Exploring Scotia, California

Saturday was a travel day along US 101. There were heavy rain showers in the morning making us thankful that we were in a warm truck and not traveling with the bikes. Great surf views, rock formations, seals on the beach and no traffic. By noontime, the sun was trying to shine and there was more blue sky. We found a Starbucks with lots of parking parking space at Fred Meyers in Brookings, Oregon. Saw 2 large elk herds in Orick, CA, more flowering trees, goats and sheep on our way to Scotia, CA to camp at Stafford RV Park. It felt like really camping in the woods with huge old growth redwood stumps with many trees growing out of them.

Old growth stumps

Trees growing out of trees

On Sunday morning, we woke up to blue sky and sunshine though in the high 30s. The field had over 30 robins and a small flock of quail looking for breakfast in the grass We took a walk through the neighborhood to see the sights.

Old Corvette frame beside the road

Sonny petting the pony who wanted a treat

Cabin in the woods

For exploring, we drove to Ferndale, an old Victorian town about 20 miles north on 101. As we were getting out of the truck, a car pulled up and the man asked if we were from Maine (Sonny had on his Maine sweatshirt). Turns out the couple was from Brunswick, Maine where they had been in a lobstering family for a couple of generations. They moved to CA last year to be near their 3 year old grandson. Their son was living in their Maine house and they had lived in an Army tent at the 2200' level for 6 months while they built a foundation for a new home outside of Garberville, CA. They lived in the cellar foundation last winter and plan to get more done on the house this summer. They were truly a Maine (hippie) couple, and like we did when we first arrived on the West Coast, were getting used to milder winters and early springs. They asked if we were in Fernadale for the Firemen's Rodeo but we said, no, we didn't know about the firemen's fund, we were just exploring the area. The rodeo turned out to be interesting entertainment.

Two teams of runners are racing to hook up firehose to see which team can knock the duck off the blue barrel.

Though not seen in these pictures, one team was soaked when someone yelled "water!" before they had screwed on the hose and water blew up all over them. It was quite a job to get their line hooked up-needless to say, that team lost and was pretty cold. Later on, there was a bucket brigade and some kind of firemen polo.

We walked around town looking at the interesting old architecture. One square block of the town is on the National Register of Historic Places. The cemetery was high on a hill that we climbed for a view of the town and countryside all the way to the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

First house in Ferndale

We drove out to a bluff to see the 9 miles of beach and surf. Trumpeter swans spend time in the marshes along the road but we didn't see any this time of year. Beautiful dairy and sheep farms along the country roads.This view is looking inland to the farming country.

The next stop was in Loleta, another small town where there was a cheese factory. The owner was a former teacher now dairy farmer milking 700 head of cattle a day spread over several farms. He had many interesting things to explain about milking, cheese making and the economy. He and Sonny hit it right off talking politics. I learned about cow anatomy and we both tasted many cheese choices.

Stopped for gas before getting back to the campsite.  Diesel was $4.45 a gal-$130 to fill the truck.  Even so, we think we are still about even traveling with a trailer as opposed to hotels and restaurants every day.

Monday was a 280 mile travel day continuing along Rt 101 through the redwoods.  We didn't go on the Avenue of the Giants for fear that the road would be too narrow. There were many signs about "30' king pins" that we didn't understand till later. We have watched scary videos of people driving under bridges that rip off the air conditioners when drivers don't read the bridge height signs or just aren't paying attention or the road has been repaved but the height signs haven't been changed. So many different things to look out for different than riding motorcycles.


The sky was overcast but dry.  For many miles, it was a study in trees---sizes, shapes, limb growth and shades of green. Hard to capture in a picture.  Rt 101 was rolling hills up to 1500'; saw turkeys and vultures along the way.  Coffee break in Latonville, CA.  No Starbucks but pretty good just the same. A few miles north of San Fransisco, we turned on Rt 37 heading East to the Sacramento Delta region to camp.  Huge windmill farm nearby.  We had planned to connect with our San Jose friends here, but we will now move from here tomorrow to Morgan Hill, much closer to San Jose.  I could see the stars from my bed last night. Sunshine blinded me this morning when I stepped outside and it is 66*....loving the warm, dry weather.

Hard to see the many shades of green

Pretty straight and tall

Windmill farm near Rio Vista, CA