Week 11

Monday June 10, 2002

I stayed at the prettiest campground of this trip so far. It was called Smithwoods and it was located 6 miles East of Santa Cruz. That 6 miles was a long windy road, but the trip was worth it. I was surrounded by giant Redwood trees and a river on both sides of me. I dreaded the drive back down the hill to Santa Cruz, but the campground manager told me of a much better road. Today I spent the day on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It was a little smaller than I had imagined, but I really enjoyed the day. There was a 75 year old roller coaster called the Dipper that I rode and it was fantastic. Most of the rides, I was saving for later in the day, when I found out that all the rides close at 5:00. But I spent most of the day walking the boardwalk and the huge pier that extended out nearly a mile over Monterey Bay. There were several restaurants on the pier and cars drive right out onto the pier to the restaurants. There was also a family of very noisy sea lions residing under the pier. After eating dinner, I drove back up that better road back to my residence among the Redwoods.

Tuesday, June 11, 2002

I left Smithwoods this morning and drove inland to Los Cabos and on up the interstate 280 into San Francisco. I left the interstate South of San Francisco and drove through the city on California One, almost to the Golden Gate Bridge. Turning off of route 1, I went along Fisherman’s Wharf and located the pier to catch a boat out to Alcatraz Island. Parking was a bit of a problem, but I finally found a parking lot about 5 blocks away that allowed me to park the Princess all day for $10.00. I walked back to pier 41 and bought a ticket for the 2:15 boat to Alcatraz. It was a fifteen minute cruise to the island and then about an hour and a half self guided tour of the prison with the aid of a tape recorder. It was very interesting seeing the cells, dining hall, exercise yards etc. I saw the cells of Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and the Birdman, Robert Stroud. They showed how several escapes were made and many of the controls that they had in place. It was all very interesting. Around 4:00, I took the boat back to Fisherman’s Wharf and walked back to the princess, then drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, which I could barely see because of the fog. On the North side of the bridge I made the decision to follow the coast along the very windy and hilly route 1 rather than the straight and flat route 101. This stretch was more treacherous than any of the windy roads that I’ve driven on yet. I finally arrived at Bodega Bay at 7:00. It was a rather tiring day. Fortunately there was a restaurant right at the campground where I got something to eat, then I called my brother and told him that I was in the neighborhood and I would see him and his family tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 12, 2002

My brother, Earl and his wife Trudy wrote to me with specific directions to find their house in Saint Helena. It was about 60 miles inland from Bodega Bay, and the roads varied from wide and straight to hilly and windy, but I had no trouble following the directions. When I arrived, Earl was in his office working. His office is next door to his house. Trudy was at work and my niece, Isabel was in school. Earl gave me the tour of his estate, and then he drove me around the Napa Valley showing me the many vineyards that have made this area known throughout the world. He also showed me some of the vineyards and other buildings that he designed. I must say that my brother has certainly found his piece of paradise here in the Napa Valley. Around 3:00 we picked up Isabel and her girlfriend at school and went back home. A little later, Trudy got home from work. We all enjoyed a lovely evening talking over old times. Isabel went to a friends birthday party, while Earl and Trudy took me to a very nice restaurant/country club for a wonderful dinner. We returned to the house after dinner and chatted until around 11:00. I spent the night in the princess which was parked in their driveway.

Thursday, June 13, 2002

I awoke early this morning so that I could have breakfast with the family. Trudy set out a very nice breakfast of fruit and cereal. We chatted for a little while, but Trudy had to go to work and take Isabel to school. Earl and I talked a little longer, and then drove around some more seeing the sights, including the many spas around Calistoga. They were very interesting. I took lots of pictures and then we returned to the house for lunch. I would loved to have spent more time here in this beautiful area, but I have said the same about many of the places I’ve been. I said my good-byes and returned to Bodega Bay. Tomorrow, I head up the coast toward Oregon.

Friday, June 14, 2002

Today was supposed to be mostly just a travel day. I decided to avoid route 1 since it was so curvy and hilly. I returned to Santa Rosa and drove North to Cloverdale. then took route 128 West back toward the coast to see the Anderson valley and Mendocino and Ft Bragg. This route was hillier and more curvy than route 1. At one point, I hit what I thought was a pothole, but when I stopped, I found that I had blown a rear tire and severely bent one of my back wheels. Fortunately, with the dual wheels, the vehicle is not drastically affected by a single rear flat tire. I decided to return to Cloverdale and have the tire changed. I went to two tire dealers, who both refused to do the job, however the second place, Southard Tire and Auto did refer me to another garage located on a back street of Cloverdale. This was B & C Automotive at 235 East Street. I mention this because of the great service that I got there. I told the manager my problem and he said to pull into the garage and he would take care of it right away. His mechanic changed the tire and straightened out the chrome wheel rim and I was good to go in half an hour. I never asked how much it would be because I had no choice. I dreaded the bill, but when he wrote it up, he said it came to $35. I was so shocked, he said, “Is that too much?” I said no, I was expecting more. He said, “We don’t rob people here.” If you are ever in the area of Cloverdale, CA, I highly recommend B & C Automotive. Since it was now 2:00 in the afternoon, I decided to skip the coastal route altogether. Route 101 is a much faster route North, so I followed that all the way to Eureka. Route 101 is also called the Redwood Highway and I passed through some of the most beautiful scenery yet. When I arrived at “Avenue of the Giants” I left 101 and took the 30 mile detour through the largest Redwoods in the world. This was a narrow road with the huge Redwood trees right close to the road. You could see where several trees had been hit by cars. But traffic was extremely light, so I stayed mostly in the center of the road. After passing through the park I returned to 101 and continued on into Eureka arriving about 7:15.

Saturday, June 15. 2002

I asked at the campground where would be a good place to buy a tire. The manager gave me a couple of names of tire stores and when I called them, each referred me to someone else. Finally I talked with a guy from Gosselin Tire who said he had the right size tire, but he wasn’t sure if he had the wheel I needed. He would have to look at it. When I got there, he said he couldn’t match the wheel but he could straighten out the old one. Sounded good until I saw him straightening it out with a sledge hammer. He did manage to get the wheel fairly round and mounted the new tire on the wheel. He convinced me that it was safe to drive on this wheel but it might not give me the smoothest ride. It was the best I could do here in Eureka. He went to put the spare wheel back in its bracket under the RV, when he discovered that the mechanism that hold the tire in place was stripped and he could not fix it. A few more calls and we found a shop that said they might be able to fix it, but not today because they close at 1:00. Come back Monday. So it looks like I spend the weekend in Eureka.

Sunday, June 16, 2002

There is not much to do in Eureka on a Sunday. I did some laundry, got on the internet at the office for a while and finally went out for a little drive this afternoon. I stopped in at a Staples just browsing, and decided to buy a printer and a mouse for my laptop. I prefer using the mouse over the touchpad. The printer is a Lexmark Z23 which I picked up for $49. Not a great printer, but it will suffice for the little printing that I need to do. I have written letters that need to be mailed, and could not print them until I got to a library, so this will solve that problem. Plus I can print maps that might be easier to use than looking at the computer while driving down the street.

I hope that I can get the tire squared away tomorrow and move on into Oregon. This campground is about the worse that I’ve stayed at since the beginning. It is full of beat up RVs and undesirable characters.