07-19-04
We are parked in a primitive State campsite along Hiway 1 in
California. We are a couple of miles north of a little town
called Westport, which sits right along the Pacific Ocean. We are
about 20 or so miles north of Fort Bragg, and about 60 miles north of
Gualala. Whenever we get moving in the morning, we will have
plenty of time to look at whatever is between here and George O.
We drove down route 101 most of the day, and then 101 went inland, and
route 1 headed west toward the ocean. When we got on route 1,
there was a sign that said, curvy roads the next 22 miles. They
weren't kidding. The road was 2 lanes wide ( they had just
finished resurfacing it) so it was nice and smooth, but it looked like
the road going to the cabin in Virginia. It just wound around and
around and around the sides of the mountain going up and down. My
guess is that it had it's start like the one granddad built - as a
cattle path to drive cattle over the mountain. Many of the turns
had speed limits of 15 mph, some as slow as 10 and I lost count of the
number of switchbacks we went around. Nice drive if you don't get
sick from all the turns, (no, sherry did fine). During the drive
today, in Oregon, we were along the Pacific Ocean for quite a
while. We stopped for lunch in a little pull off area along side
the road and had lunch. There we were, sitting in our motor home,
less than 100 yards from the water, eating lunch in our "house".
It's no wonder why people love to "fulltime", On any given day, they
can eat lunch next to the Pacific Ocean, but not have to look at it the
rest of their life. They can move on to the next scenic or
historic spot and dine there, (again, at "home") with a different view
than yesterday, last week, or last month. What a concept.
Anyway, we spent about an hour there, unusual for us to take such a
long lunch, but it was great. The view was wonderful, while we
watched people come and go. Took some pictures, and even a short
movie, which is too big for me to put on the web, sorry. There
was a couple with a dog, that came and took the dog on the beach, and
threw him a frisbee, for a little while, before getting back into their
car and moving on. We also stopped at a little hardware store
along the way, and bought a couple of things that we needed, and just
browsed the store for a while. This hardware store had some
clothing in it - yes, wool socks, insulated shirts, etc. Not what
you would think of along the Oregon coast with the ocean just a short
distance away. Interesting thing on the way here. We were
looking for gas along route 101 in Oregon, I wanted to get it before we
got into Ca., because I heard it might be more expensive. A
couple of miles before we hit the Ca. line, there was a Fred Myers
store, (grocery store ) that also sold gasoline. Their advertised
price was 2.039, so I pulled in. Remember, we can't pump our own
gas in Oregon, so I got out and the attendant asked if I had a Fred
Myers card. I said no, so he handed me one, and said, "here, they
are free, and they are good for 3 cents per gallon off". Couldn't
resist a deal like that. Didn't even have to fill out a form or
anything. That gas cost me $2.009 per gallon. We left there
and crossed into Ca. Hadn't gone 10 miles and the cheapest I have
seen gas since was $2.339. Go figure. By the way, that last
2 tanks of gas, the mileage was 9.5 and 9.1. Different terrain,
and such I guess. So, anyhow, here we sit with the motor home
pointed directly at the Pacific Ocean, less than a 150 feet from the
water. We can look out the front window and see the water, and as
it is getting dark, we can see 3 lights out in the distance, that I
suppose are ships. What a sight. I took a bunch of pictures
today, but will not post them until at least tomorrow. Have
patience, people. Think I'm going to call it a night. Hope
this will upload, and then it's bedtime. G'night.
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