Changes

If you've been keeping up with us, you know that our intention was to head north and visit some of the National Parks that we'd missed seeing in our blitz southward in early August.

Well, that's not going to work. While we were in Pismo Beach we found out that Crater Lake National Park had some early snowfall and the visitor center, lodge and rim road were all closed for the winter. While this isn't too surprising, since Crater Lake is literally at the top of a mountain, it was disappointing. On hearing this news, our modified plan was to hit Lassen and see what the future weather allowed us to do after that.

While in Paso Robles, we heard that the weather forecast was for snow in the Mount Lassen area, as well as most of the Cascade mountains farther north. We decided to avoid seeing any more of the white stuff than we have to, so we changed our plans. Those National Parks will all be there next year; we're not on a death march here.

So, instead of heading north on THE 5, we bailed out and turned west. Right now, we're spending a couple of days in Lakeport, CA on a beautiful lake called Clear Lake. I'll be honest: we lived in California for over 50 years, traveled all over the state, and I'd never even heard of Clear Lake before.

From here, we're continuing on west to US 101 and then turning north. We'll visit Redwoods National Park (again) and continue up the California, Oregon and Washington coast, all the way up to Olympic National Park. Olympic National Park, which is right on the coast, gets cool damp weather but rarely snowfall.

We're planning on staying several days each in Fortuna, CA, then Coos Bay, OR,  and then Aberdeen, WA. From there, we'll circle around the greater Seattle area and end up on Orcas Island in mid-October.

When we leave Orcas, I think we'll be ready to head back south for some warmer weather.

Pismo Beach

When we left Long Beach, we spent a few days in Pismo Beach. While most Californians know of, or have visited, Pismo Beach, what is commonly called “Pismo Beach” is referred to by locals as the Five Cities. These five relatively small (ca. <10,000 population each) cities are Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Oceano and Arroyo Grande. We actually stayed in an RV park in Oceano, and were some 3-4 miles south of the Pismo Beach pier.

This area boasts wide, flat beaches full of hard-packed sand. The sand is so hard that parts of the beach are open to motor vehicle traffic; one can even, with care, drive two-wheel-drive vehicles out on the sand. The area is a mecca for OHV enthusiasts.

Locals and regular visitors also know that the weather here in the summer is usually pretty crappy. Offshore winds bring cool ocean air over land, where it promptly condenses into thick overcast. Our first day here the temperature was in the mid-60’s and it was misty all day long.

That night, though, a high pressure area moved inland, giving rise to onshore winds. This had the effect of heating the whole area up considerably. Also, this kept the sea breezes at bay. The net result of all this was an absolutely spectacular day: dry, sunny and in the mid-80’s. If days could be elevated to National Park status, this one would be a winnerr.

Anyhow, we took advantage of the great weather and took ourselves and the boys on a long walk down the beach.

Here's some pics:

What's Next for Rick and Cathy?

I haven't posted in some time and thought I would let everyone know where we're headed to next.

We are planning on leaving Long Beach on Sunday, 9/22. We had originally planned on leaving about now (9/13 as I draft this) but extended our stay a week. We've got some friends we haven't managed to see yet, as well as some family commitments that we agreed to. Besides, we're not exactly in a hurry to leave where we're at.

The lovely and perfect Miss Parker continues to grow and thrive. Dan and Heather are settling nicely into the parenting routine - as routine as parenting ever gets, at least. Miss P is so perfect that she actually slept through the night the last two nights; every parent knows how significant a milestone that is!

Of course, we have two other grandchildren that we also get to see, and to spoil. Madeline is out of school (for conference days) a couple of days next week; Cathy is already planning the spoilage.

Last weekend we had the whole family over for a barbecue. Every tried to get three children, the youngest only six, to sit still for a picture? Below is my best effort, out of about ten exposures:

Anyhow, when we leave here on the 22nd, we're headed up the coast. We're planning on spending a few nights in Pismo Beach and a few more in Paso Robles. Beyond that, the only firm commitment is to meet Scott at their cabin for a few days in mid-October. We have intentions to visit some of the National Parks and other sights that we missed on our blitz southward in early August. We've got reservations back in SoCal for Thanksgiving and Christmas.