This is our blog from
Great Geezer Getaway 2, Summer 2012
3,900 miles / 19 days / 4 Pacific Northwest states:
Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada
(Blog Authored by Dave)
Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada
(Blog Authored by Dave)
We posted blogs on each of our two major Great Geezer Getaway adventures. The first was into the American Southwest/Rocky Mountain regions in 2010 and, two years later, into the Pacific Northwest. On both, we received considerable responses and encouragement from friends, family and friendly folks we met on the road!
Below is our our chronological daily blog AND the un-edited comments from the followers of our 2012 trip, which includes our respective accounts of each day’s adventures, followed by several comments posted by friends, relatives and strangers. Unlike 2010, this trip's comments by the Getaway Geezers were a "collaboration", which was fun to develop and write!
Much of the opening text on our 2010 blog is applicable to 2012's adventure.
ENJOY!
Below is our our chronological daily blog AND the un-edited comments from the followers of our 2012 trip, which includes our respective accounts of each day’s adventures, followed by several comments posted by friends, relatives and strangers. Unlike 2010, this trip's comments by the Getaway Geezers were a "collaboration", which was fun to develop and write!
Much of the opening text on our 2010 blog is applicable to 2012's adventure.
ENJOY!
--------------------
7-29-12 -- Preparation
Finalizing our plans for Great Geezer Getaway II, we spent some time at AAA yesterday afternoon working with Kristen to map our route and get a Trip Tik made. Early this morning we met at Dave’s house and proceeded to load his Honda Fit with supplies.
7-30-12 -- DAY 1 (Our First Post While On The Road)
We covered nearly 400 miles our first day on the road -- mostly desert. Starting up US 95, we drove the first hundred miles before remembering that we forgot to get ice for our overloaded coolers. We finally found ice (and bathrooms), in Beatty where we rewarded each of us with an ice cream cone. Continuing on 95 we soon turned west at Lida Junction (at the now-closed Cottontail Ranch) at the suggestion of Joe Payton. He'd said that the first time he drove it, he was in a semi and we’d probably question his sanity. We soon found out what he meant because the road went up over a couple of passes on steep, very curvy roads.
At the top of the second pass, we saw a sign pointing to the Ancient Bristlecone Pines Forest and went to check it out. That was a 10-mile side trip of a winding road going up to t 10,000 feet, We made some friends with a young woman forest ranger and a very pretty Hollywood actress who posed for a picture with us. We learned that these trees are the oldest on earth, some up to 10,000 years old.
We continued on to US 395 and found a campground at June Lake for our first night. After we pitched tent, neighboring campers returned and excitedly told of a black bear that visited the previous night and tried to get into the 500 lb. disposal bin until he tipped it over. That bin was ten feet from our tent, so we left a camp light on all night. He visited again, but didn't stay long.
7-31-12 -- DAY 2
Can you believe that we got up at 4:30 AM so we could be at the tufa columns at Mono Lake at dawn. Dave wanted to get some photos and the sky was very cooperative. There were at least a dozen other people there, all with cameras bigger and better than Dave's but he still took over 200 photos. We wish we could show you some but Dave forgot to put the software on our laptop to process the photos for our blog.
We decided to buy breakfast on the way back to camp but failed to find an open restaurant so decided to break camp and then eat. After breakfast in Lee Vining, we went up 395 to California 89. This is a scenic route and the one we plan on following to the top of California. We went over 8,314-foot Monitor Pass and saw a drastic change in flora. Continuing on through pine tree forests, we soon reached Lake Tahoe and millions of tourists. We stopped at a viw point at Emerald Bay where we met some nice people who asked us to take their picture and then we had them take ours. We handed out several of our Great Geezer Getaway Guys business, er “retirement” cards. Leaving Lake Tahoe we crossed Interstate 80 and continued north into more pine trees and found a nice National Forest campground by a reservoir for our second night.
Val
“First night and the second day sound really fun! Isn't Emerald Bay the prettiest thing ever? Can't wait to see the picture!”
8-1-12 -- DAY 3
Again we were too lazy to fix breakfast. We also needed to refresh our ice. Finding a place to eat, however, proved to be a problem on the secluded Sierra highway. We found several establishments that weren't open. Then Dave ran over a poor little squirrel. He really felt bad about it. Finally we hit a small, very clean-looking town in Plumas County named Quincy where we had brunch on an outdoor veranda. Included was some excitement: a man crossing the street in front of us, collapsed in the middle of the road. We watched with interest as the volunteer fire department and rescue workers came rushing in one at a time from all directions. A young woman police person who Dave thought was pretty attractive asked him where the victim was. He quickly pointed him out, and watched the young woman rush to the scene. An ambulance showed up and we don’t know the rest of the story!
Continuing on, we passed by Northern California’s Lake Amador ,which was surprisingly large but we didn't see much of it as we drove by because of the trees. There was a noticeable smoky haze from a nearby forest fire. We next found Lassen Volcano National Park and stopped in a parking lot near bubbling lava mud pots.. Dave decided to follow a climbing, winding trail toward the crest. Larry thought, "There he goes again!" Well Dave thought it was a short trail but found the steep climb robbed him of oxygen at the 8,000-foot altitude. Then he found that his destination was a mile-long hike, all up hill. He went about a half mile, took some photos and then returned to an awaiting Larry.
After a few more pictures of the boiling sulfur pot holes, we drove on over Mount Lassen and continued looking for a campsite. As we were leaving the volcano, we saw the smoke of a small, just starting forest fire. Some Forest Service crews were standing beside the road watching the smoke, evidently trying to decide what to do about it. About 20 miles from Lassen, we found a large campground with only 4 or 5 camp sites being used. After pitching the tent near a stream, we had a fantastic supper of hot dogs.
Val
“Wow! Day 3 was action-packed! Don't worry about the squirrel, Dave, he didn't know what hit him--better than being torn up by wolves :) In the end....all seems to have worked out because there was a yummy meal of hotdogs—YUM!”
8-2-12 -- DAY 4
We finally found the energy to eat a camp breakfast. We started with some fruit, an Apple for Dave and an orange for Larry. The latter set up the camp stove and gathered the food togather while Dave broke a half dozen eggs into a bowl that was too large for the purpose, and beat them up with some milk for scrambled eggs. Larry burned the bacon then asked Dave to finish cooking them while he went to the rest room. So Dave removed the blackened bacon and put in four more slices, cooking them perfectly. Larry cooked the scrambled eggs while Dave burned the toast and attempted to butter it with hard butter. Finally we sat down and thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast, eating it all.
When we were nearly done breaking camp, the older couple in the neighboring camp site stopped by and we had a delightful conversation. They told us of some exciting places to see on our way up through Oregon. Of course we told them all about the Great Geezer Getaway, giving them business cards and showing them the AAA article. We learned that he was a retired Sociology Professer from Hawaii and they worked out all sort of trades for places to stay here in the states.
Dave has patiently been training Larry to work as a team putting up and taking down the tent, giving us more time to stand around telling strangers about our exploits. After we left the camp site, we ran into some construction while singing pole cats with the learning disk so Larry could gain confidence on lead. For the second time we were first in line at a one lane portion waiting our turn to proceed, and opened the window for the flagman to hear our quartet minus two. He was impressed, but then construction men are easy to impress.
We continued on around Mount Shasta, touching Interstate 5 for a few miles to US 97. We crossed the Oregon border at 3:30 and found a Motel 6 in Klamath Falls a short time later. We paid $2.99 extra to get Wi Fi in order to do these blogs. We had a computer glitch for a while but it seemed to work it's own way through while we enjoyed supper at KFC.. Then we found the Wi-Fi connection was quite slow. But we persevered! Sorrry about the lack of Photos. Stupid Dave. We'll try to work out a solution.
Val
“The wittiest account of your day's adventures! The breakfast prep was hysterical!!!”
8-3-12 -- DAY 5
Waking up in a regular bed, all showered and refreshed was great. We had breadkfast at a Black Bear Restaurant next door to the Motel 6. Afterwards Dave called barbershopper friend Dick Milburn. He lives in Klamath Falls and we had a phone number and email adress for him but since we had not received a reply from him, we weren't sure Dave could reach him. He recognized Dick's voice and heard a very surprised and excited response.
So we packed the car, set the GPS for Dick's address and soon were at his home. After Dave introduced him to Larry, we told him about the Great Geezer Getaway and continued to exchange news for an hour or so. He showed us around his sizable back lot where there were two cows, some chickens, a vegetable garden and three dogs. Larry took some photos of the “reunion.” Since Dave knew Dick's wife Donna, it was decided that we should go see her. She was at a senior center where she is the head chef. Dave went on ahead to surprise her. She looked at him and smiled as if she recognized him but wasn't sure from where. Then it hit her...her eyes popped open amd she cried out, "Dave Kennedy!" and rushed out from behind the counter to give him a hug.
We spent a couple of hours exchanging news before finally bidding good bye and continuing on our way. We soon reached Crater Lake and stood in awe looking at it as everyone seems to do. We traveled along the west side of the huge water filled caldera, stopping at several view points to take photos. The Lake is 6 miles long, 4 miles wide and its greatest depth is 1,974 feet. It has no beaches. All the water comes from rain and snow melt, and no water runs out of the lake.
Our visit with Dick and Donna left us short on time to do much else so we looked for a campground by Diamond Lake. We found one with plenty of empty spaces and tall trees, just 150 feet from the lake. It was so quiet and peaceful, we began to set up camp in a hurry because it was getting dark. In no time at all, we were attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes. We heard one of them say, "Let's pick these guys up and take ‘em to the lake." Another one said, "No, no, no.” Then the bigger ones will take them away from us." So we got to stay at the camp site but we quickly put on long pants and long sleeved shirts, and flailed our arms about our head while setting up the tent and cooking our hot dogs. Rick had told us to make sure to get insect repellent. Unfortunately, this was when we remembered his warning.
Val
“HAHAHAHAHA! What a fun day, guys!”
8-4-12 -- DAY 6
We woke up early and lay in the tent knowing that the mosquitoes were outside just waiting for us to emerge. We looked at each other and Larry said, "Why don't we just break camp and buy breakfast later. Dave said, "You talked me into it." We got up and broke camp as quickly as possible and the mosquitoes did their best to drive us away. They succeeded. As we drove out of the camp ground and hit the highway, Dave noticed that every thing sounded muffled. Then he realized he didn't have his hearing aides on. Where were they? Well, when he went to bed, he put them in a pocket built into the roof of the tent, which was rolled up and packed in the car. So he drove along enjoying the quiet tone of Larry's voice until we found Bend Oregon. Then we began to look for a place to eat breakfast. We got lost twice but eventually found an ihop and only had to wait about ten minutes to get a table.
Dave was smitten by the cute, young, blond waitress. Well, Larry was too, but Dave was the one who commented on her dimples. She was attentive too, standing there patiently listing to the story of the Great Geezer Getaway. After breakfast, Larry went to the restroom while Dave went out of the car. When Larry got out there, he found Dave with the hatch open and the tent partially unrolled. It took him a moment to realize Dave was after his hearing aids. It was obvious that the tent couldn't be unrolled unless they put it on the ground. So here were Dave and Larry in the ihop parking lot, spreading out their tent.
We continued, Dave with his hearing restored, and the tent rolled and packed. The Farmland scenery soon got boring, but we did see three cows laying under a tree. Mt. Hood came into sight and we passed to the east of it, eventually leaving it behind as we went through orchards and vinyards. Before we knew it we were decending into the Columbia Gorge. After finding several campsites completely full, and being informed that there were no available campsites anywhere in the gorge, we decided to head back south, out of the gorge. We wound up back at Mount Hood, on the west side.
We found a campsite with one overflow campsite left and we took it, even though it hadn't been used for a year. It turned out to be very nice -- except for the four lane highway about thirty yards away. Fortunately the trees were thick between us and the road, and after Dave took off his hearing aids, it was no problem at all for him. We had hot dogs for supper.
Val
Bend, OR. -- I've been there! They have such a tiny airport. Glad Dave found his "ears!"
8-5-12 -- DAY 7
We awoke before dawn and decided to walk to the stream Dave had found the previous evening by following the sound. We planned on taking some sunrise pictures but found that the trees and the mountains delayed the sunrise so much we gave up and returned to camp for breakfast. Dave's bacon and scrambled eggs were cooked to perfection and the meal was enjoyed by all. Then we took the winding trail through the thick underbrush of the forest to the “white-water” stream again where the sun was now shining. After taking a number of photos we returned, but Dave noticed a sort of trail and wanted to go to a different part of the stream. After some thought, Larry decided to simply return to the camp while Dave moved on with his quest, finding a different view of the stream and taking more photos.
After breaking camp we made the trip back to the Columbia Gorge and followed interstate 84 east to Multnomah Falls – at 620 feet, the second highest year-round waterfall in the nation. The parking lot is between the east and west bound lanes and was full, but Larry's handicap placard came to the rescue. The majestic falls has two stages. The first is a 542 foot drop over a cliff into a shallow pool below. A stream runs from that pool, under a foot bridge to another 69-foot falls. Larry and Dave went up the paved path to the foot bridge above the lower falls and found the major difficulty was negotiating the massive crowd of people flooding the trail. Well, it was a Sunday...and a truly awesome experience -- the falls, not the crowd.
After leaving the falls we went east on 84 to Cascade Locks, a town where there is a bridge across the Columbia River. It's called "The Bridge of the Gods" and has a steel grate for a road surface. The speed limit is 15 miles an hour and the toll was one dollar. It was so narrow, trucks were not allowed on it. Now in Washington, we found our route going north and headed towards Mount St Helens. The road went up and down and around this way and that way with speeds often limited to 35 mph. Whether the ground is constantly unstable, or haven't had major repair since the eruption, we don't know, but there were constant patches and wicked dips on the roads all around the mountain. There seemed to be an eerie feeling as we went around this volcano knowing what it had done just a few years earlier. One viewpoint overlooked a valley that had been pretty much wiped clear by the eruption. In the years since, the forest service has carfully helped the flora recover, planting many trees and restoring it to a thick forest of evergreen trees. In a few places we could see bare, dead tree trunks sticking up, two or three times taller than the recovering forest. They must have been remnants of the trees before the eruption.
We were worried about finding a campsite before dark, but after leaving the vicinity of Mount St. Helens, we came upon a campground that turned out to have over fifty campsites. It was in an "old growth" forest with mostly Western Red Ceder and Douglas Fir trees with tree trunks from 2 to 7 feet in diameter and up to 230 feet tall. There was thick under brush and hardwood trees also. We put our $10 into the envelope and dropped it in the iron deposit container and later, the hosts, two older gentlemen came by in a golf cart and asked us if we needed any firewood. Dave asked, "Do we have to pay for it?" Their reply, "Well we're not giving it away free." So Dave responded, "No, we don't need any." That opened a long conversation and our relating the story of the Great Geezer Getaway. Afterwards, we cooked our hot dogs and went to bed.
Val
“What a pretty pic--are u able to upload now? Wonder what day 8 will bring??? I'll read on...!”
8-6-12 -- DAY 8
Dawn in the old growth forest was very quiet. In the morning light, the tall trees were impressive, but as Dave looked up and took some photos, he felt a drop hit him. The sky was gray from a cloud overcast, not the early hour. Fear of breaking camp in the rain prompted us to do it right then. By the time we were ready to leave, there hadn't been many drops, but after we got on our way, the rain started, albeit a light rain. We still hadn't had breakfast yet. Shortly after we got underway, we reached an intersection where Dave wound up going the wrong way. We discovered that after traveling 17 miles, so we did a U turn and went back. It was many miles before we finally found a restaurant where we had a good breakfast.
We soon approached Mount Rainier and continued around it on the west and north side. Larry kept complaining that he wanted to go to Mount Rainier until I reminded him that a 12,000 foot mountain is something you climb, not drive to. We discovered that we were very close to Tacoma but had hoped to camp one more night before getting there. So we turned off towards some park, which turned out to be a bust, then Dave tried to get back into the forest and followed a local road through two intersections to a sign that said, Road Ends After 2 Miles. So we went back through those two intersections and headed the other way. We reached an intersection, made a logical turn, wound through the countryside and came to a sign that said, Road Ends After 2 Miles. Dave stopped and looked around and said, "This is the same sign we were at before!"
Since all roads seemed to lead to Road Ends After 2 Miles, Dave backtracked all the way to the highway and continued on towards Tacoma. We stopped to buy something, then went to a bank to pull out some more breakfast money. Finally Dave called his cousin in Tacoma who invited him to come on up, bring Larry and stay a couple of nights. So about 45 minutes later, we found the house where Cousin Bill and his wife Linda live. It’s situated on a hill overlooking Puget Sound, a large home built around the late 1920s. They are a very nice couple and we met their two daughters, a son-in-law, and a grandchild. It was a good rest near the half way point of our Getaway.
Val
Ahhhh day 8....sounds like the Geezers have earned a quiet respite at Cousin Bill's. Can't wait to see the pics from atop that hill! We had our own adventure on 'day 8'!
The Bay Area’s Richmond refinery had 2 explosions and sent up a black toxic cloud 3000 ft into the sky which organized right over our house! I was returning from my trip to NYC at 6:30 pm and David was returning from his day-trip to Portland around 9 pm. Since our luggage was packed, we threw it into the car and fled to SF around 10pm to the JW Marriott for the night--complete with room service--remember boys...there's a gal involved. Anyway I'm attaching a link with a pic to illustrate. They say gas prices will elevate because of the disaster.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/chevron-fire_n_1750056.html
Can't wait for days 9, 10, 11 and beyond--safe travels!
8-7-12 -- DAY 9
Bill and Linda are superb hosts. On Tuesday morning we awoke to a breakfast of eggs cooked to order, pancakes, bacon, toast and fresh fruit. Afterwards, Dave's cousin, Bill, offered several diversions. We chose the Washington State History museum where, among other things, they had a special exhibit about the Great Depression. We found a fascinating model train display taking up the entire 50-foot length of one room.
Later in the evening, Bill and Linda's two daughters and their husbands came to the house for a dinner of fried chicken, baked potatoes, salad, ice cream and cookies for desert. After dinner there was pleasant conversation and everyone politely listened to the story of the Great Geezer Getaway.
8- 8-12 -- DAY 10
After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage and potatoes, we packed the car, said our goodbys and resumed our quest. Larry told me of a gift Linda had given him. He was so tickled. He had told her of his problem of putting on socks because of his spinal stenosis. She also had a problem because her hip replacement followed with a fall and broken leg. She had two devices but only needed one, so she gave one to him. They laughingly called it a sock ‘puter onner’. He was very grateful.
Bill had suggested a number of possible things to see as we went into the north end of the Olympic Peninsula, many more sights than we could possibly fit into this adventure. We were grateful, but didn't see most of those he recommended. However, we did make it to the Hoh Rain Forest and found a camp site. Again, it was a National Forest Camp Ground so it was quite nice. It even had running water and electricity in the bathrooms.
After setting up camp, we had daylight left so we went to the Hoh’s visitor center and took a trail called "Halls of Moss." It was 8/10ths of a mile long but had some climbs and descents. The scenes, however, were eerily beautiful. Some of the ancient trees were eight or ten feet in diameter, with their branches starting way up the massive trunks. Other trees had thick strings of moss hanging from them, and huge dead trees hosted a wide variety of plants growing out of the lichen-covered, rotting bark. We were blessed by the sun descending in the west and adding its slanting rays to the variety of greens in the foliage.
After we got back to camp, we had our hot dogs and beer and went to bed.
J.R.
You had me worried for awhile, when a couple of days went by without any posts. At least, none that showed when I checked, altho you now seem to have a complete daily report. I wasn't able to check most of this week - will explain when you get back, but had nothing to do with my health (unless you count blisters and aches down to the cellular level). Looks like you guys are having another great trip. Bring me back some volcanic ash from Mount St. Helens, if you get there. Keep on truckin'!
John Thompson
Good to get more blogs from you old geezers, and more pictures too. Sounds like you had a nice visit with Dave's friend in Tacoma - and finally got fed some decent food to boot. Wow - what a treat. And now you're back camping, and the hot dog routine. Why don't you "go crazy" and get some chicken, or hamburger, or something different? Break a leg, guys (not literally), and have a great remaining trip.
John Thompson
I was just looking for some more blogs and pictures, but then I remembered that it's Sunday, and you've been busy going to church, and praying in solitude in the beautiful forests that God has provided for you.
8-9-12 -- DAY 11
We got up and fixed breakfast. Bill and Linda had given us some left over fried potatoes and sausage patties so we heated them up in foil while we fixed scrambled eggs and toast. That gave us a breakfast that was pretty darn good! We broke camp, packed up and went back to the visitors’ center to take another trail through the rain forest. This one was 1.2 miles and went by the river at one point. Again, every turn revealed a new photo and we took plenty. Larry kept wanting Dave to stand in front of some tree, posing for a picture. Dave did so grudgingly.
A fascinating thing that we repeatedly saw was trees growing on top of fallen trees. After a tree fell, moss and small plants grew on the top of the log, then more plants out of the soil left by the dying small plants. Finally there is enough on top of the log for a seedling tree to grow, and as it grew, roots went over the side of the log into the ground beneath. After a number of years the log looked like it had a tree straddling it. One old log had six trees growing on it in this way, making a line of trees atop an ancient one of their own. The hike was very enjoyable and we didn't leave the park until noon.
As we drove down the Washington coast, we weren't in a national forest so campsites were practically non existent. As the sun dipped lower on the horizon, we wondered what we were going to do, Then a sign led us to a county camp ground where the fee was around $15 and we told they guy we were used to national forest camp grounds where the fee was less and we got 50% off because of our senior Golden Pass. So he gave us a camp site for $5 plus free fire wood. We got some sunset photos after we put up the tent. Then it was hot dogs and bed.
8-10-12 -- DAY 12
We got up and decided to break camp and buy breakfast. Not long after we left the campground, we found ourselves crossing the Columbia River. Then we were driving down the Oregon coast where we found a small town with an interesting looking restaurant open for breakfast called Lauries Cafe. It was 10 AM and there was still a line waiting to get in. So we stood in line and it wasn't a long wait. The breakfast was very good and the waitress was very nice. As we were leaving, the guy at the cash register turned out to be the husband of Laurie. He told us that everyone working there was in the family. He also mentioned that it was only open for breakfast and explained that after they closed, everyone went next door to a Pizza parlor and opened that up to work there the rest of the day. They owned both places.
We drove on down the Oregon coast until we reached state route 18 which we followed east to McMinnville. Why McMinnville? Well, that is the current home of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum which happens to contain the famous Spruce Goose Flying Boat made (and flown a short distance in Los Angeles Harbor) by Howard Hughes. It was too late to go there however, so we got a room at a Motel 6. We used the GPS to find a KFC and drove there for supper. After we got back to the motel, Larry couldn't find his coat, which Dave remembered Larry wearing into the restaurant. So we drove back to the KFC, retrieved the coat, and by that time the car knew the way back to the motel.
We tried to get caught up with the blog, but were so beat we only got one day posted. We crashed then.
8-11-12 -- DAY 13
We arose in the morning for a shower and shave before packing and checking out of the motel and grabbing a quick breakfast sandwich at McDonalds. Then we went to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum which was a short way out of town. It consisted of four large buildings on a property so large it also contained a vineyard. The final approach to the museum was an exceptionally wide road painted like an airport runway that led to the front of the Aviation building where a couple of World War II planes were parked. The front of that building was all glass, and we could see the Spruce Goose sitting just inside. A large building on the left, which we learned was a water park, had a 747 on the roof.
Larry had been in contact with a woman at the museum who had arranged for us to get free admission. We wore our Great Geezer Getaway Guys shirts which no one seemed to notice until we pointed them out. After we got our admission bracelet, we spent two hours wandering around the large array of planes on display. Many of them were World War II vintage, including a B-17. The centerpiece, tho, was the Spruce Goose and it dwarfed every plane in there. Dave recognized a twin engine plane he knew as a "Goony Bird" that transported him and the Air Force Band of which he was a member. It was parked beneath one of the wings of the Spruce Goose; each wing has four large engines and a huge pontoon hanging down from it.
There is no way to describe the size of the Spruce Goose. The building was built to house it and it was sitting on a steel base below the floor level that put the bottom of the plane right at floor level. When we took an elevator to the second floor, which was actually higher than a normal second floor, we saw a display of the history of weapons. Dave had expected to get a photo looking down on top of the Spruce Goose, but alas, the wings were still above him.
Larry shares this story about Mr. Hughes’ Flying Boat: He was working in Los Angeles in the 1970s for the Hughes companies as one of their PR agency guy. Shortly after Mr. Hughes died in 1976, Larry helped escort a large number of international newsmen/women on a tour of the giant airplane as it lay in dry dock near L.A. Harbor. An aviation writer/editor from New York was late in arriving, so, after picking him up at LAX. Larry gave him a personal tour of the aircraft, during which time he (and his “guest”) both actually sat in the cockpit behind the controls. It was quite a feeling, he recalls.
After exploring the Aviation building, we went to the Space museum where there were a few more planes, but mostly a display of the space programs of the U. S. and other countries. One solemn display was a tribute to all the astronauts who perished during their participation in the program. We spent one hour there.
On our way back to highway 101 we stopped to get gas at a small station where we had bought ice the previous day. In Oregon, customers aren't allowed to pump their own gas because it is an explosive agent. So the attendant who came out to pump our gas took one look at us and said, "You guys were here yesterday." This caught us off guard because we didn't recognize him. He explained that he'd seen our business card that Larry left with the woman who sold us the ice and saw the same design on our shirts.
On down the Oregon coast we went through a number of small towns. In one, Dave pulled into a grocery store where Larry asked why he was going there. Dave said, "To get some interesting food!" So we went in and bought a number of items including two New York steaks and some hamburger. We continued on and looked for campgrounds that were mostly full. Finally we found one between 101 and the coast with a lot of camp sites. There were two left and we took one of them and set up camp. After that, we prepared a fire, burned it down to hot coals, rigged a grill over it and cooked our steaks. Wow! They were great.
8-12-12 -- DAY 14
Shortly after we got up, we heard kids. Dave went to the restroom and saw the camp of a couple with 6 kids. We decided that this was a good family that took the trouble to take 6 children, mostly girls, out camping. We broke camp and found a town called Arcadia Beach State Recreation Site, two miles south of the community of Cannon Beach (where we had breakfast); under the right conditions, one may hear the “singing sands” – a squeaking, or violin-like noise. We continued down the Oregon coast, stopping often to take pictures. The light wasn't good because there was fog and no sun. Still, we saw cliffs, big rocks sticking up out of the surf, sea lions and sand dunes.
As we continued on into California, we eventually began looking for campgrounds and decided to turn inland on State 299 which went into a national forest. Dave had forgotten to check the gas and suddenly noticed he was on empty, and we were climbing over a couple of passes on a winding road (in the middle of “nowhere”). We anxiously looked for a gas station but there were none, not even a village. Then the gas light went on! Dave began to put the car in neutral and coast down the downhill parts. We passed one camp ground but were too concerned about gas to stop. A short time later, we came into a town that had two gas stations. One was un-manned and didn't take any credit cards, only some kind of club cards. The other was busy but we filled up with 9.5 gallons -- in a 10-gallon tank!
We returned to the campground we’d spotted and found a site where we set up camp. We discovered that a short distance from the camp, where the undergrowth was thick, there was a steep drop-off to a tree- and foliage-filled canyon with an unseen stream at the bottom. Dave found a trail and followed it down, but knowing he had to climb back up, he didn't go all the way to the bottom...and never did see the stream!
It was late, so we had gourmet hotdogs before going to bed.
John T --
Did you stop at Tillamook in Oregon (just north of McMinnville) to tour the famous cheese factory and get free cheese samples?
Sounds like you're starting to wind your way back to LV, and also back to your infamous hot dog gourmet dinners. Don't forget -- the joy of your travels each day is not the destination, but the experiences of getting there!!
8-13-12 -- Day 15
After we broke camp, we headed back to 101 and traveled south until we found the turnoff to The Avenue Of The Giants, a side road that parallels 101 and goes through the California redwoods -- parts of which are old growth forests. Dave had studied this road on Google Earth, but as it turned out, he hadn’t studied the first part of it. He turned down an unmarked road where he thought the Founders Grove should be. It went a short ways to a turnaround spot and a dirt trail went from there. Like an idio (his words!), he went down the trail for about 200 feet before deciding this couldn’t be the place, and had to back up along that winding trail to the turnaround spot.
The resulting drive was longer than expected. We came to a store and RV park where we used the bathroom and looked in the store, asking the employees where the Founders Grove was. They didn’t seem to know but thought it was back the way we had come. We traveled on what seemed a long way, then went all the way back to the start but still couldn’t find it. Finally we decided we’d have to skip it and went back along the avenue, stopping a couple of times to take photos. Suddenly we came to a well marked turnoff to the Founders Grove and joined the throng of tourists who were already there.
Despite the crowd, the grove is very quiet and has many huge trees. As the oldest trees grow over 300 feet tall, they become vulnerable to high winds because their root system does not go deep since there is plenty of water on the surface. The original Founders tree, called the Dyerville Giant, was between 362 and 370 feet tall when it blew down in 1991. The noise was so loud that some people in the area thought it was a train wreck. It is estimated that it weighed over 1,000,000 pounds (that’s million!). The tall trees are impressive, but nearly as impressive are the fallen giants that lay for years hosting a community of plants growing on top of them. We spent a couple of hours walking a trail and taking photos before continuing on our way.
As we down the coast, stopping to take pictures a couple of times, we eventually reached Fort Bragg. It was after 5 p.m. and finding a campground was a problem. We finally located one a couple of miles outside Fort Bragg that was commercial, and had a lot of broken down trailers that looked semi permanent. It cost us $20.00 but we were given fire wood and it was cheaper than a motel.
8-14-12 -- Day 16
We got up early, broke camp and got into town by 8 a.m. where we had breakfast at a Denny’s. Then we went to the home-base depot of the Skunk Train, based in Ft. Bragg. CA. We located the contact Larry had made, and got our tickets for half price. Fortunately, the train was not full. It was a very comfortable ride through redwood forests, the halfway point of Northspur and the easternmost destination of Willits. The picturesque, 40-mile route passes through two deep mountain tunnels and crosses some 30 bridges.
We learned a lot from the narration given by the conductor. The train followed a small stream through a redwood forest that lacked any old growth. The train was originally for loggers who cut redwoods. At one point we saw a tree with a cut about 10 or 15 feet above ground that had a board sticking out of it. Loggers stood on this board to cut the tree down and leave the high stump.
One interesting note: As a train approaches a crossing, the engineer sounds the horn in a Morse Code sequence for the letter Q. This is two longs, a short and a long. It’s federal law that any train sounds this sequence when it approaches a crossing. The Q is for quarter, as in “can give no quarter” because it can’t stop!
On the return trip, Dave attempted to take some photos, but even though the train only traveled 15 mph at top speed, the pictures came out mostly blurred. As it turned out, he was standing next to a distinguished couple they had noticed before, so he leaned over and asked the woman what speed she was using on her camera. This simple question turned into a long conversation with the couple for the rest of the trip. Dave wanted to give them a business card but it was in an extra wallet he lost somewhere early in the trip, so Larry gave them a card. Our new friends, John and Mia, were very pleasant and interesting. We have corresponded with them via email.
After the Skunk train ride, we traveled down Highway 1 along the California coast. It had many tight curves and at one point the vertical drop to the ocean beach was nearly a thousand feet. It wasn't straight down but it was mighty steep. We took a road inland that also had a lot of curves until we found ourselves in Napa Valley. We found another Motel 6 near the southern end of Napa and had a late supper in a Burger King.
8-15-12 -- Day 17
We had been loaned two different GPS devices, one was from barbershop chum Rick Ives, the other from Daves daughter. Her’s was newer and had more features so we used that in the beginning. Every time we turned off the route, the woman’s voice scolded us with “re-cal-cu-lat-ing” and told us what we should do to get back on track. We began calling her Millie. Well, dear Millie froze up at the Columbia River, although we don’t think it was the chilly river that did it. We tried disconnecting the cord and removing the battery but it just proclaimed “kernal error.” So on Day 8, it was Rick's GPS that got us to my cousin’s house where his son-in-law got on the Internet and found a way to do a hard reboot on the Garmin. It worked, so by the end of day 10 we had Millie back on our backs. (One of these days we'll hopefully invest in our own GPS!)
Dave would drive along following the map on Millie while older Geezer Larry tracked us on the old fashioned AAA map. Pretty soon Larry would say, “We’re on the wrong road,” or “We’re going the wrong way,” or something like that. Dave would drive merrily on, watching Millie until Larry said, “Bingo! We’re right on track.”
This problem was compounded as we drove across the Sacramento Valley and Millie chose a route that was probably shorter but not the route we’d marked on the map. Larry was worried because he didn’t know where we were, but Dave kept following Millie, ignoring Larry’s demands to “turn here,” or “We’re going the wrong way.” Soon we hit a junction to the highway Larry wanted us to be on and everything was okay as we headed towards the mountains. The road became more curvy and then the curves got tighter as we climbed up over 5,000 feet. It was getting late so we began searching for a camp ground. When we spotted a ranger station, we stopped there. It was closed, but Larry managed to attract the attention of ranger Jen, a young lady who gave him directions to the Sweetwater Camp Ground that turned out to be pretty nice.
After we set up the tent, we fixed supper over our campfire – chili beans for Larry and hot dogs for Dave ...reminiscent of a scene from Blazing Saddles!
8-16-12 -- Day 18
Our breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast was very good. We broke camp and hit the road by 9:00 a.m. to follow another winding road to the entrance of Yosemite Valley. It is an impressive and popular place.
One wonders what it would be like to wander into it with no other people around. As it is, all the places tourists can go are tromped down and unnatural, but the panoramic sights are breathtaking. We stopped for photos three times and, of course, made some friends. Dave lamented the fact that he’d lost his wallet with GGG and Broadcast quartet business cards in it. Larry handed out the cards, which incidentally, were Dave’s extra cards he’d stashed in the car.
We said goodbye to Yosemite and used “Millie” to find Tioga road. She had a hiccup as we turned onto the road, but this time it was reset by simply removing and reinstalling the battery. Tioga Road is in Yosemite Park and it goes through some impressive scenery. There’s a lot of granite up there, and some of the mountains look like they’re solid granite. Dave was eying his half tank of gas and asked Larry how much of Tioga Pass was in the park.
Now we occasionally have some discussions, and sometimes they get a bit exuberant, but not often...no more than four or five times a day. It is usually over a miscommunication regarding semantics or some kind of definition. We both like to be absolutely exact!
This is what happened here. Larry was thinking of the pass as the point that is the highest part of the route, which may be technically correct, while Dave was thinking of the pass as the entire route that goes over the Sierras, which is probably the common understanding. So Larry, studying the AAA map, said the pass wasn’t in the park. Dave was driving over a winding road, glancing at the map and saying that he could plainly see that the pass was going through the park.
Hey, we’re still friends, and we eventually found the problem in our communication. True, the last climb of the pass is outside the park, but only the last couple of miles. Still inside the park is a large, mountain lake, the water of which can’t be more than 40 degrees. There were hundreds of cars parked along the road where it passed the lake and there were a few people swimming in that clear, glacier water. Well, they were young, but they had to be nuts too!
Dave had previously used Google Earth to scope out the campgrounds on the east side of Tioga Road, so we drove straight to the campground and set up camp. We had two talkative neighbors, one a lone man, a couple of years younger than we, who had an RV and a motorcycle. He camped there often and used the motorcycle to go around and see nearby sights. On the other side of us was a family from Germany. The man spoke fair English and his teenaged daughter spoke more. We played tour guides as we told them all the sights to see around their future destination of Las Vegas – other than the Strip.
Dave suggested that we go to Lee Vining for supper that evening, so we did. It was only about five miles away, near Mono Lake. It was the same restaurant we went to on our second day for breakfast. The owner showed us to a booth and Dave asked if she remembered us from 18 days earlier. “We left a card.” he said. Larry chimed in with, “We’re the Great Geezer Getaway Guys.”
Her reply: “Yes and you left your wallet here too." So Dave got his wallet back, even though it didn’t contain anything important.
After supper we returned to the campground and the German neighbor rushed up to show us a picture of what we’d missed while we were gone. A bear had appeared and tried to catch some fish in the stream about twenty feet from our camp. The host said it was a gentle bear that never caused a problem unless someone left food out when they went to bed. We locked everything in the car each night.
8-17-12 -- DAY 19
We got up and broke camp, leaving before most of the campers were even out of their tents. In Lee Vining we went to the same restaurant again, a place called Nicely’s. It’s about the only restaurant in the small town of Lee Vining other than a couple that look expensive. Nicely's was crowded. We had seen 18 National Forest Fire Fighters and around 8 BLM Fire Fighters the night before. This morning there were over a dozen people from the California Conservation Corps having breakfast. The restaurant was crowded but the food was good.
We chose, or maybe it was Dave who chose, to head back over route 120 into Benton, a road Rick Ives described as being like a roller coaster. And it was! The road occasionally yanked our stomachs up and down as we went over a rise and into a dip. Following our last camp host's suggestion, we turned onto 264 on the other side of Border Peak and headed south through Fish Lake Valley to 266, which we had traveled on our first day. As we approached US 95 we could see a stream of dust, rising into the air. Dave said it was a car speeding along a dirt road.
As we got closer to US 95 we saw that the dust storm was being caused by many cars, and when we got close enough we could see that they were off road vehicles with roll bars and helmeted drivers. It was a race! Now Dave has traveled US 95 a lot, and he’d never seen traffic like that. This was an area between Beatty and Goldfield, where even the jackrabbits carry extra water. As we turned onto the highway, there was a steady stream of traffic going north and Dave noted that they were support vehicles for the race drivers. We could see the streams of dust all over, way up on the hills, down on the flats, everywhere... and the dust was filling the valley and hiding the mountains.
All this wouldn’t have been a problem except there was a military convoy also going south at the same time, about four trucks and four Hum-vees, going about 45 mph. Again, that wouldn’t have been a problem but because of the steady line of traffic going north, we couldn’t pass. We were frustrated, finding ourselves in a line of around fifty cars following those slow military vehicles.
When we finally reached Beatty, we stopped to use the rest room, get something to drink and to fill up with gas. Dave noticed two Nye County Sheriffs having coffee and asked them what the race was. They informed him it was the Annual Off-Road Race from Las Vegas To Reno – except they actually went from Beatty to Dayton. We believe the circuitous route, however, was at least 400 miles long.
The heavy traffic going north ceased after Beatty, and the rest of the drive was uneventful. We eagerly welcomed the soft landing in Dave’s driveway to end unforgettable Great Geezer Getaway 2!
Jeremiah R
"It is so amazing what you all are doing. I was a boy scout when I was younger and I've always regretted not staying with it. I love sleeping in the outdoors and camping just brings back so many fond memories. I can tell you guys had an awesome time and look forward to the next installment!"
Finalizing our plans for Great Geezer Getaway II, we spent some time at AAA yesterday afternoon working with Kristen to map our route and get a Trip Tik made. Early this morning we met at Dave’s house and proceeded to load his Honda Fit with supplies.
7-30-12 -- DAY 1 (Our First Post While On The Road)
We covered nearly 400 miles our first day on the road -- mostly desert. Starting up US 95, we drove the first hundred miles before remembering that we forgot to get ice for our overloaded coolers. We finally found ice (and bathrooms), in Beatty where we rewarded each of us with an ice cream cone. Continuing on 95 we soon turned west at Lida Junction (at the now-closed Cottontail Ranch) at the suggestion of Joe Payton. He'd said that the first time he drove it, he was in a semi and we’d probably question his sanity. We soon found out what he meant because the road went up over a couple of passes on steep, very curvy roads.
At the top of the second pass, we saw a sign pointing to the Ancient Bristlecone Pines Forest and went to check it out. That was a 10-mile side trip of a winding road going up to t 10,000 feet, We made some friends with a young woman forest ranger and a very pretty Hollywood actress who posed for a picture with us. We learned that these trees are the oldest on earth, some up to 10,000 years old.
We continued on to US 395 and found a campground at June Lake for our first night. After we pitched tent, neighboring campers returned and excitedly told of a black bear that visited the previous night and tried to get into the 500 lb. disposal bin until he tipped it over. That bin was ten feet from our tent, so we left a camp light on all night. He visited again, but didn't stay long.
7-31-12 -- DAY 2
Can you believe that we got up at 4:30 AM so we could be at the tufa columns at Mono Lake at dawn. Dave wanted to get some photos and the sky was very cooperative. There were at least a dozen other people there, all with cameras bigger and better than Dave's but he still took over 200 photos. We wish we could show you some but Dave forgot to put the software on our laptop to process the photos for our blog.
We decided to buy breakfast on the way back to camp but failed to find an open restaurant so decided to break camp and then eat. After breakfast in Lee Vining, we went up 395 to California 89. This is a scenic route and the one we plan on following to the top of California. We went over 8,314-foot Monitor Pass and saw a drastic change in flora. Continuing on through pine tree forests, we soon reached Lake Tahoe and millions of tourists. We stopped at a viw point at Emerald Bay where we met some nice people who asked us to take their picture and then we had them take ours. We handed out several of our Great Geezer Getaway Guys business, er “retirement” cards. Leaving Lake Tahoe we crossed Interstate 80 and continued north into more pine trees and found a nice National Forest campground by a reservoir for our second night.
Val
“First night and the second day sound really fun! Isn't Emerald Bay the prettiest thing ever? Can't wait to see the picture!”
8-1-12 -- DAY 3
Again we were too lazy to fix breakfast. We also needed to refresh our ice. Finding a place to eat, however, proved to be a problem on the secluded Sierra highway. We found several establishments that weren't open. Then Dave ran over a poor little squirrel. He really felt bad about it. Finally we hit a small, very clean-looking town in Plumas County named Quincy where we had brunch on an outdoor veranda. Included was some excitement: a man crossing the street in front of us, collapsed in the middle of the road. We watched with interest as the volunteer fire department and rescue workers came rushing in one at a time from all directions. A young woman police person who Dave thought was pretty attractive asked him where the victim was. He quickly pointed him out, and watched the young woman rush to the scene. An ambulance showed up and we don’t know the rest of the story!
Continuing on, we passed by Northern California’s Lake Amador ,which was surprisingly large but we didn't see much of it as we drove by because of the trees. There was a noticeable smoky haze from a nearby forest fire. We next found Lassen Volcano National Park and stopped in a parking lot near bubbling lava mud pots.. Dave decided to follow a climbing, winding trail toward the crest. Larry thought, "There he goes again!" Well Dave thought it was a short trail but found the steep climb robbed him of oxygen at the 8,000-foot altitude. Then he found that his destination was a mile-long hike, all up hill. He went about a half mile, took some photos and then returned to an awaiting Larry.
After a few more pictures of the boiling sulfur pot holes, we drove on over Mount Lassen and continued looking for a campsite. As we were leaving the volcano, we saw the smoke of a small, just starting forest fire. Some Forest Service crews were standing beside the road watching the smoke, evidently trying to decide what to do about it. About 20 miles from Lassen, we found a large campground with only 4 or 5 camp sites being used. After pitching the tent near a stream, we had a fantastic supper of hot dogs.
Val
“Wow! Day 3 was action-packed! Don't worry about the squirrel, Dave, he didn't know what hit him--better than being torn up by wolves :) In the end....all seems to have worked out because there was a yummy meal of hotdogs—YUM!”
8-2-12 -- DAY 4
We finally found the energy to eat a camp breakfast. We started with some fruit, an Apple for Dave and an orange for Larry. The latter set up the camp stove and gathered the food togather while Dave broke a half dozen eggs into a bowl that was too large for the purpose, and beat them up with some milk for scrambled eggs. Larry burned the bacon then asked Dave to finish cooking them while he went to the rest room. So Dave removed the blackened bacon and put in four more slices, cooking them perfectly. Larry cooked the scrambled eggs while Dave burned the toast and attempted to butter it with hard butter. Finally we sat down and thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast, eating it all.
When we were nearly done breaking camp, the older couple in the neighboring camp site stopped by and we had a delightful conversation. They told us of some exciting places to see on our way up through Oregon. Of course we told them all about the Great Geezer Getaway, giving them business cards and showing them the AAA article. We learned that he was a retired Sociology Professer from Hawaii and they worked out all sort of trades for places to stay here in the states.
Dave has patiently been training Larry to work as a team putting up and taking down the tent, giving us more time to stand around telling strangers about our exploits. After we left the camp site, we ran into some construction while singing pole cats with the learning disk so Larry could gain confidence on lead. For the second time we were first in line at a one lane portion waiting our turn to proceed, and opened the window for the flagman to hear our quartet minus two. He was impressed, but then construction men are easy to impress.
We continued on around Mount Shasta, touching Interstate 5 for a few miles to US 97. We crossed the Oregon border at 3:30 and found a Motel 6 in Klamath Falls a short time later. We paid $2.99 extra to get Wi Fi in order to do these blogs. We had a computer glitch for a while but it seemed to work it's own way through while we enjoyed supper at KFC.. Then we found the Wi-Fi connection was quite slow. But we persevered! Sorrry about the lack of Photos. Stupid Dave. We'll try to work out a solution.
Val
“The wittiest account of your day's adventures! The breakfast prep was hysterical!!!”
8-3-12 -- DAY 5
Waking up in a regular bed, all showered and refreshed was great. We had breadkfast at a Black Bear Restaurant next door to the Motel 6. Afterwards Dave called barbershopper friend Dick Milburn. He lives in Klamath Falls and we had a phone number and email adress for him but since we had not received a reply from him, we weren't sure Dave could reach him. He recognized Dick's voice and heard a very surprised and excited response.
So we packed the car, set the GPS for Dick's address and soon were at his home. After Dave introduced him to Larry, we told him about the Great Geezer Getaway and continued to exchange news for an hour or so. He showed us around his sizable back lot where there were two cows, some chickens, a vegetable garden and three dogs. Larry took some photos of the “reunion.” Since Dave knew Dick's wife Donna, it was decided that we should go see her. She was at a senior center where she is the head chef. Dave went on ahead to surprise her. She looked at him and smiled as if she recognized him but wasn't sure from where. Then it hit her...her eyes popped open amd she cried out, "Dave Kennedy!" and rushed out from behind the counter to give him a hug.
We spent a couple of hours exchanging news before finally bidding good bye and continuing on our way. We soon reached Crater Lake and stood in awe looking at it as everyone seems to do. We traveled along the west side of the huge water filled caldera, stopping at several view points to take photos. The Lake is 6 miles long, 4 miles wide and its greatest depth is 1,974 feet. It has no beaches. All the water comes from rain and snow melt, and no water runs out of the lake.
Our visit with Dick and Donna left us short on time to do much else so we looked for a campground by Diamond Lake. We found one with plenty of empty spaces and tall trees, just 150 feet from the lake. It was so quiet and peaceful, we began to set up camp in a hurry because it was getting dark. In no time at all, we were attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes. We heard one of them say, "Let's pick these guys up and take ‘em to the lake." Another one said, "No, no, no.” Then the bigger ones will take them away from us." So we got to stay at the camp site but we quickly put on long pants and long sleeved shirts, and flailed our arms about our head while setting up the tent and cooking our hot dogs. Rick had told us to make sure to get insect repellent. Unfortunately, this was when we remembered his warning.
Val
“HAHAHAHAHA! What a fun day, guys!”
8-4-12 -- DAY 6
We woke up early and lay in the tent knowing that the mosquitoes were outside just waiting for us to emerge. We looked at each other and Larry said, "Why don't we just break camp and buy breakfast later. Dave said, "You talked me into it." We got up and broke camp as quickly as possible and the mosquitoes did their best to drive us away. They succeeded. As we drove out of the camp ground and hit the highway, Dave noticed that every thing sounded muffled. Then he realized he didn't have his hearing aides on. Where were they? Well, when he went to bed, he put them in a pocket built into the roof of the tent, which was rolled up and packed in the car. So he drove along enjoying the quiet tone of Larry's voice until we found Bend Oregon. Then we began to look for a place to eat breakfast. We got lost twice but eventually found an ihop and only had to wait about ten minutes to get a table.
Dave was smitten by the cute, young, blond waitress. Well, Larry was too, but Dave was the one who commented on her dimples. She was attentive too, standing there patiently listing to the story of the Great Geezer Getaway. After breakfast, Larry went to the restroom while Dave went out of the car. When Larry got out there, he found Dave with the hatch open and the tent partially unrolled. It took him a moment to realize Dave was after his hearing aids. It was obvious that the tent couldn't be unrolled unless they put it on the ground. So here were Dave and Larry in the ihop parking lot, spreading out their tent.
We continued, Dave with his hearing restored, and the tent rolled and packed. The Farmland scenery soon got boring, but we did see three cows laying under a tree. Mt. Hood came into sight and we passed to the east of it, eventually leaving it behind as we went through orchards and vinyards. Before we knew it we were decending into the Columbia Gorge. After finding several campsites completely full, and being informed that there were no available campsites anywhere in the gorge, we decided to head back south, out of the gorge. We wound up back at Mount Hood, on the west side.
We found a campsite with one overflow campsite left and we took it, even though it hadn't been used for a year. It turned out to be very nice -- except for the four lane highway about thirty yards away. Fortunately the trees were thick between us and the road, and after Dave took off his hearing aids, it was no problem at all for him. We had hot dogs for supper.
Val
Bend, OR. -- I've been there! They have such a tiny airport. Glad Dave found his "ears!"
8-5-12 -- DAY 7
We awoke before dawn and decided to walk to the stream Dave had found the previous evening by following the sound. We planned on taking some sunrise pictures but found that the trees and the mountains delayed the sunrise so much we gave up and returned to camp for breakfast. Dave's bacon and scrambled eggs were cooked to perfection and the meal was enjoyed by all. Then we took the winding trail through the thick underbrush of the forest to the “white-water” stream again where the sun was now shining. After taking a number of photos we returned, but Dave noticed a sort of trail and wanted to go to a different part of the stream. After some thought, Larry decided to simply return to the camp while Dave moved on with his quest, finding a different view of the stream and taking more photos.
After breaking camp we made the trip back to the Columbia Gorge and followed interstate 84 east to Multnomah Falls – at 620 feet, the second highest year-round waterfall in the nation. The parking lot is between the east and west bound lanes and was full, but Larry's handicap placard came to the rescue. The majestic falls has two stages. The first is a 542 foot drop over a cliff into a shallow pool below. A stream runs from that pool, under a foot bridge to another 69-foot falls. Larry and Dave went up the paved path to the foot bridge above the lower falls and found the major difficulty was negotiating the massive crowd of people flooding the trail. Well, it was a Sunday...and a truly awesome experience -- the falls, not the crowd.
After leaving the falls we went east on 84 to Cascade Locks, a town where there is a bridge across the Columbia River. It's called "The Bridge of the Gods" and has a steel grate for a road surface. The speed limit is 15 miles an hour and the toll was one dollar. It was so narrow, trucks were not allowed on it. Now in Washington, we found our route going north and headed towards Mount St Helens. The road went up and down and around this way and that way with speeds often limited to 35 mph. Whether the ground is constantly unstable, or haven't had major repair since the eruption, we don't know, but there were constant patches and wicked dips on the roads all around the mountain. There seemed to be an eerie feeling as we went around this volcano knowing what it had done just a few years earlier. One viewpoint overlooked a valley that had been pretty much wiped clear by the eruption. In the years since, the forest service has carfully helped the flora recover, planting many trees and restoring it to a thick forest of evergreen trees. In a few places we could see bare, dead tree trunks sticking up, two or three times taller than the recovering forest. They must have been remnants of the trees before the eruption.
We were worried about finding a campsite before dark, but after leaving the vicinity of Mount St. Helens, we came upon a campground that turned out to have over fifty campsites. It was in an "old growth" forest with mostly Western Red Ceder and Douglas Fir trees with tree trunks from 2 to 7 feet in diameter and up to 230 feet tall. There was thick under brush and hardwood trees also. We put our $10 into the envelope and dropped it in the iron deposit container and later, the hosts, two older gentlemen came by in a golf cart and asked us if we needed any firewood. Dave asked, "Do we have to pay for it?" Their reply, "Well we're not giving it away free." So Dave responded, "No, we don't need any." That opened a long conversation and our relating the story of the Great Geezer Getaway. Afterwards, we cooked our hot dogs and went to bed.
Val
“What a pretty pic--are u able to upload now? Wonder what day 8 will bring??? I'll read on...!”
8-6-12 -- DAY 8
Dawn in the old growth forest was very quiet. In the morning light, the tall trees were impressive, but as Dave looked up and took some photos, he felt a drop hit him. The sky was gray from a cloud overcast, not the early hour. Fear of breaking camp in the rain prompted us to do it right then. By the time we were ready to leave, there hadn't been many drops, but after we got on our way, the rain started, albeit a light rain. We still hadn't had breakfast yet. Shortly after we got underway, we reached an intersection where Dave wound up going the wrong way. We discovered that after traveling 17 miles, so we did a U turn and went back. It was many miles before we finally found a restaurant where we had a good breakfast.
We soon approached Mount Rainier and continued around it on the west and north side. Larry kept complaining that he wanted to go to Mount Rainier until I reminded him that a 12,000 foot mountain is something you climb, not drive to. We discovered that we were very close to Tacoma but had hoped to camp one more night before getting there. So we turned off towards some park, which turned out to be a bust, then Dave tried to get back into the forest and followed a local road through two intersections to a sign that said, Road Ends After 2 Miles. So we went back through those two intersections and headed the other way. We reached an intersection, made a logical turn, wound through the countryside and came to a sign that said, Road Ends After 2 Miles. Dave stopped and looked around and said, "This is the same sign we were at before!"
Since all roads seemed to lead to Road Ends After 2 Miles, Dave backtracked all the way to the highway and continued on towards Tacoma. We stopped to buy something, then went to a bank to pull out some more breakfast money. Finally Dave called his cousin in Tacoma who invited him to come on up, bring Larry and stay a couple of nights. So about 45 minutes later, we found the house where Cousin Bill and his wife Linda live. It’s situated on a hill overlooking Puget Sound, a large home built around the late 1920s. They are a very nice couple and we met their two daughters, a son-in-law, and a grandchild. It was a good rest near the half way point of our Getaway.
Val
Ahhhh day 8....sounds like the Geezers have earned a quiet respite at Cousin Bill's. Can't wait to see the pics from atop that hill! We had our own adventure on 'day 8'!
The Bay Area’s Richmond refinery had 2 explosions and sent up a black toxic cloud 3000 ft into the sky which organized right over our house! I was returning from my trip to NYC at 6:30 pm and David was returning from his day-trip to Portland around 9 pm. Since our luggage was packed, we threw it into the car and fled to SF around 10pm to the JW Marriott for the night--complete with room service--remember boys...there's a gal involved. Anyway I'm attaching a link with a pic to illustrate. They say gas prices will elevate because of the disaster.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/chevron-fire_n_1750056.html
Can't wait for days 9, 10, 11 and beyond--safe travels!
8-7-12 -- DAY 9
Bill and Linda are superb hosts. On Tuesday morning we awoke to a breakfast of eggs cooked to order, pancakes, bacon, toast and fresh fruit. Afterwards, Dave's cousin, Bill, offered several diversions. We chose the Washington State History museum where, among other things, they had a special exhibit about the Great Depression. We found a fascinating model train display taking up the entire 50-foot length of one room.
Later in the evening, Bill and Linda's two daughters and their husbands came to the house for a dinner of fried chicken, baked potatoes, salad, ice cream and cookies for desert. After dinner there was pleasant conversation and everyone politely listened to the story of the Great Geezer Getaway.
8- 8-12 -- DAY 10
After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage and potatoes, we packed the car, said our goodbys and resumed our quest. Larry told me of a gift Linda had given him. He was so tickled. He had told her of his problem of putting on socks because of his spinal stenosis. She also had a problem because her hip replacement followed with a fall and broken leg. She had two devices but only needed one, so she gave one to him. They laughingly called it a sock ‘puter onner’. He was very grateful.
Bill had suggested a number of possible things to see as we went into the north end of the Olympic Peninsula, many more sights than we could possibly fit into this adventure. We were grateful, but didn't see most of those he recommended. However, we did make it to the Hoh Rain Forest and found a camp site. Again, it was a National Forest Camp Ground so it was quite nice. It even had running water and electricity in the bathrooms.
After setting up camp, we had daylight left so we went to the Hoh’s visitor center and took a trail called "Halls of Moss." It was 8/10ths of a mile long but had some climbs and descents. The scenes, however, were eerily beautiful. Some of the ancient trees were eight or ten feet in diameter, with their branches starting way up the massive trunks. Other trees had thick strings of moss hanging from them, and huge dead trees hosted a wide variety of plants growing out of the lichen-covered, rotting bark. We were blessed by the sun descending in the west and adding its slanting rays to the variety of greens in the foliage.
After we got back to camp, we had our hot dogs and beer and went to bed.
J.R.
You had me worried for awhile, when a couple of days went by without any posts. At least, none that showed when I checked, altho you now seem to have a complete daily report. I wasn't able to check most of this week - will explain when you get back, but had nothing to do with my health (unless you count blisters and aches down to the cellular level). Looks like you guys are having another great trip. Bring me back some volcanic ash from Mount St. Helens, if you get there. Keep on truckin'!
John Thompson
Good to get more blogs from you old geezers, and more pictures too. Sounds like you had a nice visit with Dave's friend in Tacoma - and finally got fed some decent food to boot. Wow - what a treat. And now you're back camping, and the hot dog routine. Why don't you "go crazy" and get some chicken, or hamburger, or something different? Break a leg, guys (not literally), and have a great remaining trip.
John Thompson
I was just looking for some more blogs and pictures, but then I remembered that it's Sunday, and you've been busy going to church, and praying in solitude in the beautiful forests that God has provided for you.
8-9-12 -- DAY 11
We got up and fixed breakfast. Bill and Linda had given us some left over fried potatoes and sausage patties so we heated them up in foil while we fixed scrambled eggs and toast. That gave us a breakfast that was pretty darn good! We broke camp, packed up and went back to the visitors’ center to take another trail through the rain forest. This one was 1.2 miles and went by the river at one point. Again, every turn revealed a new photo and we took plenty. Larry kept wanting Dave to stand in front of some tree, posing for a picture. Dave did so grudgingly.
A fascinating thing that we repeatedly saw was trees growing on top of fallen trees. After a tree fell, moss and small plants grew on the top of the log, then more plants out of the soil left by the dying small plants. Finally there is enough on top of the log for a seedling tree to grow, and as it grew, roots went over the side of the log into the ground beneath. After a number of years the log looked like it had a tree straddling it. One old log had six trees growing on it in this way, making a line of trees atop an ancient one of their own. The hike was very enjoyable and we didn't leave the park until noon.
As we drove down the Washington coast, we weren't in a national forest so campsites were practically non existent. As the sun dipped lower on the horizon, we wondered what we were going to do, Then a sign led us to a county camp ground where the fee was around $15 and we told they guy we were used to national forest camp grounds where the fee was less and we got 50% off because of our senior Golden Pass. So he gave us a camp site for $5 plus free fire wood. We got some sunset photos after we put up the tent. Then it was hot dogs and bed.
8-10-12 -- DAY 12
We got up and decided to break camp and buy breakfast. Not long after we left the campground, we found ourselves crossing the Columbia River. Then we were driving down the Oregon coast where we found a small town with an interesting looking restaurant open for breakfast called Lauries Cafe. It was 10 AM and there was still a line waiting to get in. So we stood in line and it wasn't a long wait. The breakfast was very good and the waitress was very nice. As we were leaving, the guy at the cash register turned out to be the husband of Laurie. He told us that everyone working there was in the family. He also mentioned that it was only open for breakfast and explained that after they closed, everyone went next door to a Pizza parlor and opened that up to work there the rest of the day. They owned both places.
We drove on down the Oregon coast until we reached state route 18 which we followed east to McMinnville. Why McMinnville? Well, that is the current home of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum which happens to contain the famous Spruce Goose Flying Boat made (and flown a short distance in Los Angeles Harbor) by Howard Hughes. It was too late to go there however, so we got a room at a Motel 6. We used the GPS to find a KFC and drove there for supper. After we got back to the motel, Larry couldn't find his coat, which Dave remembered Larry wearing into the restaurant. So we drove back to the KFC, retrieved the coat, and by that time the car knew the way back to the motel.
We tried to get caught up with the blog, but were so beat we only got one day posted. We crashed then.
8-11-12 -- DAY 13
We arose in the morning for a shower and shave before packing and checking out of the motel and grabbing a quick breakfast sandwich at McDonalds. Then we went to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum which was a short way out of town. It consisted of four large buildings on a property so large it also contained a vineyard. The final approach to the museum was an exceptionally wide road painted like an airport runway that led to the front of the Aviation building where a couple of World War II planes were parked. The front of that building was all glass, and we could see the Spruce Goose sitting just inside. A large building on the left, which we learned was a water park, had a 747 on the roof.
Larry had been in contact with a woman at the museum who had arranged for us to get free admission. We wore our Great Geezer Getaway Guys shirts which no one seemed to notice until we pointed them out. After we got our admission bracelet, we spent two hours wandering around the large array of planes on display. Many of them were World War II vintage, including a B-17. The centerpiece, tho, was the Spruce Goose and it dwarfed every plane in there. Dave recognized a twin engine plane he knew as a "Goony Bird" that transported him and the Air Force Band of which he was a member. It was parked beneath one of the wings of the Spruce Goose; each wing has four large engines and a huge pontoon hanging down from it.
There is no way to describe the size of the Spruce Goose. The building was built to house it and it was sitting on a steel base below the floor level that put the bottom of the plane right at floor level. When we took an elevator to the second floor, which was actually higher than a normal second floor, we saw a display of the history of weapons. Dave had expected to get a photo looking down on top of the Spruce Goose, but alas, the wings were still above him.
Larry shares this story about Mr. Hughes’ Flying Boat: He was working in Los Angeles in the 1970s for the Hughes companies as one of their PR agency guy. Shortly after Mr. Hughes died in 1976, Larry helped escort a large number of international newsmen/women on a tour of the giant airplane as it lay in dry dock near L.A. Harbor. An aviation writer/editor from New York was late in arriving, so, after picking him up at LAX. Larry gave him a personal tour of the aircraft, during which time he (and his “guest”) both actually sat in the cockpit behind the controls. It was quite a feeling, he recalls.
After exploring the Aviation building, we went to the Space museum where there were a few more planes, but mostly a display of the space programs of the U. S. and other countries. One solemn display was a tribute to all the astronauts who perished during their participation in the program. We spent one hour there.
On our way back to highway 101 we stopped to get gas at a small station where we had bought ice the previous day. In Oregon, customers aren't allowed to pump their own gas because it is an explosive agent. So the attendant who came out to pump our gas took one look at us and said, "You guys were here yesterday." This caught us off guard because we didn't recognize him. He explained that he'd seen our business card that Larry left with the woman who sold us the ice and saw the same design on our shirts.
On down the Oregon coast we went through a number of small towns. In one, Dave pulled into a grocery store where Larry asked why he was going there. Dave said, "To get some interesting food!" So we went in and bought a number of items including two New York steaks and some hamburger. We continued on and looked for campgrounds that were mostly full. Finally we found one between 101 and the coast with a lot of camp sites. There were two left and we took one of them and set up camp. After that, we prepared a fire, burned it down to hot coals, rigged a grill over it and cooked our steaks. Wow! They were great.
8-12-12 -- DAY 14
Shortly after we got up, we heard kids. Dave went to the restroom and saw the camp of a couple with 6 kids. We decided that this was a good family that took the trouble to take 6 children, mostly girls, out camping. We broke camp and found a town called Arcadia Beach State Recreation Site, two miles south of the community of Cannon Beach (where we had breakfast); under the right conditions, one may hear the “singing sands” – a squeaking, or violin-like noise. We continued down the Oregon coast, stopping often to take pictures. The light wasn't good because there was fog and no sun. Still, we saw cliffs, big rocks sticking up out of the surf, sea lions and sand dunes.
As we continued on into California, we eventually began looking for campgrounds and decided to turn inland on State 299 which went into a national forest. Dave had forgotten to check the gas and suddenly noticed he was on empty, and we were climbing over a couple of passes on a winding road (in the middle of “nowhere”). We anxiously looked for a gas station but there were none, not even a village. Then the gas light went on! Dave began to put the car in neutral and coast down the downhill parts. We passed one camp ground but were too concerned about gas to stop. A short time later, we came into a town that had two gas stations. One was un-manned and didn't take any credit cards, only some kind of club cards. The other was busy but we filled up with 9.5 gallons -- in a 10-gallon tank!
We returned to the campground we’d spotted and found a site where we set up camp. We discovered that a short distance from the camp, where the undergrowth was thick, there was a steep drop-off to a tree- and foliage-filled canyon with an unseen stream at the bottom. Dave found a trail and followed it down, but knowing he had to climb back up, he didn't go all the way to the bottom...and never did see the stream!
It was late, so we had gourmet hotdogs before going to bed.
John T --
Did you stop at Tillamook in Oregon (just north of McMinnville) to tour the famous cheese factory and get free cheese samples?
Sounds like you're starting to wind your way back to LV, and also back to your infamous hot dog gourmet dinners. Don't forget -- the joy of your travels each day is not the destination, but the experiences of getting there!!
8-13-12 -- Day 15
After we broke camp, we headed back to 101 and traveled south until we found the turnoff to The Avenue Of The Giants, a side road that parallels 101 and goes through the California redwoods -- parts of which are old growth forests. Dave had studied this road on Google Earth, but as it turned out, he hadn’t studied the first part of it. He turned down an unmarked road where he thought the Founders Grove should be. It went a short ways to a turnaround spot and a dirt trail went from there. Like an idio (his words!), he went down the trail for about 200 feet before deciding this couldn’t be the place, and had to back up along that winding trail to the turnaround spot.
The resulting drive was longer than expected. We came to a store and RV park where we used the bathroom and looked in the store, asking the employees where the Founders Grove was. They didn’t seem to know but thought it was back the way we had come. We traveled on what seemed a long way, then went all the way back to the start but still couldn’t find it. Finally we decided we’d have to skip it and went back along the avenue, stopping a couple of times to take photos. Suddenly we came to a well marked turnoff to the Founders Grove and joined the throng of tourists who were already there.
Despite the crowd, the grove is very quiet and has many huge trees. As the oldest trees grow over 300 feet tall, they become vulnerable to high winds because their root system does not go deep since there is plenty of water on the surface. The original Founders tree, called the Dyerville Giant, was between 362 and 370 feet tall when it blew down in 1991. The noise was so loud that some people in the area thought it was a train wreck. It is estimated that it weighed over 1,000,000 pounds (that’s million!). The tall trees are impressive, but nearly as impressive are the fallen giants that lay for years hosting a community of plants growing on top of them. We spent a couple of hours walking a trail and taking photos before continuing on our way.
As we down the coast, stopping to take pictures a couple of times, we eventually reached Fort Bragg. It was after 5 p.m. and finding a campground was a problem. We finally located one a couple of miles outside Fort Bragg that was commercial, and had a lot of broken down trailers that looked semi permanent. It cost us $20.00 but we were given fire wood and it was cheaper than a motel.
8-14-12 -- Day 16
We got up early, broke camp and got into town by 8 a.m. where we had breakfast at a Denny’s. Then we went to the home-base depot of the Skunk Train, based in Ft. Bragg. CA. We located the contact Larry had made, and got our tickets for half price. Fortunately, the train was not full. It was a very comfortable ride through redwood forests, the halfway point of Northspur and the easternmost destination of Willits. The picturesque, 40-mile route passes through two deep mountain tunnels and crosses some 30 bridges.
We learned a lot from the narration given by the conductor. The train followed a small stream through a redwood forest that lacked any old growth. The train was originally for loggers who cut redwoods. At one point we saw a tree with a cut about 10 or 15 feet above ground that had a board sticking out of it. Loggers stood on this board to cut the tree down and leave the high stump.
One interesting note: As a train approaches a crossing, the engineer sounds the horn in a Morse Code sequence for the letter Q. This is two longs, a short and a long. It’s federal law that any train sounds this sequence when it approaches a crossing. The Q is for quarter, as in “can give no quarter” because it can’t stop!
On the return trip, Dave attempted to take some photos, but even though the train only traveled 15 mph at top speed, the pictures came out mostly blurred. As it turned out, he was standing next to a distinguished couple they had noticed before, so he leaned over and asked the woman what speed she was using on her camera. This simple question turned into a long conversation with the couple for the rest of the trip. Dave wanted to give them a business card but it was in an extra wallet he lost somewhere early in the trip, so Larry gave them a card. Our new friends, John and Mia, were very pleasant and interesting. We have corresponded with them via email.
After the Skunk train ride, we traveled down Highway 1 along the California coast. It had many tight curves and at one point the vertical drop to the ocean beach was nearly a thousand feet. It wasn't straight down but it was mighty steep. We took a road inland that also had a lot of curves until we found ourselves in Napa Valley. We found another Motel 6 near the southern end of Napa and had a late supper in a Burger King.
8-15-12 -- Day 17
We had been loaned two different GPS devices, one was from barbershop chum Rick Ives, the other from Daves daughter. Her’s was newer and had more features so we used that in the beginning. Every time we turned off the route, the woman’s voice scolded us with “re-cal-cu-lat-ing” and told us what we should do to get back on track. We began calling her Millie. Well, dear Millie froze up at the Columbia River, although we don’t think it was the chilly river that did it. We tried disconnecting the cord and removing the battery but it just proclaimed “kernal error.” So on Day 8, it was Rick's GPS that got us to my cousin’s house where his son-in-law got on the Internet and found a way to do a hard reboot on the Garmin. It worked, so by the end of day 10 we had Millie back on our backs. (One of these days we'll hopefully invest in our own GPS!)
Dave would drive along following the map on Millie while older Geezer Larry tracked us on the old fashioned AAA map. Pretty soon Larry would say, “We’re on the wrong road,” or “We’re going the wrong way,” or something like that. Dave would drive merrily on, watching Millie until Larry said, “Bingo! We’re right on track.”
This problem was compounded as we drove across the Sacramento Valley and Millie chose a route that was probably shorter but not the route we’d marked on the map. Larry was worried because he didn’t know where we were, but Dave kept following Millie, ignoring Larry’s demands to “turn here,” or “We’re going the wrong way.” Soon we hit a junction to the highway Larry wanted us to be on and everything was okay as we headed towards the mountains. The road became more curvy and then the curves got tighter as we climbed up over 5,000 feet. It was getting late so we began searching for a camp ground. When we spotted a ranger station, we stopped there. It was closed, but Larry managed to attract the attention of ranger Jen, a young lady who gave him directions to the Sweetwater Camp Ground that turned out to be pretty nice.
After we set up the tent, we fixed supper over our campfire – chili beans for Larry and hot dogs for Dave ...reminiscent of a scene from Blazing Saddles!
8-16-12 -- Day 18
Our breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast was very good. We broke camp and hit the road by 9:00 a.m. to follow another winding road to the entrance of Yosemite Valley. It is an impressive and popular place.
One wonders what it would be like to wander into it with no other people around. As it is, all the places tourists can go are tromped down and unnatural, but the panoramic sights are breathtaking. We stopped for photos three times and, of course, made some friends. Dave lamented the fact that he’d lost his wallet with GGG and Broadcast quartet business cards in it. Larry handed out the cards, which incidentally, were Dave’s extra cards he’d stashed in the car.
We said goodbye to Yosemite and used “Millie” to find Tioga road. She had a hiccup as we turned onto the road, but this time it was reset by simply removing and reinstalling the battery. Tioga Road is in Yosemite Park and it goes through some impressive scenery. There’s a lot of granite up there, and some of the mountains look like they’re solid granite. Dave was eying his half tank of gas and asked Larry how much of Tioga Pass was in the park.
Now we occasionally have some discussions, and sometimes they get a bit exuberant, but not often...no more than four or five times a day. It is usually over a miscommunication regarding semantics or some kind of definition. We both like to be absolutely exact!
This is what happened here. Larry was thinking of the pass as the point that is the highest part of the route, which may be technically correct, while Dave was thinking of the pass as the entire route that goes over the Sierras, which is probably the common understanding. So Larry, studying the AAA map, said the pass wasn’t in the park. Dave was driving over a winding road, glancing at the map and saying that he could plainly see that the pass was going through the park.
Hey, we’re still friends, and we eventually found the problem in our communication. True, the last climb of the pass is outside the park, but only the last couple of miles. Still inside the park is a large, mountain lake, the water of which can’t be more than 40 degrees. There were hundreds of cars parked along the road where it passed the lake and there were a few people swimming in that clear, glacier water. Well, they were young, but they had to be nuts too!
Dave had previously used Google Earth to scope out the campgrounds on the east side of Tioga Road, so we drove straight to the campground and set up camp. We had two talkative neighbors, one a lone man, a couple of years younger than we, who had an RV and a motorcycle. He camped there often and used the motorcycle to go around and see nearby sights. On the other side of us was a family from Germany. The man spoke fair English and his teenaged daughter spoke more. We played tour guides as we told them all the sights to see around their future destination of Las Vegas – other than the Strip.
Dave suggested that we go to Lee Vining for supper that evening, so we did. It was only about five miles away, near Mono Lake. It was the same restaurant we went to on our second day for breakfast. The owner showed us to a booth and Dave asked if she remembered us from 18 days earlier. “We left a card.” he said. Larry chimed in with, “We’re the Great Geezer Getaway Guys.”
Her reply: “Yes and you left your wallet here too." So Dave got his wallet back, even though it didn’t contain anything important.
After supper we returned to the campground and the German neighbor rushed up to show us a picture of what we’d missed while we were gone. A bear had appeared and tried to catch some fish in the stream about twenty feet from our camp. The host said it was a gentle bear that never caused a problem unless someone left food out when they went to bed. We locked everything in the car each night.
8-17-12 -- DAY 19
We got up and broke camp, leaving before most of the campers were even out of their tents. In Lee Vining we went to the same restaurant again, a place called Nicely’s. It’s about the only restaurant in the small town of Lee Vining other than a couple that look expensive. Nicely's was crowded. We had seen 18 National Forest Fire Fighters and around 8 BLM Fire Fighters the night before. This morning there were over a dozen people from the California Conservation Corps having breakfast. The restaurant was crowded but the food was good.
We chose, or maybe it was Dave who chose, to head back over route 120 into Benton, a road Rick Ives described as being like a roller coaster. And it was! The road occasionally yanked our stomachs up and down as we went over a rise and into a dip. Following our last camp host's suggestion, we turned onto 264 on the other side of Border Peak and headed south through Fish Lake Valley to 266, which we had traveled on our first day. As we approached US 95 we could see a stream of dust, rising into the air. Dave said it was a car speeding along a dirt road.
As we got closer to US 95 we saw that the dust storm was being caused by many cars, and when we got close enough we could see that they were off road vehicles with roll bars and helmeted drivers. It was a race! Now Dave has traveled US 95 a lot, and he’d never seen traffic like that. This was an area between Beatty and Goldfield, where even the jackrabbits carry extra water. As we turned onto the highway, there was a steady stream of traffic going north and Dave noted that they were support vehicles for the race drivers. We could see the streams of dust all over, way up on the hills, down on the flats, everywhere... and the dust was filling the valley and hiding the mountains.
All this wouldn’t have been a problem except there was a military convoy also going south at the same time, about four trucks and four Hum-vees, going about 45 mph. Again, that wouldn’t have been a problem but because of the steady line of traffic going north, we couldn’t pass. We were frustrated, finding ourselves in a line of around fifty cars following those slow military vehicles.
When we finally reached Beatty, we stopped to use the rest room, get something to drink and to fill up with gas. Dave noticed two Nye County Sheriffs having coffee and asked them what the race was. They informed him it was the Annual Off-Road Race from Las Vegas To Reno – except they actually went from Beatty to Dayton. We believe the circuitous route, however, was at least 400 miles long.
The heavy traffic going north ceased after Beatty, and the rest of the drive was uneventful. We eagerly welcomed the soft landing in Dave’s driveway to end unforgettable Great Geezer Getaway 2!
Jeremiah R
"It is so amazing what you all are doing. I was a boy scout when I was younger and I've always regretted not staying with it. I love sleeping in the outdoors and camping just brings back so many fond memories. I can tell you guys had an awesome time and look forward to the next installment!"
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