Fabulous in Folsom

Shug's motto

 

Biggie in the hood.

 Reaching Folsom in the early evening, we  like the city immediately. Big trees and luxurious foliage line the streets which actually have bike paths. We feel a good vibe as we approach our friends' house. Eileen and Jackie, friends from Colorado Springs, moved to Folsom a couple of years ago. Biggie Moms rolls into the neighborhood and lays claim to a spot Eileen has measured out in front of their house. We trim a few branches and Biggie Moms looks happy. Jackie and Eileen have a wonderful house, warm and roomy, infused with natural light and a spacious fenced yard for Ms Shug. During our several days' stay we share meals and conversation,  and take guided-tours of the old downtown and other local highlights. We swim in the pool and fall in love with Jackie's outdoor shower. Jackie and Eileen pamper Shug and treat her like their own. She's still talking about how much she loved it when Eileen hand-fed her watermelon and Jackie greeted her in the morning like she's a real person (which, of course, she is). 

Eileen feeding Shug watermelon



Great bike paths in Folsom

Luckily, Eileen is an able handy woman and she helps us install our replacement steps. After a successful step installation, we celebrate with a nice bike ride around Natoma Lake. Folsom has an old downtown and great bike paths winding through the city for walking and bike riding. The trails hug the shore of the American River and Notoma Lake so people are out and about biking, running, and rowing. Next time we will take advantage of the all bike path-route to Sacramento and the easy access kayaking.

Jackie and Eileen

Annette, Eileen and Kristy

    

Kristy, Annette and Shug above the American River

Delta Blues and San Francisco Highs

On the trolley with Petey and Mary, San Fran

Traveling has its off days. Staying at the RV park on Bethel Island wasn’t a bad experience, but we didn’t love it the way we love some places. OK, we barely liked it. They do have good showers. To a large part, we blame our malaise on the bridge incident--lamenting the scrape on Biggie Moms, and the hassle of ordering and replacing the steps. But there is also something about the energy of the place that feels closed in. Realistically, on the road or off, one is going to experience the ebbs and flows of life. One of the good things about being in a trailer is we can hitch up and move on.



Annette, Kristy, Shug: San Fran

Of course, the week gives gifts as well as woes. We love our long walks at the regional parks where a breeze born over the ocean blows a delightful coolness into the mornings. Our day-trip into San Francisco to meet friends is joyful from beginning to end. Driving into the city across the Bay Bridge and seeing the architectural beauty amazes us with what humans create. Spending time with Petey, Mary, and Bret reminds us why it’s worth the effort to connect with people we love. And who doesn’t like knocking around San Fran? First, we explore Castro Street neighborhood holding hands on the rainbow crosswalks and grabbing a quick bite at Harvey's.  We hop on the F line and rattle down the street car tracks while taking in the views of Market Street with Petey playing tour-guide. Sea lions at the wharf sunning their glossy bodies and throwing themselves on top of each other while jockeying for better wharf position entertain us. For a grand finale, Petey treats us to an Uber tour that culminates with a lurching trip down the tight curves of Lombard Street and then delivers us safely back to the Castro neighborhood. Truth be told, our day in San Francisco is not Shug’s favorite day. We rescue her from her truck guarding duties and take her on a long, wind-swept walk to a hilltop park with amazing views. Shug forgives all and gazes into the distance where San Francisco's beauty and bustle spill down the hillsides into the bay.

Bethel Island with Petey and Mary

The next day, Mary, and Petey visit Bethel Island to try out trailer life. Kristy bakes black bean burgers and we sit outside sipping beers, eating, and reminiscing about their 30 year friendship and how life changes and changes us. Together, we walk the sloughs along the river and enjoy talking about future reunion plans.

After Mary and Petey return to San Francisco, we start planning our escape route from the Delta. Choosing routes in unknown places presents challenges with a big RV. All anecdotal advice has to be taken with a grain of salt. Maps provide some information as does the DOT website, but it’s still a crap shoot. We pick a route, Hwy 160, and head out on a narrow, traffic-filled road along the river. Several draw bridges--called that because we draw our breath in and hold it as we drive Biggie Moms across--switch from east bank to west bank, from west bank to east bank, etc.  A quick stop in Walnut Grove to take Shug for a walk and buy a flat of fresh-picked cherries at a roadside stand proves a good decision. Shug barely makes it to a patch of weeds on the curbside and pees a gallon. She's probably had her legs crossed for the last 25 miles while we freaking out about the road. Shug channels our unnerved emotional state so she needs a decompression walk. Piling back into the truck we munch on cherries and look forward to our next stop at our friends' house in Folsom.  

Mariposa Lily/ Black Diamond Regional Park/ Antioch, CA

Planning the Oregon Coast Trail Thru-Hike

 

Getting Started

We’re attempting the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) thru-hike this summer with a tentative start date of June 15. For last summer’s Colorado Trail thru-hike, we planned every camp stop and resupply where friends met us with pre-packed food boxes and rides into nearby towns. For the OCT this summer we’re winging it. Unlike the rigorous and remote Colorado Trail winding through the Colorado Rockies, the OCT looks to be more of a blend, an urban/wilderness hike combining beach, trail, and road walking.

The Oregon Coast Trail stretches the entire length of the state of Oregon--a total of 425 miles. The OCT starts at the mouth of the Columbia River at the Washington/Oregon border hugging the coastline until its end at the Oregon/California border. The OCT passes nearby or through little beach towns allowing us to carry a few days’ supply of food at a time instead of a week’s supply which means lighter pack weights for us. Along the route campgrounds, state parks, and open beach camping are available and there are many water resupply areas.

planning

So we’ve checked our guide book and spread out the maps for close inspection. Our plan is to start walking, to take our time to see the sights, to buy food on an as-needed basis, and to camp when we get tired or as the tides dictate. We will mail, via general delivery, a few boxes of Shug’s food ahead to post offices in strategic places. Oh, Oregon, we can’t wait to tread your shores.

  

Biggie Moms gets a boo boo

 

An iconic California drive through the rolling golden hills dotted with oak trees lulls us into a relaxed and grateful state of mind, rolling along and enjoying the day.  As we approach Bethel Island we come upon a sign that says, “Two- lane road becomes one lane for trucks and trailers”... What??  As we curve to the right, there’s a bizarre angled approach to a narrow bridge where a huge semi-truck barrels towards us from the opposite direction. We stop. Focusing on when to make our move, our truck faces straight, but our trailer hasn’t finished with the tight right curve. We neglect to angle wide enough to the left. We hear a noise and feel a drag but the truck and trailer keep rolling forward. Eyes wide, Annette blurts out,  “What was that?” I look at the side view mirror and respond, “I think Biggie just scraped the bridge. I don’t see anything dragging or flapping, though.”

Big boo boo

Sick to our stomachs we muster the courage to stop and assess the damage. We assume that the damage happened towards the back of the trailer so we look there first.  A little scrape but not bad. We can’t believe it. As we turn back towards the truck, we see the real damage, a big scrape along the front quarter of the trailer below the pass through storage door, luckily, low enough to escape any damage to the storage door itself. The entry steps which are just behind the pass through, however, are a mangled mess, bent, crushed, and inoperable. Ugh! We injured Biggie Moms. 

Labeling our near death encounter with the bridge a rookie mistake, we decide to deal with our distress and move forward. We’re staying in an RV park in an area known as the Delta at the confluence of the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento River so we figure that getting our trailer serviced will be easy… maybe one of those mobile repair guys who come right to your campsite and do the work while you sip grapefruit seltzer water and make small talk. After a couple of phone calls that beautiful dream dies. One very nice woman says she could work us into the schedule in mid-July. So Annette gets online to try and find replacement steps while I start laundry catch-up--six loads (one of which is Shug’s). RV parks suffer from a reputation for crummy Wi-Fi and this park lives up to that standard. Finding and buying replacement steps online becomes an exercise in patience, but with persistence, two hours later after four false starts,  two credit card snafus, and several aborted connections the steps are in the mail.  

ouchie

Removing the mangled steps presents its own challenges. Since the steps will not fold down to access the bolts, Annette has to manipulate the wrench into tiny crevices and remove the bolts two ratchet clicks at a time. As I come back with the laundry I see Annette sitting in the grass deep in frustration, rubbing her bruised knuckles and taking deep breaths. Ironically, during the morning drive we had a conversation about how being frustrated is a normal human experience, the important thing being how we deal with it. How are we dealing with it?  Barely hanging on. 

A local heatwave adds to the overall tension. It’s 92 degrees and I’m in a small laundry room running the big dryers as sweat drips from my body. I finally finish the laundry and start cleaning the trailer. Meanwhile, Annette is on the sunny side of the trailer working on step removal. At some point I open the door and ask her if she could hand me the broom and she does. As she goes back to work on the steps I hear, “Now where is that wrench?” Two hours later, we give up; the wrench is gone never to be seen again. The stairs will have to wait until tomorrow. How are we doing? About to snap!

To preserve our sanity, we decide to change direction and finish other household tasks on our list.  Annette decides to do something easy like wash the throw rugs and walks off toward the laundry room.  I notice that she forgot the soap and I run after her. When I return, I find that Shug has let herself out via the toy hauler ramp and gone to visit the neighbor’s bull dogs—Otis and Dutch who are quite handsome, but not that friendly. I get Shug back inside and return to cleaning and notice a single quarter sitting on the counter just as Annette opens the door saying, “I’m one quarter short” grabs the quarter and trudges back to the laundry, heat waves dancing around her retreating form.

Exercise always makes us feel better, so we decide to do our workout and then take Shug for a walk around the campground. After about five minutes a mosquito attack turns us back from the walk and we return slapping at our necks and forearms as we go. Annette says to Shug, “Tomorrow is a new day Shug.”

Our final activity is a shower…I mean what could go wrong with a shower?  We head towards the shower, punch in the key code, and open the door to hear a loud alarm sound, buzzing relentlessly lasting through the entire shower. Annette says, “So much for the relaxing shower experience.”  How are we doing? Laughing! Tomorrow is a new day!

No worries

I know what you are all wondering.  Well what about Shug’s day? Right?  Shug slept through the entire assault on Biggie Moms, snoozed straight through the laundry, stretched and rolled during the ordering of the new steps, relaxed on the couch during the interior cleaning, enjoyed a duck treat bribe outside on her bed while the newly mopped floor dried, and had a great time visiting the neighbors. Shug had a great day!             

Outdoor Fun in Mono Lake Basin

Kristy Kayaking at Mono Lake

Our new campsite near Mono Lake is strategically located for accessibility to nearby lakes and hiking trails. Starting out at the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area visitor center we stock up on maps and info and scope out what we want to see and do. The first day we kayak around the tufa towers in Mono Lake from the South Tufa area. Gliding around on the silky smooth morning water we observe osprey pairs sitting in their nests on top of the tufa towers. The briny, salty water of Mono and the brine shrimp it nourishes attracts numerous birds and water fowl. It’s fun to paddle around while watching them dive and splash. Lynn agreed to Shug-sit while she’s bird watching from the shore. Shug likes to watch the seagulls swoop and catch insects flying over the lake.  We all check out the boardwalk trail and read the informational signs about Mono Lake. We see only a few of the alkali flies that will soon be in the billions feasting on the algae that thrive in the lake. The indigenous people of Mono Basin ate the alkali fly pupae as a main food source. The info says that the rice-like pupae have a buttery, nutty taste. It doesn’t say if the pupae are eaten raw or cooked and because we don’t know we don’t try to find any to sample.

Osprey nest on the Tufa Towers

Annette and Lynn, Lundy Canyon Trail

Using our maps and info we maximize our enjoyment of local activities. On our way back to camp we stop at Panum Crater for an exploratory hike to see the obsidian volcano core. Massive chunks of obsidian litter the trail which winds in and out of the obsidian core of an ancient volcano. In the next several days we take day trips to hike and kayak around the area. A day at Lundy Canyon and Lundy Lake wows us with a beautiful hike studded with waterfalls and a visually stunning kayaking outing beneath the snow-capped Sierras. We try a morning of bird watching from the boardwalk at the Mono County Park where a flock of western tanagers darts in and out of the cottonwood trees. Dogs are not allowed at the County Park so we buy Shug off with duck chews.

Annette and Kristy, Lundy Lake

The nearby June Lake scenic loop abounds with hiking and kayaking opportunities. We loved our day kayaking in the crystal clear waters of June Lake. The beaches are wide and inviting places that just beg for a beach chair and a picnic. As always, we follow our 6 or 6:30 a.m. start time for hiking. The Mono Basin area has more than its fair share of wind in the afternoons so getting out early lets us hike and kayak without having to hold onto our hats.

Kristy and Shug in Yosemite NP

Shug hikes road in Yosemite

The little town of Lee Vining calls itself the gateway to Yosemite but Hwy 120 into the national park remains closed for winter during our visit. We drive out to the closure gate and hike into Yosemite for a few miles. Snowfields line the road and the distant vistas promise unattainable grandeur. The clear, cold morning gives us just a taste of the beauty of this national park.  FYI: Dogs can only hike on the roads in national parks and Shug took full advantage of being the only dog on an unopened highway in eastern Yosemite.

The little Lee Vining town offers a couple of fun places to grab an ice cream cone or a coffee. An old-style restaurant, Nicely’s, serves a tasty hamburger with all the fixings. There's free Wi-Fi at the library andat the Mono Lake Committee shop downtown. Another wonderful small town in the eastern Sierras to stop and wander.

Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind

    

Horton Creek Camp

Some days just don’t go as planned. While getting Biggie Moms ready to move on to Mono Lake the landing jacks’ switch stops working. Now just by chance, our site at Horton Creek sloped significantly so when we leveled the trailer on arrival we had to drop it all the way down to the bottom of the jack legs—it looked like the front edge of the trailer was almost on the ground. So now that it’s time to leave we need to reverse the process and extend the legs all the way back up. I click the switch to extend and it moves a little bit and then nothing. I smell that electric train transformer burning smell and know something has gone wrong. Uh-oh. If you can’t hitch, you can’t go anywhere. I google it on my phone and am reminded about the existence of a hand crank. Luckily, we actually have this funny looking little crank that doesn’t look like it could do much of anything. But we begin cranking. An hour later with aching wrists and arms we raise the trailer high enough to hitch. We are amazed that the little hand crank works to lift that big hulk of a trailer.

Annette using the Hand Crank

Thinking it would be wise to get our problem fixed before we move on, we drive into Bishop to Eastern Sierra Propane and RV Service for help. We’d been there already earlier in the week to refill our propane tanks. Jason greets us warmly and then sets to work with a current tester to identify that we do indeed have a faulty switch. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any switches in stock. One of the cool things about small towns is that everyone knows everyone else and everyone else’s business so he sends us off to try and find an extend/retract switch. “Go to the place right across the street from the Jack in the Box. I can’t remember the name of the store. He might have this switch. He has a lot of stuff.” Lynn drives us the few blocks down Hwy 395 and we see that the shop right across from the Jack in the Box is a Western Saddlery store. We’re confused but we go in and walk past the saddles, cowboy hats, halters, etc. and tell the gentleman at the counter about our dilemma. To our amazement, he does have a matching switch. He used to have an RV so he carries some RV stuff. $15 for the switch and $5 for some duck treats for Shug (eclectic mix of merchandise!) and we head back to try it out. Jason is busy with another customer so we pop the switch in ourselves, give it a test extend and a test retract and high-five each other. Jason tells us no charge since we have done all the running around and replaced the switch ourselves. The folks at Eastern Sierra Propane hold a warm spot in our hearts and that Western Saddlery store deserves a visit if you’re in the neighborhood.

Kristy Showing how far we cranked Biggie Moms

Problem solved, we head North on 395 to the small town of Lee Vining and Mono Lake.  Approximately a mile before Lee Vining we turn left off of 395 onto Test Station Road. About 300 yards later we find a place to park Biggie Moms in a little open area on the left.  It takes some cranking and some backing and forwarding to get Biggie Moms in and settled, but she winds up being as level as a pool table and we are happy. Lynn and Cupcake sidle up next to us and we all settle in to our new spot. Finding out that this site has decent cell phone service makes us even happier.

Our next problem surfaces later that evening. While straightening some clutter inside I reach into a low cabinet and realize that the bear spray canister that we use for backpacking has leaked. We keep the bear spray in the cupboard right by the door just in case a bad guy comes knocking. When I pick up the pepper spray an oily, orangey substance gets on my hands. Not thinking, I hand the bear spray canister to Kristy remarking that it feels lighter than normal. Kristy shakes it and agrees that it feels lighter than it should. Now we’re both tainted. The seal around the top had leaked and just the brief contact with a small amount of the oily residue makes our lips, eyes, and skin burn. A bout of coughing and feeling kind of nauseous follows. We both wash our hands in soap and baking soda multiple times. Powerful stuff that bear spray--it burns the skin on our hands until half way through the next day.   

Bishop California

We left our boondock campsite in the Alabama Hills west of Lone Pine and stopped at a Casino/Gas station north of town to dump the RV (free with a gas fill) and headed north on hwy 395 toward Bishop. Our original Camp choice, Horton Creek (BLM $5), was still closed for the winter and wouldn’t open for several more days. We camped one night at Pleasant Valley Campground for $14 (mostly a fishing campground not well-developed, but the frog songs and fragrant sage and creosote made it worth the money). The next day we stopped at Millpond Park to fill up with water and then made our way to Buttermilk Road for a dispersed camping spot. We found a great spot about 2 miles down the road and ended up staying a week. 

While at Buttermilk, we drove up the mountain on 168 for several great hikes including Piute Pass Trail where we followed a couple of Fish and Wildlife guys who knew the trail even through the snow and also a snowy trail from Sabrina Lake that climbs up to Blue Lakes.  We were unable to hike through to the Lakes due to the deep snow but enjoyed the trekking and the great views. At the Buttermilk camp, walking along the many dirt roads in the area was fun and a great way to exercise Shug as well as ourselves. A colorful variety of wildflowers and also flowering shrubs bloomed along the dirt roads. Almost daily, an afternoon winds would kick up and last into the evening so our love of early morning hiking served us well.  

Annette at Convict Lake

Since the afternoons were windy, we took several trips into Bishop to pick up groceries at Von’s Supermarket and to treat ourselves to lunch and pastries at Schat’s Bakery.  Schat’s sandwiches tasted great and the baked goods were amazing. We also took advantage of the town time to fill our propane at Eastern Sierra Propane and to pick up our general delivery mail packet at the post office.

Last week Shug pointed out that we were dangerously low on dog food. After doing some internet searching, we found a source—Tailwaggers in Mammoth Lakes. Shug has food allergies and we were happy to find the last bag of her food in the area. Needing a specific brand and type means that dog food is one of the extra things that one has to plan for on the road. Might as well make a day trip out of it so we headed north on 395. Detouring for a short side trip to gorgeous Convict Lake, we hiked the three mile trail around the Lake and enjoyed the beauty before heading in to Mammoth Lakes for our dog food pick up. Fortunately, the Tailwaggers’ shopping center also has a nice little pizza restaurant where we splurged for the lunch special of personal pizzas and salads.