Californ-I-A

Stopped off at a roadside 30's style curio shop

I am finally in the mystical lands of California. I've had mixed feelings about getting here. While I was travelling through Central America, I found California Americans were among my least favourite people. I can't remember exactly why now, but the accent was definitely part of it. So far, no problems. The Californians actually in California don't seem so bad, but we haven't hit the cities yet. There is still time to hate...

We had a bit of a scare just after my last entry. As I was typing it, we could smell gas in the cabin. We kept thinking someone around us must have a leak. And yes, the spoiler, it was us. We finally located the problem to the fuel line leading to the generator. The end of the pipe attached to the generator was split, and we were pretty sure this was the culprit. Being a little nervous of fuel lines etc, we stopped in at a Cummins warehouse we happened upon and got their advice. They looked at it for free, which was awesome. They confirmed our diagnosis and said it was a problem we could easily do ourselves, which we did! We got a bucket, pliers, scissors and all sorts of fun tools and just snipped the end off and reattached. We were rather proud of ourselves, we seem to be learning fast!

Before making into CA, we travelled through Southern Oregon on the 101. This road takes you don't the coast and through the redwoods. It also takes you round some hair-raising bends and learned that "winding road ahead" means half an hour of beautiful hell. For the passenger, the ride is beautiful. For the driver, deodorant and someone to mop your forehead are a necessity. A quick check in your pants every now and again is warranted as well.

We were prepared for these kinds of roads though. The road around Crater Lake felt like it was designed for roller coasters. Just before we left Oregon, we stayed in another place in the passover town of O'Brien. We were going to stay in a place called Cave Junction, but upon arrival at the campsite, we decided to move along and see if we could find anywhere better. Neither of us got a good feeling from it, and the police car behind us patrolling the area wasn't necessarily comforting. When we arrived at a much more friendly place, they looked at our rig and told us it was probably small enough to make it up the hairpin bends towards the Oregon Caves National Monument. But we were told we could check our own tail-lights on the way round

the corners. It was pretty damn bendy, but it was completely worth it. We went in the cave on a guided tour, unusual for us as it costed $8.50 each. It was our guide's last day and last tour, and he was brilliant. Funny in an understated way and dealt with the guys who thought they were funny really well. The cave itself was fascinating - lots of bending and contorting around rocks. The lodge, which is a functioning hotel right outside the cave, had been decorated in tree bark and was impressive in itself. It helped that it was a rainy day and we weren't missing out on any sunny fun.

Then we were on our way to California. We saw a hitchhiker, and decided to pick him up. I wanted to get a picture of a funny sign anyway, so we pulled over and waited (pulling over a 30ft RV isn't something you can do anywhere!). He turned out to be a treehugger called Spirit. He was a cool guy on his way to Humboldt County to get some 'gardening work,' which is prolific in the area. He told us about the roads we were to
 encounter, and shared the ride through some of them with us. We came upon an accident on one of these bends. We were some of the first on the scene and were told what had happened. Trucks often cut corners off when going around these sharp bends, and a car had been coming the other way. The car got stuck under the truck's back wheels as they came at the bend from opposite directions. The guy was fine, but considering the drop that could easily have swallowed them both, they were both counting their lucky stars.

We finally got to the campsite we had chosen when they told us it was $35. This is for dry camping in the redwoods, no hookups, just a spot to park in. Fuck that. We went down the road about 15 minutes and found another little campground, completely empty (bar the camp host) for $15. We were going to do a bit of hiking, but didn't want to pay $35 for the privilege. So we made do with a walk to a nearby lake. We got the camera ready and bam! I'm not sure what the lake was called, but I dub it Lake Disappointment. There was some facility doing scientific testing, and they were taking up the only spot there was to sit. This spot was a concrete 'boat launch' amongst mud and reeds. I wish we had taken a picture, but we were so underwhelmed we just sort of, turned around and walked back. Our campsite was far more picturesque, so we just walked around that instead.

Our next port of call was to be a Walmart in a place called Eureka for a night of free camping. Of course nothing is ever that simple. That Walmart was one of the few that don't allow overnight parking because they rented the land. After much stress and umming and aahhhing, we settled on parking up in an industrial part of the town. We went out on the town and had some amazing beer from Lost Coast Brewery. My favourite was the tangerine beer, Dave's was the watermelon. Both tasted surprisingly of their namesake, which I find is rare. We went back to the RV and covered all the windows in stealth style. We were parked up next to an old railroad and a seafood factory, and were left alone the whole night. We were as clandestine as someone can be with a 30ft RV - sort of like that nimble fat guy you see from time to time weaving down the aisles of the supermarket. The experience was a lot of fun, and now we've done it once, we are a bit more confident about getting in some free roadside parking.

We headed out bright and early the next day towards the coast. We were paying a bit more for this campsite, but it was right on the beach, so we thought we'd treat ourselves. It was meant to take 3 hours. It took 5. The first half was relatively fine, mainly straight roads, dual carriageways. My hip started to ache after 3 hours, so Dave took over. The the fun began. It almost felt like the road had a vendetta. It curved and winded relentlessly. The problem with windy, hilly roads in an RV is you have to pull over to let faster vehicles pass. If you have more than 5 cars behind you and you drive past a safe pull-in, you can get a ticket. Of course stopping and starting in a vehicle this big and heavy takes it toll on everything, including the driver. This was a busy road, with 1 motorhome for every 4 cars. It would be a great road to drive in a car, if it weren't for the motorhomes. We blazed petrol, the transmission, the tracking, not to mention the
organisation in the cupboards and our good moods. But we got there, with the tail-end of our good moods still intact. But as with every trip we have made to the seaside on this trip, it was raining. We were told it was the first rain they'd had in ages - the weather had been glorious until about 2 hours before our arrival. So, we did the British thing and took a can of beer and a waterproof mat and sat on the beach.

Luckily the next day was beautiful. A storm was scheduled, but it went right past us. The coastline was akin to Cornwall. Tall, imposing bluffs and dramatic outcrops of rocks. We walked along the bluff to a lighthouse, which was surprisingly bustling with tourists. We didn't go in (you had to pay) but appreciated its epic location. We sat and watched a squirrel for quite some time - it was a California ground squirrel. The only reason I looked this up was because it was burrowing, and I've never seen a burrowing squirrel before, but low and behold, they exist. On our little walk we also saw 2 deer, a heron and multiple birds of prey!

The campsite itself was over-priced. We were crammed in with the least amount of space we've had since the trip began. We have decided to stay away from pricey places - our favourite campsites so far have been the cheapest ones. Mo money, mo problems! However, we had been on the beach since the afternoon of our last day, and decided we would have a fire and have dinner on the beach - hotdogs and left over mac n
cheese. We saw a pretty immense sunset and got the beach all to ourselves. It was a picture perfect moment.

We are now on our way to see Dave's uncle. We are camped out in a casino RV park, nice and cheap. We took a quick walk yesterday to get a feel for our surroundings. This is an Indian Reservation, and we wandered into territory we weren't welcome in. Someone came over and told us this as nicely as someone can that people in the area wouldn't appreciate our presence and to be careful. It made us feel awkward all over and we hastily made our way back to the park. We were stopped by one local native american, drunk off his box, asking if we'd seen a red car.

We decided to ease our adrenaline in the casino. I had to get someone to explain how to use the bastard slot machines. We got $20 free to gamble with as it was my birthday month. I won $33.43!!! I still have $10 left to gamble with, and I still only have a rudimentary understanding of exactly what it is I'm doing. But eh, I'm not gambling with my own money, and I'm hanging on to the money I won - I will not spend it on their beer or food, which is what most of the sorry looking cases in the casino seem to be doing.

I forgot to mention in my past blogs that we were pulled over by the police fairly early on in the trip. He just wanted to check that we weren't tired as we had done something wrong (neither of us can figure out what he said to this day). Having never been pulled over by the police, I must have looked like a wanted fugitive. I got all flustered, and I don't know why. They make me feel like I did when I was a kid and my mum used my full name. You know you've done something wrong, you just need to figure out what is was before they asked. But the copper was nice enough and let us on our way.

And the adventure continues - still not sure where we're going next, we just know we need to be at Dave's uncle's by Wednesday. Don't you just hate deadlines?