2020 September, CA Redwoods, Visit sister Jean

  The Labor Day weekend is upon us and we cross over to the California coast to meet Tom’s sister Jean and her husband Bob. We are extremely fortunate that it will be cool along the coast while the inland area that are experiencing record heat such as 111’ in Redding, CA. Whew, so great to be mobile and follow the weather!

I had discovered a website that shows where the wildfires are, and while I was checking the area around Klamath, CA I saw that it is due west of one of the fires and the prevailing wind is from the west so we will not be plagued by smoke from these fires. Once again, we are fortunate to be mobile!

Just like when we meet other family members, it is so refreshing to renew our relationship, share changes in our lives and generally have some quality time together. Jeans children and grandchildren did not come on the trip with her, but she caught us up on what is going on in their lives. Later, we will stop at Jean’s home and get to see the rest of her family. Tanya has now met every one of my siblings and has been accepted well by all. She says she has gained a new family – this is very true! Of course, no one would have doubted that she would not be accepted.

Another first for Tanya and for Jean also was to see the California Redwoods, magnificent trees so large and impressive. Taking our time for 5 days is plenty to see what is nearby and we get to spend a lot of time in the campground chatting.

We don’t spend a lot of time in formal campgrounds, so it’s unusual for us to have so many people close by, with all kinds of activity and noise and campfires all around us. Such a different camping experience from dispersed camping where we’re all alone in a national forest. We both expressed a preference for dispersed camping compared to campground camping – and it saves money too! 😊 Also, when we do dispersed camping we are flexible to find places with good cell phone signal so that Tanya could do her work, but in a campground, you don’t get that flexibility. No cell phone signal – no ability to do work – not good! 😊 

We toured a hot tourist attraction near Klamath, CA depicting Paul Bunyan and the Blue Ox, Redwoods, Sitka trees and finally a rope bridge.

All four of us with the big guy. OOPS look under the Blue Ox, didn’t realize this was anatomically correct!

See Tanya at the end of the rope bridge? Yes, that’s a victory salute! Tanya is not a fan of heights but without encouragement or maybe coercing she stepped out and conquered her fears!

Yes, that’s Bob – sister Jean’s husband.

 
Great pic of sister Jean and Bob

I learned to use panoramic mode in vertical and Bob took this pic 😊

 

Is that a smile or anxiety?

You can see the multiple levels and pathways. Sister Jean in foreground, I don’t know if she is texting or taking a pic.

There is a lot of wood carving in the Redwoods. This one is about 9 feet tall.

Everyone was taking a down day, so I broke out the scooter and rode 80 miles through redwood forests, seaside cliffs and the town of Crescent City waterfront. This is my longest ride yet! Headset on with gps and music flowing through my brain and easy curves of the road is so relaxing and pleasurable. I love it!

We each made a breakfast and dinner for the group, the rest of the time we fend for ourselves. Did not go out to eat for we are 20 miles from town and with Covid restrictions a sit-down dinner is difficult. I thought it was more fun to cook, laugh, eat together without strangers around. The time we spent together with family is priceless!

Time to head out and we are taking different routes, so we make our goodbyes and leave. As Tanya and I planned to stay on the coast so the smoke from wildfires would not be around we were going down US101 when a new fire right on US101 began and we were forced to do a 100-mile detour. Thinking it was ok because we were to stay on the coast. We are on US1 near Fort Bragg, CA and the winds changed and came out of the east right to the coast. Ugh, suffocating, we camp on a pullout on US1, and everything is orange, the sky could not be seen. Ash falling over everything, had to scrub the windshield several times. All the west coast has numerous wildfires and is covered in smoke.

Brother Bob calls and says they must evacuate their home in Oregon. His property caught fire from a transformer exploding and the fire department and Bob did put it out. There were other new fires near his home and first they evacuated to a nearby church parking lot with the motorhome and llamas. Later he had to evacuate from there and went across the Columbia River to a friend’s house.

Tanya and I decided that’s enough smoke for us and begin to head out for sister Jeans pick up a few things we ordered before evacuating California by going over Donner Pass to Reno Nevada. Also, the refrigerator has been having issues with the thermostat, I would have to tap it occasionally to get the refrigerator to start. I went to an appliance parts store, and they could not even find the model number to get a new thermostat. Deciding that it is really a disposable refrigerator we bought a new one and swapped it out in about an hour. Leaving the old one at sister Jeans while working on the warranty we head out over the Sierra Nevada mountains.