Back in the Pacific Northwest

We spent a nice day Tuesday driving up the Oregon Coast, then overnighted at Lincoln City and this morning drove up through Portland. It's a lovely time to drive through the countryside with all the fruit trees in bloom and daffodils and spring flowers scattered about. It's nice to be back in familiar landscapes but we are finding it very cold. It seems that Spring is very late this year and we even heard a forecast today for snow at higher elevations in Washington State.

We're looking forward to seeing Jamie this weekend if he can find a window of time between studying for his final exams. Then it's over to Victoria and a return to our normal life. I expect that we'll have a couple of weeks of confusion as we re-enter but we are looking forward to being back. Our house and our garden will need some attention, not to mention the paperwork and bills to sort out. After three months on the road we're eager to dive back into our life. The dogs too will be glad to get out of the “rolling kennel” and spend more time in the outdoors.

We undertook this trip in the spirit of exploration, not just of Mexico but also to look at possible ways of spending the winter now that we are semi-retired. Harry's idea was to find a way to get “two summers” a year, and we certainly fulfilled that goal. However, we've found out that we don't really want to spend one of them lined up in RV parks, no matter how lovely the weather. We found that RV parks have a lot of rules and a lot of established cliques. Also, there's a real lack of privacy in these places, where you can hear conversations from both sides, and the close quarters created difficulties for us in exercising the dogs.

We were surprised to find how many people in the RV parks actually live there year around. We met some people who had been “homeless” for a couple of years or more. Some of them travel around and stay for a while in different parts of the country, and then move on I guess. It makes sense if you enjoy the RV lifestyle and it's certainly cheaper than buying a house.

Our goal was more to get away in the winter though, and we have an idea for next year that doesn't include Mohita. We're going to look into an apartment rental somewhere in Mexico for a couple of months and drive down in our van. If we go to Mazatlan, it's only six days drive from Victoria and with the gas savings alone we can pay for motels on the way. But that will be for next year and perhaps another blog. As for this one, it's coming to an end. Unless there are more adventures or mechanical failures to report, you can assume that we'll be back in Victoria this weekend. Thanks for sharing our journey along the way.

The Lost Coast of California

Take a look at a map of California and you'll see that it's possible to drive along the coast from San Diego in the south all the way up to Crescent City at the north end--except for the area around Ukiah. Here the coast road sweeps inland through the Redwood trees and the steep hills. But west of that on Cape Mendocino is the lost coast. Very few people ever make it there because it's protected by steep hills (I'd call them mountains) and a very rough and twisty road. The last time we were through here to visit my cousin Greg and his family in Petrolia was ten years ago. We were driving a little Toyota and although we remembered the beauty of the drive, we had forgotten the steepness.

To get to Petrolia you leave 101 at Weott and drive through a magical grove of Redwood trees on a narrow road that used to be paved but hardly counts now as there are so many potholes. From there the road winds up and up, then down and up again through the most amazing views of hills and trees. We passed through the first little community of Honeydew and the the road climbed up again to Petrolia. It took us more than two hours to go about 40 miles. But the amazing thing is that Mohita made it without a glitch. We met Greg and a couple of his kids on the main street and then he guided us up behind the town on an even narrower road along a ridge and into his beautiful property.

He and his family have lived here for more than 25 years and they have created a peaceful retreat that feels like Shangri-La. Level fields surrounded by hills covered with incredible trees. They're not actually raising sheep anymore as Greg does a lot of building and Margie is teacher and principal of the Petrolia High School (now with only a few students). When we last visited, Greg and Margie and their four children lived in a small house made from sawn wood and shingles, but they were in the process of building a new house of rammed earth. The old house has been moved now and the new house is pretty well finished. It's a beautiful building, with thick walls and deep windowsills, designed to take advantage of the site. Fireplaces give heat and banks of windows allow in south light. They have done an incredible amount of work on the house and the garden to create this paradise.

We spent the evening there and took a walk with the dogs the next morning. Greg and Margie have two border collies as well and after a period of introduction the four dogs romped around together without too much problem. Geordie was in heaven and clearly demonstrated that he wanted to stay there forever. We had to drag him back into the motorhome when we left.

We headed out on the north route that goes to Ferndale, thinking that the road might be easier to travel. No such luck--it is just as steep and narrow and rough. One hill in particular was incredibly steep, but once again Mohita handled it. By the time we were in Ferndale, the brakes were pretty hot and we took a break to let them cool down.

Ferndale itself is a pretty down with an almost intact Victorian Main Street and a lot of restored houses. But it paled after the views we'd had driving the lost coast. (These pictures give just a flavour.) This morning we're in Brookings, on the coast of Oregon and looking forward to a scenic drive to the Portland area.

Berkeley and Beyond

We managed to get back on the road reasonably early on Saturday morning and drove to Berkeley in time for a fabulous dinner of lamb and couscous. Helen and Sam are wonderful hosts and we've spent a nice weekend in the Berkeley hills. It's a lovely season to be here. The trees are blossoming and the Jasmine as well, plus many other flowers. We've been walking around with the dogs and the fragrance of the gardens is amazing. We spent Sunday exploring the gourmet food stores and galleries on Shattick Avenue. This morning we are heading out once the commuter traffic slows down a bit. We'll drive up Highway 101 and stop in to see family in Petrolia. This is a little town on Cape Mendocino and over a bit of a steep road. But if Mohita can do the canyon road into Sedona, she can pretty well handle anything.

The Mechanic Shop to Travelling Ratio

So--here we are again at another mechanic's shop. This time in Mojave, California--a desolate little town along the highway, dominated by freight trains, boarded-up buildings, and a compound of huge unmarked cargo planes. Mohita's rear wheels started making a noise and we thought perhaps it was brakes, but it turned out to be wheel bearings. We don't think they'd been replaced since she was new in 1978. As it happens, those particular kind of bearings are not that readily available, and we found this out after the old ones had been removed. Yes, here we are again camping in a mechanic's compound and waiting for the new bearings which are supposed to be here tomorrow morning. Cross your fingers!

I guess this is the time to thank all of our friends who politely refrained from telling us that we were crazy when we planned this trip with an antique motor home and two berserk border collies. We do appreciate your forbearance, mostly because we won't have to listen to "I told you so" when we get back--if we do get back. We hate to admit it, but we counted up and we have been into mechanic's shops eleven times on this trip. The ratio of mechanic time to travel time is looking pretty grim.

However, in spite of it all we're still having an overall good time. Occasionally we get the blues but most of the time we're still having fun. Tonight we are barbecuing behind a pile of used tires in the car repair compound. But you know what? It's actually a good thing--the dogs can wander around as if it's their own back yard and we've got space to spread out and set up our lawn chairs. The two dogs that normally guard this compound are fenced into another area tonight--but Harry made their day by giving them each a chunk of steak.

It's kind of incredible how we manage to have a good time in spite of the hardships. And we do keep reminding ourselves that the weather is beautiful. Unlike Victoria, which we hear is suffering from a very cold spring. Once we're on the road again, we'll be heading to San Francisco and then up to Petrolia, California to visit Joanna's cousins who live on a sheep farm there. And then home again.

A Hiatus in the Mojave Desert

After several long days of driving (again across deserts) we've holed up at a little town called Mojave so we can get Mohita's rear brakes checked tomorrow. It's no surprise that some things will need work after all the miles we've put on in the past few weeks. The brakes were making a bit of noise and rather than worry, we've decided to look into it. Besides, Harry needed a break from driving. Mojave is (you guessed it) in the Mojave desert. I think this is our fourth or fifth desert on this trip--and they are getting a little bit boring. We've degenerated into some drastic methods of passing the time, like racing with trains, playing numbers games with road sign distances, conversing with dogs and with Mohita. It could be worse, we haven't started counting road kill yet.

I think that this all signifies that we are road weary and starting to yearn for home. The only problem of course is that we still have to cover around 1,500 miles. So a little break in Mojave is probably a good thing. We've checked into a Days Inn with free wireless internet, a big bed and even a bathtub. Tomorrow morning we'll get the brakes checked out and then, hopefully, head up to the Bay Area to see our friends Helen and Sam for a short visit before continuing north.

Maggie and Geordie have been awesome travellers. When we take on long distance drives they just hunker down in their chosen spots and go into suspended animation. Maggie sprawls out on the couch and Geordie curls up behind the passenger's seat with his nose hanging over the edge so I can give him a scritch from time to time. They're suffering somewhat from lack of running and playing but we try to find a spot every day for a little dog running fun.

Tonight they'll have to be by themselves in Mohita as this motel doesn't allow dogs, but they are now so comfortable with their space here that it will be no problem. We've started calling Mohita the rolling kennel. A good clean out and vacuuming will be in order on our return.

Desert Rock Forms of all Kinds

It's been a couple of days full of incredible desert rock formations, starting with Shiprock in New Mexico and ending with the red rock canyons of Sedona Arizona. Not to mention Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. It has been amazing and beautiful and in between times both boring and frightening. The boring part was along the huge Navajo Nation, which stretched for hundreds of miles across the top of New Mexico and Arizona. It's very flat so you can see the road for at least 30 miles ahead of you disappearing into the distance, and something about that makes the drive seem very long. Every so often there are stunning rock forms and occasionally some pretty horses, interspersed with depressing shanties. The frightening part was the canyon that descended from Flagstaff into Sedona. We could look down from one switchback to see cars on another one about a hundred feet below! The Grand Canyon was, well--big. It was an experience to see it and we're glad we went but by the time we got there the sky had clouded over so it was kind of misty and the colours were very muted. We spent the night at a campsite near the south rim and woke up to snow. So we scooted down to Flagstaff and then into this gorgeous red rock canyon area near Sedona. These formations are the most beautiful we've seen yet. But I have to say that after all that geological viewing it's nice to see some green leafy trees here in Sedona. I'm posting this from the Big O Tire store where we're getting a slow leak fixed. Here are some of the rock forms we've seen.

Abiquiu, the Apache Nation, and American Big Box Stores

We left Santa Fe and drove north along a scenic road west of Taos through Georgia O'keefe country. Around Abiquiu, at the Ghost Ranch where she lived out the later part of her life, the landscape is instantly recognizable from her many paintings of the area. The red rock cliffs and the river here are stunningly beautiful. Shortly after that the cliffs and rock faces give way to a high plateau that gradually climbs to 8,000 feet. We stopped at Chama where there were large areas of snow still on the ground and then headed south through the Apache reservation. This is an area of scattered rock formations, horse ranches, and old pick-up trucks that feels as if it's from another century. Then after more than 200 miles of being on back roads we arrived in Farmington, New Mexico, a prosperous city that seems to be in the centre of nowhere.

Farmington was a bit of a surprise. When we looked it up we saw just one RV listing called "Mom and Pops RV park." It was just off highway 64 in an old industrial area and didn't look that appealing. So we checked in our road atlas to see if there was by any chance a Walmart where we could camp. Sure enough there was a listing, which turned out to be five miles away. We drove the five miles through freeways loaded with chain restaurants and big box stores of every kind--all of them shiny and new. So here we are doing Walmart camping again, along with a few other rigs of varying sizes. We found that the Walmart Superstores are the perfect place to stock up for camping. They have everything we need, from dog food to stick-on hooks, to underwear--and in New Mexico they even sell a passably good California Chardonnay for $2.97.

Now we're stocked up and ready to reach the Grand Canyon tomorrow. The weather forecast doesn't look too bad (in the 50s during the day and down to freezing at night) so I think we can handle it.

Santa Fe and an amazing bus ride

After a night on the road staying at the Elephant Butte State Campground (where Geordie and Maggie had a couple of great swims in the lake) we arrived yesterday in Santa Fe. We're back up in the mountains at 7,200 feet and Spring is only just beginning here. Although it's sunny, the wind is still very cool and the trees are not even in leaf yet and there is still a lot of snow on the surrounding mountains. We saw some Forsythia and a few daffodils but it seems that Spring here doesn't really begin until mid-April. I think that Victoria gardens are weeks if not months ahead. Nonetheless it's really lovely here.

There's a central plaza area downtown surrounded by very old adobe buildings and churches. This is the tourist centre of town but it seems that a lot of the city's cultural events take place here as well. We went to the New Mexico Museum of Art in an old adobe building (pictured above) and saw some cutting edge art installations as well as an interesting show featuring the history of art in this area from the Pueblo peoples to the present time. The building was filled with well dressed art patrons from Santa Fe who were gathering for some kind of fund raising event. The outfits worn by these women were gorgeous.

Santa Fe has an amazing bus system, which we used today to get into the central plaza and back to our RV park on Cerillos a ways out of town. The bus shelters here are really special, with individual art and inscriptions relating to the location. For Harry and me being over 60, we paid only $1.00 each for an all-day pass. The bus ride back from town was a treat, with a big bellied driver who played Celine Dion music at top volume and sang along. He was super friendly and knew everyone that got on the bus. The bus has a ramp that can be put down so that wheelchairs can get on the bus and he helped a young woman in a big motorized chair on with the greatest of kindness and joking. She was a character who knew everyone on the ride as well. Parents and kids got on and waved and grinned and yakked, and conversations were swirling around the whole time. After the driver helped the woman in the wheelchair off the bus at Walmart, people were all commenting about how well she does getting out and around in her chair.

The bus driver guessed that we were from the Trailer Ranch and people started asking us where we were from. It was kind of like being at a moving coffee party. The funny thing is that it didn't even end when we got off the bus. After we got back to Mohita we took the dogs out for a walk and we saw the same bus coming back up the road. The driver recognized us and waved, and later we met the woman in the wheelchair who war going home from Walmart and had a little chat. What a friendly town this seems to be!

We're heading out tomorrow though to drive north towards the Grand Canyon. It's about five hundred miles and we're taking some secondary roads so it will be a couple of days before we get there, barring snowstorms which may still be a possibility. If this happens though, we'll head back south and take a warmer route to the coast.

Silver City and the Gila Cliff Dwellings

We've spent a couple of lovely days in this area. The first day here we met up with our friends Ches and Allison, who we met in Alamos, Mexico. They have been on the road since June and are camping in a small van, looking now to buy property somewhere in this area. It was fun to have dinner together and catch up on what we had each been doing.

On Tuesday we drove north to the amazing Gila Cliff Dwellings. This is the remains of a community built inside natural cliffs about 750 years ago. There are many unknowns about the Mogollon group that lived here. The intriguing question is why they abandoned the place after only a generation. There are many theories, but the most surprising one came from a man we met while touring the site. He goes by the name of “Wizard David” and it seems he makes his living by doing “guided shamanic journeys.” He was there dressed in his amulets with a wealthy woman from Colorado and talked to us about his theory of this place.

Wizard David says this site doesn't match any of the other ruins in the area. He claims that it was settled by extra-terrestrials with wings when their spaceship crashed nearby. He says the T-shaped doors are proof that they flew up into the caves and he points to some unusually cylindrical holes as proof that they had advanced technology. His theory is that they were rescued after 20 years and went by spaceship back to where they came from.

We found his theories a bit far-fetched and felt the place was amazing enough on its own without the need for thoughts of flying ET's. It really is wonderful to see the buildings inside the caves high up in the cliffs and to know that people lived lives there hundreds of years ago. The surrounding country is a stunningly beautiful wilderness area up by the continental divide and and criss-crossed by trails and the Gila River with hot springs here and there.

We camped one night along the Gila River and the dogs had the greatest time swimming in the wide slow-flowing stream. It was perfect for Geordie because there was nobody there so he could go off leash and the river was shallow enough that he could wade far out into the river and get sticks to bring back. He loved it so much that he kept escaping from the motor home and running back to the river. I think that this was the high point of the trip so far for him.

Today we're back at Silver City, getting a couple little details checked on Mohita before we head towards Northern Arizona. Our next destination is the Flagstaff area where we want to visit both Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

Reflections on Mexico

After our big push across the desert we are relaxing in the Silver City RV Park and reflecting on our Mexico adventures. We travelled about 6,000 kilometers, saw some beautiful places, had some amazing experiences and met some wonderful people. We managed to make it to Zacatecas and to Patzcuaro as well as to San Juan del Rio to visit the Reyes family. But after more than six weeks in a different culture, we were ready to leave and return to a more familiar one. We didn't actually realize until we got to Silver City how much stress we had been under trying to function with our limited language skills and travel around with the dogs and an unreliable vehicle.

We have learned more about Mexico and its people on this trip. Mexico is a beautiful and incredibly varied country but its greatest treasure is its people. We knew that the Mexican people are warm and helpful, but this was demonstrated over and over again. Even when we were confused or worried we were always treated with respect and kindness. Our fractured Spanish was always met with gracious smiles and helpfulness. In all our dealings with people we found them to be unfailingly polite and honest.

We learned that it's pretty important to have a working knowledge of Spanish in order to explore the culture of Mexico beyond the tourist scene. We saw every day just how warm and courteous the people are to each other. Mexican culture places high value on these interactions and it is difficult to manage these with only limited vocabularay. Sure we had a few words like “ola, buenas dias” “con permisso” “por favor” “muchas gracias” “como esta” and “una pregunta” to start with. And we could smile at people, wave at kids, and coo at babies. Whenever we tried to interact person to person we were never disappointed with the results. But we'd like to do some studying to improve our Spanish so we can communicate more easily next time and learn more about the people and the country.

We had a great time in Mexico and now we're happy to be back in an English-speaking country. It's a relief to be able to relax and interact with people in a more natural way. But we're not finished with Mexico. We are planning to come down next year in our van (not Mohita) and perhaps rent an apartment somewhere for a couple of months, so we can also invite family and friends down to share our fun.

Meanwhile, we're enjoying being in the southwest of the USA and we'll keep you posted on our journeys here as we wend our way back to BC.