We endured 3 1/2 days of rain, drizzle, grey yucky weather on arrival. Not all was lost though because we roasted oysters on the grill, cleaned and conducted maintenance on our Newmar coaches, washed clothing, etc. Our park, Redwoods RV Resort in Crescent City, provided plenty of space and wonderful hosts. We lunched at two local Crescent City cafes, The Good Harvest Cafe won out over the other highly rated Cafe. The fishing fleet (crabbers, shrimpers and a couple of albacore tuna boats) docked in the harbor, ( nearly destroyed by a 1964 tsunami) was interesting
Bob celebrated his 74th on the 27th and we remembered Jim’s wife Carolyn whose birthday was the same day. Fresh from the dock Dungeness crabs, Kumamoto oysters (arguably the world’s best) , carrot cake, and of course a special wine made for a great dinner. Yum!!
While writing about the journey in these motor coaches, it is worth noting that we have learned much about their maintenance, both from Newmar and their vendors. Some have been most helpful. HWH with the jacks, KIB Electronics with the slide controllers and MCD automatic shades will spend as much time as is required to talk you through whatever issue you are having. The only vendors we have felt less than happy with are the big appliance manufacturers, Whirlpool and Maytag (especially that cursed ice maker). I suppose they are concerned that if they tell us too much, the appliance repair folks will be hurt.
The sun is now out and what a change. We spent the next couple of days driving and hiking through these magnificent, ancient and immense redwoods. We drove through and hiked the Jedediah Smith State Park which borders the Smith River, California’s longest (320 miles) uninterrupted (dams) and Federally-designated Wild and Scenic River. Amazingly clear and beautiful. we are reminded again of why we are taking this journey.
We drove to the Crescent Beach Overlook mouth of the Klamath River and Coastal Drive and hiked through portions of it.
We took the jeeps and drove them through the “Tour thru Tree”, and even with the Kayaks on top, D & R’s jeep fit!
We hiked in Lady Bird Johnson Park and were amazed at the size of some of the Redwoods. Even saw a small herd of Elk grazing in a field.
April 29, yet another crystal clear and sunny day took us to a private park, The Mystery of the Trees near Klamath. We climbed a path that took us through a number of very unusual redwoods, 120′ tall Sitka Cypress and on a gondola ride to the top. Great visit.
Today is our last full day in the last stand of what once was the dominant tree in North America. The Sierra Redwoods that survived man’s onslaught in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s are between 2,000 and 3,000 years old. According to the National Forest Service, a number of them are more than 3,000 years old, and a few are possibly as much as 4,000 years old.
On May 1 we travel US-101, the Coastal Highway to the Coos Bay, WA area. We look forward to more Dungeness crabs and Pacific oysters, especially the kumamotos. Dune riding is also on the menu. Weather? We shall see.
Tallman Travelers 