October 4 through October 11, 2005

Tuesday October 4:

The weather is BRIGHT and SUNNY today!  We stopped for an hour at the Crescent City CA library and uploaded the webpage, and sent emails. Then we continued south along the northern California coast....

California does not take a back seat to Oregon and Washington in coastal beauty....it is really HARD to say one is prettier than another.  We drove to Elk Prairie campground at the southern end of Redwood NP, paying the $13 senior winter rate.  We were in early, and found a nice site in a meadow in full sun, and proceeded to open up all windows to dry out the condensation which has accumulated from days of rain and humidity.  We walked to the visitors center, where they suggested a 3 mile loop trail.  This one was easy and flat, and we enjoyed the huge trees.

Today we have no rain keeping us from looking up.  :-)  The redwoods reach heights of 360 feet and live for over 2000 years. We met National Park Ranger Tom who hiked with us for a while.

He was checking his water quality instruments along the trail, and was kind enough to show us the banana slug we had been wanting to see.

Note the eyes on stalks poking out from under the hood at the head (on right).  :-)))  This one was almost 6 inches long!  Tom also pointed out some berries that could be eaten in addition to the numerous blackberries we had already found...red huckleberries, for instance.....

I would NEVER have eaten that berry had Tom not been there.....we've always been VERY leery about unfamiliar wild fruit, ESPECIALLY red ones (think nightshade berries, pretty glowing red and DEADLY).  The red huckleberry tasted a bit milder than the black, almost bland.  I'd certainly not starve in their presence, but I'd not pay a premium for them either.  It turns out the berries we thought were waxmyrtle were really black huckleberries, and a three leafed clover like plant had stem sap that tasted like apples when young stems were chewed. Claire said hers tasted sweet...mine tasted like a tart granny smith apple, but I think I picked a slightly older one with some red color on the leaves.. It may be that older stems are building up oxalic acid which would not be good in quantity....??  We left Tom to work with his instruments with many thanks....his genial company and expert knowledge had certainly made our hike today very much more enjoyable!   The sun was dropping fast now, and it was getting cool in the shade of the woods....still, there were amazing things yet to see...

 This huge old redwood fell over the trail....the easiest way to fix the problem is to cut a tunnel....  :-))   I was QUITE happy to come back into the sun at the edge of the forest....we'll leave this amazing place with this comparison pic...

Claire is standing tall...yet somehow is looking...tiny?  :-) The sun warmed us as we walked back through the meadow.  The RV was toasty warm!  :-)  As the sun fell, it cooled quickly and we closed the windows to keep the toasty feeling a bit longer.  Dinner was beans...quite nice!

Wednesday October 5:

We drove on down US 101 in the morning.  There is more pretty scenery.

This rock peeped at us between the trees.  We ended the day at the Corps of Engineers KyAn campground after the one we wanted turned up closed for the winter.  This one is more expensive but has free hot water showers that Claire used well to do her hair.  

Thursday October 6:

This Walmart in Ukiah CA we overnighted in was not far from KyAn CG, but we wanted to get WiFi, as we have had nothing but analog cell service, so had little hope of cellular net unless we get the phone fixed by the weekend.  We are in no hurry to move inland fast as the temperatures are still too hot.  As we approach San Francisco things will get EXPENSIVE!  We must get the timing right to move through San Francisco, see what we want, then move inland.  

Friday October 7:

We took the cellphone to Verizon on 4th St in Santa Rosa CA to get a new roaming list installed…Parking was so tight Claire had to live park in the lot behind other parked vehicles, moving as they wanted to get out.  Here we got the bad news that our old Motorola Startac phone has been "phased out", as it has no GPS for 911 in it.  We will need a new phone. :-(((   It takes 3 hours for me and the store folks to decide our needs can be met by a new Samsung SCH a650 phone with mobile office kit and extra hi capacity battery.  We need Tri Mode, so it still works in analog, an external antenna port for the motorhome antenna, and the capability to pass data to our computer with the mobile office kit.  Lora checked with her manager and about had me convinced that the new America's Choice II plan would give me the same coverage as I had with National Single Rate, with no roaming charges, as well as free minutes every night as well as weekends.  Only when I had to verify with the Massachusetts account representative that I really wanted to change plans, and asked again about the new plan's coverage, did it come out that the coverage really was NOT the same.  America's Choice II does not charge for roaming; it just denies service in some areas where Single Rate connects through roaming partners.  ACII has no coverage in Death Valley or along the Washington/Oregon coast, for example. We had coverage, if sporadic analog, when we just went through there.   If I want to keep my plan, I must pay full retail price for the phone.  :-((  I immediately decide to do that, as our plan suits us perfectly and saves us LOADS of roaming money when we are in remote areas.  I leave disappointed by the $200 bill, and had to give up the ability I had to charge the phone while connected to the computer; NO current phone they had supports that feature.  Now to learn how to USE this phone....  The Verizon folks suggested Best Buy or Radio Shack for an external antenna adapter.  Best Buy was a few miles away "Behind the Costco gas station".  Best Buy did not have the antenna adapter, and directed us back towards the Verizon store for Radio Shack.  The Costco gas was $2.75/g, by far the cheapest (thirty cents under) what we've seen recently.  Claire wanted a Costco membership anyway, so we decided we might as well bust the bank real good today, and spring for membership and a full fuel tank on top of the new phone.  We intended to drive on to Rohnert Park and their Walmart for the night, but it was getting late, we were TIRED. The sign up clerk in Costco said there was a Radio Shack right in this shopping center.  I felt badly betrayed by the Best Buy clerk....who would send us miles out of our way rather than recommend local competition for a product she did not even HAVE.  :-(((  I left Claire to finish the Costco paperwork, and walked to Radio Shack, and quickly bought a proper antenna cable for my phone and the necessary adapter to mate it to our antenna cable on the motorhome.  When I came back, Claire was not finished with the Costco paperwork.  I asked a Costco manager whether we might park in their lot overnight.  He said Costco is not like Walmart and does not actively solicit RVs to do that.  Costco's contract security might ask us to move on, we could not say he gave us permission, but if we wanted to chance it, we might park in back near the loading dock.  :-))  Ok, we're tired enough to chance it!  We fuel, then move out back.  The phone has more signal on the external antenna than on the built in antenna, so the trouble to buy the adapters is worth it!

Saturday October 8:

Nobody approached us overnight at Costco...there is PLENTY of noise from the loading dock though, as trucks move in to unload.  It is Saturday with free minutes....now to check out this new phone!  First attempt to use it on the computer failed; Quick to Net would not connect.  I managed to get on line dialing directly into my ISP in Massachusetts.  After finishing the normal net tasks, I started with Verizon data technical support to get Q2N to work, but had no other line to talk on than the cell. The Santa Rosa Verizon store said they had no qualified people to work on it.   Talking on the same phone I was trying to use to connect made phone troubleshooting with the tech support people impossible, and after reinstalling software, and doing many other things suggested by Tech Support in 4 calls, they finally suggested I take the whole kit back to the Verizon store and use THEIR land line to call from to troubleshoot it.  Great idea!  After an hour on line with tech support it came out that the phone needed a flash upgrade to work with Q2N. Kathy, the store tech support person spent much time in back, then came out to say that no store in CA could flash a Samsung SCH a650 phone due to bad flash software for their equipment.  The phone Data tech support person Jillian told me she would try to get them to work something out.   Kathy became visibly annoyed after talking with Jillian, rushing out with a look on her face that said "I'm outta here"!   Finally she came back and asked me what features I really needed in my phone; that's easy: Tri mode, mobile office kit, extra hi capacity battery.... we long ago gave up on charging the phone while connected to the computer.  Dale came out with a LG VX6100 phone, mobile office kit and hi capacity battery.  They found a way to get me this more expensive camera phone (which camera I will probably NEVER use) for the same money after the $50 mail in rebate, and still let me keep my old National Single Rate plan with free weekend minutes.  Lora and Dale really helped a LOT.   I immediately set out to install the new software and prove this phone works right in the store. It did!  Claire drove the 10 miles to Rohnert Park Walmart long after dark.  We thankfully found other RVs parked here, and joined them EXHAUSTED.

Sunday October 9:

We stayed overnight at Costco in Rohnert park where we went to shop today, after asking and receiving permission easily.  The phone is THOROUGHLY checked out on Sunday's free minutes, and does everything we want.  We are reluctant to leave this area until the phone situation is fully resolved, painful though it is to wait around doing nothing fun to accomplish that.

Monday October 10:

Today we will visit Point Reyes National Seashore.  We decided to overnight at Olema Ranch Campground.  It is a commercial Passport America place at $17.50 a night at our half price….hugely overpriced at their regular "twice that" rate.  They charged for WiFi, and had no cell service...still, it is close to Point Reyes, has a dump and water which we need, and it's the best deal available here.  The drive takes us across country from Petaluma, were we leave US 101 for back roads.  This is quite different from our coastal travel...

The air is warm and much less humid, the countryside is rural agricultural, the roads wind between the hills with lots of up and down and the grass is a dry summer brown.  The fall rains are still to come....   The campground puts us in a temporary spot near the office, as we want to be close to the road.  We eat lunch, then head for the National Seashore visitors center nearby.  There are quite a few people here, but when we get the chance to talk to a ranger, we are assured that busses go out to Reyes Point, so we should have no trouble with the 26 miles of road, and there should be a place to park at the end.  :-)  The drive is SLOW on the narrow winding road, and we are passed by a ranger with lights flashing half way there.  However, we do find a place to park along the road and look down on white foaming waves breaking on the beach, stretching to the north out of sight in the light haze.  

We walk in past the buildings housing the park staff, and descend a long set of stairs to the lighthouse.  The last time I was here (in 1963) the Coast Guard had a unit stationed here operating the light, and also a loran radio navigation station which is now gone without a trace.  The lighthouse is maintained as a historical display.

The navigation light today is produced by the small beacon on the short tower between the old lighthouse and the building to its right.  A light still glows inside the old lighthouse, but now just for visitors.

Here we look from outside the lighthouse south toward San Francisco.....hazed out in the distance.

This is RUGGED terrain, and it is obvious that vessels running onto these rocks in storms would not fare well.  Even today the foghorn is running....perhaps there is a fog patch out there somewhere.  The ships we see are giving this point a LOT of room!  There is no fresh water here, and a complex rain catching system with large cistern was built to supply the lighthouse keepers AND their water guzzling steam powered foghorn with water before electricity took over.  Winter Pacific storms could isolate the early lighthouse keepers, as the wind frequently blows very hard here....

This cypress tree has experienced enough strong on shore breezes in its life to lean it over, forming an arch over the walkway.  On our way back to the RV, we hear sea lions barking, and walk to see where they are.  

I could not believe how far away they were, with their barking still sounding quite loud.  They were barely visible on the rocks off the point in the center of the picture, and cannot be seen in this picture; we only saw them when they moved.  We drove back to the campground, again passing several "historic ranches" still operated by farmers on park service land.

We are ready to stop when we arrive back at the campground near dusk.  We hook up electricity, and plan to fill water and dump before leaving rather late in the morning tomorrow.

Tuesday October 11:

Tomorrow we plan to visit San Francisco.  After a leisurely start with showers, we plan to leave Olema Ranch CG by the 11AM checkout, and overnight tonight at Costco in Novato, which is as close as we can hope to get to San Francisco.  When we arrive, and ask at Costco if we may stay overnight, they refer us to their land owning property management company.  We were not happy to hear we cannot stay from the property management company, but expected that....we have no customer relationship with them.  We have no choice but to drive back 20 miles to the Rohnert Park Walmart in rush hour traffic....  :-(  This will add another 20 minutes or more to our drive into San Francisco in the morning too, but we have no choice....  We are settled before dark, and plan to be up at 5:30, on the road by 6AM to try to stay ahead of the rush into the city.  Candlestick Park Campground opens at 8, and we plan to be checked in, hooked up and ready to board the 9AM shuttle into center city.  We are both in bed early tonight.

PLANS:  This page is completed December 30, 2005....a mere 2.5 months late.  :-)  Hopefully we can catch up fully before we return to the RV January 8.