South Lake Tahoe CA to HOME ! - Day 16

Friday July 3rd – Day 16

South Lake Tahoe to HOME!

Towing Miles: 494

We hitched our wagons and hit the road at about 7:45am. After a quick stop for gas we were heading west on highway 50 and rolling down the mountain. We have decided to make one sightseeing stop along the way this morning as it is right in our path.

Our first destination is the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. You may know of it as Sutter’s Mill. This is the place where gold was first discovered in January of 1848 by John Marshall at the site of a new sawmill owned by Mr. Sutter. This discovery made California immediately world famous and sparked what is said to be the largest human migration in history. Because Kristen, Kayla and Mariah have all recently completed 4th grade where California history is intensely studied, it was a great opportunity for them to see the actual place they have been reading about.

After spending about 1.5 hours visiting the park we hit the road and put down some serious miles as we have a total of 494 to drive for home today. We were soon on the 5 freeway in Sacramento and rolling as fast as we wanted to go. Thankfully the whole day was like this and we made excellent time and never hit any traffic the whole way home. What are the odds of that in California!

We stopped for lunch and gas in Lost Hills California and good grief was it hot there! After getting gas the thermometer in my truck read 121 degrees! It did drop to a balmy 109 after we started rolling again though.

Nothing much happened after this. It was just lots of windshield time as we passed farm after farm after farm. We got home at 8:45pm, parked the camper beside the house, and joyfully rediscovered the home we had left so long ago.

Despite all of the beautiful things we have seen and done, It really is true…There’s no place like home.

South Lake Tahoe CA - Day 15

Thursday July 2nd – Day 15

Got up this morning and went to the big craft show being held by the local Kiwanis Club. They set up what looked like a big swap meet in the parking lot of the main intersection down the street from our camp. There were lots of booths with artists of various types selling paintings, sculptures, jewelry, music, etc… We spent the morning there enjoying the offerings and picking up a few trinkets.

Afterwards we decided to spend our last day here on the beach again, so we packed up the Suburban and dropped all of our troops off down at the marina. It was cloudy and we could see what looked to be a thunderstorm across the lake from us. However it was sunny at our beach and we were undeterred. We were going to have as much fun as possible!

The girls quickly talked me into renting them a paddle boat and they were soon on their way paddling around the marina and beach area. Kelly only rode for about one lap until she decided to jump ship and play on the beach with her campground friends who were also there.

Everybody was having another great day on the beach. And then…the rain came. It started out as a little sprinkle that seemed to be a quickly passing encounter. Then the skies opened up and soon everyone on the beach was screaming and grabbing their stuff to run for cover.

Kristen, Kayla and Mariah were still happily peddling the paddle boat down the lake as the rain poured in buckets atop them. I had to laugh as they seemed to be enjoying the ride even more. They just kept on going! Patty ran down the beach to get them out of the water and bring the boat back while Jack and I grabbed the towels and ran for cover.

We all huddled up in the dry spot at the marina store where there is a large covered area. Despite a couple of breaks in the raining action, it never seemed to let up so we sadly called it a day and headed back to camp. We cleaned up and watched a movie in the camper to pass the time and the sun was soon out again.

It was now later in the afternoon of our last day so we started packing and getting ready for the long road trip in the morning. Believe it or not it takes a long time to deflate all of those rafts as I had to sit on, fold, sit on and fold again to get all the air out to pack them. There is just no dignified way to do it.

We had a fairly early dinner in our campsite, but all the kids just didn’t want to eat what we were offering. So we did something we have never done while camping before. Ordered pizza! The folks at Round Table Pizza were well familiar with our campground and quickly delivered a large cheese right to our campsite! We had to take a picture and the kid was happy to oblige.

After dinner we had one last campfire and reflected on the end of our summer trip. It has been another fantastic journey and talk about next year has already begun. We are so blessed to be able to take this type of trip, and no one seems to take this special time for

granted.

South Lake Tahoe CA - Day 14

Wednesday July 1st – Day 14

After breakfast we took a drive to see the famed Emerald Cove section of the lake. This is the most photographed area here and you’ve probably seen it on postcards or otherwise. It’s a beautiful cove that has a little island in the middle. We spent about an hour at the Inspiration Point Overlook that is the best spot for viewing the cove. There are also several kiosks with interesting info about the area, and two large telescopes to take a better look.

After our visit to this “must see” place it was back to camp to pack up all our gear for spending a day at the Camp Richardson beach. The beach is just across the road from us but is still a long walk when you’re carrying an ice chest, rafts, badminton set, backpacks, etc…

So we loaded up everybody (8 people) and everything and headed for the beach parking lot to unload. I took a picture of my Suburban with the rafts sticking out the back window because it reminded me of the old “woodie” wagons that always had the surfboards out the back too. There are still two more rafts inside the truck that you can’t see in the picture.

We had a great day at the beach as would be expected doing all the usual stuff and just having a nice relaxing day. The fresh air and water had a great affect on Martha who is feeling better now. An added bonus was that the beach side restaurant (The Beacon) had a really good live band playing music on the patio all day long, so we got to enjoy the rockin’ old tunes they were playing all day long.

After coming back to camp from the beach we had a dinner that we really enjoyed and haven’t done since our first stop at Sequoia. We built a campfire and roasted hot dogs and chili with cheese. Everybody was starving so it was that much better.

The adults kept the fire burning late into the night and enjoyed the glow of a warm fire, and that intangible good feeling you get by enjoying it and the cool night breeze lightly scented by surrounding pines.

As our fire dwindled down to glowing embers we were interrupted by the sound of the trashcan 5’ away from us being jostled. We looked over and straight into the face of a big fat raccoon! He looked at us as if to say “It’s cool, Don’t mind me!” I scared him off and immediately emptied the trash into the dumpster as I usually do before going to bed.

As I sat by the fire for a few final minutes, here he came again! This raccoon was determined to get into the trash. This time I just sat there because I knew the trash was empty and was enjoying his presence. After a quick sniff of the trash he knew the good stuff was gone so he climbed up onto the picnic table and took the last hotdog bun we forget to pack. I was able to snag a couple pictures of him eating before he finally disappeared into the darkness.

It was a funny ending to another enjoyable day.

South Lake Tahoe CA - Day 13

Tuesday June 30th – Day 13

Everybody slept in really late today and was in no hurry to go anywhere. We ate what ended up to be brunch by the time we finally stumbled out of the trailer and were soon greeted by a band of marauding squirrels.

These little guys were obviously pros at working the campground for food and had little or no fear of us at all. While we sat 20’ away at the picnic table in our campsite they proceeded to make their move on the trash can we had just set outside moments earlier. This campground is in bear country so we have to bring in the trash can at night. While we watched them, one squirrel walked right up the stairs of our camper and dove into the trash. Kelly walked over to have a look at him and he jumped out at the same moment causing her to scream and run away. I luckily caught the whole incident on video and we watched it over and over for more laughs.

Martha is not feeling well today so after brunch she stayed in the camper to rest.

The rest of us went on a bike ride on the excellent path they have paved around the lake and ended up at the Taylor Creek Visitor’s Center. There were several nice rangers there that gave us ideas of what to do and see, and pointed us on the hike we took through Taylor Creek and the surrounding meadows and wetlands. There was a really cool fish viewing area along the creek where they have built a viewing aquarium of sorts. They essentially dug out a large underground area along the creek and installed a wall of glass windows that let you view the rainbow trout. Everybody enjoyed seeing the fish and the wildlife exhibit therein.

We later took a bike ride down to the lake and discovered that Camp Richardson has an excellent sandy beach for swimming and that the Lake Tahoe water was surprisingly warm. We plan to come back with all of our gear tomorrow for a beach day.

On the way biking back to camp we stopped in at the ice cream fountain located right outside of our campground and had a cool treat before calling it a day. After dinner in camp we went into town for a few supplies and then came back for a late snack of warm peach pie and ice cream. We have had our share of snacks today!

Gold Beach to South Lake Tahoe - Day 12

Monday June 29th – Day 12

Gold Beach Oregon to South Lake Tahoe CA

Towing Miles: 560

Because we were all so well prepared the night before, we were ready to leave at 6am for the long travel day today. Unfortunately the electrical gremlin in Jack’s trailer decided it was time to make another appearance this morning when he tried to retract the slide-out on his trailer. It blew a fuse immediately. He tried to put three other fuses in the panel and they all blew out immediately. With the slide in the out position he is not able the tow. Not good news as all the kids are loaded up and ready to go.

To get out of camp quickly Jack & I took the front panel off of his couch so we could access the slide motor and retract the slide manually with a ratchet. After about 10 minutes of cranking on it we finally got the slide in and hit the road at 6:30.

After about 3 hours of driving, our route to get back to the 5 freeway took us down and out of Oregon and back in again. Our trip today took us through the Medford area of Oregon which is close to a place we have wanted to visit, the House of Mystery at the Oregon Vortex, so we made a quick stop to take the tour. There are funny optical illusions that occur here along with other phenomenon.

After about an hour we were back on the road and put down some serious mileage once we hit the 5 freeway and could move faster. There were some beautiful views of Mount Shasta, and Lake Shasta along the way. We got to Camp Richardson in Tahoe at 8:30pm and were settled in with full RV hook-ups by 9pm. Phew! Good night.

Gold Beach Oregon - Day 11

Sunday June 28th – Day 11

We missed out on the church service at Sequoia last Sunday because it was getaway day, but we were pleased to find out that there is a Calvary Chapel right here in Gold Beach. So just like being at home, only this home has wheels, we loaded up and went to church this morning.

It was fun to meet the Pastor (Mike Quesada) and find out that he used to live in Downey and also went to our church. What a small world! CCGB is a small church set up in an old warehouse by the small airstrip in “downtown” Gold Beach. Although a humble looking facility from the outside, they have done a great job building a nice church within. We enjoyed the message and casual atmosphere, and also being able to take the coffee they offered into the service. They were a truly nice bunch of people and we enjoyed our visit with them.

After church we changed clothes and went to visit the tide pools at Meyers Creek Beach, about 7 miles south of us. We missed the low tide by about 90 minutes but there was still a lot to see in the pools. It was another stunningly beautiful place to visit, and there was almost nobody there. However, the wind was blowing very hard and it was actually difficult to walk into the wind as it would blow you over if you weren’t leaning forward!

This is our last day here and preparations need to be made for our departure, so after visiting the beach for about two hours we came back to camp. The girls just played around the campground, the grown-ups had a quick nap, and then we made an early dinner. After dinner it was all hands on deck packing to leave. Martha and Patty prepared the inside of the campers. Jack and I packed up the outside. We’re all going to bed early and will try and depart here at about 6am as we have a very long towing day tomorrow. Next stop, South Lake Tahoe.

Gold Beach Oregon - Day 10

Saturday June 27th – Day 10

Got up early for our 8am departure from the Port of Gold Beach. We are riding with Jerry’s Jet Boats for a 104 mile tour that will take us far upstream on the Rogue River. Everybody was excited as we loaded onto the specially made jet boat to begin our journey.

Our tour took us far into an otherwise inaccessible area of wilderness where there are no roads, and only limited permits to even be boating on the river. To say the scenery was stunning could not do it justice.

We saw several Bald Eagles, many sitting on or near their nest, otter, deer, and many Osprey. A funny story about this one Osprey, we saw it flapping around in the river and stopped to take a look to see what it was doing. Upon approaching, we could see that it was doing the breaststroke with it’s wings! It kept flapping away until it finally reached shore…dragging a huge steelhead! The Osprey had apparently caught more than it could carry and had to swim for shore. It was quite a sight!

The jet boat tour continued past the scenic portion of the river and into the upper whitewater and rapids which was a blast. The pilot actually spun the boat around 360 degrees and gave everybody a great thrill. He did this over a dozen times throughout the day. The boat was amazing and able to run in as little as 6” of water so we could go just about anywhere. It was hard to wipe the smiles off of our faces as we left the dock. This is a trip we would highly recommend to anyone coming through this area. A must do.

Our jet boat tour lasted from 8am to 4pm so we were all hot and tired as we headed back through town for camp. A stop at the local Dairy Queen was most popular with our weary troops. As is our M.O. now, we had a late dinner made by Martha. She whipped up some delicious adobo & rice that was excellent.

We’re all tired and going to watch a movie in bed now. Day 10 completed.

Gold Beach Oregon - Day 9

Friday June 26th – Day 9

Had a nice day today just checking out the town of Gold Beach. Our first stop was at the Gold Beach Museum. They had a nice and comprehensive display showing the history of this area that dated back to the ice ages and came forward to present. It was interesting to see and learn about just how much gold came out of these local mountains and was processed right here in Gold Beach giving the town its namesake.

After our museum trip we stopped in at Jerry’s Jet Boat Tours and booked all of our gang on the 104 mile round trip whitewater trip for tomorrow morning. The river boats in this area began out of necessity to bring mail and supplies to the towns that are upstream and were only reachable by the Rogue River. In 1958 this guy named Jerry decided to make the Rogue River trip a tourist opportunity. 51 years later his grandchildren are running the business so they must be doing something right. Everybody in town raves about this trip so we are excited to shove off tomorrow morning. More about that tomorrow.

We finished up our trip into town with lunch at a nice little local place called The Porthole, visited the fish market to pick up some local caught Chinook Salmon to grill for dinner, and then went back to camp.

Our campground, Turtle Rock RV Resort is located right where Hunter Creek empties into the ocean. There is a large rock formation right out front (see picture) that with a little imagination looks like a turtle and is where this area gets its name.

The scenery is rugged and beautiful with tall pine trees providing a green backdrop to the beach below. The sandy beaches are littered with driftwood that washes out of the local rivers and eventually ends up on the Oregon beaches. Mammoth 50’ tall rocks stand alone on and around the shoreline as if standing guard of the Oregon coast.

We spent the rest of our day beachcombing and strolling along Hunter Creek looking for Agate, and any other interesting looking rocks. The kids just never seem to lose interest with this activity. They could (and did) walk up and down the beach and river all day long.

Naturally if there is any living thing to be found in the area Kelly will find it. Today was no exception as Kelly made fast friends with several water faring salamanders. (see picture).

We ended the day with a most excellent dinner of grilled Salmon that we bought in town, and a large pan of sautéed shrimp that Jack performed his mastery on. That guy can cook! As I type this entry there is a peach cobbler baking for dessert in our RV oven. I’m going to post this entry and get back to it ASAP before it’s all gone!

Bye!.......Jim