Snowless in Petaluma

Yes, snowless in northern CA, and we're finding that no snow makes it more difficult to catch the Christmas spirit, or to even remember that it's December! However, the calendar tells us it IS the holiday season, and whether we're in California or Michigan, we want to be sure to send wishes to all of you for a season of cheer. May love, peace and good will find their way into all of your holiday celebrations.

Here's a catch-up of recent  goings-on and also some highlights from this past year. 2013 - Some really good memories were made and I'd like to share a few with you.

We've been stationed for 2 &1/2 weeks now at our daughter Annie's in Petaluma, CA. The Pickle is parked right outside her door and will be for a few more days until we drive it to Applied GMC in Fremont, where it will get a few updates (tire alignment, carburetor exchange, and ???) (Sometimes I don't ask 'cause I just don't want to know.) (Better gas mileage? That's the hope.) while we spend 3 weeks at home in Michigan. The new improved Pickle will be waiting for us when we return to CA on January 7th, ready to continue our adventure into the southwest for the rest of the winter.

          Oh, the hills of Petaluma! A morning walk here is an exercise in ascent and descent.



View from the "top" of Berger Lane (Annie's drive.)

This past Sunday we strolled through the Marin County Farmer's Market in St. Raphael, a visual feast even at this time of year, of fruits and vegetables, eucalyptus wreaths, orchids, breads and pastries, olive oils and local honey, not to mention the array of vendors selling all descriptions of ethnic foods.

                                                               Broccoli Romanesco


 


Sunday a week ago we checked out the Alameda Antique Faire, a once-monthly gathering of 900 sellers spread out on an old Air Force base.  This is where you go to find anything old, from vintage European flour sacking to farmhouse tables to china teacups.

2013 Highlights -

 (Understand, these are just the super big highlights. Not enough room to mention all the extraordinarily ordinary fun times this past year with car club friends, neighbors and family.)

 

In July we visited Michael's family and my mother in Iowa. My mom came back with us to Michigan. She stayed with us for five weeks and got in on some prime family times.

Our daughter and son-in-law, Ellen and Robert (Bobby) Fox were married on July 21st -  the ceremony on a Lake Michigan beach near our home. 

 

 

 

 

The wedding was followed by a mini-family reunion. The 4 Wolbrink sibs and their spouses, were joined by Harriet and Joe's daughter Rebekah with 2-yr. old, Alannah, and Janie and Rod's daughter, Lara with 11 yr. old, Aiden. 

 







Original 4 Wolbrink sibs + Mom

 

 

 

In August we helped our granddaughter (apple of Grandpa's eye) celebrate her 2nd birthday in Ann Arbor. We also welcomed the news of another grandchild. Lillian's baby brother is due at the beginning of April. What can we say? More love, more joy!

 

 

 Love this pic.

 First Tractor ride



 Mother & Daughter

___________________________________________________________________________ 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Peace,
Martha, Michael, & Nina

 

 

The Pickle Does Hairpins!

A '77 GMC towing a '68 Volvo on northern California's Highway #1?  The death defying route that snakes its way along the Pacific coastal bluffs?  THE state highway of steep climbs, switchbacks and hairpin curves? Why? Why ruin your already lousy gas mileage average by guzzling through a tank on a 70 mile (give or take a few miles) stretch of road? Because... it's the shortest distance between the northern Redwoods and Fort Bragg and then
 Mendocino and Bodega Bay.

 

  Shortest in this case does not necessarily mean fastest.  And while I closed my eyes so as not to accidentally peer over the mountain's edge to the ocean below (have I mentioned my height-induced vertigo?) the Pickle chugged along the zigs and the zags, the seemingly vertical ascents and descents, mostly in first gear, without skipping a beat.

Michael's mantras: Hug the center line. Watch out for cows. Slow and steady.

Good Times on the Oregon Coast

    We're tucked away in Annie's driveway in Petaluma CA now. I wanted to give a nod though to the Oregon Coast State Parks that sheltered us for 10 nights before we ventured into California. There are 16 state parks along the coast, or close to that number. This time of the year, each one is $20 or $22 per night. The campgrounds offer hot showers and flush toilets that are cleaned daily by park hosts.  Oregon has bragging rights to its Park Host program. Each park where we camped had a minimum of two hosts up to six or seven, depending on the size of the park.  Also, yurts are a really big deal in Oregon State Parks. These smallish circular tent buildings rent for 30 - 40 dollars a night, and are popular with travelers. Each park had a cluster of yurts, a yurt town of sorts. Maybe you can tell, we were just plain impressed with Oregon state parks. The pictures I'm sharing don't show the parks, but they do show some of the scenery we enjoyed while staying at the parks.

Astoria, OR. Columbia River meets the Pacific

Fort Stevens State Park beach, Astoria

Sunset, Nehalem Bay



Moonrise, Nehalem Bay



Yaquina lighthouse

Harbor seals, Yaquina National Natural Area
Newport, OR



Anemone, Yaquina tide pools

Peppi at Simpson Reef, near Sunset Bay
State Park, Coos Bay, OR

 

Stellar and California sea lions at Simpson Reef 



Sea lions "hauled out

                                                                 Bullard's Beach Campground, Bandon OR

                                                           





Elk Meadows

    Stellar jays and robins dart about at the edge of Elk Meadows campground, near the gloriously  sunny site we choose at Prairie Creek State Park in the Redwoods National Forest, northern California. Signs out by the road read, "Elk Viewing." A large meadow of ferns in their November brown garb fronts our small open campground loop.  There are benches placed along the meadow's edge and more signs that read, "Danger: Do not approach wildlife." "Must be some elk that walk through this area," we think. Not until we have set up camp a few yards from the ferns do we notice antler-sized 'sticks' moving in the ferns, and we realize that there are three elk snoozing right there, a short distance from the Pickle.


"Sticks" in the ferns

We wait. We eat our lunch, and then I take my place in a lawn chair at the front of the motor home - ahhh! A chance to read in the sun! As the sun moves slightly down in the sky, I feel a "change": "Dusk comes early to the redwoods," I think.  I glance to my left and then see it in all of its largeness - a bull elk walking toward me.
 I decide to slip into the GMC. That wakes Michael and I tell him he may want to see this. "And get your camera!!"


                                                                                             The "sticks" come to life

                                                   

The elk comes toward us but only to graze on the grass near the GMC.  Two other elk follow, and there they stay for an hour or more, nibbling, chewing, completely indifferent to us, or cars that stop to take photos, or other campers that drive in to set up camp.  Later the elk move to the campground's grassy central area, oblivious even to Nina's barking.

Outside the Pickle

The following morning, the three elk were joined by a fourth, grazing again just a short distance from our window. Perhaps they brought the frost that covered the campground, including the cyclist's tents nearby.

 

                                                       

                                                             

                                                              Frosty morning - 28 degrees!

                               

                                         

World travelers

Hello, I am Michael, chief window washer, sanitation engineer, mechanic, inventor, pump jockey (except in Oregon, where you are not allowed to pump your own gas) and main pilot. Here we are along the coast of the Pacific. Having gotten our fill of trees after about 4,569,384,235,146 it seemed to be a reasonable change of scenery. Also avoidance of snow and cold and ice seemed to be a noble cause. There was also the mountain passes that the Pickle could do with less of. We love the beach and as Nina has pointed out it is her favorite as long as she does not consume too much sand. Of course we are seeing many things along the way, both people of interest and new sights, sounds, smells birds and mammals and an assortment of fish and crustaceans for our dinning pleasures. I of course am looking out for the unusual and different traveler and means of transportation and type of journey. I doubt that I will be able to find anyone more interesting in all three categories than the people we met the other day at Nehalem Bay near Manzanita, OR. Kevin and Karen are from the UK. Their adventure started in 2010 and they have been working there way around and up and down the planet ever since. I certainly did not have a chance to talk with them long, but at the end of this edition, I will share their blog with you as well as a few pictures. It was obvious from the start that they were some very serious travelers as their motorcycle has developed into a literal cosmic traveling machine along the way. I doubt that you will be able to even guess what some of the attachments and devices that they have added over the miles. I know they crossed from Australia to Vancouver, BC on a cargo ship and spent this past summer doing a large part of Alaska then down through Canada to Yellowstone and Glacier. We caught up to them here on the Oregon cast and would certainly hope our paths cross again. If you are looking for a winter of reading, I am sure their blog will offer up some amazing stories. They have been at it for over 3 and one half years and figure they maybe have 6 months of funding left to continue on around the western US and head down into central and South America.

The 79 Moto Guzzi as I said is beefed up and a strong runner with Kevin being the chief mechanic as well as main pilot. Karen has a lot of riding experience as well owning a Guzzi V50 (500) at home. Between their modern teepee tent with central heater, chains for the slick going, training wheels to keep the whole assembly from tipping over inadvertently, roof, full body wind guard and an assortment of storage containers and attachments, it is far more than a motorcycle. I certainly look forward to catching up to them via the blog, whenever I have an abundance of WIFI.

Hello, I am Michael, chief window washer, sanitation engineer, mechanic, inventor, pump jockey (except in Oregon, where you are not allowed to pump your own gas) and main pilot. Here we are along the coast of the Pacific. Having gotten our fill of trees after about 4,569,384,235,146 it seemed to be a reasonable change of scenery. Also avoidance of snow and cold and ice seemed to be a noble cause. There was also the mountain passes that the Pickle could do with less of. We love the beach and as Nina has pointed out it is her favorite as long as she does not consume too much sand. Of course we are seeing many things along the way, both people of interest and new sights, sounds, smells birds and mammals and an assortment of fish and crustaceans for our dinning pleasures. I of course am looking out for the unusual and different traveler and means of transportation and type of journey. I doubt that I will be able to find anyone more interesting in all three categories than the people we met the other day at Nehalem Bay near Manzanita, OR. Kevin and Karen are from the UK. Their adventure started in 2010 and they have been working there way around and up and down the planet ever since. I certainly did not have a chance to talk with them long, but at the end of this edition, I will share their blog with you as well as a few pictures. It was obvious from the start that they were some very serious travelers as their motorcycle has developed into a literal cosmic traveling machine along the way. I doubt that you will be able to even guess what some of the attachments and devices that they have added over the miles. I know they crossed from Australia to Vancouver, BC on a cargo ship and spent this past summer doing a large part of Alaska then down through Canada to Yellowstone and Glacier. We caught up to them here on the Oregon cast and would certainly hope our paths cross again. If you are looking for a winter of reading, I am sure their blog will offer up some amazing stories. They have been at it for over 3 and one half years and figure they maybe have 6 months of funding left to continue on around the western US and head down into central and South America.

The 79 Moto Guzzi as I said is beefed up and a strong runner with Kevin being the chief mechanic as well as main pilot. Karen has a lot of riding experience as well owning a Guzzi V50 (500) at home. Between their modern teepee tent with central heater, chains for the slick going, training wheels to keep the whole assembly from tipping over inadvertently, roof, full body wind guard and an assortment of storage containers and attachments, it is far more than a motorcycle. I certainly look forward to catching up to them via the blog, whenever I have an abundance of WIFI.

www.guzzioverland.co.uk  Check it out!

 

Nina Speaks

Nina here ....
    I'll tell you what I like about this trip.
    But first, let me tell you what I don't like about it ---
   I don't like the ridiculous amount of time I've spent curled up in the front of the Pickle while we crossed state after state, mile after mile in this rocking (up- and- over mountain passes, down- and - around coves, inlets and capes,)  swaying hulk of a boat on wheels.

This is what I do like:
    Running leashless for miles on the ocean beach. I can find a stick in one minute or less and if Martha or Michael will throw it for me, and I can race at top speed to fetch it, I've just climbed another rung on the stairway to heaven.

Now that we're on the west coast, I've had some great runs! Suddenly the whole nature of this trip has changed! Instead of driving, driving, driving across the plains and mountains all day long trying to stay ahead of the looming winter weather, we drive maybe 35 or 40 miles to the next state park that's located on the beach and STAY there for 2 or 3 nights! That means a beach walk every single day! Temperatures have been in the 50s, with highs close to 60, with at least partial sun every day. I'm loving it! It's the cat's meow!

"Stacks" near Seaside, Oregon

Fort Stevens State Park, near Astoria, Oregon
 

Washington Roundup

( Speaking of Roundup, back in Montana, we camped in a town called Roundup at its fairgrounds, open to free camping, no amenities. The next morning we ate breakfast at the BusyBee restaurant.)




Fantastic sunset at Kalaloch

Kalaloch Campground, Pacific Ocean



Nina had miles to run at low tide

I thought since all I posted yesterday were tree pictures (yes, we have seen enough trees in the Olympic Peninsula to last us a lifetime) and since we're leaving our Port Townsend friends' lovely accommodations (with wifi) tomorrow, I'd post another page of OTHER places we've seen along the way through the tree-covered state of Washington. There ARE Pacific beaches with miles of sand here, too.

Among all of those trillions of trees, you're going to run across a few really old big ones.







World's Largest Spruce tree -
Lake Quinault

AND mountains...........

Somewhere under the clouds we MAY have seen Mt. Olympus.

 

And look at what we found driving on Highway 2 west of Leavenworth - a fellow GMC stopped at the local knife store. He lived a few miles down the road in Sultan and was out for a test drive.

 

 

And this is what happens when you invite US to your house. You may find a rather large yard ornament in front of your home. Thanks to Brookes and Judy for a welcome weekend respite from our house on wheels. On to Oregon!