OurTravels

We drove the 50 or so miles from the Williamson River to the National Park on Monday morning.    Driving thru Fort Klamath it was clear to see what’s happening in small town America.   Every business was defunct.  Some places were boarded up, others just look like they closed the door, locked it and walked away never to come back.    A sad state of affairs.

We entered the park,  one of the $25 per car National Parks.  Thankfully we remembered to bring our National Park pass!   That thing has saved us around $400 since we bought it at Montezuma Castle last spring!

It was around 50 miles from our campsite to the visitor center in the park and it rained a little along the way up the mountainside.   There were a few overlooks along the highway thru the park, one of them with a great view of the volcano Mt. McLoughlin in the distance.   I was thinking it might have been named for a relative of a gentleman I worked with at Sony;  but when I checked the spelling of his last name, I realized his used an “a” instead of an “o”.   So probably not named for a long-lost relative of Bob’s.

A ways further was an overlook of a river falls and rapids but you couldn’t really tell there was a river down there.  It looked like all trees and maybe some water.

Further up the road we found the lodge and lake.   We headed over to the rim and a stiff wind was blowing and the sun went behind the clouds as we got there.   It was the middle of June and it felt like it was 30 degrees out there with me in my jeans and long sleeve tee shirt…  I was not really dressed for the occasion.   I was not seeing the bright blue water I had read about, so I was a bit disappointed at first.   I found a small bank of snow and Dusty got his first experience walking on snow!!   It didn’t appear that he liked it, but he didn’t say anything.

Kathy popped her head into the Lodge to check it out, and then we headed further north on the roadway around the crater.   At the next overview, the sun came out and the lake turned the glorious bright blue I had always read about.  The little island in the lake is called Wizard Island.  The water was flurescent blue and purple near the shore of the island.   But that wind didn’t go away, so it was still pretty cold.  I think the signs mentioned we were around 8,000 feet up,  so that’s why, and there was beginning to be quite a bit more snow.   There were even kids sledding on a large patch of snow off to the side of the road.  It went for a good 400-500 feet before it ended, so they were getting a pretty good ride for the middle of June.

We ate lunch in the car at one of the overlooks of the lake, and after a while decided to head back instead of continue all the way around the lake.   We wanted an early start in the morning, so we needed to get the coach ready for the next day’s drive to Coos Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are camped just north of Klamath Lake right on the Williamson River.  The view out the coach is gorgeous,  as you could see if you checked out our webcam while we were there!  We arrived here late afternoon on Friday, registered and pulled into our spot right on the riverfront.   The spaces are kind of tight in this row of the campground.   I had to do some tree trimming as a pine tree on our right was touching the top of the front slide out and the following night (Sat) the weather apps said there would be a thunderstorm, which usually includes lots of wind.

There was a small highway about 800 feet to our west, but the prevailing winds must have carried the sound away from us as I could see vehicles go by but really had to listen to hear them.    After we got settled, all I wanted was to sit outside looking at the river with a Bourbon and 7 in hand, but we forgot to pack the 7up.   We were dead tired from the 7-hour drive from San Francisco and hit the sack pretty early.   Kathy’s phone rang a few minutes after my head hit the pillow and she jumped up and ran for the living room.  I don’t think I ever saw her move that fast.

I slept the sleep of the dead that night, although Kathy said she woke me up at some point after hearing a sound.  I think she must have been dreaming it, as I don’t remember getting woken up at all.

Saturday morning we headed over to Klamath Falls with the intention of finding the falls.    After a while of driving in circles, we determined there are no falls in Klamath Falls…   They need to rename the town to “Klamath Sans Falls”  I read it’s the town joke,  everyone asks where are the falls..

It’s a small town with lots of 20 MPH streets.   I can’t remember ever seeing folks driving that slow before.   Not even in Sun City where the blue hairs are driving pretty slow, but not that slow.

We saw a farmer’s market and stopped, but it was like every other small town market we have been to lately.   One stall selling produce and all the others selling art, knickknacks, honey or soap.   And of course the produce stall was sold out when we got there.

After that we took a drive around the other side of the lake.  It’s pretty large and took a long time to get around it.   The most amazing thing is there are almost no homes visible around the lake.  If it were in SoCal, that is all you would see around it.   Plus on a Saturday afternoon, there were only three sailboats on the lake.   There would have been hundreds of boats anywhere else.

Saturday evening brought thunder and lightning and of course the rain came too.   I was glad I had cut back some of the tree branches that were hanging over the coach as they would have been making a loud racket by then.    On Sunday and Monday it rained on and off for some of the day.   We ended up doing laundry and grocery shopping.   We also had to move the coach over two spaces for the next two days of being there.  It’s funny how some of these smaller campgrounds using computer systems for booking don’t seem to be able to move things around once they are in the system.    I really shouldn’t have needed to move, but the folks running the joint had no idea how to move the folks coming in Sunday afternoon to the spot they were having me move to.   Apparently they think that once they enter a customer into a spot  in the program, they can’t be moved.

We hiked over and took the 10:10 ferry into the city.   The weather has been spectacular this week and appears that it will be the same till we head out early Friday morning for the long drive to Klamath Lake.   We got off the ferry and contemplated hoping on the Muni or walking to Pier 33.  I checked it out via google maps and it was only a 20 minute walk, so we did that.   It looks like the ferry landing is Pier 0,  and a lot of piers in between 1 and 33 are missing.

We got there about an hour prior to departure, so we  purchased some snacks and had lunch on the tables they have arranged by the boarding ramp.    The boat was a bit late arriving for our boarding, but we made it to Alcatraz just a few minutes late.   They must have been using cattle prods to get the masses loaded so fast.

I had never been to Alcatraz before, even being in San Francisco many times before.   I never remembered to book a tour in advance, and when I tried they were always full.

The island looked pretty worse for wear from the 5,000 folks visiting it every day and apparently not much maintenance happening.   Lots of areas are blocked off as unsafe.   After following the people ahead of us, making a wrong turn and going up a hill and down the other side only to find a dead end, I decided to look at the map for myself.

We then proceeded to hike back down to the path that leads to the cell block.   Thankfully it wasn’t very warm as the hills are steep to get up to the top of the rock where the cell block is located.   We each received an audio machine with headphones and proceeds to walk the cells while listening to an old guard narrate what we were seeing.   The most creepy part was the solitary confinement cells.  (the hole) They were pitch black inside.

The narration went over the Battle of Alcatraz, where back in the 40’s, inmates got ahold of guns and took a bunch of guards hostage.   The warden called in the marines.   They pointed out the pock marks in the floor from exploding grenades the marines dropped in from holes in the roof.    They pointed out the cells where the escapees were housed, and also showed you the crawlspace they went up to get to the roof.   It was pretty impressive they could have done that.

Did I mention the cells were extremely small, 5′ wide and 9′ long, they looked about 7′ tall or a bit shorter.    Although the cells in the incorrigible cell block (D) were a bit larger than the others.    I really think they needed to put in a bird cage into the bird man’s cell.    Seems they need a bit of marketing help.

We went outside into the yard and they had an awesome view of the city from there.

The island has a lot of flowering plants and they were all blooming while we were there.   That was pretty nice.

 

 

We wanted to drive down to Half Moon Bay to visit the Pillar Point RV Park we heard about while stopped in Bakersfield.  I google-mapped it and we took the 101 south to Hwy 1 and headed down the coast.   We found the park and drove in to check it out.   Very nice little spot on the ocean in HMB.   Turns out it was a first-come first-served kind of place.  The camp host mentioned they posted info on their website and that the best day to arrive was on Sunday mornings.

After grabbing a brochure, we headed back north a bit so I could find Mavericks Beach.  I had heard about the famous surfing spot years ago and wanted to check it out.   I was guessing we wouldn’t be able to see the surfers as the spot where they surf is over a mile off the beach.   It was not an easy place to find.   No signs, just a bunch of short little streets in what looked like an old industrial area.

We finally found the right road and drove out to the Air Force station.  Just before the signs saying we could go no further, there was a small dirt parking lot to the left.   We backed up and parked in there.

There was a wide dirt path at the back of the lot that went out between a tall bluff and an inlet.   We hiked out there and around the bluff out to the beach side.   On the way out, we spotted this really cool bench and had to snap a few pics.   It was a beautiful day,  probably 80 degrees and a nice breeze.   Snapped some pics and headed back where we got to watch a seal or otter play just a bit off shore of the inlet, within 50 feet of some boys that had no idea he was there.  They were preoccupied with a crab or something in the rocks by the shoreline.

 

 

 

We got back to the car and proceeded to head back north on Highway 1 to look for another RV campground I had seen online.   We found that one.   It was not as nice as the other park, and was high up on a cliff.   One thing that caught our attention was all the sites along the cliff were chain link fenced off.   It appears they are falling into the ocean.   The other sites at that campground were awful… scratch that place.

Once out of there I headed for Skyline Drive as it kept us by the ocean on the way north after Hwy 1 headed inland.  It skirts the beach in areas and goes by the SF zoo.   I didn’t know there was another Ocean Beach up here,  didn’t appear as cool as the one in San Diego though.   Kathy got to see the Cliff House, and we stopped at Lands End and I took a few photos of the old Sutro Baths.   And then we headed out to find the Lands End Labyrinth just past the Legion of Honor memorial park.   Gorgeous vistas abound.

 

Down the hill we went to spy on China Beach.  After driving around in circles for a bit, we finally found the correct turn.   The houses over there were spectacular,  must be the really rich end of San Francisco.  Turns out it was a long way down to the beach from where we parked. We got about a third of the way down when we spotted the “No pet” signs.    Bummer.   [It was a really steep hill, so I was happy we couldn’t go down!]

We climbed back out and started looking for a way to the Golden Gate Bridge and back to the RV.    It’s just so different on the west end of SF,  you wouldn’t know you are in a city.   The whole Presidio Park area is breathtaking with all its views.

 

 

Next time we come back, we will spend a lot more time out there.