Wednesday AM, 30MAR, we hit the road to meet Rebecca and grandboys (Jaxson & Mason) in Crescent City, CA. She is taking the boys there for start of spring break to see the giant redwoods. They will stay at a BnB, & will stay at RV park. Drive is over 500 miles so we decide to break drive into two 250 mile legs. Since we haven’t been using RV for awhile there were couple of glitches that added to driving time (nothing major, just relearning). Spent the night north of Salem, OR.
Thursday AM (last day
of March) head into Salem for cheap diesel & then back on I-5 south. Our new “used” RV only has 25 gallon tank so
range is limited to about 250 miles☹. We might make it to Crescent
City, CA, but plan on topping off fuel at Seven Feathers Casino 100 miles before
CA. Last portion of drive is on US 199
out of Grants Pass. Speed limit is 55
most of the way, but with two lanes no shoulders, up/down hills, and hairpin corners
we struggle to maintain 25/30 mph. We
soon had line of cars behind us😊
Set up camp in old KOA, and dinner at Chart Room in Crescent City (very good). Great food, the noise & smell of the dozens of seals & sea lions right next to restaurant is an added bonus! RV park is off Elk Road & we notice several large bull elk on side of road right next to park as we return to RV.
Welcome to the Chart Room
Crescent City California (ccchartroom.com)
Friday AM (april fools) we head out to visit all four visitor centers
in the Redwood National & State Parks.
In order of visits – 1) Hiouchi & Jedediah Smith State Park Visitor
Center, 2) Crescent City Information Center, 3) Prairie Creek Visitor Center,
4) Thomas H Kuchel Visitor Center. To
quote the National Park (NP) brochure:
Redwood National and State Parks
represent a cooperative management effort of the National Park Service and the
California Department of Parks and Recreation. This includes Redwood National
Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park,
and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Together these parks are a World
Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve that protect resources
cherished by citizens of many nations. Information in this brochure can help
you decide what to see and do during the time you have to visit the parks.
Services and facilities are also listed or described.
Redwood National
and State Parks (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Lunch at Crescent Seafood hidden in the working sea front (specializing in fresh & smoked seafood. NP staffing still suffering from covid impact(s)& they are still in winter ops (no displays, no films, no ranger led activities☹ Head back to RV to take care of dogs; then off to Smith River and the BnB Rebecca & grandkids will be at. Finally at 5PM we join together head to RV for to catch our breaths and then off to Perlitas for Mexican.
Saturday AM Rebecca shows up at our RV with boys and we head out. We head to Klamath, CA, and drive a coastal loop road south of town that has a oneway dirt road in the middle of it restricting passage to cars only. Sites scene other than the fantastic coastal scenery was the last remain “hidden” WWII coastal radar station and the remains of original Klamath bridge wiped out by Redwood logs during flood of 1964; next was lunch at Prairie Creek Visitor Center; tried to hike Cathedral Tree Trail (.4 mile) & got lost and hiked 1.5 miles extra☹ Then we drove thru one of last of three remaining “drive thru” redwood trees in CA.
Back to RV for BBQ chicken & hotdogs; dessert is great ice cream at CC Diner & Ice Cream. Last excursion was to drive & then hike to Enderts Beach to explore tide pools at low tide. Unfortunately we had correct time for low tide but the morning low tide three feet better than evening low tide. But we did get more exercise with one mile round trip hike with a 600 foot elevation☹ Hopefully tomorrow less hiking?
Sunday AM somewhat of late start after Rebecca & kids show-up and we head to Hiouchi Visitor Center for quick visit & info. Then we drive Howland Hill Road north to south (very scenic drive on dirt road with many sections one car wide. First stop is Stout Grove for short hike we get lost once again. When we get back to car it is surrounded by “antique” VW buses?
Next stop is Grove of Titans with largest trees we have seen to date, most of trail recently redone & portions have elevate steel decking around the trees. Note this grove remained little known for decades until it went viral on the internet; and the surrounding forest was trampled to death by constant stream of visitors.
Back in car and the end of road brings us to fish vessel pier of Crescent City & where we had cajun lunch at Schmidtd’s House of Jambalaya (not to bad). Then the boys finally get to play on a beach (but not go in the water). Back to RV to chill out – boys play football with other RV park kids; adults sit around campfire until smore’s time & Rebecca & kids head back to BnB.
Schmidt's House of
Jambalaya - Seafood - Crescent City, California
Monday AM wake up to rain; when Rebecca & kids show-up we head out; first stop is Rumiano Cheese (family owned/run since 1921). No tours due to 911 security regs (excellent cheese & definitely cheaper to buy at the factory!). Next is Northcoast Marine Mammal Rescue (closed). Then we got some pics of roadside attraction Dan discovered on internet.
Off to Fisherman’s (that’s its name) for lunch. Last stop at Ocean World Aquarium; and back to RV snack on cheese purchases. Apparently, everyone slightly tired after two & half full days of non-stop activity, so Rebecca heads to BnB with boys to pack for tomorrow’s departure.
We get RV ready for our
drive back knowing we will have Jaxson & Mason with us. That night we discover we have not paid for
Monday night & have to move to parking lot for dry camping through the
night☹
Rumiano Cheese Company |
Family Owned | Family Farms
Northcoast Marine Mammal
Center | Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release and Educate (northcoastmmc.org)
Tuesday AM, 05APR, we wake early & decide to leave asap because we are without utilities. Call Rebecca and she will meet us at Seven Feathers Casino in Oregon to “give us” Jaxson & Mason. We get to casino/truck stop at 1130 and fuel-up. Rebecca shows up right then & drops boys off and heads home to Bremerton & work. Once RV is set-up; Corrie heads to casino, Dan & boys head to RV park indoor pool. Early evening we all head to casino for dinner. And discover any restaurant connected to gambling floor kids cannot access because they kids not even allowed to walk thru gaming area.
We had already checked out casino website & found one
accessible restaurant with pizza, wings, burgers, subs and even 24 hr breakfast
(BAD NEWS website forgot to mention restaurant closed since covid & reopens
tomorrow). Dinner at coffee shop with
second rate pizza☹ Back to RV for donut holes’ dessert. One emergency in middle of night Jaxson loses
tooth; getting everyone up to respond is a fire drill in small RV🙃
Wednesday AM back on I-5 for fairly uneventful drive to Columbia Riverfront RV in Woodland, WA, on the banks of the Columbia River; we last stayed here in 14NOV2019.
The
Ryan RV Express: 06-14NOV19 - Various: TX, AZ, CA, & WA
Thursday AM back to I-5N & home in four hours of driving with
the usual traffic jams on the “S curves” of 405 around Renton. One last fill-up at Costco before arriving
home!!! Great weather, so when we get
home we rush to do all the outdoor “stuff” before rain arrives tomorrow; while
the boys run around, climb trees, etc, after sitting still for four hours.
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