BB, Henri and Me: TTRV to Charleston Oregon; March 2014

With regret, and not a little sadness on leaving some new friends, BB, Henri and me left our winter headquarters, Tombstone Territories RV.

Our first three stops were "one-nighters", as we were trying to get out of Arizona, and on the north side of Los Angeles as quickly as possible.

Our first stop was at the Rivera RV in Blythe, CA, just across the Arizona / Califormia Border. We took IH10 up toward Phoenix, then West to Blythe. We were a little worried about the "agricultural check station" in California, thinking they might pull us over and check for invasive fruit flies, unauthorized plants, or republican tendencies, but the workers at the crossing waived us through without a second glance.

The Rivera RV is a good overnight stop, although it's a little hard to get to a you have to exit IH10, then circle back and travel on the frontage road back the way you came for quite a distance. However, the park was friendly, had acceptable grass overnight slots near the office, and was an OK one-night stop.

It seemed as if God said "Once in California, let there be Eucalyptus Trees." And so it was - eucalyptus trees of every shape and kind growing everywhere. Also, the Colorado at this location is not the Colorado we know in central Texas. Here, it is relatively clear water, and has an impressive, fast and strong current. Here are a couple of pics from our short stay in Blythe:

From Blythe, we headed west again on IH 10 and made our next stop in Redlands, CA, just southeast of San Bernadino, CA. We spent one night at the Missions RV park in Redlands. This is a compact park, full of long-term residents, with a few spaces for overnight visitors. Of interest here is that there are no pull-through spaces; they are all back-in. And given the density of the park, you'd better be pretty good at backing into your assigned slot.

With the help of the friendly manager, I actually backed the rig into my assigned slot without destroying anything. Not bad considering the sites are so tight that you can't open your awning if your neighbor is there. Here are some pics from Redlands:

Early the next morning, we crept slowly out of this park, and headed out for our jump across Los Angeles. BB had smartly timed our trip so that we hopefully get through this major metropolis early on a Sunday morning, when traffic would hopefully be lighter.

It turned out that she, like she usually is, was right, and our trip through the Los Angeles metroplex was smooth and uneventful. We shirted Los Angeles to the North, travelling 210 westward toward Santa Clarita, then took California 126 toward Ventura. We stopped for lunch in downtown Ventura, parking our rig in the nearby Ventura High School parking lot, thankfully vacant on a Sunday morning, and had breakfast at Pete's. Great breakfast and service; cool t-shirts "All we are saying is give Pete's a chance.".

From Ventura, we stayed on US101 to our next stop in Grover Beach (near Pismo Beach). The LeSage Riveria is an OK park, with sloping, gravel pull-through sites (for overnighters). The best draw for this park is it's proximity to the beach. There was excellent walking along the boardwalk. Here are some pictures from Grover Beach:

Henri and Me on the Boardwalk at Grover Beach, CA

While we were in Grover Beach, we took a day drive to see the Pacific Coast Highway, CA 1, from Morrow Bay up to Carmel. This is truly a road that you should experience at least once. Once the coastal mountain range comes down to the Pacific, the road hangs on the side of the mountain with nothing but a long drop and the cold Pacific below you. We traveled North, which meant that BB was on the "mountain" side of the road. She elected not to come back south, because she would then be looking directly down into the Pacific. Here are some of our PCH (CA1) pictures:

Morrow Rock

We considered driving the rig into San Francisco, and then over the Golden Gate Bridge, but couldn't find a route which did not involve some involved, inner-city driving. So we chose not to see the Golden Gate Bridge this jump, and headed east to pick up I-5 and drove up the agricultural San Joaquin Valley toward Sacramento. Past Stockton, CA, we exited I-5 and headed back toward US101.

Our next stop was a great RV park in Cloverdale, CA, the Dutcher Creek RV park. Cloverdale is in heart of the "wine country" and we spent several days here enjoying the beauty of this part of California. Dutcher creek is a beautiful RV park, but the drive up to the park itself is not for the faint of heart. Exiting US101, you drive through a narrow residential neighborhood, then you take an ever more narrow, windy and incredibly steep road up to the office. Once there, the views are spectacular. Here are some pictures from our stay at Dutcher Creek RV park in Cloverdale:

Windy Road up to the Park

Upon leaving Cloverdale, we continued up US101 to see the Redwoods and spent a couple of nights in Trinidad, at the Emerald Forest RV park. The Redwoods are impressive and are truly a sight to see. We thought we would stay longer in the Trinidad area and tour the Redwoods, but it turned cold and wet, and while the park is right in a Redwood forest, it felt too closed in, damp, dank and primordial to BB and I. The park itself is in need of remodeling as well. Here are some pictures from the Trinidad area:

A "Selfie" of BB and Me

From Trinidad, we drove into Oregon and made our first stop in Bandon, OR, at the Bandon-by-the-Sea RV park. This is a very nice park, well maintained with friendly staff. Bandon is also a great community to visit; "Old Town" Bandon has an eclectic arrangements of shops and restaurants as well as access to the beach. We enjoyed our stay in Bandon and here are a few pics:

From Bandon, we made the short hop to our home for the next month, the Oceanside RV Resort, near Charleston, OR. For the next month, we'll be here in Charleston, about 10 miles from where Kelly, Tammy and Devon live in North Bend, OR.

Oceanside RV Resort is a great RV park on the Cape Arago Highway and it is right on the coast. From our site, we are able to take a short walk to the beach. Henri has decided that he LOVES running on the sand, and the beach is normally not crowded at all this time of year, so he can usually go without his leash. We'll operate from Oceanside RV Park while we visit the KP Northcutts. Here are some pics of the RV park: