COASTAL JOURNEY; CA to WA ~ Cool Art Deco Era Bridges

August 21st: In the morning, we traveled onward, the Redwood Highway-CA

We went through Orik-CA: a small community with the grand total of {357} people; it's seen better days, but I want to see rural America; thank you Holland, for this adventure ;-)

On our way to Crescent City-CA

Holland is always thinking of my best interests - he's a good guy: a Keeper :-)

 

Redwoods National Forest-CA; yellow haze from wildfires does not make for good photo shoots.

Redwood National Forest … Crescent City is today's goal.

The little brat! Bleu hates his leashes … so, he's made this one ineffective. Into the trash it went.

A little further down the road, the cat was out of the bag ;-)

Holland is the sweetest guy … when we got married, the Plan was to go back home from Reno over the coastal route - but, we were chased out of Nevada and California by a winter storm, so our Honeymoon Venture was cut short when we decided to come back home via the freeway. So, now, he says he is going to pick the route back up at Crescent City-CA ... and finish that coastal route for me.

Staying abreast of the storm's progress.

Holland would rather be on the freeway - and far, far away from calimexarabia.

I like listening to Holland's interesting stories about each State, in relation to the life he's led so far; if you want to get to know about your spouse - buy an RV and hit the road ;-)

Nowhere to boondock near the ocean, and the strong smoke swathes the inland hills.

Bridge work along the route …

Holland has planned something special for me; he's the sweetest man!

He spoils me rotten, and I don't deserve him: but I'm glad he's in my life :-)

We both laughed when we crossed over a Pass and saw that we were passing through the same road work this trip, as we did when we passed through in January, on our way home from our Reno Wedding.

It seems to both of us, that in traveling across America we cross more Passes than anything else - but, thankfully we have only crossed over three really hard Passes: "the Ike", "Mt. Rushmore", and "The Bighorn National Park" - and that one will give you white hair in short order. But Holland did it, and I'm proud of him :-)

We also noticed that coastal oregon businesses apparently do not open before noon; closed restaurants, closed mini marts, closed fuel station warmers - absolutely nothing serving hot food was open.

Nada :-(

There were plenty of scenic beauties to tantalize our eyes … but there was no where to pullover to capture it on camera, or video moments.

But, we can capture those lost photo shoots in our memory - and that's what we are doing: spending time together, making memories :-)

Road crews are still at work on the same spot they were dinking with in January '23.

Getting closer …

Touched down in Crescent City - and moved forward.

The sun is a red orb in the yellow clouds of wildfire smoke; very pungent odor.

Another on-the-go-candy bar breakfast.

Road designers do not take into consideration scenic photo shoots. UGH!

The 'scenic view' pullovers are ridiculous. WTHeck

Unbelievable - coastal towns are still closed after 9 AM.; Brookings-CA

We'll just do what we've always done - 'we'll do it ourselves!'

Wave watching.

We have to be wisely selective about where we set up …

Beautiful.

But we missed our moment in time, thanks to the smokey overhang :-(

Spending time together is the main goal.

Bleu makes sure he is included, too. LOL

Dan Hill - 'Never Thought That I Could Love' song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpejuT4uip8)

As we traveled along the coastal 101 highway, through coastal towns, we saw some pretty cool old bridges.

We also saw flashing lights that held traffic up, and was thinking maybe there is a wreak ahead … but as we get closer, we saw that a man was putting gas in his tank from a gas can! That's what all the flashing lights is about???? NO car off the road - NO mangled vehicle … but there were three police vehicles with flashing cab lights, and at least six police people standing around with hands on holstered belts, "keeping the peace" … and traffic crawling forward at a snail's pace. All that for a man putting gas in his gas tank.

The entire  upper Western States are engulfed in wildfire smoke. E.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.

A pretty neat bridge is about all there is to see in Gold Beach-CA

Rouge River Bridge; Gold  Beach-CA.

Rouge River Bridge:(https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/rogue_river_bridge/)

We thought there had been a wreak - instead, there was questionable nonsense happening.

Coos Bay-OR

When we got to Florence-OR, all I saw was sand dunes everywhere. Holland laughed, when he saw my surprised expression. I didn't know that Florence was all about sand dunes and 4-wheeling - and that's what it's known far and wide, for; but Holland knows all about that. He said people come from all around the NW - and the country - to see and play around in the dunes, here. Holland has done his fair share of dune jumping with 4-wheeling vehicles ;-)

I just saw {Florence} on the map one day, and thought the name sounded adventurous - and planned an overnight trip (which never happened until now); coming down here to play around in the sand wasn't even a seed of an idea in my mind, when I planned my route down here 2 years ago. I'm glad I came with Holland - I don't think I'd have had much fun by myself: it's an eye-blink town; there's nothing much to do, here. There's just the dunes.

Now, I've been to Florence; and Holland said, "You can scratch that off your Bucket List of 'Things to Do', Baby."

God always answers your prayers - always. He may not answer you the way you want to be answered ... but, He always answers. And His answer is better than anything you had hoped for ;-)

From Florence-OR, to Newport-OR, we saw some pretty cool Art Deco Era designed bridges.

Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge, North Bend-OR, on my way to Florence-OR. It took time, but I'm getting there ;-).

Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge:

(https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/conde_b_mccullough_memorial_bridge/)

A banked highway running across the water, coming into Florence. Holland says I'll see a lot of that down South.

Holland knew a LOT about Florence - he's been here before, in his younger years, tearing up the dunes.

Mix-match-Umpqua River Bridge; Reedsport-OR.

Umpqua River Bridge:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umpqua_River_Bridge)

Road work is happening all over the PNW; Florence-OR.

Siuslaw River Bridge; Florence-OR.

Siuslaw River Bridge:

(https://zoomeboshi.com/2013/06/15/conde-mccullough-and-the-siuslaw-river-bridge-florence-or/ & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siuslaw_River)

The Siuslaw River Bridge is a Draw Bridge (internet surfing pic.).

Alsea Bay Bridge; Waldport-OR.

Alsea Bay Bridge:

(https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/alsea-bay-bridge-replaced-waldport-or/)

Yaquina Bay Bridge; Newport-OR.

Yaquina Bay Bridge:

(https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/yaquina-bay-bridge-newport-or/)

We drove straight through oregon; and didn't sleep at all until we got to the Dismal Niche Rest Area-WA, well after midnight, and set in for another night of boondocking ("dry camping"): which is the long-term goal.

Boondocking means setting up with no services - which is fine with us because we started this lifestyle prepared; our RV and 4x are outfitted for the boondocking lifestyle. We did have a washer & dryer installed in the RV, and budgeted to stay at an RV Park periodically to make use of the electric and water to do our laundry.

The issues we have encountered so far is (1) that the generator came with a carbon monoxide sensor that turns the thing off after 10 minutes! So, we have to find a way to modify that - or the generator is useless (2) most boondocking locations are on BLM land, National Forest Land, and State Parks land … none of these locations have a parking area big enough for us; the parking/camping spots were carved out and set up for tents, camper vans, and 30-foot RV's - no National or State Park designer took into consideration to plan for future RV's that would exceed the set limitations :-(

So, while we have the desire to live foot-loose and fancy-free, it proving to be more challenging than we had anticipated.

RENO-NV to ARCATA-CA ~ Finding Out More About My Husband

Let Us Run Away - Loving Caliber | Lyrics:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk9dgIiwiQU)0

August 20th: We had planned to have a special lunch in Reno to mark our 7th month Wedding Anniversary … but smokey haze, a summer storm, & a flood alert chased us out :-(

Holland said, "Let's get to the california coast - hopefully the ocean breeze will keep the smoke away from us." I said, "You hate california." He said, "I do; but I love you. I gotta get you away from this smoke."

So, we pulled stakes, and headed West - towards Eureka-CA

Eureka-CA from Reno-NV; 6 hr. 26 min (344.7 mi) via CA-44 W and CA-299 W

The weather we are heading into …

Never say never.

No revisiting memories in Reno-NV; gotta keep moving.

We'll go where Elohim leads.

Holland's feelings about calimexarabia is very strong; today is a big concession for him.

Love in action - despite the grousing.

Holland is making this reroute trip to keep me alive.

We went through Tahoe National Forest - it was pretty, but it was all rocky landscape; some boulders had glacier scars marking them.

We drove through Sacramento and Redding … and Holland revealed some more of his family history in these areas:

Hwy #193 - a new experience for me; an old familiar route for Holland.

Redding lanes; the Plan was to stop here overnight before moving on to Eureka.

Redding-CA from Reno-NV; 3 hr. 18 min (198.5 mi) via US-395 N and CA-44 W

Rice fields - Holland claims calimexarabian (my wording - not his) rice is better than imported rice.

Holland has a beekeeper cousin - on his mother's side - who pollinates the Almond Orchards in CA

Holland had an Uncle - on his mother's side - who had a vineyard; he sold his raisins to Sunkist Raisins Corp.

Holland comes from a family of money-makers; and Holland himself, has worked steady since he was 14 yo. Work-related Disability Retirement is a hard adjustment for him.

I had no idea of the Family I married into, 7 months ago.

By the time we got to Cottonwood, we were hungry, so we grabbed a mexican flavored pizza from a little strip mall pizzeria. It was eatable.

We were making time to enjoy our journey, but we didn't sit too long in any one place while trying to stay ahead of the wildfire smoke, and keep an eye on the storm's progress.

And of course we had Liberty tagged to the back of Betsy … which made touching down in a few places more than a little interesting: but my man is a trucking pro, and he got us out of tight places ;-)

Pizza on the go.

Driving straight through to Shasta-CA

I was shocked this truck was allowed in anti-Christ/anti-America calimexarabia. Happy - but surprised to see it.

Checking the storm status.

Another new experience to me - old, familiar ground to Holland.

None of this tight-quarters stuff was here last time Holland was here - he can't leave fast enough. LOL

Headed to the Coast …

Goat trail to the Dam-Lake; we're headed to the Coast, now. No overnight, here.

That was a little too much 'adventure'.

Pushing forward, we continued towards Eureka - thank the Lord, there was no smokey smell in Eureka; but, Holland decided to backtrack to Weaverville, and continue up the coastline from there (he wanted to show me places I had not yet been to, in CA).

We stopped and read an interesting roadside marker ... and spotted the Hell's Angels Complex a mile or so up the road. The Hell's Angels Complex had a huge wrought iron gate and fence surrounding their property - you would think they'd welcome the criminals inside with open arms.

I didn't bother taking any pictures of the Trinity Alps Mountains because the forest was just burnt black snags; Holland said a wildfire swept through there 2 or 3 years ago.

It was pitch black outside when we started over yet another Pass, and road workers laying some kind of pipe down the middle of the road. The smokey odor was very strong is Humboldt County - we could taste it, as well as smell it INSIDE the pickup cab.

Along the Trinity Highway there were plenty of places to pull over and boondock … but the overhanging smoke, and the smoke odor … kept us moving: places where the sun was shining, and the air was clear - there wasn't a pullover big enough for us: but places the smoke was heavy and strong, there were all kinds of pullover spaces large enough for us. It was crazy.

Eureka-CA

Interesting roadside marker.

A few paces down the road, the Hells Angels Compound was spotted.

Sunset driving over the Pass; sun shafts were poking through in a circular mode - impressively cool.

Weaverville-CA

Weaverville-CA

Oh no! Smoke ahead of us - we didn't outrun it, after all. Darn it.

No boondocking tonight; gotta get past the smoke.

Night road crews working. In the smoke.

Pipe being laid down the middle of the lane.

Periodic road work the entire length of the Pass; steep 7% grade.

This is where Holland's roots (the Ruth Harris-Gerald Lee Redmill Family)  started; Arcata-CA

I like finding out more about my Husband ;-)

When we simply couldn't drive another mile (at this point, we'd been on the road from AM to AM, driving straight through with very short pit calls), we pulled over and spent the night in Trinidad Northbound Rest Area - Holland rigged the steps so we could pull them in when we turned in, because he didn't want some sleepy traveler to run into them and mess 'em up (the rigging worked very well); Bleu slept in our bedroom because that was the only slide-out we moved out: he couldn't get to his kennel in the livingroom (he was a happy camper ;-)).

"Exennials"

 

❤️They call us ”The Elderly”❤️

We were born in the 40-50-60’s.

We grew up in the 50-60-70's.

We studied in the 60-70-80's.

We were dating in the 70-80-90's.

We got married and discovered the world in the 70-80-90's.

We venture into the 80-90’s.

We stabilize in the 2000’s.

We got wiser in the 2010’s.

And we are going firmly through and beyond 2020.

Turns out we've lived through EIGHT different decades...

TWO different centuries...

TWO different millennia...

We have gone from the telephone with an operator for long-distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world.

We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and Whats App.

From live matches on the radio, to black and white TV, color TV and then to 3D HD TV.

We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix.

We got to know the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.

We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, shell suits & blue jeans.

We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.

We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric.

Yes, we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had!

They could describe us as “exennials”; people who were born in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.

We've kind of “Seen-It-All”!

Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life.

It is our generation that has literally adapted to “CHANGE”.

A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, which is UNIQUE.

Keep on keeping on!

GOOD CHANGES

We bought a juicer last night while we were out and about, in Sparks-NV; we have been talking about it for months, and just finally did it. We know we need to be living a healthier lifestyle, but we've been honeymooning - living footloose and easy; this morning our {healthy} got started.

Admittedly, it's a small step … but it is a step in the right direction  :-)

Juicing a whole watermelon - rind, flesh, seeds; good stuff.

Not only does watermelon taste good … but it also hosts many health benefits. Watermelon fights disease. Watermelon has more lycopene than any other fresh fruit or vegetable. Lycopene is an antioxidant linked to decreased risk of cancer, heart disease and age-related eye disorders.

Watermelon also helps our bodies stay hydrated in order to function properly. Watermelon is a good source of Vitamin C - which when eaten or applied topically - helps your body make collagen, a protein that keeps your skin supple and your hair strong. Watermelon is also a rich source of citrulline, an amino acid that may improve exercise performance - and reduce muscle soreness … and it may increase nitric oxide levels in your body. Nitric oxide helps your blood vessels expand, which lowers blood pressure. Plus, it boasts antioxidants and anti-inflammatory proprieties.

We bought other fruits and veggies to juice, too; this will be an easier way to get the nutrients our bodies need, while on the road full-time. Juicing is a good change.

Holland also got busy getting the generator ready for our trip down South. This thing has been a major pain in the ass, with the safety features that have basically made it worthless - but hopefully he can get it straightened out today, so we can fully enjoy our boondocking experiences.

Whipping that rebellious hunk of metal into shape, will be another good thing ;-)

Working on the generator …

This has been the most frustrating thing.

I bought a little table top fan the other day to use when I am sitting at the table working on one thing, or another: we do have a very nice air conditioning system in our home, but we also have 9' ceilings in the livingroom & bunkroom - this works fine for Holland, who is 6'4" and can enjoy the cool breeze near the ceiling … I'm a chubby little shrimp at 5'2"; I need cool air down where I dwell, so I bought and brought this cute little vintage air fan home.

This is definitely a good thing.

I like everything about this little fan; style, color (my birth color), and that is keeps me cool, down here near the floor ;-)

For Supper, we pulled a food packet from our 'Patriot Foods' cache, and tried it out: it was a different Spanish Rice recipe and I was a bit skeptical (I make my Spanish Rice with a tomato base), but it was surprisingly good :-)

Sabbath wraps up tonight, and we plan to turn in early so we wake refreshed for our roadtrip tomorrow morning.

Life is good :-)

Patriot Foods 'Spanish Rice'; tasty.