Posted by Karen on 24-Dec-2009
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I had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas weekend at Bodega Bay with Tersha and Vic. They invited me the spend it with them at the beach in their trailer and I’ve decided that is a great way to camp! Christmas Eve, we arrived at the Bodega Bay RV Park and set up house for the weekend. Next door to the RV park is the Bell Memorial, which commemorates the generosity Nicholas Green’s family for donating his organs in Italy during an untimely tragedy. In 1994, while vacationing in Italy, Nicholas was shot and killed by highway robbers. His family donated his organs to seven Italian recipients and it helped spur the virtually non-existent organ donation program in Italy and is known as the Nicholas Effect. The memorial contains bells from all over Italy and one large bell which was blessed by the Pope. Donna, a coworker from EDS, and her husband Gary, arrived at the RV park and parked next door, so more friends to visit with. Christmas morning, we walked a couple miles through Sonoma Coast State Park to the beach and enjoyed the solitude of a beach shared only with birds (and one state ranger). After a nice day spent relaxing and talking and getting to know the other RVers, we drove to one of the many lookout spots and enjoyed the sunset over the ocean. On Boxing Day, we took a ride over to the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve for Tersha’s big tree fix. After a few stops at beaches, we turned inland and followed the Russian River to the tall trees near Guerneville. Walking through old growth forest is always relaxing and peaceful, even if you’re being slightly rained upon. After a nice dinner at the Sandpiper Restaurant, it sure was nice to have a dry and warm trailer to retire to! Can you tell how much I liked camping in a trailer? After packing up Sunday morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at the Tides Wharf Restaurant and then headed back home.
Posted by Karen on 03-Oct-2009
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When I drove past Pyramid Lake back in August, I said that I need to come back another time and check out the place more. So, I went home and figured out how to get a camping reservation and then picked this weekend, the weekend of the full moon, to camp at Pyramid Lake. This weekend arrives and the weather forecast is calling for an early winter storm with snow in Reno (30 miles away from the lake)–so much for a beautiful autumn night under the full moon. I decide to head up anyways and see how the weather plays out. I take the Henness Pass back country road that I’d noticed when stopping at Kyburz Flat on my way north the other month. It turns out to be an easy, albeit unexciting, dirt road that takes you into Verdi, Nevada. I arrive at Pyramid Lake and it’s a very different scene that the one I saw last visit. They wind is howling, waves are crashing on the shore, the clouds are swiftly moving and eventually the rain breaks loose. But the beautiful thing about the rain is that is often times leaves you rainbows when it is done and I was rewarded with a double rainbow over the lake. After the rainbows, I watch the thermometer drop 30 degrees in 30 minutes and the sun hasn’t even set yet! I decide to head home instead of spending the night hunkered down in the SUV against the cold and wind. Call me wimpy but it just didn’t sound like a fun evening anymore.
Posted by Karen on 24-May-2009
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Yesterday was a gloriously full and long day and I decided to sleep in and laze about this morning instead of going down to the cold waterfront and watching the 2nd day start of the Kinetic Grand Championship race. So, to start off my lazy day, I drove over to Palmer’s Point, the southern point of Patrick’s Point State Park. It’s a seal hangout spot and I enjoyed watching them for a bit. I drove to Eureka, listening to KHUM Radio, thinking I might catch up with the race somewhere along the line, but other than the water launching, there isn’t really any spot to sit and watch them, they are racing along the roads and highway today. There was an car accident that they tried to blame on the race, but no sculpture was involved–some yutz decided to just stop dead in the middle of the highway to look at a scuplture and he got rear-ended, which is not the racer’s fault. I didn’t see any of it, but the radio gave excellent play-by-play reporting of the incident. I saw a half-hidden sign for Fort Humboldt State Historic Park, and you know me, I love the historical parks, so off I go. Fort Humboldt was a remote military post established in the 1850’s to help keep peace between settlers, gold miners, and native Indians and to provide protection as needed. The most famous person stationed there was Ulysses S. Grant, famed Union General of the Civil War and our 18th President. Of course, he was stationed there long before he became famous and it is here that he actually resigned his military commission and returned to civilian life until the Civil War. It’s a lovely park, there is a museum, plenty of open space where families were having fun picnics and an outdoor logging museum on the grounds. I thoroughly enjoyed my walk around and chats with friendly people.
Posted by Karen on 22-May-2009
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I drove to Patrick’s Point State Park last night and set up camp for a long weekend on the north coast. After a lazy morning, I put on my new hiking shoes and took a stroll along the Rim Trail that follows the rim of the coast. I don’t know why, but every time I visit the north coast I am blown away by how many varieties of wildflowers there are. The trail, like the campground, is very protected from the ocean wind by the thick vegetation and humongous ferns and makes for a pleasant hike. Along the trail, there are some short steep trails that lead down to the ocean. Of course a couple of hundred steps down, means a couple of hundred steps back up! Using these spurs, I checked out Rocky Point, Patrick’s Point, Wedding Rock and Mussel Rock. I decided to just view Agate Beach from the rim. Weddings really do happen at Wedding Rock; while there I met a guy who was checking it out because he was attending a wedding there tomorrow at noon (he wasn’t thrilled.. LOL).
GPS Stats: • Odometer: 3.04 miles • Total Time: 3:13 • Moving Time: 1:19 • Moving Average: 2.3 mph • Overall Average: 0.9 mph
