To the Redwoods ~ June 4th-5th, 2012

We're headed for the Smith River on the north coast of California. Hwy 140 out of Lakeview, OR is another great blue highway that takes us west to Grant's Pass where we turn south onto Hwy 199 and head deep into Redwood country. It's about a 280 mile drive. The weather is continually changing: sunshine to a dusting of snow, periodic showers to heavy rain.  There are large ranches in the valleys of SE Oregon. Juniper, pine, and wildflowers dot the landscape. Once back in Redwood country we breathe in the aroma and marvel at the majesty of our north coast forests.

We're in a day early to the Smith River. We have reservations for the 5th-6th but they find us a space for tonight. It's raining cats and dogs but the sound is magnificent. It's late afternoon and we're curled up drinking green tea and reading ~ Rod with Mark Twain and me with a "bodice ripper" from Harlequin called Operation: Midnight Cowboy. I traded it for one of our paper backs at Junipers Lake. It has a cowboy, a redhead and an international terrorist, what more could you ask for?. Tomorrow is supposed to be only 20% chance of rain so Rod's looking forward to some fishing and I'm looking forward to hiking with my camera.

After dinner we set up for the night and continue to read. The lights start dimming. Say what? The rig battery is failing so the pilot light isn't firing on the propane refrigerator. Rod tries to start the generator, but it wouldn't fire until he starts the rig to give it enough juice. We run the generator for about 10 minutes and that seemed to do the trick. We've had the rig plugged in at all our our camp spots, and this is the first attempt at "dry camping" on the trip. We turn off all the lights and get out the battery lantern for the rest of the evening. Now we're sure there is a short somewhere in the system, perhaps damage from the separated tire treads that beat up the underside of the coach on day 2.

We wake up at 5:30 am and Rod 's ready to throw in the towel and head home. He's disappointed in not being able to spend a couple of days fishing on the Smith River. I mention that if we camp at a place where we can plug in we'll be okay. He sees logic in my suggestion and off we go to Trinidad and Emerald Glen Park where we started the trip. Expecting the usual north coast summer weather of cold fog and drizzle, we are oh so pleasantly surprised to find it clear, sunny and about 70 degrees. Perfect!

After lunch we headed for Trinidad Harbor and walked on the beach. Walked back up into town and down a large number of steep steps to the cove on the harbor side. Our knees were barking like harbor seals by the time we got back up the stairs. After that little workout, we're back to camp for a shower, dinner, a movie and early to bed. Home is calling.