Sunburns in the Snow

We’ve spent the last four days in Olympic National Park and the weather has been beautiful.  On Thursday we stayed right on the beach and spent the day exploring Ruby beach and other areas along the coast.  Our campsite was perched on top of a bluff looking right down on the ocean and beach.  Jack was tempted to steal the hundreds of huge mussel clams he found at low tide, but since the season was over and taking them would likely be some kind of Federal crime, he resisted temptation.  Megan was able to take some great pictures of the Pacific Ocean and the sun setting over the horizon. 

On Friday we moved campgrounds and explored another portion of the park: the Hoh Rainforest.  Olympic National Park has a variety of ecosystems and believe it or not, one of them is the rainforest we spent the day in.  A rare break in the rain allowed us to enjoy sun and warm weather while going on a couple of hikes.  We got about 20 feet from an elk feeding on grass, watched countless black-tailed deer feed, and after watching an owl for about ten minutes, we watched him swoop down and try to catch a frog out of a pond.   

Spirits were high and we were loving life when, while leaving the road from the rainforest, we heard a popping noise and the low tire pressure alarm started sounding.  When Jack got out he could hear the air hissing out of his front tire, but when he noticed that both of the driver side tires were punctured it became a much bigger problem.  Since we only had one spare tire and were towing the camper, we had some problem solving to do.  Luckily we actually got phone service where it happened and there was a place to pull over so no damage was done to the rims.  Unfortunately, according to emergency road side service, the only option was to leave the camper and have the truck towed…..that wasn’t going to happen.  We called the closest town which amazingly had a tow company and a tire shop in it.  A tow truck had to come out and get one of the popped tires and bring it all the way back into town, have the tire shop patch it, and bring it back out to us.  With that fixed tire and the spare on we were back on the road in a couple hours.  We were able to go get the other tire patched and put the spare back so we were operating at normal capacity again.  This was a rough and expensive little incident but we felt very lucky that it happened where it did because it could have been much worse. 

On Saturday, we needed a little rest and relaxation so we stayed in a campground inside the park that is connected to a hot springs lodge.  The idea of sitting in the 106 degree thermal pools sounded like a good way to put the tire mishap behind us.  Before becoming completely lazy we went to a nearby glacier-fed lake, rented two kayaks, and spent the middle part of the day paddling around and enjoying the views.  When we got back it was time for the springs.  Much to our surprise, the hot springs was a strange and awkward experience.  The springs were not the rock pools of relaxation we dreamed of but more like shallow pools with European tourists lounging in them and staring blankly at newcomers.  The sulfur smell did not help the situation and we never really managed to “relax”.  Later that night Jack tried it out again and found it to have a better crowd of people, however after going from a 106 degree pool to the 60 degree pool a couple times, he almost passed out and decided to call it a night.  

                                       Lake Crescent

On Sunday, we moved again to yet another region of the park that is all mountains.  We camped at a lower elevation but spent the day up at the top of Hurricane Ridge at 5600 feet where 13 feet of snow was present.  The sun was shining and we even got a bit of a sunburn so weather was not an issue.  We played in the snow, soaked up the rays, and just sat back and enjoyed the scenery.  After that we spent the rest of the day in the town of Port Angeles at a coffee shop using the internet and then cooked a Creole shrimp boil dinner and sat by the campfire.  

                     On top of Hurricane Ridge

We both agreed that Olympic was our current favorite park because of the diversity, wildlife, and stunning scenery.  Although we were sad to leave this morning it was necessary to get up early and head out because our next destination is Yellowstone National Park (850 miles away!).  We are currently driving through the beautiful mountains of Montana and looking forward to Wyoming. 

Rain, rain, cheese, and more rain

Since it has never really stopped raining in the 3 days that we’ve been in Oregon, we decided to take some of our adventures indoors.  On Tuesday, we drove around and explored the little town of Tillamook.  We found a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop with WiFi advertised on the window and decided to make a stop.  Upon entering, we quickly discerned that this was not your typical Starbucks coffee shop.  For one thing, there was no one there (including employees).  It looked more like a rundown antique shop than a coffeehouse; there were only two seats in the whole place (the rest was filled with clutter).  Some of the highlights: a giant trash bag full of aluminum cans in the middle of the entryway, one-year supply of eye drops on the table next to our chairs, a bill from the county hospital on the counter, a stack of about 5 years worth of daily newspapers, and a framed picture of 30 elderly women and one topless man wearing extremely short shorts.  We waited around until the man who seemed to be the owner walked in and took our orders.  The price of two lattes was only $3.50!  While we were sitting on the only two chairs and using the WiFi, the owner grumbled, “I’ve gotta go to the hardware store, I’ll be back” and left the shop in our hands.  Apparently this is a customary practice because while he was away at the hardware store, a drifter came in, fixed his own drink, left some coins on the counter, and walked out.  If only all coffee shops were this unique.  

We devoted Wednesday to exploring the beauty of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  We took a brief self-tour of the cheese making and packaging process, sampled some cheese, and then splurged in the gift shop.

After eating too much cheese and ice cream, we decided to go for a hike despite the looming storm blowing in from the ocean.  A 4-mile hike in 40 degree temperatures and blowing wind, rain, and ice is just about as fun as it sounds.  After that, we retreated back to the camper to attempt to dry our gear, but we’ve found out that things don’t dry too well in this humid climate!  We warmed ourselves with hot cocoa, a spaghetti dinner, and another game of Skip-Bo.

Today we are en route to Olympic National Park, our furthest northwest destination before turning back south. 

Keep your fingers crossed for dry weather!

Drifters with Cash

Our time in Redwood can be summed up with the following: mammals, rain, and drifters.  The best part of the park was all the wildlife we saw.  There were herds of Roosevelt elk around our campsite as well as black-tailed deer, coyotes, bats feeding on insects, and sea lions!  We spent hours searching the coast for the majestic gray whale with our binoculars(supposedly they migrate back to Alaska from Mexico this time of year), however, the whales continue to elude us. 

 

                                   We caught him mid-chew

                      Sea Lions sun-bathing on the coast

We spent Easter morning hiking through the Lady Bird Johnson grove of giant Redwood trees.  We were amazed by the lush vegetation throughout the Redwood forest; it receives over 100 inches of rain throughout the year and everything is so green!  The Pacific Northwest is incredibly beautiful but the rain has gotten somewhat tiresome over the past few days.  It has rained every day since we’ve been here, and just when you think the sun has come out and the clouds have cleared, it rains 5 minutes later!  

One other thing we discovered about northern California is the abundance of what Jack likes to call “drifters” a.k.a. hitchhikers, hippies, or parolees.  We’re not sure what the attraction to northern California is for these people (seems like an awful rainy place to be walking on the side of the road all the time) but we’ve had a good time turning it into a game of Spot-the-Drifter.  But like Jack says, we’re really just drifters with a little bit of cash in our pockets.  

 Crescent Beach Overlook- one of the places we watched for gray whales

Today we headed out of California into the beautiful state of Oregon.  We followed highway 101 up the west coast and stopped for the night at a state park right on the beach.  The small town we’re in is apparently known for fresh crabs and seafood, so after getting some advice from an Oregonian, we headed out to a locals-only seafood joint and enjoyed some Oregon beer and clam chowder.  We mingled with some local folk and then took a short walk along the beach before retreating from the rain to continue our ongoing Skip-Bo feud.

Tomorrow we head to Tillamook, Oregon, home of the world-winning medium cheddar cheese. We hope to gorge ourselves on cheese, ice cream, and various other dairy products.  We will be there for two nights before heading north to our farthest Northwest destination: Olympic National Park in Washington. 

We hope everyone had a great Easter.  You are with us in our thoughts!

With Love,

Jack & Megan

Wannabe Grizzly Adams

We spent our last two days in Yosemite at Hodgdon Meadow Campground on the north side of the park at about 4900 feet elevation.  Little did we know, the campsite we reserved was at a steep angle downward.  The problem with this, as we found out, was that everything in an RV stops functioning when parked at an angle.  The bathtub stopped draining, so we had to hand-bail the water out of the tub after each shower.  In addition, the refrigerator and freezer decided to stop working; we discovered this only after we poured warm milk into our cereal bowls on Thursday morning.  We had to trash some good steaks and various dairy products, and we’re hoping the rest of the refrigerated items will make it at room temperature until we reach our next campsite.  Also, the temperature at 4900’ likes to drop below freezing at night, so we awoke this morning to a dead camper battery from the heater blowing all night long. 

On a brighter note, we had a great time exploring Yosemite.  On Wednesday, we took a short hike through deep snow to a grove of sequoia trees.  It rained for about 10 hours straight on Wednesday night, so we felt fortunate to be warm and dry in our camper (our tent-camping neighbors were not so lucky).  We spent the day on Thursday exploring some of our personal interests.  Jack went on a strenuous 8-mile hike to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls, gaining 2700 feet in elevation in just over 2 hours!  Meanwhile, Megan took a photography class called “Walking in the Footsteps of Ansel Adams.”  The class took her to the places that the famous photographer shot some of his legendary photos of Yosemite.  While she was shooting the iconic Upper Yosemite Falls, through a twist of irony and technology, Jack waved to Megan from the top of the Falls after some coordination of text messaging.  Of course, because of the elevation and distance between us, it was quite possible that we were waving to rocks and trees instead of each other (it’s impossible to make out cars, much less people, at that distance.)  We reunited at the bottom of the Falls later that evening to enjoy our first meal at a restaurant since leaving Texas.  

                                   Half Dome

                                        Upper Yosemite Falls

In other news, Jack has yet to shave his face and his attempts to look like a mountain man are starting to materialize. 

Today we are driving north through the beautiful wine country of California.  Our destination: Redwood National Park in northern California, where we will be for the next 5 days. 

We have been working on updating our Shutterfly website with more pictures of our adventures, so be sure to check up on those!

Wannabe Ansel Adams

Over the past two days, we’ve been hiking around Yosemite.  We arrived in Yosemite Valley this morning and have been enjoying the views all day.  Yosemite is very different from any of the parks we’ve been to so far; the Valley is very developed and there are people everywhere.  There are free shuttles that run through the park every 10-15 minutes and most of the hikes are paved roads.  A deer on the side of the road will create a traffic jam.  Nonetheless, the scenery has been amazing and the photo opportunities are endless.  We feel we can only describe Yosemite with the pictures we have taken; words cannot describe the natural beauty!

                                   Lower Yosemite Falls

                                  Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

                                        Yosemite Valley

                                        Yosemite Valley

Hillbillies in the Mountains

 

 

Let me first start off by stating that this blog entry is written entirely by Jacky D in response to everyone assuming that Megan was the only one writing the first few entries.  Okay, now back to business.  We arrived at Sequoia National Park on Friday and  continued to have perfect weather.  This park immediately jumped to our new favorite as the campground was great and the views amazing.  We took the Generals Highway (windiest road ever) to a grove of Sequoia trees that the infamous "General Sherman" lives in.  General Sherman is the largest tree in mass in the world and after 2100 years he is still going strong.  

 

 

 

This might be a good time to mention....we are no longer in the desert!  When we started climbing in elevation the snow started to appear.  At first we were excited to see some left-over snow in the ditch, but soon found 8 feet of snow in many places and traffic signs completely buried.  The temperatures were not bad at all and I don't think we ever felt cold.  We got to see some mule deer, but the search for a bear continues. 

 

                               Overlooking King's Canyon

 

 

For a hike on Saturday we took an 8 mile climb that gained about 2000 feet of elevation and ended at a waterfall.  The hike was amazing and views were around every turn. 

 

 

 

Living in a travel trailer in the woods requires some creative laundry as can be seen in the pictures below.  With biodegradable soap and a bucket we were able to hand wash some clothes and hang them up on a clothesline.  Charging iPhones also requires some creative thinking and although a 4000 watt gasoline generator sounds like overkill, it makes perfect sense to me.  We looked like total white trash....but it was great.  After the hike and laundry we were exhausted and like every night ended up falling asleep around nine.....after some grilled cajun chicken on the campfire.  

 

 

                   Washing Jack's underwear by hand...you can tell Megan is not too thrilled

              Our ghetto-rigged clothesline off the bear box

 

 

Sunday morning we packed up and left early for Yosemite National Park- about a 2-3 hour drive.  We stopped on the way and bought some more groceries and camping supplies since we will be in Yosemite for five nights.  I'm going to break for a minute and mention that on this entire trip we have not spent a penny on anything but groceries and gasoline.....this simple life feels so good.  In our campsite in Yosemite we are about twenty yards from a roaring river and at an elevation of 4000 feet so there isn't really any snow.  Today we walked through another grove of giant sequoia trees and the snow was packed up about 3-4 feet along the trail.  With the sunny skies and mild temperatures you can be walking next to all this snow and wear a t-shirt and feel fine.  We were able to find a little neighborhood inside the park where employees live and found a unlocked internet connection so we were able to get a few emails out and soon this blog!  One year ago today, Megan and I went on our first date, so spending our 1 year anniversary in Yosemite seems to fit us perfectly.  I would never have guessed there was someone out there I could have so much fun with living in a camper....so in conclusion....Life is good! 

Jack of All Trades

We headed west toward California Thursday morning.  Luckily, we filled up with gas at the last Arizona exit for $3.69/gallon.  There were long lines at every pump and everyone had California license plates.  Two miles later, we came to the first gas station in California and were appalled that gas prices had jumped 64 cents to $4.33!!!  We knew it would be an expensive drive through California.  

We got into Joshua Tree National Park mid-afternoon on Thursday.  We were a little confused by the desolate, desert atmosphere and wondered why this place would earn a National Park title.  We soon discovered that the park is divided into two desert ecosystems and that we were in the desolate, dry half of the park.  To get to the Mojave Desert (the higher elevation, wetter half), we would have to have driven 2.5 more hours.  After a 7 hour drive to the park, we weren’t too excited at this prospect, so we decided to stay put for the night.  We camped at Cottonwood Campground on the southern end of the park, which actually had beautiful views of the surrounding hills and mountains.  Jack decided to go on a rock-climbing adventure with our expensive new camera but thankfully returned it in one piece.  Later that evening, we cooked a five-star campfire dinner: sea-salted baked potatoes, bacon-wrapped filet mignons, cold Shiner beer, and s’mores for dessert. 

                         The view from the top of the rocks

The downside of staying on the southern of the Park was that there were no Joshua Trees.  It was somewhat disappointing to visit a National Park without encountering the Park’s namesake, but we decided to sacrifice this for relaxation.  

                       The sunset from our campground

When you’re living in a camper and traveling thousands of miles cross-country, you’d better be prepared to deal with some problems!  Yesterday we replaced the hole in the roof of the camper with a new bathroom vent cover; we also replaced a broken tail-light, fixed a leak in our fresh water tank, and had to deal with a leaky tire on the pickup truck this morning.  All part of the adventure!

Today we braved the busy highways of Los Angeles, drove through the mountains of southern California, and we are currently about an hour’s drive from our next destination: King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Parks!  We will be there for the next two nights before heading to Yosemite. 

Until next time…

Jack & Megan