"Doing things Differently"


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.