Time with Family and Getting New Home Ready

Now that our motorcycle adventure is done, we are busy getting ready for the next eight months.  Our family is loaning us their motorhome for the whole time. Luck us, huh!  We will depart mid-September on a circumnavigation of the lower 48.

For our USA adventure, we will be living and traveling in a 32' Four Winds Motorhome.  It is quite comfy with a queen bedroom, full bath, nicely appointed kitchen and large gathering area with dinette and sofa.  Fully equipped with all the bells and whistles, this will be our home as we discover many of the national parks we have yet to visit.  

Along the way we plan to spend time with more family and friends, popping in for a few days when we are in their area.  We have a rough sketch of our route. It's going to be a grand way to see the USA before departing on our five year world tour.

Campbell to Orange County

Departing San Jose it was a quick 90-minute ride to Monterey where we spend three days with our cousins.  It was a great rest, a chance to catch up on family news, and enjoy some special time with what's left of our Monterey family.  We saw a couple of movies, Joy made us her famous pasta and meatballs, we had dinner at our favorite restaurant on the wharf, and did a nice long drive around the peninsula.

We departed early a few days later for our ride down Hwy 1 to Los Osos.  The smoke from the fires was still in the air, through the fires were somewhat contained.  We had both been looking forward to the ride along California's stunning coastline.  However, the road was a lot windier on a motorcycle and it was not a pleasant ride.  Once we got out of the cliffside, the road opened up and then it was grand.






We arrived at friends, Terry and Diann, in Los Osos and were treated to a lovely home with a million dollar view, special home-cooked dinner, and some great conversation.





We departed early the next morning for our longest road segment yet, mostly on high-speed freeways.  Once is LA it was quite an adventure for two Alaskans on motorcycles maneuvering through multiple lanes of traffic,  We arrived at Bobbie's sister's home mid afternoon.  It took us less than an hour to unpack the bikes and put them to sleep in the garage.  We said a short farewell to our faithful steeds, all prepped and ready to go to their new owners.

We will be in Orange County with family for the next three weeks getting ready for our great USA road adventure.

Santa Rosa to Campbell

We slept in and got started for our short drive through San Francisco and on to the San Jose area.  The highlight of the morning commute was crossed the Goldn Gate Bridge on motorbikes.



We arrived safe and sound at our friend's home around noon.  Suzanne Doty has been a close friend.  We will enjoy a few nights with her, catching up, enjoying the pool, doing laundry, and getting re-stocked.

Trinidad to Santa Rosa

We work early and were on the road heading for the California border.  Views of the Oregon coastline were breathtaking as we approached the Gold Beach/Rouge River area.



We crosses the border with event free (they often check cars for produce and there are sniffing dogs for the other stuff) so I was a bit tense.  The ladies at the border smiled and waved us through.  Entering Crescent City we stopped at the local Fred Meyer for supplies.  We were amazed at the number of homeless. Wow!  So much more evident than in Anchorage.

The sun was bright and warm, but not too hot so we drudged on.  Just short of Willits we had a breakdown.  The sprocket on my bike dislodged and I lost propulsion.  In the middle of the day with no trees in sight, we were stuck along side of the road.  We pulled the bikes to a nearby pullout and took things apart to see what was wrong. Luckily the nut was lodged in the cam housing along with the loose sprocket.  Bobbie pulled out her tool box and we were back on the road, albeit limping, to the next big city.



In Willits we stopped at a auto supply store, got what we needed and since it was amazingly hot by then, opted for some fast food in a very well air-conditioned restaurant.

Back on the road we took the Avenue of the Giants turn off and traveled through massive redwoods for an hours before heading back to the main highway.







Near Santa Rosa we found a campground a bit out of the way.  Tired, hot, and a bit frustrated, we treated ourselves to a rustic cabin with real beds.  There was plenty of shade and it ended up being a great rest spot.

Tillamook to Trinidad

We were only one of two parties in the tent camp last night so it was very quiet.  We were up early, packed and heading over to see the air museum.  Tillamook is a really small town.  The cheese factory/tourist attraction is the largest building and probably the largest employer in the city.  There was a very nice, very large Fred Meyer so we stocked up.




The Tillamook Air Museum, locally known as Hanger B, was the west coarse base for blimps during WWII and operated a full Naval Air Station.  If you are an airplane nut, then this is a great spot to spend a couple of hours.  You can walk right up to all of the plance sand even get into the cockpit of a few.  Very cool.

From Tillamook it was a chilly and foggy ride through many small towns and dairies.  Once we reached the coastline again, then it was beach town after beach town and not many coastal views.  When we did reach the water the Oregon coast is beautiful.

We decided to push on through to Coos Bay since the weather had cleared and warmed up.  That chili and fish/chips lunch at a local dive may have helped as well.  We arrived coos Bay (gambling nd lumber) and found nothing.  We ended up in Banon at a lovely little RV camp.  Along the way there were examples of clear cutting close to the road so most folks driving by only see the trees.  If  you stop and walk in 50 yards you'll see nothing but clear cut land.  Sad.

The grew band is the highway

We got settled in and enjoy a really hot shower and a nice dinner over the campfire...stove set inside of fire ring.  The tent sites were in between the RVs so we got our own water and ELECTRICITY!



We enjoyed another lazy morning and were loaded up and down the raod vby 10AM.  We stopped at a local grocery along the way for a few things, ice, and some beer.  Then it was Crescent City as our destination.  Today we would cross the California border.

The road and weather opened up for us and it was a glorious warm day at higher speeds.  We made up so much time that we dicovered we are two days ahead of the plan.  Time to slow down.  We had lunch at the Crescent City Marina and crossed the border and into the Redwood National Forest aftrer lunch.

The drive through the redwoods was stunning.  At the end of the day we found a sweet campsite in the trees.