Heading South…after Gold Beach…

I was following the weather fairly closely online and there were several storms heading my way here on the coast of Oregon. I did want to stay longer and have the mechanic I’d found d0 my brakes for me but, he didn’t return my calls, and the weather was closing in. The morning I left Gold Beach didn’t look all that bad though.

So off I went, due south on Highway 101. It looked like this just a few miles south. 

I had planned on spending a few days in Brookings, but I wasn’t going to stay there during the type of drenching rainstorms they get, so I just kept going south.

I did stop in Brookings to do some last minute, no tax shopping, and when I arrived in town, the sun was shining. When I left an hour later, it was all misty like. An hour later, after passing through Crescent City, I’m in the Redwoods area. They haven’t done much to improve the road for large vehicles like mine since I last traveled here, and I don’t see many RVs or semis as I head on south. This is typical of many areas of the road going through the redwoods. They’re not allowed to cut them down now days so there are many tight corners with big trees very close to the road. I did see some redwoods with big scars on them where semis, or more likely, RVs, had scrapped them. I tried my best to avoid doing that. Traffic was light enough that it wasn’t too much of a problem.

It was a few miles before the next picture that I passed a young man leaning up against a car alongside the road, and as I passed he dangled his car keys at me. That’s a universal sign that there’s a bear nearby ready to eat him…or something.

So I pulled over and discover he’d been there (he said) all night and all of today…and it’s like 2 pm when I stop to talk to him. Just as we’re trying to get a situation arranged, discovering there’s no cell phone coverage, the official pickup truck that looks for people with trouble on this road finally stops behind him. He starts to go, then turns and asks for a glass of water and I was happy to oblige. Wow, did he gulp it down. Hard to believe no one would stop to help during all those hours, though I’m sure he crawled into his car to sleep for a few hours. Also hard to believe the road assistance people took so long to stop and visit him until just after I stopped. No one even called the cops when they got in cell phone coverage? I would have given him a ride to the next town if he’d wanted, but he was happy the official help had arrived. The picture shows a VW van just as the tow truck was getting ready to haul it away. There was a young couple standing next to it as I passed. So within a couple miles, in a no cell tower area, were two broken down vehicles. Huh.
Goodbye, Pacific ocean, see you soon! And eventually, in the little wide spot called Alliance, I turn off the 101 onto CA-299 heading to Redding. The map shows it’s twisty and turny, but from my reading the night before, it didn’t sound all that bad.  Just after I turned off onto 299, there was one of those large electrical signs that said the road would be closed from 3 AM to 5 AM every weekday so I knew there was some serious roadwork going on up ahead.

All this day on the road, the weather threatened, but held its temper. I was kind of proud of myself for planning around it. Did get sprinkled on a couple times, but no downpours this part of the coast is famous for. And now I was headed inland and would soon be on the other side of the mountains in a drought area.But, the road was slow going. A long tortuous climb up into the hills on a mostly two lane road. With sharp turns and switchbacks everywhere as you gained elevation. I probably averaged 20 MPH for a couple three hours.

Eventually, I pass a RV park at around 5:30 PM. Near Big Bar. I didn’t want to try to make it all the way into Redding what with being tired of the road and all. No discounts were offered at the Del Loma RV Park, Big Bar, CA. I was OK with that. Tired of driving. They did have WiFi and I had a nice spot so…

Since the time change to standard time had happened already, it was dark within an hour of parking. The clouds didn’t help. Discovered they have ultra slow Pay to Use WiFi. It’s a satellite setup. Could only do email and FB a little. Cable worked though, so I watched TV.

Next morning, just as I’m finishing breakfast, the power dies. Hmm. I wander over towards the office and happen to run into the owner. He tells me the entire park is out and that the last time this happened, it was out for 5 days. Yikes! He was on his way 15 miles east to check out the switching station that powered this area. I did ask when checkout time for the RV park was and he let me know due to circumstances, I could leave whenever I cared to. Even stay the night if I wanted as compensation. Cool.

That was nice of him to offer, but, I had my meds coming and needed a place to hole up while waiting for them that had power. With WiFi and a nearby sports bar. I’d already decided to hold up at a RV park 30 miles south of Redding because I’d done my research and knew there was a sports bar within $5 taxi ride distance. It’s only a 3 hour drive from Big Bar so I’m not in a hurry to leave this morning, which give me the chance to wander around the RV park. Weather was light coat cool, but the sun was out and blue skies above made for a nice, quiet, enjoyable walkabout. The park is in a valley with steep hills all around and a river next to it. No traffic noises, no barking dogs, no noisy kids (though I do enjoy having them around…wish I had a grandkid or two). It would have been spectacular here if there was snow on the nearby peaks.

There’s a gazebo near my space I wandered over to and discovered the path down to the river nearby…

Ah ha! There’s where the river sounds are coming from. Gurgling water down there. Soon after finding it, I’m on a path downhill. Idyllic here. Morning fog still persists in the nearby valleys. Those old logs sticking up there aren’t natural. They’re part of a very old man-made trap for fish migrating up that small, nearly dry tributary. It sure was pretty here. A small nearby tributary, mostly dry this time of year. The way the fog was clinging to the hills was fascinating. Prime fishing here. Spent a good hour down here, but then climbed back up the hill for a tour of the property to the east of the RV park. First, here’s a look at the park. Lots of mature trees. The buildings housing the bathrooms and laundry were in excellent condition… You can tell there had been a little rain early in the morning. They have a pool too. Out in back on the property were thousands of these trees or shrubs that had their bark peeling off. There was a small forest of them here. I think the red layer, or the inner layer of the peeling bark, was used by Indians to make medicine or a soothing tea. Can’t remember for sure.  I found several deer trails though here. I took this shot because I heard a big animal in the brush there. I circumnavigate the property and eventually come across this graveyard of vehicles. An old fire engine…the owner told me the engine was blown. It’s too old timey for restoration to be a fire truck and this type is too common to be in an antique show. Next to the fire truck was an abandoned RV. Still has air in the tires. Log splitter.  Oh, yeah, the goats. There were a bunch of these goats hanging around. And turkeys too. This chicken was suppose to be behind the fence where all the other chickens were.  Another fire truck…this one isn’t as old as the other one, it is older, but still in usable condition. They keep it here on the property for easy access in case of a local fire. This place even has a miniature golf course. And a shot of the store. Not very good shape. Floors all rotten, not enough groceries to do without having to go to a nearby town if you were living here.  Summertime weekend warriors populate the park, lots of kids then. There are some cabins owned by some. There were many empty RV’s the owners pay to park here all year. Just so they have a place to go when it’s hot in the valley.
There I am. The sun had finally breached the peaks in the east. But, eventually, I left, still no power. A few miles east I was surprised to find the Strawhouse Resort & Cafe. Who’d a thunk that a fancy coffee shop would be way out here in the boondocks?

After getting my mocha, I wander outside to the patio overlooking the river. Nice around here. Well, I’m in no hurry, so I find my way down to the river and set a spell. There was a large sign next to the river near here at one of the few areas without boulders that told people not to park their boats there while heading to the coffee shop. I don’t know why. Maybe an injunction by the forest service to keep beach erosion at a minimum? I suppose muddying up the pebble strew river bottom would tend to ruin spawning grounds though. OK, time to go. It was too early for lunch, but I’d already eaten breakfast and had finished my mocha so off I go. And then I ran into that road construction. Had to wait 15 minutes for the pilot car to arrive. Counted 66 vehicles going the other way.  I pulled off here and let everyone behind me pass on by. So I was the last in line. The last car in the string is just heading around that bend. We must have followed along for 20 odd minutes in single file. Loads of improvements that I could see along the road. It was nasty traveling this road in the dark I bet. Now it’s going to be much better. Still 2 lane, but wider, with more pullouts, and large terraformed areas used to straighten the road, but keep it from having to dip down into small valleys.Here’s a nice little town in the mountains, west of Redding on 299. Weaverville. It’s big enough that I think they get huge crowds here from Redding during the summer when people come up here to escape the valley heat on weekends.

After that, passed by Whiskey Lake, then eventually, through Redding. Forty odd minutes south of Redding, and I’m all settled in at O’nite RV Park, Red Bluff, CA. Arrive right at 2 pm. The proprietor has warned me that the WiFi is bad for most people, but he parks me as close to the office where the antenna is as he can. When I get setup and test it, I’m getting 5 bars, 6 Mbps up, 4 Mbps down speeds. I can watch movies at those speeds. And I do. I like my Signal King WiFi antenna a lot.

All settled in. Large lot, free wifi, water, electric, and OTA digital TV, all for $14 per night. Can’t beat it. Oh, and dry, sun filled weather. Yea! The parks office just up the street.

And this is where we’ll stop for today. See you next time, and thanks for visiting.