California chill time!

After spending 5 great days in southern Oregon, it was time to continue to our journey south into California. We made our way south to Eureka hoping to find some nice cheese, good wine, and underwear. Yes, we did remind them. Yes, we did remind them again. But somehow, one of the boys decided to pack up all their clothes sans underwear and socks. Nevertheless, with one pair on the body and a spare in the bag, we opted to go with Amazon or order replacements and have them sent to our San Francisco where we would be spending much of the week.

A good rule of the road is to read the warning signs about possible delays…especially when traveling on the 101! Another good rule of thumb is to follow Google Maps recommendations when it tells you to divert off your intended route. 3 hours later we have traveled all of 34.5 miles. Yuck! The only thing in working in our favor was the beautiful scenery and the fact that we were on vacation and weren’t really operating on a tight timeline.

After getting through the construction traffic we were finally on our way again and making good time in route to meet some friends for what was now to be a very “late lunch.” The plan was to meet outside Miranda, CA, along the Avenue of the Giants. This part of Humboldt Redwood State Park is a must see if you like big-ass trees because they are everywhere!

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We spent a lovely evening in Hidden Springs Camp we packed up camp and headed out for a long hike. The Bull Creek Trail was our choice and it paid off, with just over 7 miles of spectacular groves, awe-inspiring trees, and no crowds.

The plan for rest of the day was to continue our journey a few hours south to the Mendocino National Forest to our eventual camp at Clear Lake State Park. With temperatures well over 100 degrees, we decided to leave our options open and make a final call once we arrived in the area. Well, that decision took all of 30 seconds to make once we arrived in the park. It was not what we were looking for – film on the water, campers on top of one another, and uncomfortably hot weather!

We made the call to just drive down to San Francisco a day early and save ourselves a lot of unnecessary grief. It was the right call! We been spending a few glorious in the Bay Area with clear skies, mild temps, and great food! It will be tough to leave in a few days and head back into the desert, but the adventure must continue! I will be dropping off my current travel companions and picking up a new one in Vegas.

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Another nice thing about coming to a new home base a little early I was able to make some necessary upgrades to the jeep’s fresh water system, swapping out my 12 gallons gravity fed water tank with a 4 gallon Yakima Road Show. Hello pressurized (sun) heated water! This will be both more effective when rising off, but reduce the weight on top of the Jeep which makes the vehicle unstable.

I will be back out on the road and in adventure mode come Saturday, so more from the road soon.