Marty's Travels

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I finished making my reservations for Ireland this summer, now all I have to firm up is where I leave my house when I'm gone. Meanwhile I'll be watching the Euro as the lower it goes the more money I'll have in my pocket.

I'm enjoying visits with my granddaughter Mazie, and looking forward to more in the next few weeks before I leave again.

It was a partly-cloudy/partly-sunny/showers kind of day, a good day to spend in front of the computer making reservations for my trip to Ireland. The tough part is picking what I want to see and where I want go; there's a lot of things to see there.

The organized tours of Ireland are very good, and a good way to go for those that haven't seen the island. They miss as much as I do, but I don't have a problem driving on the left, getting lost on unmarked roads, and staying in a room only a foot larger than the bed. Heck, I've been doing that for three years in the US now. But after four trips, I'm familiar with the ways and customs in Ireland. Not so much in the US.

My flurry of activity on my VISA card prompted the expected call from Security. I know that Security is watching out for me (or is it them?), but I wonder who they are and what they know about me. I need to notify my credit union what I'm doing so Security doesn't freak out when I'm there. I think.

I found trans-atlantic airfares to be about what I expected for the season, and car rental not out of line. [Can one actually use a 1.0 litre car? I hope so, but it sounds like I'm renting a lawn mower]. Room rates are surprisingly low. Generally speaking, I think the rates are fair.

My next project is where to park my house when I'm gone....

My daughter Kate and husband Matt came up from Vashon Island for dinner and a night on my seriously questionable sofa-bed. Chuck Geno pulled in as well, completing his stint as an emergency campground host. With help from my favorite produce sellers, World Peace Produce, just a mile up the road, we threw together a pretty good meal.

My friends and family are planning a gathering in Ireland this summer, and I really want to go. I miss seeing them a lot, and it's a top priority for me to get there. I have to nail down my flights and hotel this week. I love Ireland and it's a real gut-wrenching task to choose what I want to do, given limited budget and time.

But worse is the angst caused by the Iceland volcano which tends to shut down Ireland airports. I'm going to put down some serious money for this trip, gambling that a volcanic eruption won't occur on July 22. I really want a hedge on this one, and I'll be looking at the English and Irish betting houses to cover my risk. They'll bet on anything over there, and I'm sure I can find a line somewhere. If I can get there, I can handle the stranding problem should it arise.

BP says there is no way to estimate the amount of oil coming out of the well, in statements to us.

BP says the well had the potential of 50,000 barrels a day, in statements to their investors. Isn't that 2.75 million gallons a day? Remember the 5,000 barrels a day estimate?

Independent analysis says the spill is now about three Valdez's, a new unit of measure I'm not quite able to grasp.

The first thing to do is to understand the problem....

My Uncle Lou Connelly passed away today. He was my mom's youngest sibling. I didn't meet Lou until 1996, when he called me up and gave me the most crucial information on finding my Cincinnati family.

Thank you, Lou. I'll never forget.

I called up Chuck and said we were going into town to do some tourist things since it was his day off. We got on the ferry and his cousin Mary called and invited us out to lunch. She's a super lady, and since we talked about the Space Needle, it was on her expense account. I'm hoping to meet up with her again because we had a good time.

I gave Chuck a quickie tour of the Market, which I think he enjoyed. We were pressed for time to get back, which is always a bad position to be in when you live on the Peninsula. Just as we got to the Hood Canal Bridge the state patrol blocked traffic and I thought "Oh no, a Trident submarine". They wouldn't open the bridge at 5 o'clock would they? Yep, they would. It isn't that it takes a long time for a submarine to go through the bridge, it's the half-dozen other vessels that have to accompany it that takes the time.

Ferries and Bridges are a way of life here. When people ask me how long it takes to get to Seattle, my answer is two to six hours. Seems long for such a short distance, but things happen along the way. It's worth it, though, and it doesn't take much to adapt.

I had the chance a couple of times to go over to Seattle and visit with family and friends and get caught up with what's going on. My granddaughter, Mazie, is wonderful and quite fun to see.

Next order of business is to get re-acquainted with the towns and roads in the area.

Then, it's the annual clean-out of stuff I haven't used and won't need for the upcoming year. The goal is to free up some storage space for, of course, putting in new stuff as I travel around.

I pulled into the Escapee park today and paid for a month's stay, though I'm sure I'll be here longer. It's real quiet at the park right now.

Parking under trees just doesn't work with solar panels; I was going deeper and deeper into a hole with my batteries, using more power than what went back in everyday.

Chuck and Nancy went to the airport to send her off back to Michigan, and Chuck will be taking the motorhome back a little later. She was very happy to be going to see her family. Chuck's going to hang out at Seal Rock until about the 15th, then work his way cross-country hosting if he can. He's got the perfect disposition for this: extremely outgoing, very wise in human interaction, and perfectly capable of coming down hard if necessary.

Except for the tree thing, Seal Rock is a beautiful place. Despite having lived on Puget Sound for most of my life I wasn't aware there was a shrimp fishery here. It ran from 0700-1500 on Saturday, and the same hours today. There's another "season" in July, I think. The shrimpers were out there this morning.

It was an oyster "take" this last weekend, and I was astounded how the shore was picked clean by the time I got there. Both the shrimp and oyster harvests are recreational only with very limited takes allowed.

It's good to be back in the PNW....

My friends the Genos got a campground host "job" at Seal Rock, on Dabob Bay, which attaches to Hood Canal, which is attached to Admiralty Inlet on the Pacific Ocean. I'm parked next to the rocky/oyster-strewn beach under a dense thicket of cedar, spruce, madrone, maple, and doug-fir in the Olympic National Forest. I am in yet another beautiful spot next to the water.

The tree canopy runs right up to the shore so I can't avoid the impact this has on my solar-powered life, and the impact is considerable. It's 40 miles in any direction to a decent grocery; my guess is that one cannot get any more isolated in the Puget Sound area.

It's to be seen whether I can get enough sun to satisfy me, but I am low on water and will have to hitch up and leave when I run out. I'm hoping I can hang for several days.

If this isn't the most spectacular drive in the lower 48, I'd love to hear what beats it. It's the variety of scenery that sets it apart: the vineyards, the redwoods, the beaches, the rocks, the mountains, and the towns along the way. I've been moving far too quickly to do it justice, and I had a lot of rainy weather that took away some great opportunities for sightseeing. Still, it was excellent.

There is no end of RV parking places along the way of any type which one would desire. But, during the peak season, there is no end of RVs to fill those spaces. While I enjoyed fairly light traffic, that would be a much different situation in season. The highway from Eureka north is for the most part good, usually two-lane but a lot of 3 and 4 lane sections. Sometimes it gets slow as the road winds between trees or around a headland, but logging trucks use it regularly. I'm going to jump off 101 tomorrow and head over to Puget Sound, but continuing up the Washington coast and around the peninsula is just as spectacular.

I recommend this trip to my traveling friends if they haven't seen it yet. May or September can work, April or October if you can live with the rain. Allow a month.

Tomorrow I'll head for Quilcene for a visit with my friends hosting a forest service campground. I'll be "home" then, at least within striking distance of Seattle whenever I want to go over there.

I moved across the bar to the Washington side and it's state park and lighthouses. Nice place, right on the shore, but cell service is very weak. I'll move up to Puget Sound on Sunday.

I'm doing my annual northward migration to the Puget Sound, after spending the winter in warmer climes. I'm tracking the birds which do the same thing. I'm on the coast, so am on the Pacific Flyway. Birds going north follow the coastline all the way from the equator to the arctic circle to breed.

Another great flyway is from Mexico east of the Rockies to the tundra in Canada. It's a great place to watch the migration this time of year.

Another important flyway is a bit more challenging. Birds that have wintered in the Amazon forest work their way to the Yucatan, cross the Gulf and head north into Canada. For those in the Great Lakes region, these are your spring birds, the warblers and other great singers that you associate with spring.

For those that launch from the Yucatan, the fly over the Gulf to the next landfall is somewhere around Biloxi, MS. Migrating warblers don't just fly in and make a gradual landing on the coast here, they crash in completely out of energy. We've wisely set aside refuges for these migrants, a restaurant so they can fuel up for the next leg.

But what if we cover the coast with oil? The birds come in on empty and hit a hostile environment. Goodbye birds.

It is critical migration season. The birds require a good restaurant when they crash. The oil spill is threatening the restaurant.

Others have commented on this large state park, and I concur that it is a dandy. It is a part of a national/state system like Redwoods, called The Lewis and Clark National & State Historical Parks, and includes state parks in both Oregon and Washington straddling the mouth of the Columbia. The camping area is large and very roomy, and there are many things to see in the park as well as nearby. Astoria is spiffed up for tourism, and the visitor center at Fort Clatsop is a treasure trove of L&C stuff and ideas for seeing things.

I've seen all the rivers that drain the coast ranges of California and Oregon from the Sacramento north, but none are as dramatic as the Columbia. Big rivers in the lower 48 generally go to sea in a peaceful, relaxed manner through an estuary which is a nicely balanced environment between fresh and sea water, a partnership that benefits both, and provides unknowable benefits to fish, fowl, and animal. [Provided humans haven't screwed it up]

The Columbia and the sea meet in anger, both fighting off the other as they battle at the "bar". The battleground itself is hostile to most other bystanders, but to fish and men in particular, crossing the bar is essential to life in four states and one province.

This is the place to see this unique natural phenomena. Highly recommended.

A good citizen is an informed citizen, so I try to stay informed.

USA Today reported on April 1:

Improved technology and greater safety standards have made offshore drilling less of an environmental threat, said Erik Milito of the American Petroleum Institute, which represents oil companies.

Milito said there hasn't been a "significant environmental incident" from offshore drilling in more than 40 years.

ABC reported on April 23:

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters the decision to halt the search was very difficult.

Earlier today, Landry told ABC News there is no crude oil spilling from the oil rig that sank after the massive explosion and fire, easing fears of a massive environmental disaster.

"We've been able to determine there is nothing emanating from the well head," Landry said.

FOX, April 26:

A fleet of boats and nearly a thousand crew members are working around the clock, trying to contain and stop an oil spill that has the potential to become a very serious problem for 4 states and hundreds of miles of coastline.

The rain came in later than forecasted, then it really came down. Beachside SP has a serious flooding problem when this happens; luckily it wasn't the weekend when there were a lot of tent campers there.

It wasn't bad at all driving up to Nehalem State Park today, though the road is fairly slow. Too wet to wander around and look at the beach, but it might be better in the morning. I'm not far from Fort Stevens, my destination tomorrow.

Beachside State Park just south of Waldport. I'm behind a protective barrier of shrubs and small trees but with a view and a very short walk to a seemingly infinite beach, flat as a Wal-Mart parking lot in West Texas. Perfect spot to get hit with a little storm.

Tomorrow I'll run a few miles up the highway to Newport to play tourist, birding along the way. I'm hoping the predicted high winds will blow in some migrating birds from the ocean.

One never lacks for scenery on this highway.

I'm in a rather unattractive rv park in Coos Bay for one night, but I found a replacement for my cat heater. Pricey device, but no sales tax.

Rain is coming in on Sunday night, so I'll head up the coast tomorrow to find a parking place with a view of the ocean. Then, just sit and watch the storm come in. Winter is the best time for storm-watching in the PNW, but I guess this will do since I'm here.

I'll go up to Coos Bay tomorrow to pick up a new catalytic heater. My forced-air furnace is a terrible propane hog, and the fan takes way too much power, so I have to plug in when I park. Not a big deal as the state parks have good utilities, but I would like to boondock on the beach somewhere. And it's certainly not warm on the coast right now. Pretty, though.

I drove up to Gold Beach on the Rogue river and birded the coast line back down. It's a cute town, obviously a tourist trap but very sleepy now. I saw a lot of migrating greater white-fronted geese, but not much else of interest. The marina had a bunch of seals and very young ones. Baby seals are fun to watch.

My friends the Genos (we knocked around SF) picked up a camp hosting gig near Quilcene, just south of Chimicum, so I'll be stopping there a bit before heading to Chimicum. Still planning on being there May 1.

The morning was clear and beautiful so it was back to California to finish up my tour of the redwoods. Here's another reason I'm glad I'm in Oregon: I gassed up before I left town at 2.87. Across the border 10 miles the prices are 3.37.

The wind came up quite a bit, making the surf spectacular but the beaches nearly intolerable. Much better touring the old roads and walking the redwood groves. The old roads can be rather intimidating at times, one-lane perched on the side of an uplifted block of rock with an obvious tendency to fall into the ocean, or to be blocked by a blown-over tree. The park service keeps up with repairs, but their idea of an open, passable road is pretty loose. "Passable this morning" means nothing about noontime. But it's fun, and damned pretty, not to mention exciting.

A technical matter. The full name of the park is the Redwoods National and State Park. Back in the old days of "Save the Redwoods" various groups and agencies acquired lands an acre at a time to save the old-growth trees. California pitched in by creating a patchwork of state parks, then the US Park Service came in to get more parcels. They then combined their holdings in a way so as not to duplicate efforts. It seems to work, though as each entity comes under budget pressure, it must be tough to keep things going.

My house and truck are covered with a salt film, and now a yellow layer of pollen. It seems every plant here is blooming. My eyes sting and water, as well as all the other symptoms of pollen.

I'm at Harris Beach State Park, backed up high over the Pacific watching the surf bash the big rocks that are so iconic along this part of the coastline. The weather is rainy, sunny, windy, cool, and calm depending on when, or even where, you look. The redwoods are tall, the forests dense, the rhodies are in bloom, and the wildflowers are everywhere.

The first thing I did was have fish n' chips for lunch. The best fish n' chips in the country are to be had in Oregon. Without trying I found a great place in Brookings, and everything was perfect.

It's quiet along the Oregon coast now, I expect to jump from one state park to another all along the way. Oregon state parks are well-managed, and very economical. $18 a night for full hookups, versus $35 for California. It's great to be out of California.

I have no idea what I'll be doing here. Check the weather, look at a map, and go see what needs to be seen.

I was hoping to go up to Arcata to see the 4/20 celebration in the redwood grove, but it rained most of the day and I decided I'd pass.

My catalytic heater has failed; it's been getting weaker and weaker for some time now and I planned on replacing it when I got to Oregon. They can be repaired, but it's almost as costly as a new one, and I figured I got some good value out of it over the last three years.

So, rather than go to Crescent City tomorrow (when the rain lets up) I'll go over the border to Oregon. It's only a few miles, and I'm real anxious to say goodbye to California. California has the best places, and the worst places. It's the prettiest, and the ugliest; it's relaxing and it's a hassle. I'm weary of it all for now, but I'll be back as soon as I can.

This is certainly a spectacular place. If you just drive US 101 you go through it and can enjoy many of it's features, but the best bet is to get off the highway and visit a grove or two at least. Good spots and wonderful trails are easy to get to (don't be pulling anything).

I was in a grove this morning, I thought all alone, and thoughts of the big trees in Lord of the Rings, or the forest in Harry Potter, came to mind. One gets a strong feeling of life amongst them in a grove, and I wished I could talk to them. They obviously have wisdom I don't.

I wasn't alone it turns out, and I caught up with a few foreign travelers. Egyptian was my guess. Before we even exchanged greetings one fellow looked at me and said "I want to spend the rest of my life here".

The rhododendrons are in full bloom and they grow big here. Outstanding. But if I was tortured into a decision, the trillium is my favorite flowering plant. It's a small, simple plant, but it grows in astounding forest settings.

The park runs along the coastline and I ventured south to north to about the middle. I'll move a bit up the highway later and then see the northern part north to south. To be expected, high elevations are closed for the season, but that's no biggie.

Nice place, one of the better national parks, a must-see.

Eureka is still a lumber town, though it's a just a shadow of it's former self. Most of the old lumber and paper mills have been taken down and the bay cleaned up considerably. A few large redwood operations still exist, and the town has converted to tourism for it's economy. And cannibis, of course. They aren't as fixated on sustainability as Ukiah was, and I didn't see anywhere near the number of solar panels like I did in Ukiah.

Birding the bay wasn't all that productive due to very fair weather and poor tide conditions. I got one new species, a murre, but generally speaking the birds were spread out all over the flat ocean today.

The bay is the estuary for six rivers that drain the coastal range, an astoundingly critical biological location. We screwed that system up real bad, but it's coming back. It's no where near what it should be, but it's much better than 40 years ago.

It's Godwit Days in nearby Arcata, a week-long festival to celebrate the migration of shorebirds. The 20th is the traditional day for the migrating orioles to show up. I couldn't time this better if I tried.

4/20 is also a traditional date for cannibis people, and since Humboldt County is the acknowledged premier location, festivals are planned throughout the region. Nearby Humboldt State College, not known for it's academic achievements, will likely declare it a holiday. There is no way I'll miss 420 in Humboldt, a truly unique festival.

Plenty of things happening here; I'm happy.

As I was driving through the redwoods from Ukiah this morning I concluded I will be spending much more time in this part of the country. It's dearly unfortunate the luck of boundaries puts this place in California rather than Oregon. But I think when my wheels stop turning, it's here.

There's a lot to see (ocean, mountains, small towns, birds) and I skipped a bunch along the way. No matter, I will be back every chance I get.

I haven't had a chance to explore Eureka yet, though weather is good tomorrow for a bit of that. Rain will come in on Monday, and I'll use those days to seeing the redwoods. There's no sun or rain under those trees, so it doesn't matter.

I've jumped a tad ahead of spring, so sitting for a bit will be a good idea. I've got some time to kill before my May 1 date to be on the Olympic Peninsula. I can't imagine a better place to sit and stay for a while.

This outfit specializes in "green", "sustainable" or "eco-friendly" products. Down the road a tad they have a store and a pleasant "Solar Living Center" on 12 acres. Think Whole Earth Catalog in 2010.

They are into solar more than anything else, but sustainable water practices are big. Solar power around here is a communal thing, with several PV-array "farms" set up to feed the grid. No need to build your own, just buy your power from a producer with a big array. Real Goods has a large farm on their property for this purpose, as well as their own to run their operation. Here in Ukiah Mendocino State College has a very large array for this purpose.

It's a great place to see, both it's grounds as well as it's store. Nifty stuff for sale.

The cannibis growers have been the biggest user of solar and other sustainable techniques and products because they were forced into the woods and away from the grid. Their success was noticed by the grape, pear, and apple growers and now you see the wineries around here with solar arrays of their own, and fruit growers with elaborate drip irrigation systems. Vineyards and orchards are being replaced with PV-array farms to support operations, trying to attain the right to claim "sustainable" for their product.

Interesting stuff.

No matter where I go, local farmers have their complaints about their industry. Weather, prices, water, govmint, they're seemingly perpetual grouches even though they seem to do satisfactorily.

It's no different here in the Emerald Triangle, where oversupply of cannibis has led to a crash in the wholesale market. The producers had been getting about $5000 a pound, now it's down to $2500. So the complaining has started.

Cannibis as a crop in California is 14 times bigger in terms of money than the citrus industry. Any way you look at it, a 50% drop in any ag product is serious money.

Meanwhile, retail prices have stayed constant due to the California practice of limiting retail outlets to a very few monopolies. Roughly, they are still getting about $10,000 a pound, so the situation is good for them.

The production phase supports a large industry of irrigation, fertilizer, and processing equipment. Think feed and seed or farm and tractor supply outfits found in any agriculture community. Those are big businesses here and they are feeling the squeeze.

The weather was absolutely fabulous this morning, so I set off through the mountains to the sea. The drive through the redwood forests is very windy and slow at times, and the big tree canopy blocks out the light now and then. There are wineries all along the way.

Mendocino is a reformed timber town, now done up very nicely for the tourist trade. It's perched on the rocks above the Pacific, a beautiful setting. It's along the California 1, not a road I'd recommend taking a big rig on. I saw a couple along the way, but I'd think the effort and stress would be too much. There are many places to park along the way, though, most with ocean or river views.

It's an absolutely gorgeous drive in a stunning part of the country.

I was hoping to spot some whales, as the sky was clear and the sea perfectly flat. The whale-watch boats were just puttering around waiting for a sighting when I was in Mendo. As I went north a bit to Fort Bragg, I saw a flare not far off-shore, but I couldn't reach a viewing spot very quickly. I presumed the flare was to alert the others of a sighting.

It was a great driving tour today.

Last night the check valve on my water heater broke, again. I had a spare I picked up the last time it happened, but a fitting was broken and leaking. Dave's Trailer in Ukiah had everything I needed, including another spare. It was cloudy and drippy all day, so I also paid visits to two wineries.

The promise is for good weather tomorrow. If it happens I'll head to the coast for a driving tour.