Days 11-20: A Change of State

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When I last left off we were just north of Big Sur, California enjoying a full hook-up spot in Marina, CA.   We took a good two weeks to go from that location to our home site on Orcas, and during that time experienced changing three states, one state of mind and one state of being.

There are some folks who swear by the beauty of the Big Sur area of California and I cannot complain about what we saw there:  The amazing drop of the mountains down to the sea and simply the incredible-ness of feeling so remote while being only 200 or so miles from either San Francisco or LA is a feeling not to be missed.  But my money (or so I wish) is on the Sonoma Coast, just north of San Francisco and Salinas.  There, the green, empty hillsides slide gently down to the crashing waves and every other second there is a portion of the Sonoma Coast State Park, just waiting to take your money.

No kidding.  Even the picnic areas charge a day use fee.  Now, I don’t have a problem with that, California is an expensive place, however, when you are driving up this part of Highway 1, pulling a trailer on curves so sharp that Simon, our GPS system, thinks they are actual turns (“Turn left in 100 yards”), there is precious little area in which to pull over and give everyone a break—pee or otherwise.

But nature was calling and provided no choice but to pull into a State Park day use area.  We stopped at the gate and explained that all we wanted to do is let the dogs out to pee; the man said he would have to charge us anyway.   $10 to pee. Many things about California I do not miss and this strict adherence to the rules is one of them.  We crossed sixteen legs and left.  

And what happened to hiking with your dogs in California?  Or enjoying the beach with them?  Trying to find camping or hiking near a beach that allowed dogs was growing more and more frustrating.  We eventually found Wright’s Beach; an unappealing campground (unless you have a choice ocean-front pitch) but on one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen in California.  And where, to spite the rules, we let the dogs run off-leash.

Growing weary of the fruitless search for dog-friendly hiking trails in California we set our sights on Oregon, a state we know loves dogs to the extent that they are welcomed on the majority of beaches and you would have to search hard to find a trail excluding them.  Only one thing stood in our way:  Mendocino.

Now, let me just say I have had a long, long, love affair with Mendocino.  Almost everything about it:  The natural beauty; The vibe (Southern California Beach crossed with Northern California Intellectual); and the utter coolness of just being there.  

But good lord not the state of the camping.

We checked out two State Parks, Van Damme and Russian Gulch.  The former being in a tight, small valley filled with mosquitoes and the latter being tiny and cramped and down a one-lane road barely large enough for Salt.  The state of Oregon was really calling now; prior experience with their State Parks had us ready to keep on driving past Mendocino.   But the state of our laundry was demanding a washing stop.  So we parked for the night at the Caspar RV Park which was a typical RV park, way too much like a parking lot, but had the required laundry facilities (albeit in such bad shape that I feared dropping a freshly washed item on the ground lest I had to start the cycle over.)  Life on the road.

We did go into town for groceries and a great dinner at The Flow, where we discovered Russell Henry, a great local gin, and Thackery & Company wine.  A night out was just what was needed to restore my love of Mendocino.

But time to get to Oregon as quickly as possible, changing to a state of less frustration and more love of dogs.

And rain.

We stopped for two nights at Alfred Loeb State Park.  On our full day we set out hiking in a drizzle and came home drenched to the bone.  All of us except for Rosco who, due to his advanced age and occasionally brilliant mind, slept peacefully in the warm, dry truck.

Soaking wet dogs and pouring down rain don’t mix well in 19’ but it is nothing that a local beer and some fish and chips can’t solve:  We headed to the marina with our tablet to get the weather forecast and to plot out the camping plan.

Turns out it was about to be gorgeous.  Not wanting to waste any sunshine, the next day we drove less than 100 miles up the coast to Bullard's Beach State Park, where we grabbed a full-hookup site in a sunny pitch and immediately threw everything outside to dry out.  Que the Beverly Hillbillies theme song--nothing looks as tacky as a sunny campground after a full day's rain.

A great campground (state run again—can’t say enough about Oregon State Parks), where we enjoyed a two mile walk to the beach (dog friendly, of course) and a six mile bike ride to the lighthouse.  My kind of biking!  You know, where you take your high-end mountain bike and turn it into a low-end beach cruiser.  Nice and flat.

Next stop was a bit further up the coast at Cape Lookout State Park.  More beach, more sunshine and what should have been a great hike.  Much recommended, the hike out Cape Lookout was way too crowded and narrow for our enjoyment.  But it was a sunny Sunday and, having lived and worked in the Pacific Northwest, I know the value of that combination.  But between having to carry Rosco, Opus joyfully jumping on anything that moved and River anxiously eyeing anything that moved, we didn’t get anywhere near a hiker’s high.

Time to say goodbye to Oregon.   Ahh well, until next time wonderful State Parks.

Continuing on our coastal route, Alan found us a great spot at Kalaloch Campground in the Olympic National Park, right on a dog-friendly beach.  We drove in around 3:30 PM and found the last pitch with any kind of a view of the water.  Parked Salt at a jaunty angle, opened the door and breathed in the fresh smell of wet trees and salty air.

Being this close to our spot on Orcas Island was making us antsy so despite having landed at our favorite stop so far, we hit the road the next day and tried to make a the 3:30 Port Townsend ferry over to Whidbey Island.  No such luck.  Next available was 6:45 so we opted to spend the night at Fort Worden State Park where we enjoyed a quick bit of tennis (you can really hit the ball hard at sea level!) and a nice private picnic area.  In the morning while Opus was running freely on the beach, I was doing my best to ignore the naked 60-something lady coming out of the water.  But Opus was not having any of that--I think he just saw extra flesh that might be useful in a petting experience.  There was freedom of every sort on this sunny, warm morning. 

Finally ferry day.  I think we only drove 60 miles but we were on two ferries and eventually pulled Salt up to our gorgeous Orcas site.

Orcas, for me, is one of those places where you can’t remember if you have been here an hour, a day, or ten years.  It is like a warm bath, comfortable, soothing and it completely changed my state of mind.  I went from being driven to just sinking in, in less than a day.

And glory be, my favorite laundromat!  Odd to love a business that much, but I could have cried I was so happy to see the gleaming machines and bright, clean floor.  Then I saw the TV and, indeed, cried. 

Prince had changed his state of being.

-K

The (much anticipated) Cluck Truck Hits the Road: Evergreen, CO to Orcas Island, WA

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I always wondered why I never bothered to separate the Salt & Pepper Adventure blog from our Backyard Chicken Extravaganza blog, and now I know why:  The day has come to combine traveling in Salt with our love of chickens.  Voila, the Cluck Truck Adventures.

To be clear, though, we are not back on the road full-time.  We are starting a new business, privatecamping.net, and in doing so need to be out on the road some of the time to locate new properties.  For this trip, we packed up the dogs and chickens and headed to our prime RV rental location on Orcas Island, WA. 

After doing some research on traveling with chickens, we determined that they would be happiest and safest in their own individual traveling crates.  Thus we purchased five wire crates with plastic bottoms and decked them out with individual water, food, grit, and oyster-shell eating areas all with individual perches.  The chickens hate them.  Of course, we lined the bottom with a few inches of pine shavings and plenty of straw which, every single day, Thelma pushes right out of her cage.  (I long suspected Thelma of being the nest-wrecker in the coop back home and now I know for sure.)

Chickens, being social creatures despite their almost incessant desire to peck each other, were not thrilled with the separate cage arrangement; the exception being Goldie Hen who, as soon as she heard of the plans, began her own rendition of MC Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This” in anticipation of days without being hen-pecked by her coop mates.

Preparation done, it was time to set out.  We had a little more than 1,400 miles to go from Evergreen, Colorado to Orcas Island, Washington but wanted to make sure The Ladies had time in the morning and evening to run in their free-range travel cage (a 10x10 netted bug tent with an open bottom—sets up in seconds and was perfect!) so planned only a little over 300 miles per day.  We also found out of the way places to stop, assuming most KOA’s would not relish the idea of a free-range chicken tent in their yards.  Here we go:

Day 1: 

Goal:  Jim Bridger Recreation Area, WY

Actual Stop:  BLM Land off of WY-84.

Egg Count:  4 (All the Single Ladies except Louise.)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  5 (out of 5.)

Loaded up the chickens from (what must now look to them like a country club) their ¼ acre free-range, worm filled yard and plopped them into their travel cages.  Everyone went in willingly enough (once they saw the scratch being tossed inside) except for Louise whom I had to chase around for a good ten minutes, finally trapping her between the cage and the fence and physically putting her inside. 

During the drive, I worried every time we hit a bump or took a sharp turn.  “Those poor chickens!” was almost a constant lament.  I checked on them at every stop and they had all hunkered down and gone into a bit of a dazed state.  But they were still laying eggs which is always a good sign.

A side note:  If you are ever west of Cheyenne, WY on I-80, there is a gorgeous National Forest, Medicine Bow Routt National Forest, with plenty of campgrounds.  I would have loved to stop but we needed more miles, baby.

We kept on cluck-trucking toward our first choice for the night, the Jim Bridger Recreation Area (near the Jim Bridger Power Plant in Wyoming.) Unfortunately, it turned out to be a day use area which is really too bad as there were a couple of small lakes and lots of picnic tables with no one around.  Deciding to obey the No Overnight Camping signs, we opted to head over to some BLM land off of Black Buttes Road (WY-84), along Bitter Creek (which is close to bitterly dry.)  We backed Salt up a side road, jumped out, set up the chicken tent, unloaded the crates from the truck to the inside of the tent and set The Ladies free.  They were thrilled and did not seem to mind the sandy, desert soil at all but jumped right to hunting and pecking around.  We unlatched the bikes and took a short ride along the dirt roads.

Nearing dusk The Ladies were getting anxious to bed down for the night but chose not put themselves to bed in the crates (damn!  A human can hope, can’t she?)  It took a bit more scratch, and, of course, chasing Louise, but I managed to get them all loaded in and the crates back into the truck for safety overnight.

When morning came I ran out there and reversed the processes, giving them at least an hour of free range time before we packed them back in for another 300 mile day.

Day 2: 

Goal:  Lake Wolcott, Idaho.

Egg Count:  2 (Thelma & Louise)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  4 (The Ladies’ egg production of Day 1 providing some hope that they weren’t fairing too badly back there.)

On the drive we had everything from rain to sleet to snow but arrived at the lovely and serene Lake Wolcott by 3:30 PM.  There are only 18 RV sites, most with a nice amount of space between them with lovely grassy areas (chicken heaven) and level, asphalt pitches (Kit heaven.)  The lake, however, we have declared fish-less.  (To our defense, it is rather early in the year.)

Of note:  The water at the pitches was turned off (not sure if this was a seasonal thing or they are permanently turned off) but if you have a long hose, you can pull over to the day use parking area and fill up via the red faucet near the bathrooms.  I pass this along as we only noticed it by watching our neighbors drive over, the whole time thinking, “What in the world are they doing?”   Electricity was on at the sites.

While in their free range tent, JJ and Dom set about feuding over two of the crates, each chicken going in and setting up a nest before the other one came in and chased them out.  This went on for at least an hour.  JJ finally won (no surprise there) and laid an egg overnight in one of coveted cages. 

Day 3:

Goal:  La Grande, Oregon (343 miles)

Actual Destination:  Farewell Bend, Oregon State Park (250 miles)

Egg Count:  3  (JJ, Dom, Louise)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  3 (They seem to be getting enough free run time as they are often just milling around cleaning their feathers after a couple of hours outside the crates.)

We got a late start due to hot showers!!  Yahoo!   (Drove over to the aforementioned day use area at Lake Wolcott, hooked up to the faucet and showered like there was no tomorrow.)   We also opted to stop twice on the road to attempt to catch some fish.  Still nothing.  Still too early in the season.  Still our story.

When the clocked passed 4:00 PM and we were still on the road with about 100 miles to go to La Grande, we carpe campem’d when Alan noticed a sign for Farewell Bend, an Oregon State Park just after crossing the border from Idaho on I-84.  Ahh, those Oregon State Parks!  Never disappointing.  Lovely (and large but empty this time of year) campground along the shores of the Snake River's Brownlee Reservoir.  Lots of pitch types to choose from and we opted for one in the back with lots of area for the chicken tent.

Up went the tent in record time (it was a long, hot day back there for The Ladies) and out they popped and almost immediately began a dirt bath extravaganza.  The first one of the trip and they were really digging in.  With The Ladies so happy, we poured a cocktail and nestled near the campfire for some quiet time.  Before I had finished my gin, I noticed people trying to take pictures of the chickens from afar; I invited them over for a closer look.

They were four Canadians heading home from Arizona and amazed that we were traveling with chickens.  (They might be the first on the trip to even notice we had chickens along.)  Lovely people (as most Canadians are) and they departed with eight fresh eggs for breakfast.  I am betting that is a camping story that will get told!

Day 4:

Goal:  Cle Elum, WA

Egg Count:  2  (Thelma & Dom)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  2  (When Louise, of all chickens, jumps up on your back for a ride, you know things can’t be that bad.)

In preparation for the trip, I had done a ton of research to find out-of-the-way places in which to camp; one such place was the Red Mountain Campground (USFS) outside of Cle Elum, WA.  Although it is technically closed for the winter, it is one of the few campgrounds that allow you to dry camp for free.  Winding along the Cle Elum River, it is a beautiful spot.  Being very off season, we expected the campground to be empty and were disappointed to find that at least three other vehicles had found the place before we did. 

None-the-less, it was a nice spot and Alan scouted out a site that I reserved by standing in while he drove ahead to turn Salt around.  During his drive, he found an even better site in one of the dispersed camping areas.  So he came back to get me and we set up camp just down the road.   Chickens ranging in their tent, we set about fishing the river to no avail.  But the sun was mostly out (“mostly” being a good percentage for the Pacific Northwest) and the evening was delightfully complete with Manhattans and a campfire.

Day 5:

Goal:  Orcas Island and our own Private Camping spot!

Egg Count:  4 (All the Single Ladies but Dom)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  0

Packed up in the light snowfall and were on the road extra early.  Delightful to be driving in an area we know almost by heart!  We stopped at a couple of new favorites in Mount Vernon:  The Calico Cupboard for bread and a Mexican grocery (can’t find them on Google maps but they are on the corner of Freeway Road and I-5) for marinated meats and one old favorite, Compass Wines in Anacortes, before getting into the ferry line.  We had hours to spare so I used the time to collect eggs and clean out Salt.

We arrived at the site while it was still light out (a must if you are going to rent this site!) and with the sun shining, it was gorgeous.  Our intention while here is to get it ready for rental on Private Camping and we have our work cut out for us:  We forgot how mossy things (drives!) become when in the Pacific Northwest so we will be adding “Gravel Drive & Pitch” to our list of to-do’s (which include “Erect Chicken Coop” and “Build Shed”.)   In between work, we plan on hiking, biking, tennis and finding all the other fun things to do on the island which I will write about on our Privatecamping.net blog.

-K

Scenic Drive - Oregon Coast - Nov. 19, 2011

Rainy but still interesting . . . .

Also available on our Movies! Page

DITL - Oregon Dunes Hike - Nov. 18, 2011

The Farm and Mt. Saint Helen’s National Park (Northern Portland & Southern Washington) – Nov. 20-22, 2011

We had heard rumors about the beauty awaiting us at Sue & Rick’s farm in Northern Oregon, but we still were unprepared for the delight of it all.  They had invited us to stop by on our way up, well, it was more like, “You better stop by” and when Rick is part of a statement like that, you just listen.  (Retired from the State Police with a dog named Sniper, you see?)

We were unsure if the invitation included staying the night at the farm and, knowing the maintenance quotient of our two terriers, we just decided it would be best to assume we were camping nearby and arrive on Sunday for dinner.  So we dropped Salt at the Champoeg State Park (lovely, rolling hills near the Willamette Valley [i.e., wine!] region) before heading up to the farm.

Driving down the windy driveway, I was ever so glad that Salt was not in tow. However this decision was an immediate disappointment to Sue & Rick, followed shortly with more disappointment when they heard of our plans to sleep down at Champoeg.  Of course they had prepared their lovely guest room (King size bed!  Flannel sheets!)  which were indeed tempting, but little did they know that I was hooked the minute we walked into the living room and saw the giant HD TV broadcasting a football game.  (Oh, and by the way, there is an awesome view of the valley and a cozy fire in the wood stove in the corner.)

After a tour of the grounds in the Polaris (a short video of this ride will be available on Movies! soon), they graciously invited both dogs inside to meet their two dogs and two cats.  Ours jumped out of the car and immediately chased the turkeys before coming inside and messing on the floor (River) and jumping the cat (Rosco.)  I was back to being glad we were staying at Champoeg.  

It was lovely to visit with friends, enjoy good food and drink and the feeling of your arms flying out to the side and hitting nothing, nothing at all.  We showed up the next morning for breakfast, Salt in tow, but left the dogs in the car so we could truly relax.

Had we not driven more than 50 miles the next day, we surely would have been back at Sue & Rick’s to ride out the storm.  The weathermen predicted 1-2” of rain and they were not disappointed.  However, we had a goal if seeing Mt. Saint Helen's and stopped for the night in Castle Rock (Silver Lake RV Resort), hitting Mt. Saint Helen's the next day—yes, right in the middle of the downpour. 

We drove to the Johnston Ridge Observatory and observed the low clouds, rain and fog hugging the mountains so close you could barely see the snow piled at the edge of the road.   However, having woken up and weighed myself that morning, I was intent on getting in a hike (despite the rain and my cold) so we dropped down to Hummocks Trailhead and hiked 2.5 miles in the downpour.  We were soaked and couldn’t see much, but what we could see was spectacular:  Vistas of hillsides ripped of trees from the volcano now growing green with moss and grass, huge dunes of ash and views down to the Toutle River.  On a sunny day I could have spent hours on these 2.5 miles, as it was, it was the fastest hike we have done yet.

A note here:  The trail is listed as 2.3 miles but we had a detour to chase after R&R who, in turn, were chasing after two elk.  There is a $100 fine for having dogs on the trail, imagine what the fine would be for setting two free?  They eventually returned (River first, if anyone is counting.)

  

We returned to Salt soaking wet with the rain still coming down.  The Pacific Northwest is not an easy place to live in your trailer.  We have lots of good friends and family to visit in Seattle but I will be ready for sunshine soon after that:  Can anyone say I-90 to Eastern Washington?  Cold for sure, but I’ll take snow and sun over rain any day!

-K

PS:  There are no pictures of Mt. Saint Helen’s, but what we could see hinted at grand, so it is on our list for a re-visit.  And yes, that will be more like 2013.  We have seven days left of our “three months minimum” deal but neither one of us can find anything wrong with this life.  As a matter of fact, the Future Farm of The Bryants is beginning to look just a little stationary.

Oregon Coast, OR, USA – 11/17-19, 2011

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What a great ending to our longest drive day yet:  320 miles from Redding to the Oregon Coast, mostly on I-5, then cutting across Highway 138 to 38 to 101, ultimately finding our way to the campground at the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.  (And, by the way, three cheers to the State of Oregon for putting out the easy to use and informative Oregon State Parks Guide - a must have for this area and free at ranger stations.)

Although I-5 through southern Oregon is undoubtedly the prettiest portion of that [usually horrid] Interstate, it simply does not compare to Highways 138 and 38.   Not only is the drive gorgeous but it also brings you through the lovely town of Elkton, which almost made my cut for Future Farm Land of The Bryants.   I say almost because, (as we have to keep reminding ourselves), this is the Pacific Northwest, the rain that feels so refreshing now feels equally as oppressive after nine months.  Ok, ten months.  Really, it is more like eleven months.  But I digress . . . 

The Umpqua Lighthouse Campground was almost completely empty our first night so we let the dogs run free.   They looked so happy running around we decided to hit the trail around Lake Marie (1 mile) to stretch our legs after that long drive.  Returning to Salt, we prepared the sun-downers, forgot where we were, and lit a campfire.  Just as the fire was getting really nice, the wind kicked up and the rain came down and we rushed inside.

True to form for this part of the country, it was raining the next morning as well but we didn’t let that stop us.  We had only one day to see the coast and, even though both of us lived in Seattle for many years, we had never visited the Oregon Dunes.  So we set off on the 5 mile John Dellencamp Trail across the magnificent dunes to the ocean’s edge.  (See the DITL on the Movies! page, coming soon.)

All alone out there the dogs were running around like crazy until the storm hit:  Not just rain, but hail coming down on us at the ocean’s edge!  So we dashed back into the woods for cover and wolfed down some PB&J’s for energy.

Also true to form for this part of the country, about 15 minutes later the sky cleared a bit and the sun came out.  Our hike back to the trailhead was delightfully warm and sunny and, even better, the dogs completely dried out before getting back into the car.

I wasn’t feeling well that afternoon so Alan went down to fish Lake Marie without me.  Have to admit, although I wasn’t feeling well, it felt marvelous to lie in bed and read a book for a few hours!  We thought we would have so much time on our hands during the Aventura but we never seem to have time to just sit around, one of the many odd things we have discovered so far.

Sadly, Alan returned fishless but he happily made dinner anyway; Chicken Posole which was perfect for a rainy night.   

The following day we headed up Highway 101 but not before a quick stop at the Windy Bay Bakery in Winchester Bay as we had been drooling over their "sourdough bread" sign for two days.  They did not disappoint!  Not only fantastic, fresh bread but they made a vegetarian pizza for us (wrapped to be baked later) on the spot.

It is a lovely drive, that part of Highway 101, and it will be posted on our Movies! page as a Scenic Drive soon.   We made a quick stop for some hiking at Cape Perpetua (in the rain, of course) before stopping for the night at the Lincoln City Premier RV Resort.  Unlike the Redding Premier Resort, this one had great WIFI and at $41/night for a pull-through full hook-up, it was a good deal.

-K