End of trip snaps

Home sweet home. 

Travel through Shasta Pass, Grants Pass - no snow, roads clear.

New means of finding your location.....

Who needs a GPS?

We are sitting in MacDonalds so we can check the various ferries - looks like neither Anacortes nor Port Angeles is an option so we'll head for Tsawwassen - five hours away.
We thought we might stay in Portland overnight but after the night we had, we figured it was time to go home. (Ironically the song being played right now in MacDonalds is "There is no place like home for the holidays.")
Our place last night was probably the worst. We were keen to stay in downtown Portland - on the river. Turns out all we needed to do to find the RV park is look for contrails and that would give our location. We were fifteen degrees off the end of the active runway of Portland International Airport (Bill is looking at google as I type!) I figure the RV park lost their marketing opportunity when they didn't brag about proximity of the airport as a bonus. We could predict the next takeoff when the trailer started to shake! Did you know planes take off every 90 seconds? Just time to calm down and the shaking starts again....
On top of that we didn't get the internet access - office closed when we arrived and while they accepted our credit card over the phone, the passwords had to wait until the office opened in the morning. This morning, we left an hour and a half after the scheduled time for opening - office still closed tight.
Oh well, we are ready to come home - will return to Portland for Powell's, the donuts Christie told us about, and the public market that looks fantastic (in May or June - it is colder here right now than Victoria).
So it's been an adventure - always lots of material for stories - but we are ready for the fun of Christmas preparations and family.

California dreamin' (All the leaves are brown and the sky is pink....)

We made it to our goal of Redding, California so are now about 130 miles from the Oregon/California border. It was a long day of driving. We chose to drive Highway 99 thinking it would be more enjoyable than I5. Our speed limit is the same on either one and there is less traffic. It was not at all enjoyable driving through the interior of California - the smog that hung over the whole Sierra Nevada plain was horrible. The pink, smelly air was tinged with eau de feedlot, eau de dried up field and eau de unknowable factory belch. This for two hours!! If you know anyone who lives in Bakersfield or Fresno, please phone to, 1. See if they are still breathing and if so, 2. Give them my sympathies. Every kind of big business is happening there and unless they are enjoying the smell of money, they are living in hell. Enough said.
Sacramento seems to be a pretty city - first natural green we've seen - the river and canals are all full of water and the trees look healthy. We took a deep breath when we arrived in Redding - it is about 14 degrees and absolutely pouring but the air is fresh. We will have to double check the ground before stepping outside in the morning - there was already 2-3 inches of water at our steps when we arrived.

Mojave and Joshua trees

We left San Diego at 1:00 pm yesterday and drove to Mojave last night. With sunset just after 5:00 we miss lots but we had a chance to see the strange but wonderful Joshua trees that are a sign that you are in the Mojave Desert. They appear suddenly and disappear just as fast. I can't remember if it is latitude or altitude or a combination that they need but these Dr. Seuss trees are hard not to love. Well for tourists anyway. They only show up in parks or in deserted properties. No sign of them in "well-cared for" gardens. I think they deserve respect when you realize how slow-growing they are. We saw a couple that must be 100 years old.
I'm taking pictures by hanging out of the truck as we whiz by so you either get the tree coming or going! We are home-bound and not taking time for pictures.

It never rains but it pours

We are back in San Diego. Bill said as we drove into the RV park, "Won't it be nice to be back in our own bed??" It was a real chore having to sleep on a king-sized bed and use a real bathtub for two nights. So we're back "home" for a night or two. Then we hitch it up and start our trek to Victoria.
We made the right choice going to Palm Springs when we did. The rain arrived late yesterday afternoon and from what we could see on out return, there had been downpours in the mountains and here in San Diego. There are huge pools of water sitting on the ground and collecting in the drains along the roads. We hear that San Francisco got more rain on Tuesday than in all of 2013! We kept thinking about the fellow we met in Silverwood Conservation Centre who has been trying to hand water the Coast Live Oaks. He must have been dancing in the woods yesterday! We don't know how much San Diego got and what kind of difference it will make but it must help.
So life took on a normal feel when we got back - grocery shopping, picked up a movie, got some quarters for laundry and bought a phone card. I needed to phone Canada and we were running out of minutes. Bill did all the work setting it up and was dialling the number for me but in desperation handed the phone over and said "I think I just phoned Italy!"
I listened to the long message about how many minutes we have left and then a very quiet voice said The number you have called is busy. I said to Bill. "Yup I get it: busy - Italy. Italy-busy. They do sound alike. "
We need a vacation!

Our return drive. We are high up in San Bernardino Mtns. What looks like water is cloud and fog. We drove through it  and came out to see bright green forests all washed clean from the rain. The colours were all intense and fresh. 

Christmas shopping and oranges

View outside our door. You can see the weather heading in our direction. 

I did some Christmas shopping on El Paseo Drive

We looked at a couple of properties. I came home with an armful of tangerines and oranges given to us by the owners. 

Palm to Pines Highway

On the spur of the moment yesterday, we decided to head to Palm Springs before the forecasted heavy rain hit. We wanted to drive the Palm to Pines highway (in reverse) and knew it wouldn't be fun in pouring rain. It was overcast and so much drier than we remember on the ocean side of the mountains but the desert is still desert! The colours are subtle but beautiful. We got out and walked around enjoying the cool 16 degrees up at the top.

Top of Palm to Pines Highway. 

Brightest colour in the desert right now is the lichen!

Gives you an idea of how steep and high the climb is. This is taken from a lookout about half-way down. You can barely make out a tiny white car in the middle. The ribbon of highway is still winding steeply down at the bottom.