Note...that sure was close ..day 48

Well, that beautiful storm came and went, thank goodness.  I saw it coming (see photo) about 100 miles up route 70 and saw that it was about a ten mile storm, although i was hoping it wasn't headed our way, but it was.

I decided not to try for Moab, 50 miles up the road, because we lost an hour due to the time zone change, and i wanted to try to beat the storm.  We pulled into this camp at Green River at 6:30 and i had the camp fully set up and Erde fed by 7:10, a record for me (no dinner for me tonight, though) just as a light rain started to fall. Lightning, about once a minute, was lighting up the entire sky and inside our cozy yellow tent i felt i was inside a light bulb.  When the heavy winds and heavier rains started to come just as i sent my last posting, the thunder was five seconds away from the lightning. Minutes later it was eight, then 12, then 26, so i knew the storm was moving away.  Nevertheless, i tossed all the metal, dog bowls, lamps, my easy chair, my belt, dog tags, etc., from the tent, and was about to pull up the metal stakes for the tent and replace them with plastic ones, but did not.  I pulled Erde close to me to minimize our footprint until i was sure the storm had passed.  I then poked my head out the tent and saw a few clouds, but mostly stars. Our tent was pitched to the left of the Defender so you can see how vulnerable we were.  No big deal, just one if the hazards of tenting on these road trips.

 Of course, while i was preparing for the worst, the other campers here, all RVers, were snuggly resting in the dens, probably munching on canapés, downing Ramos Gin Fizzes, and watching All in the Family reruns. 

I do not like electric storms. I would rather sleep among  bears than encounter an electrical storm.  In 2000, when Sonntag and i were returning from Alaska, we camped at Birds Hill Provincial Park in Winnipeg and had just set up the camp when an electric storm hit.  There was no time difference between the lightning and thunder as the storm was directly over us with a very low cloud cover.  I could tell when the lightning was coming, about 15 seconds apart, because the tent pokes were crackling and Sonntag's hair was standing up.  Once, i thought the storm was leaving when the thunder was seconds behind the lightning, but then it returned and hovered over us.  Finally, it left, and when i emerged from the tent, i instinctively did some atavistic dance celebrating the danger that had just passed. The few RVers in the camp kindly stopped  in the morning to see if we survived tee night.  When i got hone, i read a book called All About Lightning to prepare myself for the next one, which  just came, 14 years later.

Since I will not have much time for postings on these last few days of the trip, i will post the day's photos and summarize the day, and then when i get home, i will transfer the notes from my journal to the placeholder posting for the day.

The storm, 100 miles up the road on interstate 70

Our tent was set up to the left of the Defender. My hope was that any lightning would strike the tree or the Defender first.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Note on Day 47 oct 21

We are at Green River state park in utah.  I was hoping to get to my past blog postings tonight but there is  a bad electrical storm coming. Got to get all metal out if tent, even the ipad.  Sorry.

Tomorrow we head for Denver.  Maybe i'll get to past postings then.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Day 46, Sunday, October 19, Petroglyph (?) Recreation Area, on route 50, somewhere in the Nevada desert, miles from anywhere

At 1am, i heard Zeus, our next-tree neighbor, start to bark.  It was not an angry bark, but a "get away from here" bark.  It continued for a few minutes and then i heard some clanging coming from the metal food locker at his site 72.  There was silence for a few seconds and then i heard some more clanging coming from the direction of the Defender, five feet away from my head.  Time to investigate, i decided, so i grabbed my high intensity flashlight (although  i lost high intensity earlier in the evening and decided to postpone replacing the batteries until tomorrow), opened the tent door and poked my head out.  I than shined the light underneath the Defender so i could see the legs of the character trying to do no good to it.  Sure enough, the low intensity light revealed two legs and feet by the rear left tire, rather large and hairy legs ar that.  I then pulled out my Kamchatka-bear whistle and blew on it for a minute, after which i saw him the huge besr very casually walk away from the Defender as if thinking, "well, you can't blame a bear for trying."  I decoded not to investigate then the damage because there was nothing i could do then anyway.  Knowing that the bear was unlikely to try again, I tried to go back to sleep right away, and i eventually did, but only after a nightmare that he or she did return and tried to pull me from the tent as a grizzly did to the wilderness-experienced Alaskan photographer on Kamchatka in 1996 in the same area where a year later i had my own rather harrowing experience with a grizzly.  But that's another story.

As it turns out, the bear, in attempting the reach my kitchen container on the roof rack, which should not have been there, found an opening on the top of the rear window and pulled it down ripping the stiches from the window as it attaches to the zipper, not a big deal to fix when i get back.  My temporary fix of duct tape did not work very long, and i did not use the super glue i had because that only works best on gluing  fingers together.  At a hardware store in Lake Tahoe, I picked up some clamps that will work nicely until i get home.

Some may be asking how it feels to be five feet away from a 300-pound hungry bear. The only answer i can give is that it is the same feeling you would have at home if the bear was in your kitchen and you had nowhere to run. And remember, i was in this bear's home.

We finally got on the road ad 10:30, later than planned, making our goal for the day of  Ely Nevada difficult to make, but we'll try.

The clockwise drive around Lake Tahoe was pleasant, especially seeing some of the super mansions along the way, as was the drive down the mountain to Carson City, where the real route 50 really begins as the two-lane lonely road that it is. You do not want to get stranded on 50, especially without water or some means of sure communication at any time of the year.

There were four reasons i wanted ti take route 50: to get away from the interstate traffic, to see the absolutely magnificent desert scenery for hundreds of miles, and,to spend another night at the magnificent  Cave Lake State Park where we spent a memorable night under billions of stars in 2001, a memory that has stayed with me for 13 years.

The fourth reason was to see if i could find the spot way off the road down a dirt road where we almost bivouacked in 2001, a scene in the rocky hills that reminded me of scenes in so many westerns i saw as a kid. I always regretted not bivouacking there, but the road beckoned thar day.

Some day, when i learn the vocabulary of what i saw on the road, i will revise this posting to describe it.  Briefly, you drive through the desert from summit to summit crossing valleys that stretch in all directions for miles, valleys once used by the pony express.

At 2:30, as i drove speedily toward Ely, still four hours away,i saw a sign for the Berlin-something camp that i thought said  five miles to the right and which would have given me the same experience i passed up in 2001 at a cost of only 10 miles in both directions. But after 10 miles with no sign of the camp, i gave up and turned around back to 50, but before i headed on in the direction of Ely,i checked the sign back on 50 to see what I missed.  See photo. 

After a pit stop in Austin at 4:30, knowing we would be getting into Ely after sundown, i decided to spend two nights at Cave Lake and get some errands done on Monday, i.e. oil change, laundry, etc. But then, 30 minutes later, at 5:00 p.m. precisely, when i like to arrive in a camp, i flew by a sign for the Petroglyph camp, which was just off the highway about a mile in a setting that bettered the setting i passed up 13.years ago.  For the next two miles i debated the pros and cons  of bivouacking there for the night and extending the trip home by one day. The pros won. I slammed on the breaks, turned the Defender around and found what had to be one of the most magnificent desert settings for a camp that most people pay big money for to stay in on dude ranches. I paid nothing and shared the camp with one other hardy soul. Instead if describing the camp, i am sending photos. Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous are the only three words i  can find to describe it. This is what Buddha meant by solitude and tranquility. And i provided the dog to add the third best thing in life.

Photos...

The handiwork of the good bear.  When the ranger came by this morning to inquire about any bear sightings, i told her, nothing thst wasn't normal or expected of a bear.  I did not want bear 73 (my site number) to be marked as a trouble bear. Not was not his or her fault anyway.

 

Zeus, the dog that save the Defender from extinction.  He is a ten-month old mix between a great Pyrenees and Saint Bernard.  What a beautiful, good dog. He was well treated by Erde for his heroism.

Our humble camp at Sugar Pines SP, if that indeed was the name of it.  Notice my temporary fix for my rear window, which was supposed to hold till we got home, but last 20 minutes. Notice also how close my head at the front of the tent was to where the bear was.  The poor bear was only trying to get to the green food container propped on the rear of the roof rack.  The Defender actually did the guy sleeping in the green tent behind ours a favor as he slept with his door wide open and the first thing tge bear would have encountered was the guy's head.

The Defender saying goodbye to Lake Tahoe for the second time. Not many Defenders can say that.

Why this stretch of US route 50 is called the loneliest road.  You do not want to break down on this road.

Ar 2:30, we passed this sign quickly and i had time only to read the first 26 characters, so assuming it said 5 miles, i turned right, assuming that's where the arrow pointed. I was right about the arrow, but wrong about the 5.

The beauty of this road cannot be described adequately. It has to be experienced.

One of the few towns along the road to Ely, in this case, Austin.

the eastern view from our camp at Petroglyph R.A.

The northern view

The southern view...

Erde inspecting the new site for its compliance with her standards.

This was to be our home for the night.  Upon seeing it immediately, i knew it was the perfect site, and i was right (so far, that is).  Where do you think the tent will go, and why?  

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Day 45, Saturday, October 18, Sugar Pines (?) State Park, Lake Tahoe, California, about 6961 miles

Woke up at 6 on a lovely morning in this heavenly park north of San Francisco and started breaking camp since one-nighters have to clear out by 9.  Dan the attendant, stopped by to chat about the Defender as he was as knowledgeable about it as anyone I've met. Again, the great part about this trip is all the pleasant people i met.

But one can meet unoleasant people, too, although rarely.  As i went to check to see if there were any cancellations for the campground that night in case i had to stay an extra day or so to deal with Erde's sitaution, i met one of those unpleasant people, the park ranger.  When i inquired as to what time i could check in that night for another one-nighter in case there were no cancellations and I needed to spend an extra day to deal with my sick dog, she started getting anrgy about how people are abusing the one-night deals like i had the night before.  She refused to let me come back to the camp and told me to find another camp. Since I had logic and common sense on my side, even though i did not actually want to come back to the camp, i wanted to see if i could enlighten her with my impeccable logic and reason, not to mention compassion, common sense, courtesy, etc.  She didn't budge, which is what i expected on my first metting her.  (Sometimes yiu can tell that.) After a few minutes, i decided to move on, especially since she carried not only arrest powers but a gun.  They ought to give people who carry guns more than just a test on their ability to shoot, if they even do that.

On the way to Lagunitas to pick up some special dog food for Erde at a wonderful vet there, i concluded that Erde's health was just fine, and decided that afrer our customary trip into San Francisco with the turnaround at Coit Tower, we would move on to Lake Tahoe, 200+ miles away, even though we would be getting a late start.

Our trip into San Francisco was wonderfuk. i will forever regret not moving there years ago before the 20-something Googke executives took over the city and jacked home prices up. We found a great parking spot near Fisherman's wharf for Erde to take her customary dip in the Bay, and then visted The Buena Vista Cafe where i spent the evening sipping Ramos Gin Fizzes after the astronauts landed on the moon for the first time in 1969.  (No big feat, mind you, compared to any one of my trips, which lasted far longer than their trips and they had far more space than I.) No Ramos Gin Fuzzes for me this year, though.) this year,  Then it was off to Coit tower for the turnaround and then Route 80 for Sacramento, which highway was a stark reminder for me with all the traffic of what we humans are doing to each other.

At Sacremanto, we picked up US 50 which runs right by my home in DC, although it is not the two-lane, lonely route 50 at that point that everyone raves about.  In fact, at the beginning, it is 12 lanes and you encounter more traffic on it in 30 seconds than you do for several days once you pass Carson City. After Carson City, which i  will get to tomorrow, you get on the route 50 i fell in love with when Leben and Erde and i took it for the first time.  My words cannot do it justice so i suggest you Google it and see what i mean.  It is not called the loneliest road for nothing, although this time there was far more traffic on it than we encountered in 2001.

Before you get to Lake Tahoe, you enter a forest region and start climbing thousands of feet.  The temperature plunged from warm to chilly.  I knew we would be in for a cold night.

As good luck and good planning would have it, we hit South Lake Tahie at right on time, 5:30' and headed directly up the west side of the Lake to Bliss Camp where we stayed in 2001,msure it woukd be open.  Ten miles or so uo the step, curving, winding and otherwise dangerous road, a road you would not want to drive at night (we were losing daylight fast at that point) we came to Bliss Camp, where the sign read, "Closed for the Season. Next Camp 7 miles up the road." Damn.  As if gunned the Defender up the road, i kept encountering hundreds of cars parked on the side of the road, toursists out sightseeing.  I bet they are all hardy folks like me and will be competing for the fewer camp sites now that Bkiss is closed, i thought.  Seven miles up the road, i got to Meeks Creek camp.  Closed for the season, the sign read. Damn. I cannot believe this. I was losing daylight faster.  So i gunned the Defender up and got back on the road heading north and still encountered more hardy folks parked along the road sightseeing.  Again i feared that they woukd be my comotetion for even fewer camping sites.  Two mikes up the road i came to Sugar Pines State Park, but the sign read, Camo Full.  I knew it, i thought, my competition got there ahead of me. But i was afraid they were all in RVs in the camp. It was completely dark at that point, abiut 6:15, so i decided to go into the camp anyway and and pitch the tent where i could.  As i got into the park, i found that three if the four sections of the park wrer closed.  In the one open section, to my delight, there were about 20 sites, and half open. More to my delight, there was only one RV there, so i would not have to listen to the sound of generators running for the RVers to have heat on a cold night.  At last i found a camp with mostly tenters.  

My guess is that all those hardy sightseers were no so hardy  after all, spending a cozy night in one of the many luxury hotels and resorts around the beautiful lake.  The RVers are hardier than they are.

Later that evening, after setting up camp, a black bear wandered through the camp, so i cached most of my food in one of the metal food lockers they provide each site, but in the one for site 72 next to my site 73 (or what i thought was my site).  Since all of it would not fit, i stored my kitchen container on the Defender's roof rack, fully realizing that if raccoons  could get into it, bears probably could, but i took my chances.

The only person i talked to that night was the young man (Josh, i think he told me his name was) who was camped with his beautiful dog, Zeus, a 10-month old mostly white rescued mix of St Bernard and Great Pyrenees. Zeus would distinguish himself later that night as the consummate guard dog, in addition to already having distinguished himself as the consummate companion dog.  Zeus was treated to some of Erde's treats in return for his guardian's generosity in sharing his food storage locker.

After my customary evening chores, i donned my night cap and settled in for a long winter's sleep, with Erde right beside me, and the Defender, with my food stored nicely on the roof rack, just five feet away from my capped-head.

Other Photos to be added later...

Camp at Samuel Taylor Camp

Defender at Buena Vista Cafe

The Defender tackling Lombard Street 

The Defender turning around at Coit Tower, now heading home

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Postings for days 45-46, Saturday-Sunday, October 18-19

I'm running a bit behind schedule again with my postings.  This always happens on the return legs as i try to make time on the road. I plan to send off my posting for day 45 tomorrow morning before i get on the road, and then for day 46 tomorrow evening, etc. but i will say here that we did not make it to Cave Lake at Ely tonight as i had hoped. We are bivouacked for the tonight at one of the most unbelievable sites i could ever have imagined, somewhere in the Nevada desert between Austin and Eureka, at a place called Petroglyphs Recreation Area. There is only one other camper in the entire place and we have the whole place, the whole desert, to ourselves.  It is finds like this that make the entire trip worth it.

Erde is doing fine. In fact, she is doing extremely well. Now that she has found a dog food she likes with the prescription food the vet in Eureka CA prescribed, for the first time on our recent trips i don't have to worry about her not eating what i give her and her stools.  And i guess she is gaining back some of the weight she lost on this trip so far, fasting so she can do better. So, looking back, that incident last week had a silver lining. More importantly, i am discovering a sweet, beautiful dog i had no idea i had, and also, by reigniting memories i thought were lost,  discovering what a wonderful dog Leben was, beyond what i knew before, and i knew a lot before.  This is what these road trios do for me. 

I have to go out and look at the stars one more time before retiring.  It is bright outside because there are so many stars out. When we urban types can look up at a sky filled with billions of stars, galaxies and maybe universes, how insignificant it makes all the trivial things in our daily lives look. The biggest challenge i will face at home will be how to maintain the perspective i gain on this trip. Usually, I lose it just by having to drive through the horrific traffic i do to get home.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

As it is happening, 11:30, day 46, Sunday, Oct 19, Leaving Lake Tahoe

I still owe a posting for yesterday.

We are leaving Lake Tahoe now, heading for Ely in Nevada.

Little problem at 1 am last night.  As we slept 10 feet away, a big black bear attempted to get into the Defender.  Fortunately, he or she only tore the plastic window on the left rear off the zipper, thus the two orange clips serving a useful purpose.  What a good bear he was.  And when i blew the whistle, he or she obeyed and quietly walked away. More in my report.

We are taking route 50 east. I just might take it all the way.  It runs past 4 blocks from my home in DC. 

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

As it is happening...day 45, Saturday, October 17, Beach Street, San Francisco,

The biggest find of the whole trip was this great 4 hour parking space right by the beach on Fisherman's Wharf, in the shade, four hours and no tolls.  Try that in DC or NY...

That's Alcatraz in the background. That's Erde in the shade.

In a few minutes, we'll make our customary stop at Coyt Tower and then head off to Lake Tahoe.  Erde is fine, so no need to hang around this lovely place for another day, except its sheer beauty and the Google wealth, evident everywhere. The road beckons.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

The trip so far, as of Friday, October 17, San Francisco, 6711

We had two destination hopes for the trip, in addition to making it home safely: Jasper and Banff, and San  Francisco. As of 6:15 Friday, we accomplished both hopes, now we just need to figure out how to get home.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Day 44, Friday, October 17, Samuel Taylor State Park, near San Francisco, 6711 miles

I did not get a good sleep last night.  On top of worrying about Erde's situation and thinking about my options, some inconsiderate people drove into the nearly empty camp at 11:30 and parked across from me, talking loudly and slamming their van door a dozen times until 1:30.  After that, with Erde's situation on my mind, i did not get to sleep until 3 and got up at 7, not much sleep for the 200 mile drive ahead of me today on what has to be the most dangerous 200 mile drive in the US.

My options for today were..

1- drive back to Eureka and have the vet do the X-rays and blood work to exclude the possibilities of a stomach blockage or kidney failure so i could get peace of mind, and with it sleep.

2- stop off at another ver down the line at Fort Bragg and discuss the situation with them.

3- drive to San Francisco and find a vet there on Saturday if Erde has not improved from the gastro-meds the vet in Eureka prescribed.

4- continue the journey and deal with any further problem as it arises.

I decided on option 2, and am glad i did.  The vet, Dr. Veronica Thomas was superb. Despite no openings, she took us in right away and spent an hour with Erde, taking no xrays or bloodwork.  She gave me the assurance i needed to continue the trip, but also gave me the name of a referral vet center near where we will be in San Francisco. I fed Erde for the first time in two days at noon, and was going to watch her until we got to San Francisco.  If she could not hold her food down, Dr. Thomas said it was time for more serious treatment.

The ride from where we camped last night to where we are now, with few exceptions, cannot be described in a blog or even through photos. It has to be experienced.  The dramatic scenery, which changes before your eyes, is only outdone by the difficulty of the drive, which in many places can only be described as dangerous, especially if you are tired.  After the scenery, the quaint little towns beg to be visited, but there was no time or energy for us to do that. But i have to say this, albeit reluctantly, that after driving 1200 miles down the spectacular west coast, i was ready to bring this leg of our trip to a close. Far too much of a good thing, on top of thousands of miles of other good things before that.

Ar 5:30, Erde started to get restless and pant, and i thought that she was about to release her noon meal, but she did not.  I even fed her again three hours later and here it is 10pm and still nothing. I hope this means we are out of the woods. If not, i will take her to the vet referral center tomorrow and stay here until her situation is resolved.  But right now, despite my worry last night, it appears that i made the right decisions.

As good timing would have it, we pulled into our target camp for the night at 6:15, 15 minutes behind our desired schedule. But as bad luck would have it, for the first time on the trip, the camp was full. (I suspect this is where the Google staff does their weekend nature communing locally.) But they are allowing us to camp in the picnic day use area, which is in a wonderful huge grove of redwoods.  No complaints here or from Erde. We had to set up camp in the dark, but i am quite used to that now.  We will do some errands tomorrow and visit San Francisco as we stick around here one more day to make sure Erde's situation is resolved, and then head in the direction of home, if i remember where that is. As far as i am concerned, home for me is the road. I have no idea how Erde feels.

Photos..

Another beautiful visitor who stopped by for breakfast, but found none, poor bird

Erde posing on the same beach where she and Leben romped together 13 years ago.  

Can you imagine living in this house?  There are no guardrails in place.  Very brave person.

Erde contemplating the awesome beauty of the coastal shoreline.

The Defender contemplating the beauty, too.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

As it is happening, 12:45, Friday, October 17, Detrick Vet Hospital, Fort Bragg, Ca

I could not sleep much last night, kicking myself for not taking the most aggressive action the vet in Eureka gave as an option, i.e., X-rays to make sure there was no stomach blockage from the bones Erde ate, and blood work to make sure that her kidneys were functioning properly.  All of those things would have told me what is not going on or what is going on.  On a road trip like this, both are critical to know, I learned the hard way last night by my worry.

  I got up early this morning and on the road by 9 and considered driving back the 90 miles to Eureka to get the X-rays and blood work, but decided to have Erde checked out again by a vet in Fort Bragg, 50 miles down the coast on our way to San Francisco.

We just left the vets and the vet spent almost an hour with Erde.  No X-rays or tests were recommended, but the vet gave me the assurance and peace of mind to continue the trip and the name of a referral vet center near where we will camp tonight.

I just fed Erde for the first time in two days. I will know by the time i reach the camp tonight if the meds the vet prescribed yesterday worked and if it is or is not nothing more than a gastro problem alone.  If she throws her food up again, according to the vet here, she needs to be treated right away, in which case, it's to the referral center we go. Here's hoping.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Day 43, Thursday, October 16, Richardson Grove Redwood State Park near Garberville, California, 6495 miles, I thinkq

Erde threw up her whole evening meal in the tent at 11:30.  Poor girl.  She also threw up after i gave her a treat in the morning. I will watch how she does during the day eating and then decide what to do. After my own health, there is no higher priority for me in my life than her. 

In trying to think about what she ate today that was new to her, the only two things were a bone with some raw meat on it and some Greek Yogurt i bought my mistake instead of  the regular yogurt she normally eats.  My guess is that it was the Greek Yogurt.  Did you ever notice how ever since the Greek financial crisis started that just about  all you can buy is Greek yogurt?  Even in the Yukon where they never heard of Greece. You can't find there a replacement wheel for a dog's wheelchair, but you can get any kind of Greek yogurt you want. What is going on?  I can't stand the stuff and i have been eating yogurt (recently, only soy yogurt) all my adult life.

After i tried giving Erde some regular yogurt at about 2 but she refused to eat it, which she never does,  i pulled over at the next town up the road, Eureka, and searched for the nearest vet.  The Broadway Vet Clinic squeezed Erde in at 3.  Thinking it's not some of that meat bone  blocking her stomach, or a kidney functioning problem (she just had her kidney function checked before we left and it was fine) i took the chance that it is only a super-gastric problem and got three meds from the doctor.  I will watch Erde over the next 24 hours and if the situation is the same or worse, take her into another vet down the line.

Because of the stop at the vets, i decided to cut the trip short today and headed for the Richardson Grove State Park near Garberville.  As i came close to it, the sign on the highway said Closed for the Season, but since it was already getting dark at 5 in the forest and the next camp was 50 miles down the road, i decided to check it out anyway.  It was open, and so that's where we are now for the night.  Tomorrow will try to get as close to San Francisco and camp in the Samuel Taylor State Park and plan to spend two days there so i can deal with Erde's situation. Needless to say, this will be the only thing i will be blogging about until it is resolved.

Photos for the Day...

Our pleasant encampment among the Redwoods at Jededia Smith Redwood Forest camp this morning. It was not clear to me that this park was where we stayed in 2001.  If so, the site we stayed in no longer exists.  Did anyone notice how the camps always seem to look alike, the gear just moves around?  

A couple of young elk feeding on grass as Erde slept through it.  She and Leben got so used to life on the road they used it as an opportunity to get some well deserved shuteye. By the end of this trip, Erde will have spent almost one year of her life on the road and in a tent.

We stopped at Patrick's Point State Park for a visit to our site in 2001.  I have no doubt she recognized the place by how she reacted.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

As it is happenin...Day 43, Thursday, October 16, Eureka, Ca

Erde threw up last night in the tent and cannot keep food down or even want to eat it.  At a vets now in Eureka CA. 

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Day 42, wednesday, October 15, Jedediah Smith Redwood Stare/National Park, Northern California, 6299 miles

Abbreviated posting today. The road beckons.

Rained all night and stopped just before dawn.  Good decision on my part to yurt it last night.  Sun was shining brightly in a clear bkue sky as we pulled out, but minutes later...rain.  That's the way it goes in this neck of the woods.

The drive after Gold Beach in Oregon was nothing kess than spectacular.  Too many pull offs at dramatic ocean views to stop for all of them.

Stopped at the New River Nature Center for one of our breaks.  Wonderful piece of heaven for the flora and fauna thriving there.  The sad irony is that it is literally just down the road from the West Coast Game Park. There, if it is anything like its  name implies and like the Catskill Game Farm near where i grew up on the Hudson River, the poor animals there wait out their time before they are sold as "game" to canned hunting farms.  Even amidst the beauty of this land, the signs of human cruelty are everywhere.

Made it to the gorgeous Jedediah Smith Redwood Forest Sate/National Park just over the state line in California  by 4:30 and settled into site 81.  As it turns out, this is not the Redwood Forest camp we stayed in in 2001 but just as wonderful. Tomorrow, on our way to Russian Gulch State Park down the road 200 miles or so,   I'll stop at the other one down the road a few miles to see if i can find the site we stayed in in 2001.

Photo..

Erde standing watch over our yurt for the night at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park

We stopped off at the New River Nature Center for a break and were pleasantly rewarded by the wonderful setting.  Stopping at places like this is much better than stopping in the towns and browsing in all the tourist traps stores, with the exception of the bakeries.  Places like this are God's bakery.

One of the many extraordinary ocean views south of Gold Beach OR. Far too many places to stop.

Erde standing guard over our little camp in the very pleasant Redwood Forest camp. This white spots on the tent are reflectors reflecting the camera's  auto-flash.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Day 41, Tuesday, October 14, Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, Oregon, 6139 miles

Up at 6:30. The heavy rains that continued all night had stopped but there was a light mist falling.  Once outside the tent, the first thing i saw was that the tarp was still standing, but barely.  I expected it to be gone completely or ripped to shreds.  

Took a walk with Erde onto the beach beyond the dunes in front of us.  The surf was still pretty rough, but who could blame it?   Erde searched in vain for new dog friends, but found none.

When loading the vehicle, I discovered what that strange noise coming from outside the tent last night in the storm. It was that sound of food containers on the roof rack being opened and plundered by racoons.  From what I could tell, a few raccoons had managed to leap onto my Defender, then onto the roof rack, removed the two straps securing my spare food container, unlatched  one handle, pushed back the lid, and picked and chose what they wanted.  As it turns out, they managed to remove and tear open three cardboard packages of Whole Foods soups, none of which they liked since they left most of it.  But the inconsiderate creatures did not pull the lid back on before they beat it and the rain soaked the six remaining 8x6x4 cardboardu boxes that held my Daily Food Rations. Fortunately, I was able to salvage all of the food in the boxes except for the oatmeal and the boxes themselves.  I should have deployed the anti-raccoon technique i developed for the raccoons at Charleston Lake Provincial Park in Ontario, but who would have thought that raccoons work on wet, windy nights?

My ESIP (Erde's stool improvement program) is apparently working too well.  I had to walk Erde for almost an hour this morning as she strained to go.  Again, because of her pancreatic insufficiency and need for enzymes in her food, and my proclivity towards tossing her un-enzymed treats during the drive, her stools are the biggest worry for me on all these trips even more so than bears and camp-busting park rangers.

The drive along the Oregon coast was nothing short of spectacular....expansive oceans views every now and then, quaint little towns with names like Yachat and Hebo, beautiful mountain roads that you hope you don't encounter a tired logger on, little surprises that pop up every now and then (e.g., the bridge just to the south of Florence, and the little cities you drive through with all the stores you could possibly need like a Safeway, or Bread and Roses Bakery, which, sadly, was closed.

At 2:30, with the weather turning fiul again (actually, it turns foul every 30 minutes at this time of year) i decided to settle into the first decent camp down the road, which, according to the AAA book, which i did not trust any more, was to be the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.  I was hoping it was not the same lighthouse state park i passed in 2001 which did not allow dogs.  45 minutes down the road, when i came to it, i discovered that it was not. And not only did they allow dogs, but they had two pet-friendly yurts available, which i immediately opted for after sensing that the already foul weather was going to get fouler still, and it did.  

Even though we only did about 150 miles today, again, at a rate of about 35 miles an hour, i was quite happy to get a respite from the foul weather, and judging by the photo of Erde in the yurt, she was too.

Keith and Barbara, the hosts, suggested i take a drive to the lighthouse at night, and i am thrilled that i did.  I sat in the Defender in the parking lot across from it and was mesmerized by the sight of it.  The light itself resembled a huge white gold ring going round and round like a carrousel, with its rubies and diamonds sparkling for miles around.

Tomorrow, unless the weather continues to be foul, we will get on the road to Jediaha Smith Redwood Forest near Crescent City California to reignite some memories from 2001.

Photos..

One of the many spectacular views from 101 along the Oregon coast

Erde posing for still another photo opportunity

Our wonderful primitive Yurt in Umpqua Lighthouse State Park

Erde made herself quite comfortable in the yurt without being coached

The inside of the yurt.  All the conveniences of home.  In fact, too many.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.

Day 40, Monday, October 13, Cape Lookout State Park, Oregon Pacific, 5982 miles

Day 40, Monday, October 13, Cape Lookout State Park, Oregon Pacific, 5982 miles

I got up before the crack of dawn so i could get an early start on the road.  To get to the Redwoods by Tuesday night, i need to make about 270 miles today. Instead of planning where i want to spend the night, i decided that tonight would be a bivouac night, i.e., camp at the first place that comes along wherever we happen to be when it is time to call it a day.  This method is somewhat risky and stressful, but sometimes it has to be done since there is no telling what the drive will be like.  Got on the road at 9:30., although i was sad to be leaving this pleasant camp and camp site, but the road beckoned.

The drive through Olympic National Park and Forest was rather pleasant.  Very little traffic, although in the summer my guess it is crawling with vehicles.  A few pleasant towns along the way, especially getting into Oregon, but no time to stop and explore them.  At 4:00, i realized i was not making very good time on the road. Whereas usually i average 50 miles an hour with rest stops for Erde, gas stops, grocery stops, and the like, i was making abiut 35 today. So at 4:00 i pulled over at Tillamook, pulled out the maps and AAA camping book, and started plannjng my bivouac for the night.  

There was a primitive Natioanl Forest camp 23 miles to the west of Timmamook, but, i figured, why drive 23 mikes west, 46 back and forth, when i could probabky find something down the line for the same distance.  The next town up, Ckearwater, had only RV camps, so i ignored that. The next town up, Pacific City, 33 miles down the road, listed another primitive National Forest camp, Siuslaw, just 8 miles from the center of town, so that's where we headed. Even at 4:15, the sky was dark with the clouds and the rain was falling.  Great, i figured, we'd be settled in our cozy camp by 5:00 before dark and the heavy rains, which were expected.

As it turns out, Pacific City was not on 101 but west about 3 miles. No big deal, i thought, what's three more miles? But when i got to the center of town, no one there knew where CR-871 was, which the AAA book said to take from the center of town. In fact, i could not find a souk who ever heard of the camp or that National Forest.  It was like Brigadoon all over again.  With daylight rapidly disappearing, the rain getting heavier, and with my not having passed another camp on the route down there, i said that i had no choice but to find the camp on my own.  When one e route i took brought me right back to 101, but 20 mikes to the north, i realized  that i should have taken a left at the one meaningful intersection i came to and not a right, so back to thar intersection i headed, and then headed in the direction of the ocean.  About five mikes up the road, i came to some signs for camps, but not to Siuslaw. The sign pointed right to Whalen Island Country Park and Cape Lookout State Park.  So I kissed Siuslaw good bye and headed right.

About 20 minutes up the ever darkening road, with the rain coming down heavier, i came to the entrance for Whalen Island camp, a pleasant looking place.  When i knocked on the host's RV door asking about a vacancy (the place was empty) he told me they had some, but they are more expensive than Cape Lookout up the road 20 minutes.  My better judgment told me to stay put and pay few extra bucks and get this potentially ugly night over with, but when he saw Erde in thr Defender, he told me it would cost me $5.00 more for the dog, $32 in total. "You have a lovely camp here," i told him, "but i think i'd like some more ocean views," and hopped into the Defender and left.  Twenty minutes up the road, at about 6, with no usuabke daylight left, we came to the road for Cape Lookout, a wonderful road to take if your have bright sun,  have been down the road before and are not in a hurry, none of which applied to me now.

About 15 minutes later, we came to the camp entrance, and i immediately make haste to get to the dunes area and find a site suitable for pitching a tent in the rain, make that rain, wind, cold and dark, at that point.  Over the next hour, fighting all four of those elements, we got the camp set up without  anything, especially Erde, getting wet.  The tent went up first, then my improved tarping, which did a wonderful  job of protecting everything from getting wet as we went about our usual evening chores, once we got it up to stay up with the heavy winds whipping it like a sail and ripping the stakes right out of the earth.  I find that when one is faced with these adverse conditions, what helps most is a heavy dose of cursing.  

Erde had her usual dinner, and, as usual, refused to eat all of  it. Since there was no way i could keep my stove lit in that wind, i settled for a V8 juice and Erde's leftover salmon, which was fine with me.

By the way, the worst thing about setting up camp in these conditions is not the rain, wind or cold. It's the dark.  Try walking around your dark home at night with the only light coming from a 17-lumen headlight and you will see what i mean.  It is disorienting, especially since 100 percent of the time you have to look at your feet to make sure you do not trip over anything in this new location.

Settled into the tent after two hours of what can only be described as agony, i opened my iPad to see if i had internet connection to send this posting, and i did.  My mail came up first, and there i found a nice comment from someone on my blog, "I am glad you are having such a wonderful time, Ed."  Sure am, anon.

The truth is that once you get settled into your cozy tent for the night after going through what I had just gone through, actually you are having a wonderful time, but only starting at that moment and not a moment before.

For the rest of the evening that I was awake, the rain came down in buckets and the wind whipped the tent and the nearby tarp into a frenzy.  And the sound of the ocean wasn't just the pleasant sound of one wave after another crashing on the shore that are popular with meditation CD  The sound was a very loud and increasingly louder steady roar, kind of like the sound you would hear if you set your head down next to a train track as a 100-car train  went by, or the sound of 100 RV generators in the camp site next to yours.  I recalled seeing some Tsunami Hazard Zone signs on the road on the way to the camp, and only hoped that they also had early warning system.  I never imagined that an ocean could roar like it did then.

Despite the pelting rain, whipping wind and roaring ocean, the two of us slept like dogs the whole night.  I had no idea at all what was on the other side of the dunes just in front of us, but would leave that to tomorrow.  I also had no idea what the strange noise was that i heard coming from my Defender.  i suspected it was just the sound that straining tarp poles make when buffeted by strong winds.  I was in no hurry to get out there in that rain to find out, though. Whatever the situation is in the morning, I will deal with it then.

As i retired for the night, i reminisced about the other terrible nights i had on the road: the terrible electrical storm Sonntag and I got caught in in Winnipeg in 2000: the night in the Canadian Arctic back in 2001 when four-month old Leben starting limping badly when we were 900 miles and five days from a vet; the cold stormy night in 2002 when the Defender's electrical system broke down on an isolated peninsula in Newfoundland; the night in 2011 when i had to sleep wrapped in a tarp on the open, wet, cold deck of a cargo ship in the middle of a storm because they would not let dogs inside; the night in Norther Ontario in 2012 when Leben became paralyzed; the night last year when I sliced my leg open after tripping over a fire pit in a camp site in Alberta, or the cold, windy night we had to sleep in the Defender because the camp site we intended to stay in was crawling with grizzlies.  After reminiscing about these terrible nights, and others, i realized that they are only terrible until the terrible things end, which they often do.  It's at that point that the wonderful time begins.  It's like when people ask if i am having fun on these trips.  The answer is, of course not, the fun begins when we get back home to talk about them.

Erde resting at Kalaloch.  She never tires of resting.

 

Another bluebird posing for us.  He or she moved to about six different locations and posed long enough for me to take a shot each time.  i am sure they do this because people then treat them, but not I.

My improved tarping. Still a couple of wrinkles to iron out, but i am getting there.

Our Kalaloch camp without us.  Boy, what a wonderful spot this was.

A road scene from 101 through the Washington's Olympic National Park en route to Oregon. What a wonderful drive, and empty of people, places and things, man- made things, that is, except the road.

Ed and Erde, On The Road

P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting.  The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.