All posts by paula

201-Eureka, CA

We drove to the South Jetty of Humboldt Bay

We took a short drive to the end of the South Jetty which is directly west of where we’re staying on King Salmon.

It was a rough road with tons of potholes, but once we got to the end there was a jetty out into the ocean and a beach on the ocean side. Lots of wave action!

I took a video showing from looking west to the waves, north to see the north jetty and then eastward to where we are staying. You can’t really see our RV Park but you an sort of see the grassy area and hidden beach where we walk Chloe every day. Click on the picture too see the video:

While we were driving back from the jetty we stopped to watch a hang glider take off from Table Bluff. He waited to catch some wind but never got enough to be comfortable jumping off the edge. Oh well! Here’s a pic:

And, the west edge of the jetty had a nice ocean beach. Chloe enjoyed running around and I got a short video of the wave action. Click on the picture to see the video:

201-Eureka, CA

Chloe met a Seal!

Chloe and I have been walking almost every day through a field to the edge of the Humboldt Bay. Today we met a seal that was sitting on one of the rocks along the shore. Chloe didn’t know what this new creature was but she didn’t bark. She did try to get closer to it but couldn’t get over all the rocks.

The seal just looked at us. Didn’t seem to be scared.

201-Eureka, CA

We like it here in King Salmon CA

This year we are staying for a longer time on the coast of CA. We’re here in the south of Eureka in a little community called King Salmon. It has a reputation in Eureka as a “bad” part of town but we like it.

It’s a little man-made spit of land at the extreme south end of Eureka Bay with channels between several short streets so almost every home has a dock. There’s our RV Park and a trailer park on one edge and a little wooded knoll at the other end that is the tsunami evacuation route… you climb up about 30 feet onto the knoll! Hope we don’t need to use that!

The houses in this area are mostly little beach houses, with lots of personality and charm. There are a few newer houses and at least one short term rental place called Shell Cottage. The house just across the street from our RV site is owned by a man who has tons of irises in his garden. He knows a lot about them as well and showed me a new iris he just got from LA that grows in swamps and water.

We choose this RV Park because it shows a large beach grass area with trails running through it and a beach and a lot of reviews mention its a great place to let dogs off-leash. The grassy area also has a lot of little flowing plants.

Every day when we walk to the beach we see clammers digging for clams, as well as other people with their dogs. Chloe likes to run with other dogs but many of them are smaller and don’t want to run with her.

Chloe loves to run in the grassy area and on the beach! Here’s a link to a video of her doing that:

And here are some pics of the area:

View from Front door

Giant Redwoods right near our RV site!

We stayed at an RV Park near the Avenue of the Giants so we could see huge redwoods here in northern CA. Turns out there are some right at the RV Park. Also the park is right on the bank of the Eel River, so there is beauty all around. Here are a couple pictures:

200-Myers Flat, CA

Avenue of the Giants – Redwoods!

On our way to the coast of No. California, we stopped in Myers Flat, CA so we could drive through the 31-mile hiway called the Avenue of the Giants. It runs parallel to the 101, and there are several groves of ancient, giant redwoods along the way. There are several trails to go further into the grove from the road as well, but we chose to not hike any trails as we had Chloe with us and my hip and Jeff’s knee were being a pain (literally)!

So, we took the beautiful drive and stopped at some of the groves near the roadway. We had been here before so we didn’t worry about missing this beautiful area.

Here are some pics:

198-Three Rivers, CA

A drive through the back country around Three Rivers, CA

Since we couldn’t see very much of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Natl Parks, we spent one afternoon taking a drive up into the hills around Three Rivers.

We weren’t sure what we’d find, and the map showed the road as mostly dirt and in many places one lane. We mapped out a route that would take us north and then west and then meet up to a state hiway. But, when we tried to turn onto the road we had mapped, we found it blocked and marked private.

So, we continued on the road we were on. It would up into the hills and in many places the hillside was VERY steep and the road VERY narrow!

But it was beautiful! At one point we saw a truck coming the other way and they had pulled over in a wide spot so we could get by. We asked them where the road went and he said it went a few more miles but then dead-ended. He said it would be fine for a 2-wheel drive.

So, we continued on as far as we could go, then we had to turn around (interesting on a narrow dirt road with our long crew cab truck) and head back.

We saw lots of pretty flowers too! Here are some pics:

198-Three Rivers, CA

Sequoia Natl Park closed! Only part of Kings Canyon Natl Park open!

We had planned to be near the Sequoia Natl Park so we could visit it again – it’s been 10 years! But, the heavy snowfall this past winter resulted in floods which caused such severe damage to the roads that most of the two parks are closed, as shown in the map picture.

One section only was open, at Grants Grove. It was a 2 hour drive to get there but we took a day and loaded Chloe into the truck and headed out. Well worth the drive!! I wasn’t expecting to see very much snow but boy there was a LOT! The visitor center entrance had to be dug out and there was heavy snow all around us once we got into the park.

It was cold too, so thank goodness we had prepared for that with our heavier coats! We walked through the short loop to see the General Grant tree that is the third largest tree in the world based on volume, as well as the Fallen Goliath,, a Sequoia that had fallen in the distant past and could be walked through. Two brothers who lived and worked in the area in the early days actually lived inside the tree!

Chloe enjoyed what we think was her first time in the snow. She climbed right up on a snowbank and sniffed around.

We took a different route home that was on a narrow dirt road for several miles. We passed only one vehicle and luckily it was a wide spot in the road or one of us would have had to back up to a wide spot!

Here are pics:

199-Pleasanton, CA

The RV Park we stayed at in Pleasanton, CA while visiting friends

We’re in Pleasanton, CA in the SF Bay area to visit friends. While here we are staying at the Alameda County Fairground RV Park. It’s handy and quiet but very tight!

Here’s a picture of our site while Jeff is grilling us some dinner. You can see the back end of our truck in the foreground. You can also see our neighbor’s car. If Jeff backs up a few steps from where our table and grill are, he’s in the nieghbor’s site! Yipes!

Here’s the pic:

197-Yuma, AZ

Yuma for the winter of 2022-2023

For the second year we are spending the winter in Yuma AZ. We have a membership in a Campground “timeshare” so it’s inexpensive and we really like the RV Park.

Even though its in the middle of the desert, there’s a lake at the park. Here’s a picture:

194-Comfort, TX

Cascade Caverns

Cascade Caverns is just a few miles from the Cave without a Name.  It’s also privately owned and operated.  The Cascade Caverns is at the low point in a series of rolling hills, so every time it rains hard the caverns flood.  We visited a few years ago but couldn’t visit the Cascade Caverns because it had been raining and was flooded.

The owners built a dam and some retaining walls around the entrance to try and minimize the flooding, but water gets in from other cracks and openings.

The Cascade Caverns are similar in size and types of formations to the Cave without a Name.  One unique feature, however, is that at the lowest point on the tour there is a pond with a sinkhole to a lower cavern that is mostly underwater.  There is a tour down into the lower cavern but we didn’t take it (would have freaked me out totally with my claustrophobia and fear of water).

It was discovered when a farmer’s cow disappeared.  People were helping to look for it and they found the poor thing about 30 feet down a big hole.  The cow was killed by the fall.  But, they discovered the caverns at that time and the owner started exploring it.

There is a primitive campground on the property and while on the tour the guide explained that the campground was actually right above the part of the cavern we were standing in! 

Here are some pictures: