USA September 2012

Photos are wild pig on trail at Joseph Grant Ranch in San Jose and Lassen Peak at sunrise

October plans to fly from San Francisco to Virginia and Florida (to visit mum) and North Carolina (to visit sister); November - January in Western Australia; March-May in West Africa.

30 September 2012 Sunday (Palo Alto CA)
Morning walk to the farmers market.......


29 September 2012 Saturday (Palo Alto CA)
Morning walk to the Harvest Festival and afternoon visit to the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch....many festivals this time of year in the Bay Area.

28 September 2012 Friday (Palo Alto CA)
Spending the weekend with Annette and Tom in Palo Alto before I fly back east....tonite we are doing Palo Alto Moonlight 5K walk at the Baylands.

26-27 September 2012 Wednesday/Thursday (San Jose CA)
Two nights camping and hiking at Joseph Grant County Park on road to Mt Hamilton and Lick Observatory....great weekend to not be at the park because it is the muddybuddy.com event!

25 September 2012 Tuesday (Gilroy CA)
My check engine light came on Sunday but no one to look at it on Sunday, now at Dodge dealer in Gilroy waiting for diagnosis.....and found that spark plugs were loose.....not done properly when tuned up in Santa Fe at Lithia Dodge less than a year ago......and warranty is for 12000 miles and I am at 13000 miles.....so will have to pay!

23-24 September 2012 Sunday/Monday (Gilroy CA0
Camping and hiking amongst the redwood and tan oak trees of Mt Madonna between Watsonville and Gilroy. This is former estate of Henry Miller from Germany, a cattle baron of the late 1800's, who owned quite a bit of property from California to Washington. There are still remains of his houses on the property...although I did not see the ghosts that supposedly still walk the trails....
http://www.santacruzghosthunters.com/apps/blog/show/9803932-the-haunting-of-a-cattle-king-the-sarah-miller-story-of-mt-madonna-park
 
18 September 2012 Tuesday (Geyserville to San Jose CA) 
Hiking the hills above San Jose (beautiful views, especially of the fog blanketing the valley) at Joseph Grant Ranch County (Santa Clara) Park! Sited bobcat and pig!


17 September 2012 Monday (Geyserville CA)
JoAnne and I took the bus to Cloverdale (ten miles) to join her friend Debbie there for long walk near Russian River ... then returned for JoAnne to weed the garden and me to do last minute online stuff and both of us to feed the chickens and collect the eggs.


16 September 2012 Sunday (Geyserville CA)
More early morning fog....JoAnne works at the Glendi festival again today in Santa Rosa while I enjoy the pool.....and feed the chickens and collect the eggs!

15 September 2012 Saturday (Geyserville CA)
Enjoyed sunshine (after heavy early morning fog) at the pool and caught up with telephone calls.


14 September 2012 Friday (Kenwood to Geyserville CA)
Early morning hike to top of Bald Mountain (2729') in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park....much cooler in the morning! Stopped to stock up at Trader Joes in Santa Rosa then to stay with JoAnne in Geyserville where she is housesitting at another house with a pool!

13 September 2012 Thursday (Dillon Beach to Kenwood CA)
Heaps of fog this morning for my drive from Tomales Bay inland via Sebastopol....a fellow camper had told me about Sugarloaf Ridge State Park so decided to suss it out....it was one of the CA closed parks but is now reopened. Beautiful park in the hills of the wine country with heaps of hiking trails but too hot to do in the afternoon as most are exposed to the sun....but did enjoy the one mile nature trail in the trees. Met a neighbour camper Lisa from El Cerrito who was having a dinner picnic with five of her local book club friends.

12 September 2012 Wednesday (Olema to Dillon Beach CA)
Early morning hike at Point Reyes up Mt Wittenberg (1500') then back via Bear Valley trail....decided not to stay another night at Olema Ranch campground because 200 bicyclists are arriving....and I saw them in Tomales....they are doing a ride from Eureka to SF for Climate Change. Overnighted at Lawsons Landing right on Tomales Bay with heaps of birds and beautiful beach....will not be as lovely and empty on the weekend though so good timing.

11 September 2012 Tuesday (Geyserville to Olema CA)
On the backroads via Petaluma to Olema to do my annual visit and hike at Point Reyes.

 
10 September 2012 Monday (Santa Rosa to Geyserville CA)
Plan to overnight at JoAnne's in Geyserville then off to hike Point Reyes


9 September 2012 Sunday (Santa Rosa CA)
Great three hour walk!


8 September 2012 Saturday (Chico to Santa Rosa CA)
Visit with my Peace Corps friend JoAnne who lives in Geyserville but is now housesitting in Santa Rosa at a house with a pool! I took the long route from Chico via Cobb Mountain in Lake County where I used to own a home in Whispering Pines....and met with Allen who had bought it from me about 25 years ago!

7 September 2012 Friday (Lake Almanor to Chico CA - 106 miles)
Beautiful drive along Feather River Canyon then down to the hot valley! Afternoon by the pool at this lovely RV park where I have stayed before....although lucky to get in with a cancellation because of a Good Sam Rally and a speedway event here this weekend.

6 September 2012 Thursday (Lassen to Lake Almanor CA - 96 miles)
Spent over three hours driving the 30 miles through Lassen park with several stops for walks and photos. Heaps of fire activity around Lake Almanor area but the campground was open.

5 September 2012 Wednesday (Medicine Lake to Lassen CA - 102 miles)
Arrived Lassen Park early for several walks and overnight at Manzanita campground.

4 September 2012 Tuesday (Lakeview OR via Lave Bed NM to Medicine Lake CA 170 miles)
Turned on the van heater this morning and the knob was broken so drove east on route 140 to Klamath Falls and found Lithia Dodge for $4 part! Then south to Lava Beds National Monuument but lousy campground Indian Wells at Lava Beds so continued on to Medicine Lake..

3 September 2012 Monday (Paisley to Lakeview OR - 64 miles)
Amazing number of playa/alkali dust covered cars/campers this morning heading north from Burning Man on route 395 as I headed back south to Lakeview....and some quite unique looking vehicles! After a week of dry camping (for free) and long drop toilets, I am now luxuriating at Junipers RV park with hot showers, internet, and a laundrymat....this place is a few miles off the road on 8000 acre ranch so nice and quiet....and pretty empty for a Labor Day weekend.
Washed my clothes and my bod and dumped my tanks and filled with water and caught up on email and hiked the trails that they have here on the ranch....all the chores of camping to catch up on!
Then washed my van and found that the metal piece between the headlight and the bumper broke (welding broke)...probably due to washboard road on Steens.....and had three guys in the campground helping me to fix it....two wanted to drill holes in the side and put in screws but in the end, the guy from Winnemuca recommended double sided sticky stuff and it seems to be holding!

2 September 2012 Sunday (Lakeview to Paisley via Summer Lake OR - 91 miles)
After visiting Lakeview for petrol and Safeway and the county fair at the fairgrounds, headed north on route 395/31 via Abert Rim to visit Summer Lake Hot Springs....but it is FULL of returnees from Burning Man (Burners) so gave that a miss (plus it is an indoor pool) and returned to Paisley (cute town) to head west on forest road 33 to Marster Springs campground to camp on the Chewaucan River in the Fremont National Forest.

1 September 2012 Saturday (Steens Mountain to near Lakeview OR - 199 miles)

Beautiful drive on 20 miles of washboard back to Frenchglen then south to Fields for their world famous milkshake for breakfast....then into then out of Nevada with stop at Sheldon Wildlife Refuge....then down some very steep grades (Doherty Pass) to overnight at Walker Trailhead in Fremont Forest....had driven to Mud Creek campground to camp but booked for group....looks like many many motorcylists.