Made it to Novato, CA

Here we are just North of San Fransisco in Novato, CA. Another very nice RV Park and more friends to visit today. We are taking a side trip with our friends to Napa today and visiting a small family owned olive oil making operation as well as other sites.
We stopped in Santa Rosa on the way here for some fabulous Mexican food at a restuarant called La Texanita. It had been featured on a TV show called Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, and it was well worth the stop and it more than lived up to its reputation. If you are ever in Santa Rosa you have to check this place out and try their Chiles Rellanos!

The drive down 101 South was supposed to be better than North of here but the road was pretty much a mess with major construction going on. Obviously the infrastructure here in N. California is in need of some help.

We did a minor side trip on the Avenue of the Giants and got to see some of the last old growth Redwoods left in the world. If you have never been up this way it is a must do trip just to see these magnificent trees. The info center had some amazing facts about the redwoods, size (tallest 364 feet), age (one over 2200 years old), etc and had one display that showed the oldest record of Redwood fossils at over 2 million years old. Very interesting displays and a nice break from the driving.

We are now seeing how and why some people do full time RV'ing. This is a blast!

More to come..

Phil & Lydia

Two days in Arcata, CA

Well, we survived another day of twisty narrow roads coming down the California coastline. Hwy 101 was beautiful through the Redwood forests. Not a bad trip at all until we got to Arcata, CA. The town has two strrets named Janes Rd and they are nowhere near each other. AAA, Good Sams and the GPS never knew where to take us so we got supremely lost in the local farm country on some of the worst two lane road imaginable! After winding around for almost an hour we finally got back on track and made it to the campground, Mad River Rapids RV park. It is another very nice park with great ammenities.

Just before we got to Arcata we passed a large field full of Elk! One very large bull, several smaller males and a harem of females all around the field. What a sight it was! We will try and get the pictures of them uploaded later today.

Today we are off to visit the local marshes and check out the bird life in the area. This retired life is pretty darned nice I must say.

Hello to Wesley, Anna and R.J. in Florida, see you soon..

Phil & Lydia

Made it into California

Hwy 199 between Grants Pass, OR and Crescent City, CA is not one for the faint of heart or in a hurry! It was a long 65 mile drive to get here but a beautiful one. The campground is another very nice one at Hiouchi River and we wish we could stay longer. Stellers Jays, Scrub Jays, California Quail and tons of Robins to watch and listen to.

Off to Arcata now to visit another friend for a few days. Lots of Redwoods to see on the way, so here we go.

Phil & Lydia

A Fun Day in Salem

We had a great day with Suzy B. We went to Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge and saw many birds including Scrub Jay, swallows of all varieties, Yellow Warblers, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Northern Shovelers, Osprey, Scarlet Tanager, hundreds of Canada Geese (with babies) and the list goes on.

Had fun at Jake's (Suzy B's adorable son) T-ball game and he got a couple of hits while we were there.

Off to Crescent City, CA in the morning and into the Redwood forest.

Phil & Lydia

1st leg

Well, hello all of you followers. The first leg ouf our journey went quite well. At times it rained like it was never going to rain again and then the clouds would part and it was a gorgeous drive. A little over 300 miles the first day and the truck and RV behaved quite well. Off to pick up a few items that neglected to find their way to the trailer and then see our friend Suzy B for the day. Retired life is GOOD!!

Phil

All hitched up and ready to go!

Here is a new picture of our truck and trailer ready for the road. It is hard to believe that we are almost ready to leave home for 3 months! The flowers are starting to bloom and the fruit trees are all blossomed out. We will miss spring and summer here at home for sure.

The birds have been wonderful here on Whidbey this spring. Hummingbirds galore and a flock of evening grosbeaks have kept us entertained for months now. The goldfinches are here in force and the chickadees have started the nest building already. We will be sorry to miss the chicks this year.

On the other hand, we are off to see some birds that are pretty rare for us in the Northwest corner of the USA. Cardinals, Bluejays and maybe even some real rarities in southern Arizona.

Things ahve kind of blown up here at the house just before we leave. First it was the lawn mower dieing a rather undignified death, then the microwave went and last but no least a major sewage/septic problem to deal with. We are both getting too old to be digging up septic tanks!
Two more nights at home preparing to depart and we can't wait.

Ready to hit the road!

The RV is parked in front of the house and the fridge is cooling down nicely. We are busily packing things and arranging where everything seems to work the best. Sunday we start the first leg of our travels heading to Salem, OR to see a good friend and her young son. Can't wait to finally get on the road and get some travel time on our new rig. See you all soon.


Phil