USA March 2012

Plans for March are to drive north from San Diego 3 March via PCH and 101 to visit friends in San Francisco, Ashland and Eugene OR, Bainbridge Island/Bellingham WA before catching ferry to Juneau via Prince Rupert on 17 April.

31 March 2012 Saturday (Bainbridge Island WA)
A friend and I had wanted to do a hike today.....but it is just pouring down rain and windy and cold......so opted for stroll around Poulsbo boat harbor and second hand shops and bookshops and homemade soup at the local cafe!

30 March 2012 Friday (Bainbridge Island WA)
Striders walk today is near the Fay Bainbridge State Park....and it stayed dry for our walk....now at the library catching up on internet since it does not work well where I am housesitting. Visited the Bainbridge Museum where they are remembering the 70th anniversary of the relocation of the Japanese to Manzanar (Owens valley southern California) during WWII and an exhibit of the photography of Ansel Adams.

29 March 2012 Thursday (Bainbridge Island WA)
A very wet, windy and cold day....so stayed in to catch up on paperwork and watch a few films from the library......the BBC version of State of Play.....and documentaries on how we are destroying our environment (Gasland, Queen of the Sun, Yert).

28 March 2012 Wednesday (Bainbridge Island WA)
Joining the Striders for walk this morning in the sunshine....rained all day yesterday while I washed my clothes.....and tried to use internet....Susan has DIALUP which is ridiculously slow.......! So gave up and will use library today.

27 March 2012 Tuesday (Bainbridge Island WA)
Housesitting for the next week at Susan's.....only one cat this time because since I was last here, her other kitty was taken by a coyote....glad that it was not on my watch!

26 March 2012 Monday (Bainbridge Island WA)
Morning walk with the Bainbridge Striders, the walking group that I had joined when I was last here housesitting two years ago....great fun to see everyone again. Sunny here but cool and windy....and all this blooming stuff is driving my allergies crazy!

24 March 2012 Saturday (Silverdale to Poulsbo WA 25 miles)
The one thing that I do not like about Washington State Parks is that they require tokens to take a shower....50 cents per token for three minutes but you must buy two because the machine only takes $1.....and then this morning when I finally succumbed to paying for a shower.....it did not work! Finally found the Park Ranger and he fixed the shower, gave me back my dollar and two tokens plus reset the shower to give me six minutes free anyway.....so all worked out well in the end! Now that I have found a Starbucks to catch up on internet, next is the new Trader Joes in Silverdale.

23 March 2012 Friday (Belfair WA to Silverdale WA 84 miles)
Sun is predicted for the next few days so will enjoy a few hikes.....overnight at Scenic Beach near Silverdale and again right on the Hood Canal.

22 March 2012 Thursday (Elma to Belfair WA 61 miles)
The sun is out....yeah! Camped at Belfair State Park on the Hood Canal.....beautiful views and heaps of birds.

21 March 2012 Wednesday (Winlock to Elma WA 78 miles)
from my friend near Eugene....something that I was happy to miss....
"BTW... we had 4" of snow on the ground on Tues. which melted rapidly.. Then we had 5" on the ground this morning. Even though it change to rain mid day, we still have about 3" of snow on the ground, and are expecting more snow tonight. It even snowed 6" at the airport in Eugene... Eugene is basically shut down today!!! The snow was from Roseburg to Corvallis!!! I-5 was a disaster with trucks jack-knifed."

20 March 2012 Tuesday (Woodland to Winlock WA 51 miles)
Visited Judy and Rod, friends from Juneau who now live in Winlock.

19 March 2012 Monday (Nimrod OR to Woodland WA 174 miles)
Awoke to a few inches of snow on the ground! Am now camped on the Columbia River watching the BIG boats go by.

18 March 2012 Sunday (Nimrod OR 31 miles)
I drove a few miles east to McKenzie Bridge to visit Jane, another Roadtrekker. We drove her car in the snow to visit Belknap Hot Springs....I am hoping that the snow stops soon so that I can drive out tomorrow!

17 March 2012 Saturday (Roseburg to Nimrod OR 110 miles)
Happy St Paddy's Day!
Awoke to stars and sliver of a brightly shining moon....and the roar of the Umpqua River.
Drove north to Eugene then east on highway 126 for about 37 miles to visit friends Sally and Eric from our Baja caravan group who live near McKenzie Bridge. Corn beef and cabbage at their friends home right on the McKenzie River.

16 March 2012 Friday (Talent to Roseburg OR 128 miles)
And the rain continues.....thank goodness that I am over most of the passes because snow is predicted at 1500 feet. Great visit with Joe (and his father) who is a friend of Bob's (friend from Juneau who lives in Mozambique).....enjoyed coffee at the Lighthouse Cafe in Umpqua.

15 March 2012 Thursday (Talent OR)
The ides of March and the rain continues to fall.....but still enjoyed hike with Bill through Lithia Park in Ashland then delicious veggie stir fry.

14 March 2012 Wednesday (Orland CA to Talent OR 198 miles)
More rain and wind on I5 with stop at Trader Joe's in Redding before driving the challenging passes.....but made it over with no snow.....in fact at the highest point (over 4000', it was dry and almost sunny near Weed CA). Walkabout in Ashland before staying at Bill's (friend from Juneau) in Talent OR. We watched his taped version of Game Change (the HBO film about Sarah Palin).

13 March 2012 Tuesday (Geyserville to Orland CA 160 miles)
The rains arrived in full force with too much wind but made it up route 101 to route 20 around Clear Lake then north on I5. I had considered visiting Wilbur Hot Springs where I hung out many years ago....but they have gotten way too expensive.....$50 just to soak (and access is four miles down a dirt road......so not today)!

12 March 2012 Monday (Geyserville CA)
Rain was predicted but now it is a gorgeous day so will stay another day with JoAnne for a hike at Lake Sonoma.....and it was a great long hike....maybe about 8-9 miles....overcast with some sun but heaps of ups and downs and beautiful wildflowers and views of lake. We then shopped at Salvation Army and visited the former Souverain winery which is now owned by FF Coppola and filled with film memorabilia.

11 March 2012 Sunday (San Francisco to Geyserville CA 77 miles)
Drove to Geyserville to visit JoAnne, a woman whom I met in the Peace Corps Madagascar. We visited the Isis Oasis Retreat Center and Animal Sanctuary founded by Loreon Vigne in 1978 just up the street for a tour of all the critters....exotic birds and endangered felines.
www.isisoasis.org

10 March 2012 Saturday (SF CA)
Morning walk around Stow Lake at Golden Gate Park...the morning clouds turned to heavy fog and rain.....a very yucky day compared to the beautiful weather of the past week.

9 March 2012 Friday (Palo Alto to San Francisco CA 34 miles)
Visiting Jeanne in SF...... great pizza at Paxti's on Irving.

7-8 March 2012 Wednesday (Palo Alto CA)
Visiting with Annette and Tom in Palo Alto for a few days.

6 March 2012 Tuesday (San Jose CA 58 miles)
Camped at Joseph D Grant County Park (Santa Clara county)....quite cold and windy! Beautiful walks on the trails although I did encounter a few wild pigs!

5 March 2012 Monday (Boulder Creek CA 63 miles)
Avoided the Monday morning commute on 101 and drove the backroads through San Jose.....my old commute route from Los Gatos to IBM via the lakes of Uvas, Chesbro and Calero. Overnight in Boulder Creek with Ray and Rick and enjoyed wonderful homecooked veal piccata.

4 March 2012 Sunday (Santa Inez to San Juan Bautista CA 224 miles)
Enjoyed morning walk in downtown Solvang (Danish town that I last visited many years ago) and pastries at Olsens Bakery! Beautiful drive up highway 101 with rollingCalifornia hills and the many oak and fruit trees and vineyards....a new addition to the roadside are "billboards" created by John Cerney.....giant cut out art...I especially liked the "old woman of the mountain" located about five miles south of King City....check it out:
http://www.johncerney.com/photogallery.html

3 March 2012 Saturday (San Diego CA to Santa Inez 248 miles)
On the road again driving northward.....camped overnite on Lake Cachuma (Santa Barbara County Park) on route 154 near Solvang. Early morning drive on I5 through LA was not fun but traffic did move and did enjoy the Pacific Coast Highway.

2 March 2012 Friday (San Diego CA Lake Jennings)
Morning visit to el Capitan Lake and afternoon visit with Chester and Linda (retired IBMers on caravan) who decided to suss out Lake Jennings.....gorgeous day today!

1 March 2012 Thursday (San Diego CA Lake Jennings)
The rains returned overnight but does look like clearing today. They are building a new power line near here and the helicopter noise is sometimes a bit overwhelming but fun to watch them carry the towers and place on the side of the mountain.