I arrived at Mt. Rainier on 5/29 and reserved a very nice campsite just outside the southwest entrance of the park.  Only problem:  I was the only camper.  I had the whole campgrounds to myself and it got a little lonely.  The caretakers were a very nice elderly couple but kept to themselves.  I had no one to chat with and met no fun people. 

The park was an interesting combination of dramatic boulder filled river basins and snow capped mountains.  My first day there I drove Paradise Rd. to the lodge which is just about at 5300 ft. alt.  Not very high considering how much snow I encountered.  But the panoramic views were impressive.

I learned from a park ranger that it was still early in the season for this park which is why the park was relatively uncrowded.  The ranger said it was even still too early in the season to spot bears in the park.  I did notice that there were no "bear boxes" at my campgrounds.  It gave me a little pause for concern since I knew there were black bears in the vicinity.  It meant I had to store my food and scented items in my car and take a chance bears would try to get into my car.  Oh well better my car than my tent.

At the Paradise Lodge I stopped by the visitor center and gift shop.  There I spotted the not so elusive "chocolate" banana slug.  I longed to see the real creature roaming the park.  Perhaps tomorrow.

Today I explored downtown Portland, OR.  I visited the REI store and as I walked in the door I saw "my" tent on display.  Yep, the Base Camp 4 is a mighty fine tent.  At least it has been so far for me.  It has stood up to 40 mph winds, dust and I've not had any problems with condensation.

I also walked around the Pearl District and had brunch at Byways Cafe.

This restaurant was featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

I had their homemade corned beef hash with redskin potatoes.  Very satisfying & filling.  I also made a new friend.  Jonny works at Byways and is a PDX native.  PDX is a reference to the Portland Airport but is how residents refer to their hometown.  So I'd like to give a shout out to my new friend Jonny and say thanks for the breakfast recommendation.  If you're really into big, comfort food breakfasts this is the place for you.

Tomorrow I say farewell to Portland and head north where I'll be camping at Mt. Rainier National Park, WA.  It's not likely that I'll have any internet access.  So check back in a few days for what I hope will be more fun adventures from the wilderness.

I left the California coast and headed north for Oregon.  I learned that in OR you cannot pump your own gas and the attendant cannot top off your tank because that too is the law.  Fortunately OR law does not require you to have an attendant present when you use the gas station restroom.

I drove to the very popular Crater Lake region.  I began to see snow on the ground at 5000 ft altitude.  By the time I reached the crater rim at 7113 ft there was significant snow cover.  Unfortunately there was also significant cloud cover and I didn't get to see the famous reflection of the mountains in the deep blue lake.  It was still pretty spectacular.

 They get so much snow here they have to use snow tunnels to get from one building to another.

 The drive from Crater Lake to Portland was long and tedious thanks to the single lane roadways that lead through the mountainous region.  But again the views were spectacular.

Along the way I snacked on my homemade trail mix.  Then after consuming a fair amount I noticed the hole in the bag.  It was obviously made by some sort of rodent that chewed its way into the bag.  No doubt this occurred when I had stored the bag in the bear box at Yosemite.  Yeah, I was totally grossed out!  No more trail mix for me.




I have now driven 4,165 miles since leaving Columbus 2 weeks ago.

On my way to the Redwood National Forest & State Park I drove through Eureka where the local theater marquee advertised "Full Puppet Nudity".  I only wish I had time to stay for that show!

I finally made it to the Crescent City area on May 25.  I have now driven over 3,700 miles since leaving Columbus.  I am in the land of the giants and they are beautiful.

I had reserved a campsite at Del Norte Coast campgrounds.  The camp grounds are about 2.5 miles down a hill and deep in the rain forest.  It was dark, damp, mosquito infested and isolated.  After trying to set up my tent in various orientations on a postage sized campsite and after discovering I had absolutely no cell phone service in the park I decided to find other housing.  The place gave me the creeps and the thought of spending 3 nights there without any way to communicate with the outside world was enough to send me packing.  I did briefly meet very nice fellow campers Jack and his wife Elize (forgive my spelling, I lost my notes).  They are well seasoned campers from TX and probably don't understand my reluctance to stay there.  Sometimes you just have to trust your gut.  This place wasn't right for me.   

There was still ample opportunity for me to explore the rain forests and coastline without camping in it.  I spent a day hiking on the Coastal Trail and Damnation Creek Trail.  The later was a bit of a challenge but I survived it.  I chose to ignore the warning someone had scratched in on the sign.

I tried the fish tacos at a delightful restaurant on the pier and was entirely entertained by the critters hanging around the harbor.  The fish tacos:  delicious.  The pile of harbor seals:  smelly.

Time to say goodbye to CA.  Tomorrow I travel to OR.

 I bid a fond farewell to Yosemite and headed to the Napa Valley region of CA.  Along the way I came across the Jelly Belly factory and had to stop in for a tour.  Some of the below appetizing experimental flavors were offered on the tour and for sale in the gift shop.  What the hell were they thinking!?  And people actually tried them.  What I want to know is how much they have to pay someone to taste the actual offensive substances in order to duplicate the flavor in the lab.

A visit to Napa Valley requires a visit to a winery of course.  I stopped at the first place I found and even though it was closing time the nice shop keeper invited me in to sample her wares.  It turns out that I was at the Suisun Valley Wine Cooperative and Pat the sales manager happily allowed me to sample wines from several different wineries.  It also turns out that Pat has family living in OH.  Pat's friend Steve,  a real estate agent was on hand to invite me to buy property in CA.  If only I could.  Nevertheless, we all had a lovely chat.  So I'd like to give a shout out to my new friends Pat and Steve.  It was nice to meet you.

  

The drive from San Luis Obispo to Yosemite National Park began with 100+ miles of barren wasteland.  I nearly ran out of gas in the middle of no where.  Found a gas station just in time.

Finally the terrain began to change.  There was more green, bigger hills and finally pine trees.  When I arrived at the south Yosemite National Park entrance I still had 30+ miles to drive to get to the valley.  It's an hour drive up the mountain and an hour drive down the mountain into Yosemite valley.  But oh what a view!!!!!!!  You even drive through tunnels.

Miles driven since Columbus, OH:  2,940




I set up my campsite under pine trees not far from the base of Glacier Point.

The weather was perfect. Daytime temperatures in the lower 70's and evenings in the lower 50's.

I finally used my camp stove and had a fabulous breakfast of pancakes & hot chocolate.  At Yosemite you cannot leave any food or strong smelling items like soap, toothpaste, bug spray, etc. in your car or tent.  There are bears in the park that apparently will disassemble your car to get at whatever smells good to them.  I've seen the photos.  I had to unload just about everything from my car and lock it in a steel "bear box".  Fortunately, no bears visited my campsite.  Just the noisy, annoying crows.  And a few pushy squirrels.

 
I explored the park on foot and by car.  There are so many trails, some of which go straight up the side of mountains.  I didn't attempt any of those but I did drive 1 1/2 hrs up a mountain to get to Glacier Point and it was worth every sharp, scary turn.  At the top you can look across the top of Half Dome (below) and through a telescope I saw several people climbing straight up the face of Half Dome.  Totally insane!

The view across the valley is spectacular!
 

You just can't take in all the views at once.  You're completely surrounded by dramatic granite walls and lush meadows. 

My campsite neighbor was coincidentally named Marsha.  She too was camping solo and had just bought a "mica" brown RAV 4.  We had identical vehicles!  Coincidence?

Marsha is a retired school teacher and part time artist.  She visits Yosemite several times a year and creates lovely watercolor paintings of the park's most interesting features.

After 3 wonderful nights of camping in perfect weather it was time to head to my next destination. I packed up slowly and took my time leaving the valley.  I just wanted to take another long look at the incredible scenery that surrounded me the past few days.

I arrived in Long Beach on May 19 where the weather was perfect.  After checking into my hotel I headed to the beach only to find there was absolutely no parking available anywhere and no way to get near the beach.  The downtown area and boardwalk was packed solid with people who were attending a huge Gay Pride event.

I gave up on the beach and went to see the "Queen" instead.  Pun intended.  But there she was, the Queen Mary all decked out in the harbor.  Very cool.

The next day I visited my nephew's home for brunch.  It was nice seeing Drew, Rachel & the girls.  Fabulous home guys!






I then headed up the Pacific Coast Hwy (aka U.S. 1)

I

Still no place to park. So I just kept driving north....at a snail's pace! At least the views were fabulous.  Especially those precariously perched Malibu homes.  Don't those people know there are earth quakes in CA?

I gave up on U.S. 1 when I got to Ventura and took the freeway.  I eventually got to my destination for the evening:  San Luis Obispo.  This is a college town, home of Cal Polytech.  I thought I'd have to spend a boring evening in my hotel room until I discovered this little gem of a restaurant:  Vallarta's.

At Vallarta's my new friend Michelle will supersize your Margarita.  Yep, that's 60 ounces of pure heaven!  I opted for the normal size one but believe me it's still a kickass Margarita. 

After 3 very windy nights camping at the Grand Canyon I was ready to move on to my next adventure.  I packed up all my very dusty gear, stuffed it back into my car and headed for the west coast.  I drove across the Mohave Desert where I transitioned from my campsite temperature of 40 degrees to about 100 degrees. 

At the CA border all vehicles must stop for inspection.  I was more than a little worried that I'd have to unpack my whole car for the inspection and then repack it in the extreme heat.  The border guard only asked if I was transporting any fresh fruits and vegetables.  I didn't expect that.  I said I only had trail mix to which the guard responded, "California does not have any restrictions on trail mix."  Well I guess it's true that CA is like a bowl of granola:  the land of fruits & nuts.

After a decent first night in the tent I set out for my first glimpse of the canyon.  It totally took my breath away.  No really!  I was gasping.  In Ohio I reside at an elevation of 823 ft and today I'm hiking at 7000 ft.  Even with several months of conditioning I struggled that first hour but I somehow managed to hike 8.5 miles on the "Rim" trail.  That last hour was a killer, too.  I ran out of water. 

 At the Grand Canyon you can be as stupid as you want to be.  There is absolutely nothing to prevent you from walking off the edge of the earth!

Meanwhile back at the campsite I had an unexpected visitor.  Yes, that's my car in the foreground.

This magnificent bull elk in full velvet was very patient with me while I took his picture.

Besides hiking you can also ride mules. 




They have really cool haircuts but....

They're very lazy.

Or you can take the train.