RV Trip 2017 - CA & OR - Part 1

Welcome to the travelogue of our RV trip to Northern California and coastal Oregon in the fall of 2017. This was the third month-long trip in our 'coach,' a 30-foot Class A motorhome (an FR3 by Forest River). As on previous long trips, I kept a journal during the trip, and have adapted it to the content you’ll find here. We’ve selected about 250 of our photos (a subset of the 1,000 or so we took) to include in online ‘albums’ for sharing. That’s a lot of culling on Chris’ part! We’ve broken it down into four albums, or sections.

Map of entire route
Map of Part 1 routeWednesday, Sept 6, 2017 (California) Thousand Oaks (home) to Pismo Beach (Pismo State Beach, North Beach Campground) We took off today for our California/Oregon trip. Well, we hope Oregon. The number of fires burning there, along with the smoke-filled skies, may make it a California-only trip. We’ll have to play it by ear. Our hearts go out to the thousands of people and businesses affected by the fires.
A good trip begins with a well-stocked wine supply!
Our first stop for the night on this trip is Pismo State Beach, the North Beach Campground. We had stayed here for a few nights back in June, and decided it was a good place to stay again. This time our site (reserved in advance) was a great location, just a short walk over a small rise and we’re on the beach!
Our campsite #9 in North Beach Campground at Pismo State Beach. The beach was just beyond that dune in the background.
Cooper just loves sitting at the door.
The campground was loaded with ground squirrels.
The sand here is incredibly soft, like sugar. Powdered sugar. Very fun to walk on and wiggle your toes in! It’s not typical for California beaches, which makes it especially fun.
Is that a naked wood nymyph?
Chris with a glass of "walkin' wine"
Cooper decided it was fun to squeeze between the window screen and the window shade.
Thursday, Sept 7, 2017 (California) Pismo Beach (North Beach Campground) to Capitola (New Brighton State Beach) The next day we camped at New Brighton State Beach. We had a nice back-in site here (also reserved in advance) at the edge of the campground with an ocean view. My friend Doug (whom I’d met many years ago while working at Amgen as a contractor) joined us for dinner. We had a great evening laughing and catching up. Even Barley (the scared-y cat) ventured out to join us for a bit.
Our campsite #75 at New Brighton State Beach campground was at the edge of a bluff with an ocean view.
The view from our campsite.
From our campsite we had an oblique view of the wreck of the S.S. Palo Alto, a concrete ship built during WWI. During the war there was a shortage of steel, and they started making concrete ships. By the time this tanker was finished, the war was over, so it never saw duty. Someone bought it, docked it at the pier, and operated it as a nightclub in the 1930s. The company went bankrupt during the Depression, and the ship started falling apart. It broke into more pieces during a storm this past January.
The cats enjoying the view from the bedroom window.
Friday, Sept 8, 2017 (California) Capitola (New Brighton State Beach) to Petaluma (KOA) Our next camping stop was at the Petaluma KOA Campground. We had also arranged to meet up with someone Friday night, my stepsister Pat! She joined us for dinner in the coach that evening. Then at the end of the evening, we drove Pat home and kept her car for sightseeing the next day. What a wonderful, generous offer!
Our campsite #53 at Petaluma KOA RV Resort.
Kitties watching the world outside the living room window
Saturday, Sept 9, 2017 (California) Petaluma (KOA) We started out the day with lunch at Lagunitas Brewery. It was a hoppin’ place ;-) and there was even a busload of people there (possibly from San Francisco). Luckily they were just leaving when we arrived. We shared a burger and drank some beer (a flight for Chris, a glass for me). They sometimes have live music and there was a band warming up while we were there. Then we headed off toward the theater district and the clock tower doing some (mostly) window shopping. We did go in to check out the ‘Old Shanghai’ store, as I’ve always had a thing for Asian-inspired designs. We didn’t buy anything, but it was a good-size store and fun to browse. Also on Petaluma Blvd., we saw the ‘Seed Bank,’ the second location of “Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds,” housed in the former Sonoma County National Bank building. Being fans of growing some of our own produce for many years, it would have been fun to check out, but alas, they’re closed on Saturdays.
Then we were off to explore downtown Petaluma. We found street parking in front of a short stretch of ‘Gingerbread’ style homes and took a few pictures before we even started walking.
We continued on down the street until we got to the Clock Tower. The Town Clock was built in 1882 in Connecticut, and shipped around Cape Horn on a clipper ship, then by barge up the Petaluma River We then walked across the Balshaw Bridge that goes over the Petaluma River, though not quite far enough for a good view of the ‘turn-around’ basin for boats that used to bring grain here for milling, after which it was shipped back to the sender. Back across the bridge we stopped in a wine bar for a tasting. I didn’t care for the choice of wines so I simply had a glass of champagne. Chris did a tasting of whites and didn’t really care for any of them. (But then, I knew from the start that I was making the better choice ;-) After an admittedly short exploration of old town, it was time to head back to the campground for a quick change of clothes, and then off to pick up Pat to go out to dinner. We had a very nice dinner at Graffiti, then back to our coach where we had brownies for dessert (love the Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix). Sunday, Sept 10, 2017 (California) Petaluma (KOA) We had decided Saturday that we would stay here another night (if our campsite was available) and play wait-and-watch the weather and smoke/fire news because it was looking like there was rain coming our way. Luckily, even though there was an event going on that included use of the campground, we were able to stay. The event was a 'Breathe Bike Trek' sponsored by the ‘Breathe’ organization. " . . . Breathe has a national reputation for breaking new ground and seeking creative solutions to cleaning the air and improving lung health." So with no real plans, we decided on a leisurely day, starting with a soak in the hot tub, and then took advantage of the public showers. And then, as we often do, a stroll around the campground to check out the other coaches staying there (make/model and size, patio/accessories, bicycles, tow cars, etc.). Monday, Sept 11, 2017 (California) Petaluma (KOA) With the weather report holding, leading us to believe that after some much-needed rain we could continue our trip north, we extended our stay yet another night and enjoyed a day in the coach with our kitties, and eventually, some rain. We even sat outside the coach for a bit under the awning enjoying the rain. Another slow day for enjoying reading, playing board games, and just relaxing.
Tuesday, Sept 12, 2017 (California) Petaluma (KOA) to Garberville (Benbow KOA) It’s finally time to leave Petaluma and move onward.
We saw Bigfoot!
The Benbow KOA in Garberville was the closest we could camp near the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, because none of the campgrounds within the park could accommodate an RV as long as ours. This KOA did have a pool and hot tub (something I believe they’re trying to standardize on), but we didn’t take advantage of them. We did however use the KOA-provided patio furniture for a cocktail, another lazy afternoon. This could be habit-forming!
Our campsite #78 at Benbow KOA RV Resort. Since it was at the end of a row, it came with its own patio furniture.
Wednesday, Sept 13, 2017 (California) Garberville (Benbow KOA) to Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park We headed north into Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and drove the Avenue of the Giants, a 31-mile stretch of "old Highway 101." The stunning trees make this an awe-inspiring drive, but also nerve-wracking at times. We had read that there are often side mirrors from RVs lying at the side of the road, because the giant tree trunks are so close to the edge of the pavement and some drivers misjudge where their mirrors are, or simply can’t move out of the way because of oncoming cars.
The "Avenue of the Giants" is a 31-mile stretch of "old Highway 101" in Humboldt Redwoods State Park
We had read that there are often side mirrors from RVs lying at the side of the road, because the trees come so close to the edge of the pavement.
This tree saw a lot of history during its life!
We stopped at the Visitor Center to ask about trailhead parking lots that had enough room to park our RV, and then headed onward for a short hike at the Founders Grove, featuring the 346-foot-high Founders Tree, which was the tallest tree in the world until it lost the top 18 feet in a storm.
View from dining room window
The Founders Grove Trail in Humboldt Redwoods State Park
And now, some really big trees...
That's Ann at the far end of this fallen giant.
Some nice visitors offered to take our picture at the Founders' Tree.
We enjoyed another nice hike in the Drury-Chaney Grove. This one was the ranger’s favorite, and we could see why. The greenery was unending, with a fabulous fern-covered floor making every view of the trees spectacular, from top to bottom!
That's Chris way down at the other end of a fallen Redwood.
Our search for a campground with sites along a river (or creek) began here in earnest. We so enjoyed our experience at Swift Creek (Wyoming, 2015) that we were hoping to have multiple similar experiences as we headed north. Unfortunately, the four-year long drought left the creek at Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park with so little water that it didn’t provide any sound, even though our campsite was only a few feet away. The ranger’s office here—manned by a volunteer—provides educational programs for kids in the summer, and has an impressive diorama of local ‘critters’ on display, all having died naturally or having been hit by cars. He told us they expand the collection bit-by-bit as funds became available for paying a taxidermist. And of course, it was fun to be here knowing that this park is where they filmed the chase scene through the forests of Endor in the movie ‘Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi.’
Our campsite #1 at Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park. Notice how our coach just barely fit under a tree branch with only a few inches of clearance.
Kitties enjoying the view from the living room window
Thursday, Sept 14, 2017 (California) Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park to Van Duzen County Park Campground Since the creek at Grizzly Creek was a bit of a disappointment, we decided to try the nearby campground known as Swimmers Delight Campground (located beside the Van Duzen River in Humboldt County).
Our campsite #7 at Van Duzen County ParkThis county park was only about five miles away from Grizzly, but we decided to check out the river potential anyway, as well as its greenery. We were just about the only campers there! There were campers at the adjacent campsite, but they were over a hundred yards away, and we couldn’t see or hear them. Our site was very private, with lush greenery on both sides, and once again the tree branches were scraping the top of our coach.
The river did have water in it, but not much. We had to walk across a fairly broad expanse of dry riverbed to be able to hear the water, and then further still, downstream, to a place where we could see it.
Colorful stones in the riverbed.
The campsite wasn't designed for RVs this size.
View from dining room window
With no shade near the water, we set up our camp chairs near our site in some shade and sat outside with our books and wine and relaxed outside with a pleasant temperature until time to head inside to start dinner.
Kitties soaking up a little sun.
Friday, Sept 15, 2017 (California) Van Duzen County Park Campground This morning we rode our bikes around the campground just for a look-see at other sites, the campground overall, and to see how many other campers there were. Still virtually deserted. We decided to stay another night, so we also rode to the self-registration booth and deposited the required fee.
Walking amongst the redwoods in the campground
Happy Birthday Chris! Since we weren’t driving today, and because it was Chris’ birthday, we decided we should have our usual Sunday ‘mini-brunch’ of eggs, toast and mimosas. Yum!
After brunch we took our chairs—this time with shade umbrellas—down to the riverbed and set them up where we could hear the water. Of course we took our books and, you may have guessed by now, another glass of champagne. And later, a birthday dinner of Chicken Cordon Bleu with a nice bottle of wine, and that pretty much completed our celebration of Chris’ birthday. Quiet. Intimate. Nice.

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