LAKE CHELAN WASHINGTON

TRANSITION: TWO WEEKS AT LAKE CHELAN: 

This sixth month journey across America has been fueled by a sense of adventure, a curiosity about the history of our country, the beauty of natural landscapes,  and the time to enjoy each adventure as if in slow motion.

Lake Chelan is a 50 mile long lake that flows into the Columbia River at the eastern base of Cascade Mountains.  The lake is clear, fresh and deep, about 1400 feet at the deepest part.  It’s location provides water to the surrounding arid land that makes it possible to have acres of apple and pear orchards and vineyards.  The town of Chelan is located at the southern end of the lake and is mostly a summer resort town with a year round population of about 4,000. Winters here are vastly different from the winters in Maine.  The temperatures are mild in the mid 50’s during the day and cool to around freezing at night.  The surrounding Cascade mountains are snow capped and reflected in the lake on sunny days. 

Because we are here in February, we are able to appreciate the locals at coffee shops, browse in book stores, dine at nearby restaurants,  and visit the wineries without the summer crowds.  We have a two week stay at two different condos and are taking this time to retreat from our traveling to enjoy the beautiful stillness of the scenery and appreciate all that we have experienced on our travels so far. Two weeks at Lake Chelan marks a time for reflection and  a transition from going to someplace new to going home.  It is a time to remember sites and experiences that have brought us closer to nature and each other.  How do I hold on to the pleasant memory of each adventure and not feel sadness at its end? How has my view of the world changed because of this journey? What were opportunities for personal growth?  

Feb. 25-Feb26. Lake Chelan, Washington

Feb 25-26
Wintery weather continued with icy rain falling in the morning.  With bad weather continueing we made the decision to follow the Columbia River all the way to Lake Chelan in one day.  We were able to secure a condo with a Lake view until March 2.
 We followed the  Columbia River Gorge north passing through small towns and cities like Richland, Mattaway, Quincy, Wenatchee and finally Chelan.   Eastern Washington geography is arid and desert like.  However, in complete contrast to the desert areas of Utah or Arizona the Columbia River provides water to the thousands of farmlands in this desert like environment.  The Cascades to the west are snow capped and provide a stark contrast to the brown treeless hills below.  They also provide water run off into the Columbia River.  The farmlands are a well organized and perfectly pruned fields of  apple and pear orchards as well as vineyards all made possible through the magic of irrigation. Although the trees and vines are bare this time of the year, they have been pruned to perfection awaiting warmer weather to blossom.  There are about 175,000 acres of apple orchards in Washington State and  produces 6 out of every 10 apples consumed in the United States.  These desert orchards extend miles into every direction and I can only imagine how beautiful the transition to spring is when their pink and white blossoms are in full bloom.
   The choice to continue to Lake Chelan turned out to be a great decision.  Our dog friendly condo overlooks the 50 mile Lake Chelan.  The city of Chelan is definitely a summer resort town of about 4,000 people,  but to visit during the winter gives us the opportunity to enjoy the town and its small town quality without the summer tourists. The summer population can increase to 25,000 including tourists and residents.
   On a morning walk through town we spent time in a local coffee shop, a book store and shopped at the various gift shops on Main Street.  With all the wineries around, we made a plan to visit two, Benson the Lake Chelan Winery.  We were the only visitors to both wineries so they were very willing to offer more than the regular offerings.  Two visits were enough for one day!
We will be in Chelan until March 9 and plan to take advantage of all this lovely community has to offer including a day long trip on the Lady of the Lake.  The excursion will take us into the wilderness areas of the lake surrounded by peaks over 9,000 to the town of Stehekin accessible only by boat, plane or hiking.
   This part of our journey across America marks a transition.  After our time in Lake Chelan we will begin our travels home.
 

Feb 21-25 The Columbia River Gorge

Feb 21-25: The Columbia River Gorge

  Since we are clearly experience winter conditions, the idea of camping in an RV park is not on our agenda.  Although the winter weather is mild compared to Maine, the water system in the RV freezes up when it gets below 32 degrees. In addition, the state parks are closed for the season which means we would not be able to have water or take a shower.  We have dry camped a few times but where the weather was a bit warmer.  With that in mind, we are staying in hotels for a few weeks. The scenery in Washington is too beautiful to miss so a few hotels along the way are just fine.
   Following our stay at the Columbia River Gorge Hotel, we continued east as far as Pendleton, Oregon where we visited the Pendleton Woolen factory where Mark bought a couple of shirts. Pendleton is a small city with a population of about 16,000 and the median home value is about $150,000.  We found a small sandwich place and talked to a few locals.  It turns out that Pendleton has a very interesting history.  In 1883 the transcontinental railroad linked Portland to the East Coast so by the late 1800’s the Chinese workers who helped build these railroads were now competing for jobs and depressing wages.  The Chinese workers who lived in Pendleton were not allowed to live above ground, prohibited from becoming citizens or owning land.  Because the Chinese lived below ground , they had built an entire city with opium dens, brothels, apothecaries, butcher shop, bars, and laundries.  These underground areas were connected by a series of tunnels with secret entrances and passage ways.  The Chinese were victims of crimes especially by Cowboys who would venture into the city after their time on the range. Due to the “exclusion laws” it was possible to commit all sorts of crimes against the Chinese including murder  without fear of punishment. This is a chapter of history that is often neglected.  The “coolie” wages that were paid to the Chinese workers who came to the United States along with their horrific discrimination is often skimmed over in history books.  Visiting the Pendleton Underground brought life to this neglected period of American history.
    We decided to stay in Pendleton for the night as the tour ended late in the afternoon and the weather continued to be wintery.

Feb 19-20 Olympia To Hood River Washington

Feb 19-20
Olympia to Hood River,  Washington
   A bit of bad weather arrived with freezing temperatures and light snow.  We opted to spend two nights in Olympia, the capital of Washington.  The city sidewalks were dusted with about 2 inches of snow but schools were closed for the day.  This would be a warm springtime snow storm in Maine.  The temperatures were in the mid thirties with spring flowers in bloom.  We actually had coffee in the morning at an outside seating with large soft snowflakes falling.
   Olympia is located at the south end of an inlet section of the Puget Sound.  It has a waterfront area with a farmers market, waterfront restaurants, and fishing boats.  The Farmers Market was only open on Saturdays this time of the year, so we were not able to experience that.  I remember visiting the Saturday Farmers Market in Eugene when Kate was in college.  It seemed to consume the entire town with fresh foods and handmade items.
   We have reservations at Lake Chelan on March 2 so we are trying to plan our trip across the Cascades without getting trapped on icy mountain roads or a snow storm.  On the advice of locals, we  decided to take the Columbia River Gorge Route 84 across the Cascades.  We needed to backtrack south just north of Portland, Oregon then east on to Route 84.  More snow was falling but we managed to drive to Hood River.  We found a lovely 1920 hotel and spa overlooking the Hood River, The Columbia Gorge Hotel & Spa.  This is an ornate hotel with classic brass and glass chandeliers, an Otis 1920 elevator that needed an operator to take us to our room, and a glass enclosed dining room overlooking the Hood river.  There are seven acres of landscaped gardens that surround the property that provide walking trails to waterfalls, a beautiful dog friendly spot.  Even though there is snow on the ground the rhododendrons are blossoming, the daffodils are budding and the English Ivy covers stone walls along the pathways.  Since there are only 6 guests in the hotel, we have been treated like royalty.  We plan to stay here for two nights as we watch the weather forecast and road conditions.
 

 

Feb 17-18 Ilwaco Washington (The Evergreen State)

Feb 17th
   We arrived in Astoria, Oregon late on a rainy afternoon only to discover that every hotel was booked due to a beer festival.  The weather prediction was heavy rain for the next 2 days so we moved on to Ilwaco, Washington a small fishing town.  It was quite run down with very little activity on the docks. We were tired and with the prediction of heavy rain and snow in some areas, we decided to stay for two nights and wait out the bad weather.  The pounding rain continued through the night but by morning the rain had stopped and we were able to be on our way up the coast of Washington.
   Route 101 continues to be the beautifully scenic Pacific Coast Highway.  The geography of the Washington coast had been carved by glaciers during the last ice age and have created the rugged terrain that often falls sharply to the sea.  There are many rivers, lakes and mountains that add to the dimension of the landscape.  The weather is similar to springtime in Maine with temperatures in the 30’s and 40’s at night and up to 50 during the daytime.  There is a fine layer of snow on the sides of the roads with Rhododendrons budding and some with pink blossoms. Grape Hyacinths have displayed their purple fragrant flowers and  daffodil faces are smiling in the snow.    The Douglas Firs stand 200 to 300 feet tall and completely dominate the landscape growing up the sides of the mountains creating lush deep green forests.  There are areas of clear cutting where logging trucks carry away the huge red logs for manufacturing.  This was sad to see but there were areas of new growth forests that were evidence of organized planting and conservation.
  Oysterville is a small village on a thin peninsula of land just north of Long Beach.  It consisted of summer homes that were exceptionally well maintained with lovely seaside gardens and reminded us of a west coast Little Diamond Island.
  We continued our drive north to South Bend where we saw incredible surf with breakers crashing at least a mile out to sea at Shoalwater Bay.  This area is home to the Shoalwater Bay tribe.  Washington is home to many Native American tribes with designated reservation lands throughout the state. Evidence of Native art is everywhere and is most prominently seen in the many colorful totem poles.
   Lake Quinault is situated at the southern end of the Olympic National Park and where we rented a cabin at the Olympic  Rainforest Village. We ate our spaghetti dinner next to the fireplace with a bottle of red wine.  It had snowed the night before leaving about 2 inches of new snow on the ground.  Temperatures dropped below freezing at night but the next day was full sunshine and warm.  We took a short walk and followed a sign to find the largest known Douglas Fir Tree.  It stands 191 feet tall and is about 1000 years old.  Magnificent beautiful tree!
   Since the weather was warm and sunny, we made the decision to drive route 101 all around the Olympic National Park.  The park is a natural rainforest and I believe the only one in north America.  The area receives about 150 inches of precipitation a year making it lush, green and beautiful.  Unfortunately, because it is winter, the campsites within the park were closed.  There was significant snow in the higher elevations which was visible at a distance as we drove through the park.  Mount Olympus is over 7900 feet with other nearby mountains around 6000 feet.  We continued our drive around the Olympic Peninsula to Port Angeles, a lovely port town with a ferry to Victoria, Canada located just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The mountains, snow, tall ferns, huge firs, fresh clean air and sunshine make this one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.


 

Feb 10- 17 Oregon Coast.

Feb 10 Oregon Coast
  We have decided to camp all the way up the coast of Oregon as far as Astoria.  It is a gorgeous coastline with pine forests and sand dunes along the way.  Small fishing villages offer great stops for lunch or a morning coffee for very interesting people watching and the occasional cannabis shops with names like Buds4U and Harvest Mood Cannabis!

I will continually update this particular post and list our campsites and trails along the way.

The weather on the coast of Oregon is warm, sunny with a few showers.  This has been a very atypical winter for this area. Serious drought conditions exist in all of the northwest.

•  Feb 10-11: The State Parks are beautiful and provide hiking trails all along the coastal region.  We are spending two nights at Bullards Beach then slowly move up the coast.   This particular State Park was the best we have been in so far on our trip, clean hot water showers, green grass to set up our picnic dinners, and extremely well maintained and marked trails. This is only the second day in 3 months that we have any rain. 
• Feb 12: Suislaw National Parks and Land Services: This is a very wooded area with electricity, but  no water, no bathrooms or showers this time of the year.  It is hard to imagine this is winter with temperatures in the mid 50’s.  We hiked a short trail through a pine forest to the dunes. (Sunshine all day). 
• Feb 14 Valentines Day.  We spent the night at the Inn at Nye Beach. We had a lovely room overlooking the beach. Mark arranged a great dinner celebration at the Clear Water restaurant near the Aquarium.  It was a valentines special with rose petals on the table and a glass of champagne.  Unfortunately the day was saddened by another school shooting in Florida.  The horror of these events will not end until something is done about gun control. 
• Feb15. We are continuing our drive north on 101. The Oregon Coast is spectacular and I am so glad we have the time to explore it slowly. This morning we woke up to full double rainbow over the ocean. It was a ray of brilliant color on the morning following such sadness in Florida. 
• Feb 16:  Cape Lookout State Park. This particular state park was exceptionally beautiful.  It was such a pleasure to have running hot water in the showers.  The spaces were large and had been freshly mowed.  The walking trails around the park were beautiful and well maintained.  The entire Oregon coast line is ruggedly beautiful. 
•  We have traveled the entire 362 miles of the Oregon coast on route 101 and have enjoyed almost every scenic view along the way. From the Northern California coastline to the Washington border, every part of the Oregon coast is an experience in natural wonders, from massive sand dunes, forests of Douglas Fir trees and a very cold ocean with huge beaches, some sandy, some rocky but none are swimmable because of the very cold water.  There are small Oceanside farms, lighthouses, bustling harbors,  fishing villages, and exceptional state parks and hiking trails.

Feb. 8 Avenue of the Giants

Feb 8-9 Mendocino to the Avenue of the Giants
   We left our beach camp around noon and headed north to Mendocino.  This one time run down little coastal village sits on a point of land surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. In has been transformed to a charming Victorian town, complete with white fences and manicured seaside flower gardens.  The homes have been restored to their original colors, mostly white, with typical ornate wood work of the Victorian era.  It has new age art studios and a theatre for local performances and of course an organic market and coffee shop where we enjoyed our morning brew.  The town has an upscale atmosphere while keeping the traditional style.  It looks like it could be a west coast setting for an episode of “Murder She Wrote”.
   Continuing on our way north, we entered the Avenue of the Giants.  This route took us through the Humboldt State Park a protected home to a primeval Redwood Forest. Redwoods are coastal-northern California coast primarily.  A tree that is often confused with the Redwood is the Sequoia which are inland on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada to the southern Sequoia National park.  Although similar, they are two different trees.  To say that the Redwoods are magnificent is an understatement.  They tower over the landscape to over 300 feet, creating a bed of soft black earth on the forest floor. Their pine needles are small but plentiful filling the air with a moist fragrance of wood and pine.  Moss and giant ferns are plentiful under these massive trees.  Some of these trees were seedlings about 2000 years ago and are now the tallest trees on earth. There is a constant moisture in the air which provides a micro-climate of cool, damp air. During the day, the forest is particularly dark due to the height of the trees. The sunlight that does come through appears like a laser beam of light pointed to branches but rarely reaching the forest floor. There is a beautiful quietness to the forest providing a gentle peacefulness. John Muir’s quote: “The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.”
   Humboldt State Park was open for camping but no services this time of the year .  We were able to dry camp once again.
   In the morning, we took a small hike through one of the designated trails.  There were massive logs from fallen trees left to rot in place nourishing the soil for future trees. Once again, we are reminded of the importance to protect these beautiful natural landscapes.  To spend time sleeping, eating and breathing the air in a Redwood forest is an honor and a privilege. We are grateful that the Redwoods National Park and Redwoods State Park services ensure protection and preservation of more than 105,000 acres of redwood forest.


Feb 9
   We spent one more night in the Humboldt Park but at a different location,  an Elk Reserve.   This site was a very moist and damp environment with a thick moss covering most of the tree limbs.  Although we were still in the Humboldt Park this was not an area of Redwoods but smaller pines and disiduous Trees.  In the early evening we took a walk to the open grass area and spotted a  small herd of grazing Roosevelt Elk.
   After a few days of dry camping we are ready to find a campsite with shower services.
 

Feb. 7 Route 1 Continued

Feb 7. California Route 1
   Driving north on the Pacific coast continues to be a visual wonder.  Sea stacks with arches cut by water, wind, and time are seemingly set purposefully close to the shore line.  Waves crash against these rock structures creating spectacular water sprays.  From high cliffs we watched waves break and spread onto the shoreline like icing on a cake.
   The cerulean blue of the ocean is clear, deep and dark.  There are coastal coves cut sharply into the landscapes forming flat topped ocean mesas. Some are covered with a moss that is as green as Ireland.
   Brown stained barnboard ranch homes are set overlooking the sea with fields dotted with black Angus cows grazing on  fresh grass.
   The Eucalyptus groves that frequent the drive combine their scent with the Douglas firs and salt air to invite a deep cleansing breath.
 
We drove a short distance today and settled into a small Park nestled under a bridge on a beach near Elk, California.  We were the only visitors that night.  A quiet night!

Feb 5-7 Route 1 North of San Francisco

Route 1
We had a sweet good-bye dinner with Mike following another gorgeous sunset at Pacific Grove. In the morning, we discovered that our rear view mirror had fallen off again.  Mike was handy and able to fix it for us.  He found an auto shop nearby and bought the required glue to hold it in place.  The last time we had it fixed it cost $80.; this time the glue was $8.00, Mike’s cost “priceless”. This set us all about an hour behind our scheduled departure but it didn’t really matter that much to either of us.
   Mark and I headed north on Route 1.  It took us through the center of San Francisco on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  We had lunch at the Cliff House overlooking San Francisco Bay and Seal Rocks where sea lions congregate.  The last time I was there was 1960 with my parents.  The views of the bay were still as beautiful as back then, but the restaurant had been renovated a few times since then. This was a wonderful memory of being in San Francisco.
   The drive up the coast took us over the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito and soon out of the city.  The coastline north of San Francisco on Route 1 hugs the rugged shoreline with sharp turns wrapping around high cliffs.  About 30 years ago Mark and I spent 2 weeks along this very route. Back then, we spent our first night at a lodge overlooking steep cliffs from the hot tub off our deck.  The lodge was located right off the road among a forest of Juniper trees.  Raccoons were everywhere on the property lapping  up the water from the hot tubs.  Our room overlooked the sea, however, we could only hear it because of the heavy fog that night.  We both have fond memories of that place, everything but the name of it or where it was!
  Now, as we are driving the same route we thought we might be able to find that Inn and relive a wonderful memory. Once it was dark, driving on the narrow curving road became more difficult. We decided to stop at the next available inn.  We clearly were not able to find that Inn from 30 years ago. We pulled into Timber Cove Inn for the night.  We were both tired, especially Mark who had done all the driving. A quick Manhattan at the bar was a welcomed nightcap.  We had asked the bartender if he possibly knew of an Inn on the beach set among huge Junipers and possible raccoons all around.  He looked at and said “This is that place.!”  Timber Cove had been sold and remodeled.  The trees were cleared and raccoons relocated.  What an amazing coincidence!

Feb 3-4 Monterey, CA

Feb 3-4: Monterey, Carmel and the Pacific Coast Highway
   The time at Pismo Beach left us sandy and dirty so we scheduled two nights at a hotel in Pacific Grove.  We planned to drive the Pacific Coast Highway south of Monterey along Route  1.  Mike was our official driver in his Subaru.  We did a quick tour through Carmel then headed south on the most picturesque road in California.  We were able to drive about 70 miles south to where the road was closed off then turned around and drove back to Pacific Grove.  As we drove south, the road twisted and turned around steep canyons and cliffs that fall to the sea. We stopped often to take pictures only to realize that the next turn would uncover an even more spectacular view. The juniper trees along the  road were often wind swept in an easterly direction giving them artistic shapes and forms.  The tall Eucalyptus trees with their long strands of peeling bark provided their clean, perfumery scent in groves along the way.  Often, the cliffs would fall sharply to the sea and other times the land gently rolled to the sea.  The fields on the hillsides  are  springtime green which is a dramatic change from our desert environment.  Some parts reminded me of the western shore of Ireland and other parts of the northern coast of Maine. We reached the end of the road and fortunately there was a quaint little place to have lunch overlooking the ocean.  About 10 miles of the road were closed off due to the mud slides.
   The return trip, although the same road provided a totally different view of the landscape.  We saw cliffs, canyons, trees, farmland that we did not notice on the drive south.  It is amazing how just a turn around can change one’s entire perspective.
   The day was full of sunshine and beautiful memories.

Feb 2-3 Pismo Beach

Feb 2-3 Pismo Beach
   Mike was able to join us again at Pismo Beach, CA.  He had visited  a friend in San Diego then another friend in LA for a few days.  Pismo Beach is a small town on California’s Central Coast.  It is a wide open beach area where cars, RV’s and ATV’s, are all able to drive on the sand.  There are magnificent dunes behind the beach front that are partly closed to protect the snowy plovers.  Mark was nervous about driving on the sand in the RV but Mike convinced us that it would be fine.  Mark was convinced we would get stuck on the beach.  Sure enough, as we made the turn to park the van, we got stuck.  Mike who had been traveling from Wyoming, was prepared with a snow shovel.  Mike got us out of our rut and maneuvered the van for us.  Mike, of course, had no problem with his 4 wheel drive car. We had to listen to a lecture on positive thinking from Mike.  It went something like this: “Gee, Dad, if you think the worst, it will happen!”
     The snowy plovers are my new favorite bird.  They are tiny white and grey with the ability to zip back and forth chasing the waves in hopes some morsel of food comes in with a wave. With their backs toward the sea, they look like tiny snowflakes on the sand. Since this is their nesting season I am glad to know that they are protected.
   For a while we were alone on the beach, however, later in the day ATV’s filled the area.  This must be a local thrill because it seemed everyone in town comes to the beach and cruises through the open areas of the dunes.  The night lights on the ATV’s were colorful and bright.  Evidently driving on the dunes at night is dangerously dark so the more lights one has on their ATV, the better.  Although I would have preferred a more quiet time on the beach, it was fun to watch the locals enjoy themselves.
   Mike and Mark dug a pit in the sand and built a great fire for cooking our steak.  We spent the evening sitting around the fire and watching a colorful  sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
     A short walk from Pismo beach is the Monarch Butterly Grove.  Thousands of Monarchs were fluttering in the Eucalyptus Trees, called clustering. We were fortunate to see these monarchs as this is the season for vieweing them, October through February.  During this time the final generation of hibernating monarch butterflies comes out of hibernation to fine a mate.  The sight of so many orange and black wings at one time was beautiful.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves fluttering among the tree leaves as if to be playing by softly bumping into one another.
   We spent two days and nights at Pismo Beach enjoying the warmth, the sun and a very restful time with Mike.  When it was time to leave, Mark insisted that Mike drive our van out of the soft sand and onto the hard sand area where we could drive the van off the beach.  That worked out well!

Feb. 1 Halfway Point Reflections

Halfway: Feb 1
   Today marks the half way mark in our 6 month adventure across the country.  It has been a remarkable experience traveling in our little RV and managing to get along fine so far!  We have put about 8,000 miles on the van and it too is doing well.  There will be some repairs when we return to Maine but so far nothing too serious.
   We have learned to economize in every way possible.  Water for the most part is a constant worry.  We buy water for drinking in 2 gallon jugs and try to drink as much as we can to stay hydrated.  Showers are interesting in some of the California parks; there can be a charge of  $.25 per minute.  It is quick one but a $1.00 usually gets me clean including a shampoo.  Our food supplies are also limited due to the small refrigerator and cabinet space.  We plan our meals carefully, cooking only what we will eat for each meal.  The most difficult economizing that I have done is wearing my clothes for 3-4 days at a time.  We try to do laundry only as needed and so far that has worked out except when we left Joshua Tree.  The desert sand, dirt and smell of open fire permeated all of our clothes. (I think I will need to go on a shopping spree when I return to Maine!).
   I am surprised how quickly the time has gone by. It is hard to believe that we only have 3 months left with so much more to see.  We have met interesting, friendly and helpful people all along the way.  We haven’t gotten lost too often but when we do I shut up and let Siri do the talking.  I will leave that argument between Mark and her and believe me it has happened.
  There are lessons to be learned about stepping back, taking time to observe nature and not be encumbered with too much stuff.  We have been able to stay abreast of the news, thanks mostly to John Zerner’s emails.  Mark has even had a few momentary conversations with supporters of Trump without any serious consequences.  Perhaps learning to listen is a first step in understanding.  No minds were changed, however.
   As today marks the halfway point of our adventure, we are happy, contented and overjoyed that we are able to have this time together and we are looking forward to the next 3 months.
 

January 30-Feb 1. Halfway point

Jan. 28th
Our choice to stay warm guided us to the coast of California.  The drive through the desert continued to be windy.  In fact, once we had gotten over the Los Padres Mts., we drove directly into a sandstorm.  This was harrowing for Mark trying to control the van and see where were headed.  Fortunately, we were able to pass through it in about 10 minutes.  We chose the highways to get around Los Angeles as quickly as possibly.  We heard that Highway 101 had recently been reopened due to horrific fires followed by rain and deadly mud slides.
   There is a village north of Ventura, Carpinteria, that is located directly on the beach.  The town of Carpinteria is charming, with a seaside feel but not too beachy with the smell of Eucalyptus Trees.  We walked to town for dinner through a lovely park and charming side streets.   It was a treat to have Thai food after our camping time in Joshua Tree.  .Unfortunately, what used to be a beautiful beach was now littered with piles of debris from the fires and mud slides.  There is a poisonous bacteria in the ocean, so no swimming.  The once green hills that frame the town to the east were bare from the burn. Some of the side streets were still coated with a layer of mud.  There is still much work to be done in the cleanup department in several of these coastal towns. This was a horrific and damaging and deadly series of storm events.
   Because the beach was not accessible, we moved north to Refugio State Park.  We were able to secure one of the last spaces for the RV.  The State Parks are much more spacious for camping so we decided to stay an extra night.  The beach here was clean and we witnessed a gorgeous sunset.

 Jan. 30th
   We are slowly making our way up the California coast and enjoying the beaches and small farming towns along the way.  We are in Pismo Beach at the moment and waiting for one more visit with Mike before he heads back to Jackson.  He had spent some time in San Diego and then with a friend in LA.