What a long strange trip it’s been…2013 Trip Wrap Up Part 1

 

Yeah, but there is much more ahead.

I thought I would share some of my favorite photos from the last eight months. Some that never even made the blog posts.

The trip started here, more or less. Actually about 300 miles southwest on the coast. Doesn’t matter.

That’s where I met my friend Glenn to borrow his trailer.

I promised to bring it back in perfect shape. And I did. More or less.

I left the next morning and headed east for a while. Saw a couple of nice sunrises and an old bridge.

See, most people thought that the London Bridge was the one in all the photos. Nope, that is the Tower Bridge. This is just a plain old bridge. I have one to sell as well. Email me for the price.

Alright, I have to speed this up.

Arizona.

I really enjoyed Patagonia Lake State Park in AZ. Go there. Trust me.

Kept heading east.

For a long time. 600 miles.

All the way to Colorado.

And snow. Little did I know.

I played in the sand at Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Then headed through some interesting weather in Colorado.

Feel cold? Here are some sunset photos to warm you up.

Good. I drove four auto tour routes at once and saw a cool rock.

Not really a rock but that is what it is called, Chimney Rock.

Entering Nebraska I passed by some strange cars and a pelican. Not at the same time.

Flappy.

This was at the end of April.

This was the first day in May at the same spot.

These are my thoughts on the subject.

Yeah.

Continued on in a slightly muddy condition as the snow melted.

I was following the Missouri River at this point through Nebraska and saw signs of the flood from 2011.

Nasty.

Luckily Bald Eagles build their nest high. I saw a baby.

And a nice sunset.

They call this Lewis and Clark Lake. Formed by a dam on the Missouri River. On the other side is South Dakota. Kinda where the sun is setting.

They have a massive campground there near Yankton. I liked the marina and this photo.

Finally made it to Minnesota, only to find people tossing crap.

Real Buffalo Chips.

I prefer Buffalo Wings. With habanero sauce.

OK, this is now June. (if I have messed up past, present, and future tense in this blog I am sorry. Probably messed up on punctuation as well. Don’t really care. It’s all about camping)

So in early June I got this thing.

Not the car, the bike.

Probably put 400 miles on it during this trip.Take a bike with you when you go camping. Even just to cruise around the campground. Kids will challenge you to a race. Say “Look, there’s a squirrel” and then get a head start. They will give you dirty looks afterwards. Hey, it’s a life lesson. Don’t trust old people.

I hit the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin at the Mississippi River.

Then headed north along the St. Croix River.

Ran into some fly trouble but called in the military for a surgical strike.

I thanked the troops but then nature sent in the tanks.

Nature will always win.

Especially if they bring in the big fish.

I quickly drove away. To the ocean.

Well, it looked like the Pacific Ocean. Tides and driftwood. The lack of kelp brought me back to my senses. And Lake Superior.

The North Shore in Minnesota is quite impressive. A few hundred feet away from the shore is a plateau rising a few hundred feet, which creates a few waterfalls. (I used all those fews on purpose)

That was as far east as I drove.

How about a squirrel story to finish this post.

A police officer sees a man driving around with a pickup truck full of squirrels.

He pulls the guy over and says... "You can't drive around with squirrels in this town! Take them to the zoo immediately."

The guy says "OK"... and drives away.

The next day, the officer sees the guy still driving around with the truck full of squirrels, and they're all wearing sun glasses.

He pulls the guy over and demands... "I thought I told you to take these squirrels to the zoo yesterday?"

The guy replies... "I did . . . today I'm taking them to the beach!"

Westward Bound. Coming Soon.

No more squirrel jokes, I promise.

Regards,
Greg

Little Rascals

 

I do not mean these ones.

I mean certain animals that will bring their young ones around your campsite and steal your food while you are distracted.

That is momma raccoon stealing my lettuce while I was attempting to make tacos.

They fought over it.

But left after a stern talk.

No big deal as I had finally found some sprouts. Yes. I like sprouts on my tacos. And the lettuce was old anyway.

So what is better than tacos for dinner? Nothing. But to follow it up with breakfast tacos is outstanding.

This all took place at Big Basin Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz.

The first State Park in California, it opened in 1902.

Almost 190 sites and 1-41 have tent cabins, like number 9.

I stayed in 48.

Most of the sites are shaded. Well, there are big trees around here. Number 128 was nice.

Lots of trails to explore.

Nearby is Little Basin.

It used to be a regular campground but is now a group site. In fact, it is run by a private company.

Looks like some kind of school thing.

Anyway, I also visited Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park while I was in the area.

It is lower in elevation than Big Basin and the 113 campsites are surrounded by oak trees.

That is number 65. The redwoods are located a few miles away. So if you want a sunnier and warmer campground stay here.

Wednesday morning I continued south, with a brief stop at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.

After breakfast.

Yeah.

This is a large place with 189 sites and some unusual security at the entrance.

There is a mixture of open and shaded spots. I liked number 98.

Actually I liked the trailer in number 98.

Some of the sites are along the Big Sur River. Notice the sign on the post in the photo below.

It says “River Site” and those will cost you $60 per night.

So I left and enjoyed the scenery of the coast. If you are only going to drive this section of Highway 1 in one direction, go North to South. The pullouts are on that side and you will be stopping often to check out the magnificent views.

Near the town of San Simeon I stumbled upon a bunch of beach bums.

Hundreds of seals were catching some rays.

They only moved occasionally to flip some sand in the air.

Quite a few other people stopped to look at them.

I ended up at Pismo Beach.

I set up camp in site number 2.

And made dinner.

I have been on a taco binge lately…

The are two campgrounds at Pismo State Beach about 2 miles apart.

North Beach has 103 sites and some, like number 22, are just over a hill from the beach.

Which looks like this.

The dunes here are extremely popular for off road vehicles. There were a bunch of old Willy’s at the campground. With the required necessities.

Even the staff had some cool toys.

On Thursday I visited the other campground, Oceano.

The 82 sites here are split up into two areas. Half have water and electrical hookups, like number 17.

The other half have none. But some, like number 56, are next to the creek.

Lot’s of choices in this area. They are also several private campgrounds nearby.

Friday morning I headed south to Gaviota State Park. I had planned to stop at Jalama Beach but completely forgot. Brain cramp. Hey, I am getting old.

Most of the Southern California State Parks and Beaches have one thing in common. Trains.

And Gaviota was no exception.

I didn’t mind. In fact, I liked it. These are not freight trains, just passenger cars. Came through maybe a couple of times a day and the engineer would give us a toot.

There are only 39 sites here and they look like mine, number 35.

And number 17.

But the attraction here is the beach. A group of college students from Loyola-Marymount showed up in the afternoon.

Unfortunately for them they brought a couple of these things.

Which brought the cops who quickly booted them out. Which was sad. Because I was starting to feeling young again.

There is a pier here.

One of the interesting laws in California is that you do not need a fishing license to cast a line from man-made objects that extend into the ocean, like piers and jetty’s. So there were plenty of people hoping to hook up with a white sea bass or halibut.

There is also a good surf break. The waves were small but nicely formed, with an offshore breeze in the morning.

Tubular! A raccoon on a small board could get totally barreled.

My neighbors had fun chopping wood.

Meanwhile I was checking this out.

That would be fun. Zipping around campgrounds snapping photos. I tried it out.

Yes, that is me, but the owner would not give me the key. I offered to trade my bike for it. Didn’t happen.

On Sunday I headed south for my last stop on this trip.

Carpinteria State Beach.

When picking a good campsite there are several factors that enter in to your decision. Sun, shade, proximity to bathrooms and water spigots, privacy, those are just a few.

But sometimes the choice is obvious. Which is why I chose site number 19.

Yes, that was all left there just waiting for somebody. Me.

Which led to this.

A perfect way to enjoy my last night on a long trip.

Monday morning I walked the campground, after checking out the beach.

Carpinteria bills itself as having the world’s safest beach. The Channel Islands block most of the swells so the waves are rarely more than ankle slappers. That makes it a very popular campground for families with kids.

There are 206 sites here but the numbers are misleading. They go from 1 to 146 and then 401 to 460. Go figure.

A couple of my favorites were number 128,

And 448.

California beach camping at it’s best. Plus the town is within walking distance. A definite destination campground.

So that’s it. Over 14,000 miles and over 160 campgrounds. What a long strange trip it’s been.

My next and last blog for this year will be a trip wrap up but I need to mention now a disconcerting trend I have been noticing.

Blatant discrimination.

Yep, directed at certain people with certain last names.

My first name is Greg. My last name is Wood. And like many other campers I enjoy getting together with a large bunch of family members to enjoy the outdoors. Maybe get a group site or such. A gathering of the Wood clan.

But no, apparently that is not allowed. I saw this nasty sign in many campgrounds.

Simply unbelievable.

Regards,

Greg Wood