Mid to late May 2021

We crossed into California and made our way to Salton Sea, a land-locked sea, which looked interesting on the map.

At 227 feet below sea level, it’s the state’s lowest geographic point. Sadly, it’s also one of its lowest points in other ways, as well. Although beautiful from a distance, the up close truths of this one-time resort are distressing.

The lake is polluted to the point that it’s dangerous to drink, or even touch, the water. The surrounding towns are forsaken and sad.

When we pulled into the park late in the afternoon, we found a maintenance worker digging around the post holding our site’s water and electric lines. Not a great omen. It was very hot and the place was almost deserted – in a creepy sort of way. I went to use the women’s bathroom and a scorpion scooted across my path.

We probably could have managed with some of this, but there were so many flies that we couldn’t even sit outside the van. We retreated to the van, shut the doors, cranked up the air, did some searching with our phones, and revamped our plans. We spent that one night in Salton Sea, and then moved on to the mountains near Julian. In all the time we’ve been on the road, this has only happened a few times. So, on the whole, we’ve been really lucky with campsites.

The William Heise County Park campground was heaven by comparison. Our campsite was partially shaded, the temperatures were pleasant, and we enjoyed hiking nearby trails. We went into Julian and sampled brews at the Julian Brewery. It turned out to be the silver lining to the black cloud over Salton Sea, because we wouldn’t have stopped here, if Salton Sea had been a better experience.

From here, we headed for San Mateo, on the California coast. We met up with my brother Kent and sister-in-law Barb in San Clemente. We strolled the town and the seaside pier while we chatted and caught up with family news and goings-on.

They’re enjoying life in San Diego. The weather’s great. What’s not to like about wearing shorts year-round? And, as soon as Covid passes, they’ll get back to enjoying the city’s many cultural offerings. We had a lovely lunch outside at one of the street cafes in San Clemente. Though I wish we saw them more often, it’s always great when we find an opportunity to get together.

On our other day in San Clemente, we visited Casa Romantica, the home of Ole Hanson, the city’s founder. The Spanish-influenced estate is perched on a hillside overlooking the Pacific.

As gorgeous as the house and gardens are, the interpretive displays explaining the development and history of the town captured our interest.

Hanson’s vision for his community included social, cultural, and educational offerings. (They even had their own orchestra.) San Clemente is one of the prettiest of seaside towns. Most residential streets have an ocean view and even the smallest courtyards overflow with bougainvillea and brilliantly colored flowers. It’s a trendy, upscale destination for dining (think Sunday brunch) shopping, and like most of Southern California, surfing.

Our California coast adventure was off to a great start. We went north along Route 1 and spent a few days camping at Morro Bay State Park.

The campground was a great find. We could walk from our campsite to a small marina on the Bay. From the other side of the campground, we followed a hiking trail to the top of Black Mountain.

The campground road led right into the town of Morro Bay. From the pier, we watched otters frolicking and almost flirting, with on-lookers. You can see Morro Rock from almost everywhere in town, and it’s a stunning centerpiece.

Morro Rock is the last of the “Nine Sisters.” This chain of rocks along the California coast was formed millions of years ago from the plugs of volcanoes. Morro Rock is the tallest of these, and is the only one connected to land, so it’s a tied island. We drove out to see the rock up close. The wind was blowing and it was not beach weather for us, but some hardy souls were braving the waters, along with some sea lions.

Back at our campsite, we had wonderful neighbors. A group of 15 friends were enjoying one of their frequent camping adventures together.

The organizers – Yee-Horn and Fannie – introduced themselves when we pulled in. They were some of the most joyful people we’ve met while camping. They shared their good humor, travel tips, and delicious treats with us, including still-warm scalloped potatoes and goodie bags with oatmeal cookies and candy. (Thank you, Rosa!) One evening, we were invited for an after-dinner drink. We had plum wine mixed with another homemade liquor. I missed the explanation of the beverage combo, but it was all quite delicious…and potent. With the wine, we were given tiny roasted purple sweet potatoes to eat. Wrapped in foil, right off the grill, steamy hot. What a delicacy!

The group expressed interest in our little house on wheels, so John gave van tours to a parade of curious campers. We had so much fun chatting with these folks! Meeting fun people is one of the best parts of our adventure. Now that so many have been vaccinated, we’re finding people are opening up to conversations and sharing experiences. Yee-Horn and Fannie, along with their friends, will always be remembered as open, kind, and friendly.

From Morro Bay, our path took us further north along Route 1. The Pacific coast scenery became more and more dramatic.

Each turn in the road brought a new view of rocky coast and forested cliffs dropping down to the sea.

The roadsides were full of blooming wildflowers: poppies, daisies, columbine, lupines, foxgloves.

We took our time, stopping to take in the fantastic coastal scenery. Beautiful – even in the morning coastal mist.

We made a quick stop in Gilroy, CA. This town is home to the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Every July, thousands of visitors feast on all things garlic, including wine and ice cream. We chose to buy some fresh garlic and a few other items for our snack bin, and continued on our route.

We made our way to Hendy Woods State Park. This park had been highly recommended by other campers, and it did not disappoint. Like many other California state parks, the sites are smaller and geared more to smaller rigs and tenters. It’s rare for CA sites to have electricity, which isn’t an issue for us. The bathrooms have coin-operated showers, and not always dependably hot water. Both of these factors encourage quick showers.

The winning elements of this campground are that you have giant redwoods towering over your campsite, and you have easy access to trails into the redwood forest.

This was our first redwood experience on this trip, and it was wonderful to be among these ancient trees.

Wine? Of course! This area of Mendocino County is home to the Anderson Valley Wine Trail. The wineries are good, but without the crowds of Napa and Sonoma. Our camping neighbors, Marge and Howard, advised us that we would need a reservation to do a tasting. So, we called around, made a quick reservation, and dashed out to visit Scharffenberger Vineyards. We sat at a sunny table in the garden, and enjoyed a sampling of sparkling wines.

Our host, Buzz, explained the differences between the wines, making us feel at ease and a bit more knowledgeable about bubbly.

From Van Damme State Park, just a bit further up Route 1, we visited the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. In Texas, our timing was a little off for seeing wildflowers, but in California, we hit the jackpot for late spring gardens.

The garden has great collections: Rhododendron, columbine, roses, clematis, poppies, and interesting succulents. Plus, the garden backs right up to the Pacific Ocean with coastal views and walks to enjoy. Well worth a visit!

On our way out of town the next morning, we had coffee in Mendocino. This looks different from other coastal towns. The saltbox style homes and their cottage gardens and windowboxes reminded me of a New England seaside town. This is where they filmed “Murder She Wrote,” which was supposed to be in New England.

We saw Echiums taller than houses. Echium is a member of the borage family, native to the Canary Islands in Africa.

I remember this plant from my time at Longwood, where horticulture specialists babied specimen plants, coaxing them to bloom. In California, it seeds itself on hillsides, enjoying ocean air and good drainage.

Mendocino appears to be a destination town, full of B&Bs, cozy inns, and good dining options. It would be fun to visit again and stay over.

We continued north on Route 1. At Leggett, we took Route 101 north to Garberville where we turned off, onto the Avenue of the Giants. This 32 mile road winds through the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The road twists and, sometimes, barely avoids giant redwoods in its path. Along the way, there are pullouts with interpretive signage telling the history of the Save the Redwood Society and how a small band of passionate conservationists saved these trees from logging.

These redwoods have also endured floods and fires. Because their outer bark doesn’t contain resin, they are fire resistant.

You can see evidence of having escaped fires: scorch marks and trees with hollowed out interiors. But yet here they stand, true giants.

We continued our exploration of redwood forests as we traveled Highway 101 north.

The scenery along here is unparalleled: the coastal road can be narrow with huge drops down to the sea.

We spent a few nights at Redwood Meadows RV Park in Hiouchi, near Crescent City. This park offered easy access to the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

We spent a couple of days hiking in the forest. It’s hard to describe the feelings you have when among these giant trees. It’s one of life’s experiences that makes you feel small, but part of something much larger.

We topped off our California adventure with a brew at Port O’ Pints brewery pub in Crescent City. This small, unassuming in appearance, ale house, with an Irish/ pirate/surfer/sports bar theme, had a good selection of house beers (and a giant pretzel served hot with spicy mustard). Stop in if you’re in the area. It’s Crescent City’s most award-winning brewery!

The next day, we crossed into Oregon to continue our north-bound adventures.

The outake…

Next up: Oregon