. The
greeter recommended his dentist. The other greeter recommended asking
the Pharmacist. In short, we called the greeter's dentist and Adrienne
was seen within 15 minutes of arriving at the dentist. The dentist and
the clinic were outstanding. Adrienne is on a different antibiotic and
is doing fine. This is just an example of how good things can happen in
a strange place while RVing.
Yes, it has rained a lot. In fact, we check our feet daily to see if we
have webs between our toes.
Now, we are headed south to various places to visit friends, kids, and
grandkids.
Where are we? We are spending the night in the rain in Yreka California.
Incidentally, we have stayed in five RV parks since we left the
Manchester Beach KOA. All five of those RV parks have had free WI-FI
Internet access.
The Brauer's
Havin' Fun
in a brand new Winnebago Journey.