Spring Driving to Crescent City and then North to Portland

 

Panorama out the trailer door

View from Lone Pine, CA on Hwy 395

I have been very busy traveling and am, finally, getting around to updating my travel journal. I love my blog and have kept it since I first started trike touring in 2007. At the moment, we are deep into summer and I am traveling with my RV. Over the last 2 months, I have met up with lots of fun people, family and friends. So much has happened that I am going to do a few journal posts to get caught up.

I left the oasis in the desert of Southern California as temps started to rise to escape the heat. I really appreciate Joni's hospitality and friendship. She generously lets me park my RV for a few months during the best time of year in the desert, especially for cycling. I love riding with my local triking friends as well. Harry, who owns the bike shop, TriABike, offers regularly scheduled rides in the area. Church, where I am parked, is a 6-mile ride to the bike shop, and I love meeting up with new people and local riders. Some are on uprights, and some are on trikes. Some with e-assist and some without. This winter was much cooler than usual in the desert. It was also so windy that many of our rides were canceled. The dust in the air was a bigger issue than the actual wind. Sometimes, the air quality was very unhealthy. 

With spring in full swing, I left southern California. Essentially, the summer months will be spent traveling between 3 triking events. First will be the Spokumbent Retreat in Washington, then Tater TOT in Idaho and the summer will wind down with my favorite event in Oregon, the Recumbent Retreat. I will be writing up a few blog posts to cover all of it. As usual, my travels typically seek places to ride my trike.

My RV trailer is a Nash 17k that I bought new in 2019. Hard to believe, but the Ford F150 truck and trailer are almost five years old. They both have been a terrific investment. It is my first RV, and has only 17 feet of living space. I still love it. I continue to be surprised at how comfortable I am in such a small living space. It's like a cozy little nest. The other thing that surprises me is that I still haven't done anything really stupid. Knock on wood, this continues to be the case.

Parked in front of sis's place

Fun with Taryn and Tracey, friends from high school

From the desert, I had tentative plans to stop at the Bristlecone forest, Yosemite and Redding to ride the wonderful trail to Shasta dam. There had been a late spring storm that dumped lots of snow in the Sierra Mountains. The roads to the Bristlecone Forest and Yosemite were still closed when I arrived in the area. I continued on to Redding as a heatwave approached. I drove up Hwy 395 to Susanville and then cut across Shasta National Forest with lots of snow on the side of the road at higher elevation. Redding had it's first heat wave of the summer just as I pulled into town. With temps near 100 degrees, riding the trail was out of the question. This is a terrific trail with a short riding season. Since the central valley was so hot, I decided to head to the coast to visit my sister. She was having high school friends visit and I knew this would be a fun time.  I ended up spending 3 weeks with my sister. We both love taking photos and went on lots of hikes. She lives in Crescent City, which is on the coast and surrounded by redwood forests. 

fluffy flower

Osprey with flounder catch

Battery Point Lighthouse Crescent City

I also enjoyed the pickleball scene in Crescent City. There are indoor courts at the fairgrounds, and they offer drop-in times. Everyone was very inviting and patient with me as a newer player. I think this is typical of pickleball courts and the reason I picked up the sport. One of the downsides of RV life is all the sitting—sitting while driving and then sitting at the campsites. I find all the driving, especially solo, to be very exhausting.  By the time I get set up in a campsite, I am ready to relax and unwind even though it feels like all I have done is sit for a few hours. With this trip, I wanted to see if I could shorten the driving time so I would have more energy for pickleball and, possibly, short hikes to break up the day. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish this goal with road closures on the drive north on Hwy 395 and then the heat in Redding. Hopefully, I can shorten the daily driving time and this will change. I have pickleball paddles, balls, and shoes in the trailer. I look forward to finding courts and people to play with as I travel. 

Ready for Pickleball in Crescent City

I love the logo

After visiting my sister, I went to Florence, Oregon, to stay at the home of my very dear friends, Connie and Bill. I just love these people and am always giddy at the thought of seeing them. Bill is over 80 years old and rides his trike, Penny, daily. We had a fabulous time, and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them.

Reflective heron

Plover

Cat's ear

Wine tasting in the Willamette Valley with tennis friends Diane and Jana

From Florence, I drove to Portland and was able to park my trailer at friends Dave and Edna because their trailer was in the shop. Nothing like timing. I lived and worked in Portland for over 20 years and know lots of people. I got together with tennis and other friends for over a week. I stayed with my friend, Diane, who just moved into a new home with a view of 4 mountains. I went to many wonderful restaurants with friends, wineries, and the Japanese garden, as well as doing a few rides with my 'Portland Posse' recumbent buddies. The weather was terrific, and the time in Portland went quickly. 

Video of Ride with the Portland Posse

From Portland, I slowly made my way to Wenatchee, Washington to attend the Spokumbent Recumbent Retreat. I will talk about that in the next blog post. Stay tuned....