JANUARY 2018 - MARCH 2018

TRAVEL TO QUARTZSITE, AZ - then returning through CA, OR and WA

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TRAVELOGUE # 4 - West through CA to Santa Barbara then north to Sacramento and Mt. Shasta

Friday February 2, 2018 - Thursday February 15, 2018

Published April 7, 2018

After we left Joshua Tree NP, our next evening stop was at a small regional park called Mojave Narrows just outside of Victorville, CA. It was on a lake with great birds to see, lovely sunsets, lots of nice walks. The campground was less than half full. We stayed there two nights and I got caught up on computer stuff and email, then headed west toward Santa Barbara to visit Karleen Patrick, a fellow Lopezian. It was Sunday, February 4th - Super Bowl Sunday! I stopped at Carpinteria Beach Park, parked the trailer, and headed into Santa Barbara. We missed part of the first half, but enjoyed the rest - in between catching up with each other's news. The next day we did errands and had lunch at a great Mexican restaurant. I had an appointment the following day to have the truck's oil changed, then I picked up Karleen and we went back to Carpinteria, walked near the beach, and had a campfire and dinner. It was warm and clear - so nice to hang out with good friends!

One of the things you will see in the photos below is enormous piles of dirt filling up a lot of the parking spaces at Carpinteria Beach. You may have heard of the horrible mud slides they had in Montecito in December, and it turns out the piles of dirt were the mud that had flowed down a creek just south of the park. On my way north on 101 toward the coast, I took a drive through Montecito on residential streets and saw just a glimpse of the damage from the mud slides. What I'd seen at Carpinteria was small potatoes compared to Montecito. There were even places on the freeway where you could see the remnants of the mud that had flowed over the road! No wonder I was warned about traffic problems around Santa Barbara!!

I made it almost to Morro Bay when I discovered that the state park there was closed for some renovations, so I stopped at El Chorro Regional Park, between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay. It was a really nice campground and the park also had a botanical garden and a dog park! I found a hookup site but unfortunately the next day was Thursday of a 3 day holiday weekend, and I had to move to another site because mine had been reserved, but they were all reserved through the weekend, so I moved a third time to the tent camping area. We went to the dog park every day. One day we drove into Morro Bay and walked around the rock. Another day we drove into San Luis Obispo and I got a long overdue haircut.

When we left Morro Bay, we headed back toward the central valley and north to Pinnacles National Park. It's pretty remote and didn't seem to be full even though it was Sunday and Monday was a holiday. We explored the park the next day, going where we could by car and short hikes because I wasn't up to much hiking due to knee problems and Sunna wasn't allowed on most trails. Next destination was Davis, near Sacramento, to visit with Sarah and Tom Pattison, friends from my Bay Area days. I parked in their driveway. Sarah and I visited then we met Tom for dinner. The next day was Valentine's Day, but we only saw each other briefly in the morning. I left and headed north, getting to a park near Tehama CA on the Sacramento River. There were some permanent folks at the back of the park, but only us in the campsites by the river. Sunna got to run around a lot!

I always tell folks that I avoid cities and freeways, and after driving the back roads from Sacramento, I briefly got back on I-5 heading north into Oregon. After a few miles, I knew I didn't want to stay on the freeway, so I turned off at Redding and headed west toward the Trinity Alps! That will be in the next (and final) travelogue.

[Note and apology: I get so busy when I'm visiting with friends that I forget to take photos of them. Sorry.] There will be one more travelogue, but it will probably be May before I get to it. I'm having a total knee replacement on April 10th. Wish me luck!

Ann

Mojave Narrows - by night and by day

Western Bluebird

Great old Cottonwood trees - Peek-a-boo Pelicans

View of the surrounding scenery - another sunset

Typical of desert campgrounds - not much landscaping or grass

American Coot

Loved this little guy - probably a Ladder-backed woodpecker

Red-tailed hawk

Loved the light of the setting sun - remember this was winter - early February - followed by another lovely sunset

What is Sunna looking at?

This birdhouse was in a tree next to Karleen's house in Santa Barbara. I thought other trailer owners would appreciate it!

My campsite at Carpinteria State Beach - about 12 miles south of Santa Barbara.

Piles and piles of dirt - I found out later that this was the mud that had flowed down a nearby creek and flooded roads around Carpinteria

The beach - dogs were not allowed on the beach at all, so we had to see it from the boardwalk

Picnic area - next to the parking lots full of dirt piles. Apparently it's really rich top soil so they're trying to get people to come take it for landscaping.

The worst mudslides in December 2017 were in Montecito, a mostly very upscale community. Just in case I might see something, I took a side road thru Montecito. The two photos below were taken on either side of the truck as I drove slowly through the area. Some areas were untouched, but then there was this.

This is the signature Morro Rock in Morro Bay

Cute sea otter

Morro Bay Harbor - and a beautiful sunny day!

When I looked at this selfie, I realized how shaggy my hair was -- you'll see what I did to fix that farther down :)

You can actually drive out to the Morro Rock and walk around the side

A really big flotilla of sea otters!

Looking back toward the town from "the rock"

Fisherman's Family Sculpture

Trail around the south side of the rock - into the sun

Interesting colored rocks

The end of the trail. Below, a great beach

Paddleboarder and boat in the channel

Look closely and you'll see the pears - Prickly Pear Cactus - too bad they weren't in bloom

Last view of Morro Rock

Back at the campground, this is what Sunna looks like in the morning before she "gets up". When nights are cold, I put a fuzzy blanket over her and she doesn't get up until I put my shoes and jacket on, getting ready to go outside. Below, this is her hanging out during the day.

Our campsite in the tent camping area - another sunset to admire

Here's my new "do" - shorter than usual,, but I'm getting to like it!

Love this - not bad for 7 1/2 months. Photos below are from Pinnacles National Park.

The above bird is a California Condor - a rare species that survives in only a few places. He was way high in the sky - I cropped the photo to make it larger. Do you know how hard it is to find a tiny spot in the viewfinder of a camera? I had a lot of shots of just sky... From Wikipedia: "New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. This condor became extinct in the wild in 1987 (all remaining wild individuals were captured), but the species has been reintroduced ..."

I just loved how this restroom fits into the hillside. The marker below was not at the entrance, it was in the middle of the park (which was only recently expanded from a National Monument (established in 1908) to a National Park in 2013)

I saw a lot of California Quail, but by the time I could get out my camera they were all gone, except this one little guy.

These two sculptures were in a city park we stopped at for lunch. The text on the plaques was written by local middle school kids.

Fruit trees in full bloom - north of Sacramento and south of Red Bluff.

Here's our camping spot on the Sacramento River. Even though it felt cold, the clover was feeling like spring.

Sunna unleashed - after a long day of driving.

That's Mt. Shasta in the distance. These trees aren't blooming yet, not sure what variety they are. Probably nut trees, not fruit trees.

This is called the Cone and Kimball Clock Tower and "the heart of Red Bluff". Below is a photo of its namesake building which burned down in 1984.

After going a brief distance on I-5, I decided I really didn't want to be on the freeway. See the next (and last) travelogue for what I did instead...