I now need to preface this post because it has taken so long to get it done! I had started this right after we'd gotten home but between business at work and summer chores I could just add here and there until here I am now, over a month later! So in reading this, think of last month, July and not that it's August now. I'll post the photos in a second post since this one is long.
That's the week of July 2nd to the 11th as Stacy and I had left Thursday the 2nd of July after work and drove down to the "greater San Francisco area" to visit with Sandy, husband Erik and the granddaughters. This trip had been in the works for several weeks as we wanted to have a visit with Sandy and grandkids before they leave on a 3 week trip to Europe.
Stacy and I had to shoehorn this trip in between one person taking a new job and leaving along with people at work taking time off as well as Stacy's brother and wife to be able to have Stacy's father stay with them while we were gone. It just turned out to be another very hot heatwave from here to there too! In the mid to upper 90s here and through Oregon the way we went and into the 100s all through California until we got to the area closer to the coast where they live.
Stacy and I, in planning this trip out, had discussed taking our trailer along for the ride with it's convenience of bedroom, kitchen with fridge and bathroom on board. For a long while that was going to be the way until the promise of those very hot temps and the possible (probable) difficulties of maneuvering and finding parking for said 34 foot long trailer in the highly urban area they live, with its many, many narrow and very busy streets that had us changing our mind on that method of travel for this trip. Plus, we still get to use the trailer for a week and a half trip in September when we have to travel for the annual Juvenile Justice Conference.
Then it was taking the Pontiac Solstice for this trip, my 2 seat very limited storage space sporty car. Had it been a trip in the cooler spring or fall, when the car would be more comfortable with the convertible top down much of the way, that would have been a blast! But Stacy doesn't really like being in the Solstice with the top up for feelings of claustrophobia plus the passenger area legroom isn't nearly as deep as the driver side with space being taken away for the battery on the other side of the bulkhead. Dumb design! Both Stacy and I are 6 feet tall so lack of legroom can be a problem and there's a good foot and a half less leg room on the passenger side!
As already talked about above, it was going to be hot, and turned out to be exactly that, HOT, on the way there so the top would have been up with the A/C on almost all the way there, and part of the way back too. Also as mentioned above with the comment about limited storage, the Solstice has a very small trunk, 5 cubic feet with the top up and 'around' 3 cubic feet with the top down, and only the sides towards the back of the trunk because the top takes up most of the trunk when not up. So limited clothes and snacks during the trip.
We even very briefly talked about making this a motorcycle trip. Again, with the heat and the fact we haven't been on any out of state motorcycle trips in years now, no, that wasn't going to be a mode of this trip. And while on the trip we were very glad we'd left them parked at home!
Then for a time it was going to be taking one of our crew cab trucks so the kid seats could be installed and left in the truck and we'd all just drive that truck while there, and then back home again. That would have worked but the trip would have been pretty expensive with the fuel cost of the gas powered truck we'd planned on taking to save mileage on the trailer towing diesel truck.
All the above choices became moot when we got a message about a week earlier that Sandy's car had been backed into by another driver while Sandy was loading up the kids in their car seats. The lady had been on her phone according to Sandy, and she didn't look behind and just backed up hitting the car door and then Sandy which then has Sandy yelling that got the lady to stop before really hurting Sandy. The other driver's insurance had already made arrangements to have the damage repaired and Sandy was going to get a rental for the time her car would be in the shop and just made arrangements to rent a van. It would fit all of us and in one comfortable vehicle while at Sandy's, so getting around all together - problem solved.
So then it was the obvious, just take the Prius! We already knew that would be the most economical way to make the trip and the Prius also has plenty of space with the back seats folded down for our stuff as well as an ice chest for food and insulated container for my favorite, ice water. So no eating out at restaurants all the time which is not what Stacy and I like to do anyway. Our own food and drink is the way we like to roll on trips!
The Prius was really the right way to go! Round trip from our place there and back again, we only drove the Prius one short trip the entire time we were there at Sandy's, was 1,949.4 miles. The total cost of the gas for the trip? $139.46!!!!!!!
Gas in California was about 20 to 35 cents a gallon more than here in Idaho at the time, and even here the gas had gone up about 7 cents on July 1st with a gas tax increase.
Cruise and A/C on, listening to XM Satellite radio or audio books all the way!
Not even our motorcycles get as good fuel economy as the Prius does. Best tank on the trip: 59.7 MPG, "worst" was 43 MPG, with most tanks in the mid 50s MPG range, and that's going the California freeway speeds too, like mid 70s mph on the I-5.
So, we get to Sandy's about 4:00 p.m. on July 4th, we all go out for dinner and just relax the rest of the day. The next day, Sunday the 5th, was one of the reasons for us going was so Sandy and Erik could have an overnight excursion, just the two of them, with Stacy and me there to take care of the grand kids. So they take off for Napa to relax and we settle in to have some quality grand kid time!
Flash forward to Tuesday morning, Stacy and I had a great time with the grand kids, the rest of Sunday and almost all day Monday before Sandy and Erik return. Now Tuesday and Sandy has to take her VW and drop it off for the damage repair and pick up the rental van and then we're on our way for a few days trip, within our trip, while we're there.
As the plan is to have me be a backup driver I go with Sandy as we drop off her car then we walk to the rental agency about three quarters of a mile away, get the van and sign me up as a driver too. As we walk by Sandy realizes that there is a branch of the collision company she's using right next door to the rental agency, oh well. It's not like she'll need to use a repair shop any time soon! It does show the advantages of living in the thick of civilisation and the city, a lot is relatively close by to her complex and much within walking distance. Sorry, I'll keep my rural lifestyle!
Car dropped off and the rental Dodge van on the reservation turned out to be a 2015 Toyota Sienna van, which is much much nicer! We get back and after a short trip to pick up some things for Sandy, we start loading up. We can fold down the entire 3rd row set of seats as the middle row has enough space for the car seats and the jump seat Stacy says is "good enough" between the car seats. And with the middle row adjustable, they can slide back quite a bit, there's plenty of leg room too.
So, loaded up and we're on our way to San Francisco first on our meander to Fort Bragg. Sandy wanted to go to the Fisherman's Wharf area for lunch and our ultimate destination for the night was a motel in Fort Bragg a few hours away.
As we drive along Stacy is showing Justine, almost 3, how to use the camera on an iPad Mini to take photos and videos. In all the talk with Stacy and Justine along with almost 1 year old Natalie, a few seconds gets recorded by Justine that she really likes. Enough to play it over and over and over again. It's only about 3 seconds long and is truthfully funny to keep hearing over and over and over. The "music" of our trip from the back seats!
As Sandy is the 'pro' at driving San Francisco now that she lives in the general area, there was never any question that she'd be driving, I wasn't even interested in tackling that traffic and still call it a vacation. She lucks out getting a great spot and, for S.F., at a good rate that won't mean leaving one of us as collateral to park there and we head to the Sourdough Bread factory. I've never been there, I actually haven't even been in the Fisherman's Wharf area in decades as I've generally always avoided the crowds and hoping the "Big One" doesn't hit while doing the tourist thing in S.F..
The 'techs' at the Bread factory are doing all kinds of Sourdough animals for the crowds at the windows. At lunch, Sandy was able to get a small Sourdough Sea Turtle for Justine and Natalie to munch on. I got a photo of it before limbs started coming off, in the photo it has a sad look with it's face and little raisin eyes. A kind of "don't eat me" look. It was good though with the bites I tried. All the bread there was really good! Sourdough is my favorite kind of bread which was why Sandy had wanted to lunch there. Thank you Sandy!
Later that day as we're driving on the 101 to the cut off for the coast and Fort Bragg, Justine's voice from the back seat says to myself and Sandy "guys, guys, stop talking! Just stop talking, you're making me nervous!"
We ultimately get to the motel - to remain nameless, that Sandy had found online and made reservations for our days while at Fort Bragg so we could explore the area before going to Willits for the Skunk train ride. The motel looked like it was a 1970s era place, the standard 2 story 'old style' but updated a bit and with thin walls and such with parking right outside your door.
Signs all over the window and door in the lobby about their high ratings and AAA approved status, but when I ask about any AAA or AARP discount (I am old enough now to be looking for those!) I'm very surprised to be told that unless you call and make reservations directly there are no discounts! She says something to the effect about how the online sites take too much of a bite out of their profit so the 'owners' won't give any unless it is called in directly to the place.
In those 'olden days' of the 70s or 80s, back when this place was probably around $50 a night and you could still go the Motel 6 route for less than half that, the few percentage discount for AAA would have still helped, but in the now of over $120.00 a night, it would help more to have those options especially if it's advertised!
OK, enough about that, it gets worse, for me anyway.
We get to our room for the next 2 nights and while it 'looks' alright, I instantly notice a very important thing to me that's missing from any wall in the room- where's the A/C unit!?!?
The room was a lower floor unit with only one large window that had been closed so the room was very warm and stuffy, and NO air conditioning? It has been quite warm with the general state heat wave, even here at the coast, so even a window unit a/c would have been nice, but no. :(
This place reminded me of one of the absolute worst nights at any motel was back in the 1980's on a motorcycle ride that went up the 101 from southern California. It was also during an extreme heatwave along the 101 with several fires getting started in the area hills along the route by it getting so hot the news was reporting spontaneous combustion!
After a long miserably hot, over one hundred degrees almost all the way there, motorcycle ride I get to a Motel 6 I had a reservation for in Salinas. It was actually the first place I'd ever been at in those early days of travel to not have any air conditioning at all. I remember being told "it doesn't usually get hot enough around here for A/C". Well, it was hot enough that night! So that long, long night was no sleep, just laying there sweating and dosing. Terrible! I now don't really remember much about the ride other than the heat and that night. What it was for, or even which run pin I have that goes with it. Oh well.
Now back to this motel.
In looking around Stacy did find about a 9 inch diameter plug in fan in the closet and we got that plugged in and squeakily running and we opened the window and door to try and get some ventilation going. We settle in, Stacy and myself will be in one bed, Sandy and Justine in the other and Natalie in the portable crib the check in clerk was able to finally find that had been reserved for us.
After the twisty turny drive from the 101 to here it was nice to relax a bit before going out for anything. Then Sandy discovers in the rush to get going a very important bag had been left back at home, all of her and the kids clothes!
Sandy and I go to the local Safeway we'd seen to get a couple of things and see if there is any souvenir clothes that could be purchased to help out. None there but she did ask the checkout clerk of any thrift stores and we had the lead on a couple to check out the next day as most places were already closed for the day.
The next morning we go have breakfast at a small cafe in town. Since the motel had a small restaurant in front there was no "continental breakfast" available, just coffee and muffins, so Sandy had found this cafe online also and it sounded good. A "Wizard Of OZ" themed cafe on the main drag. So we have breakfast there then drive to a highlight stop of the trip, "Glass Beach". Well one of several along the coast that one can stop at, we parked and walked over to a fairly accessible section.
Another location I'd never even heard of let alone ever stopped to see.
The Glass Beaches are areas where, like driftwood and stones that get smoothed out and pulverised by the ocean, pieces of old glass and plastic from the days when the city dump was literally dump it into the sea. Much of the trash like that has been broken up and turned over time to have washed back up in natural coves and become the bulk of the 'sand' of the beaches along this area.
As I said above, I had never heard of Sea Glass before then, but since that day I've read about how coveted Sea Glass is for its collectability. Sandy was telling us that the most rare type of the glass is red glass from the old lenses and bottles.
All I know is that it was very interesting to look at all the variety there was at this cove. We saw all kinds and colors but none of the elusive red sea glass. As it's washed by the sea water the glass is very pretty, when dry it is still interesting looking but the pieces lose much of their luster. Even though there was signage asking to not take any of it we saw several people looking for certain pieces and keeping some of what they found. Yes, including me, I found a piece of a ceramic pot of some kind, a piece of metal, and some plastic that was probably part of an old head light or turn signal with its formed in ridges. Very interesting indeed!
After some time at Glass Beach, we load up and drive the short distance to Mendicino, another place I'd never stopped at but has always wanted to. At least it was cool and drizzly there. It had been so hot. Sandy had found a kids store she wanted to check out for clothes for Justine and Natalie. Everybody goes looking for the store but Justine stays in the van with me.
We mainly people watch and Justine shows me she can touch her nose and ear with her toes. Got the photos to prove it!
Sandy and Stacy come back, Sandy has found bargains at the kid's store and is very happy about all she'd gotten. We walk over to a small restaurant have some lunch then go driving North on Highway 1. We wind up driving a long time on the switch back roads of Highway 1 all the way over to where it picks up the 101. On the 101 we drive south to Willits, where we'll be going to the next morning to ride the Skunk train and see where we'll need to be the next day. A van is not the best vehicle to drive long distances in twisty road conditions, at least not with more people than a driver and maybe one passenger. Car sickness was an issue!
Stacy and I had ridden these roads on our Gold Wings, even towing trailers, but in a boxy van with its body roll if too fast, slow and steady was the only way to go without people throwing up! And Stacy was really close to doing just that. While Justine and Natalie didn't say anything I really think they felt it too.
That evening when we finally get back to Fort Bragg and the motel, the long day and maybe with the car ride too, Justine and Natalie both have their first major melt downs of the trip. Turned out to be their only melt down which was nice.
While Stacy tried to calm Natalie, Sandy tried to calm Justine. It wasn't happening!
We became "those" people at this older motel. The neighbors on one side slammed their door and drove off for awhile but no one was pounding on the walls or called the front desk over the screams.
In about 20 minutes it was all over, Sandy had taken Justine out for a walk to calm her and get her away from Natalie so Natalie would calm down too. After that it was almost like it never happened and everybody cleaned up and went to bed.
It was finally Skunk train day.
This was the main focus of this trip within a trip, so Justine, who at this time is really into trains thanks to the PBS Kids show "Dinosaur Train" could ride in a real train. Stacy had been on it years ago and Sandy had also but didn't remember it but we have the photos when her grandparents took all three of them on it.
It isn't the day long excursion it once was due to a tunnel collapse several years ago that the operators and the state haven't had the funding to repair. But this 3 hour tour promised to be fun for all of us.
We check out and have a quick breakfast at the Fort Bragg "Mickey D's" then drive the half hour East to Willits to catch the train.
On the train it was actually an enjoyable experience. The cars are old and need repair, gone are the glory days of the older photos of the Skunk train with brightly painted cars, the old steam engine is no longer used, too expensive to operate was what was told.
The seating in most the cars was all ripped up. We kept walking to the last car and found it must have been the most recently renovated car a decade or so ago as it wasn't too bad. Lots of rust though and a lot of paint and maintenance is needed to get it back to a former glory.
Justine was loving the ride as was Natalie. Justine kept wanting to go out to the open observation car and watch the world go by. Sandy took her out and then Stacy took her out several times, even when it started raining on the way back to Willits, Stacy and Justine kept going out to the open car. Justine got soaked and Stacy would have if she wasn't wearing the rain jacket we'd gotten for her and Sandy at the gift store. At the halfway / turn around point lunch is provided if you want to buy it and everybody did.
Ride all done about 2 pm and we started to head back towards San Francisco. We get closer and start to get into some slow early afternoon commuter traffic, Sandy says it should be faster going through the Napa area so we detour because she's driving.
On a 'good' day we would have been back at Sandy's, via the GPS info, in less than an hour. In the now stop and go two lane traffic away from the freeway it was going to be hours!
Time slowly passes and as our bladders were all about to pop we finally get to a shopping center and Sandy pulls into a gas station so we can GO!! This was where Justine and Natalie had one over the old folks, with their diapers, they just went!
Feeling better and Sandy's starving so we go to a Sonic Burgers drive in and have dinner in the same complex. By the time we're done and back on the road the traffic is much lessened and it becomes a less eventful rest of the way back to their house. This was Thursday now and Stacy and I had to be back on the road the next day.
Friday morning and Sandy's car is repaired early so we stay so Sandy can take care of it, take the rental back and get her car. Early in the afternoon and Stacy and I are on the road heading back to Idaho. Before we left Sandy's and because it was a Friday night, I had gotten us reservations at the Rolling Hills Inn and Casino in Corning. So that was our destination for the night. It was a good one too! Next time we make the trip we'll stay there for sure! While Stacy enjoyed some slot machine play I loved the 30 MBps download speed of the Wi-Fi and watched stuff on my iPad. Didn't even turn on the TV but for a short time the next morning before breakfast.
Saturday morning after breakfast and we started out with plans of staying in the Spokane area that evening, and getting home the next day, Sunday, but we made the mistake of not getting a reservation for that Saturday night at some point during the day. We drove and drove, through thunderstorms and heavy rain in the Bend Oregon area, to winds in the plains area of Eastern Oregon as we made our way to the 84. But we didn't think we'd need reservations in our own general area, how wrong we wound up being!!!!!
At about 6 pm we're in Pasco, Washington, we stop for a bathroom break and some snacks at the Burger King. We talk about calling it a night but Stacy says she's doing great and we continue. We should have gotten a reservation while we were stopped, but we didn't.
It's now around 10 pm and I'm beat and getting concerned because Stacy is calling all the places she or we would normally stay at and nobody has any vacancies! After calling and calling even to places in Coeur D' Alene, 2 hours from home, no vacancies!
So we stop in CDA and get gas. I'm pretty upset now after this turn of events and kind of wreck the evening for Stacy with my mood and complaints of "we should of" and "Never Again!".
So we drive on home, get back about 12:15 AM after 822 miles from Corning California! A very long day!
So, we had a great time overall, we really enjoy spending time with Sandy and the kids and going places and exploring with them. We learned 'again' not to underestimate summertime travel and the need for reservations!!!
We should have remembered we'd learned that one in 2012 when the same thing happened pulling the trailer on the way down to Sandy's for her baby shower before Justine was born. The first day out and not only did we have issues with the trailer we had then but the RV camps we'd wanted to stay in Oregon were all full and we spent hours finding a place to park for the night, and in another heatwave in the July of that year!
Well, live and learn right?
That's the week of July 2nd to the 11th as Stacy and I had left Thursday the 2nd of July after work and drove down to the "greater San Francisco area" to visit with Sandy, husband Erik and the granddaughters. This trip had been in the works for several weeks as we wanted to have a visit with Sandy and grandkids before they leave on a 3 week trip to Europe.
Stacy and I had to shoehorn this trip in between one person taking a new job and leaving along with people at work taking time off as well as Stacy's brother and wife to be able to have Stacy's father stay with them while we were gone. It just turned out to be another very hot heatwave from here to there too! In the mid to upper 90s here and through Oregon the way we went and into the 100s all through California until we got to the area closer to the coast where they live.
Stacy and I, in planning this trip out, had discussed taking our trailer along for the ride with it's convenience of bedroom, kitchen with fridge and bathroom on board. For a long while that was going to be the way until the promise of those very hot temps and the possible (probable) difficulties of maneuvering and finding parking for said 34 foot long trailer in the highly urban area they live, with its many, many narrow and very busy streets that had us changing our mind on that method of travel for this trip. Plus, we still get to use the trailer for a week and a half trip in September when we have to travel for the annual Juvenile Justice Conference.
Then it was taking the Pontiac Solstice for this trip, my 2 seat very limited storage space sporty car. Had it been a trip in the cooler spring or fall, when the car would be more comfortable with the convertible top down much of the way, that would have been a blast! But Stacy doesn't really like being in the Solstice with the top up for feelings of claustrophobia plus the passenger area legroom isn't nearly as deep as the driver side with space being taken away for the battery on the other side of the bulkhead. Dumb design! Both Stacy and I are 6 feet tall so lack of legroom can be a problem and there's a good foot and a half less leg room on the passenger side!
As already talked about above, it was going to be hot, and turned out to be exactly that, HOT, on the way there so the top would have been up with the A/C on almost all the way there, and part of the way back too. Also as mentioned above with the comment about limited storage, the Solstice has a very small trunk, 5 cubic feet with the top up and 'around' 3 cubic feet with the top down, and only the sides towards the back of the trunk because the top takes up most of the trunk when not up. So limited clothes and snacks during the trip.
We even very briefly talked about making this a motorcycle trip. Again, with the heat and the fact we haven't been on any out of state motorcycle trips in years now, no, that wasn't going to be a mode of this trip. And while on the trip we were very glad we'd left them parked at home!
Then for a time it was going to be taking one of our crew cab trucks so the kid seats could be installed and left in the truck and we'd all just drive that truck while there, and then back home again. That would have worked but the trip would have been pretty expensive with the fuel cost of the gas powered truck we'd planned on taking to save mileage on the trailer towing diesel truck.
All the above choices became moot when we got a message about a week earlier that Sandy's car had been backed into by another driver while Sandy was loading up the kids in their car seats. The lady had been on her phone according to Sandy, and she didn't look behind and just backed up hitting the car door and then Sandy which then has Sandy yelling that got the lady to stop before really hurting Sandy. The other driver's insurance had already made arrangements to have the damage repaired and Sandy was going to get a rental for the time her car would be in the shop and just made arrangements to rent a van. It would fit all of us and in one comfortable vehicle while at Sandy's, so getting around all together - problem solved.
So then it was the obvious, just take the Prius! We already knew that would be the most economical way to make the trip and the Prius also has plenty of space with the back seats folded down for our stuff as well as an ice chest for food and insulated container for my favorite, ice water. So no eating out at restaurants all the time which is not what Stacy and I like to do anyway. Our own food and drink is the way we like to roll on trips!
The Prius was really the right way to go! Round trip from our place there and back again, we only drove the Prius one short trip the entire time we were there at Sandy's, was 1,949.4 miles. The total cost of the gas for the trip? $139.46!!!!!!!
Gas in California was about 20 to 35 cents a gallon more than here in Idaho at the time, and even here the gas had gone up about 7 cents on July 1st with a gas tax increase.
Cruise and A/C on, listening to XM Satellite radio or audio books all the way!
Not even our motorcycles get as good fuel economy as the Prius does. Best tank on the trip: 59.7 MPG, "worst" was 43 MPG, with most tanks in the mid 50s MPG range, and that's going the California freeway speeds too, like mid 70s mph on the I-5.
So, we get to Sandy's about 4:00 p.m. on July 4th, we all go out for dinner and just relax the rest of the day. The next day, Sunday the 5th, was one of the reasons for us going was so Sandy and Erik could have an overnight excursion, just the two of them, with Stacy and me there to take care of the grand kids. So they take off for Napa to relax and we settle in to have some quality grand kid time!
Flash forward to Tuesday morning, Stacy and I had a great time with the grand kids, the rest of Sunday and almost all day Monday before Sandy and Erik return. Now Tuesday and Sandy has to take her VW and drop it off for the damage repair and pick up the rental van and then we're on our way for a few days trip, within our trip, while we're there.
As the plan is to have me be a backup driver I go with Sandy as we drop off her car then we walk to the rental agency about three quarters of a mile away, get the van and sign me up as a driver too. As we walk by Sandy realizes that there is a branch of the collision company she's using right next door to the rental agency, oh well. It's not like she'll need to use a repair shop any time soon! It does show the advantages of living in the thick of civilisation and the city, a lot is relatively close by to her complex and much within walking distance. Sorry, I'll keep my rural lifestyle!
Car dropped off and the rental Dodge van on the reservation turned out to be a 2015 Toyota Sienna van, which is much much nicer! We get back and after a short trip to pick up some things for Sandy, we start loading up. We can fold down the entire 3rd row set of seats as the middle row has enough space for the car seats and the jump seat Stacy says is "good enough" between the car seats. And with the middle row adjustable, they can slide back quite a bit, there's plenty of leg room too.
So, loaded up and we're on our way to San Francisco first on our meander to Fort Bragg. Sandy wanted to go to the Fisherman's Wharf area for lunch and our ultimate destination for the night was a motel in Fort Bragg a few hours away.
As we drive along Stacy is showing Justine, almost 3, how to use the camera on an iPad Mini to take photos and videos. In all the talk with Stacy and Justine along with almost 1 year old Natalie, a few seconds gets recorded by Justine that she really likes. Enough to play it over and over and over again. It's only about 3 seconds long and is truthfully funny to keep hearing over and over and over. The "music" of our trip from the back seats!
As Sandy is the 'pro' at driving San Francisco now that she lives in the general area, there was never any question that she'd be driving, I wasn't even interested in tackling that traffic and still call it a vacation. She lucks out getting a great spot and, for S.F., at a good rate that won't mean leaving one of us as collateral to park there and we head to the Sourdough Bread factory. I've never been there, I actually haven't even been in the Fisherman's Wharf area in decades as I've generally always avoided the crowds and hoping the "Big One" doesn't hit while doing the tourist thing in S.F..
The 'techs' at the Bread factory are doing all kinds of Sourdough animals for the crowds at the windows. At lunch, Sandy was able to get a small Sourdough Sea Turtle for Justine and Natalie to munch on. I got a photo of it before limbs started coming off, in the photo it has a sad look with it's face and little raisin eyes. A kind of "don't eat me" look. It was good though with the bites I tried. All the bread there was really good! Sourdough is my favorite kind of bread which was why Sandy had wanted to lunch there. Thank you Sandy!
Later that day as we're driving on the 101 to the cut off for the coast and Fort Bragg, Justine's voice from the back seat says to myself and Sandy "guys, guys, stop talking! Just stop talking, you're making me nervous!"
We ultimately get to the motel - to remain nameless, that Sandy had found online and made reservations for our days while at Fort Bragg so we could explore the area before going to Willits for the Skunk train ride. The motel looked like it was a 1970s era place, the standard 2 story 'old style' but updated a bit and with thin walls and such with parking right outside your door.
Signs all over the window and door in the lobby about their high ratings and AAA approved status, but when I ask about any AAA or AARP discount (I am old enough now to be looking for those!) I'm very surprised to be told that unless you call and make reservations directly there are no discounts! She says something to the effect about how the online sites take too much of a bite out of their profit so the 'owners' won't give any unless it is called in directly to the place.
In those 'olden days' of the 70s or 80s, back when this place was probably around $50 a night and you could still go the Motel 6 route for less than half that, the few percentage discount for AAA would have still helped, but in the now of over $120.00 a night, it would help more to have those options especially if it's advertised!
OK, enough about that, it gets worse, for me anyway.
We get to our room for the next 2 nights and while it 'looks' alright, I instantly notice a very important thing to me that's missing from any wall in the room- where's the A/C unit!?!?
The room was a lower floor unit with only one large window that had been closed so the room was very warm and stuffy, and NO air conditioning? It has been quite warm with the general state heat wave, even here at the coast, so even a window unit a/c would have been nice, but no. :(
This place reminded me of one of the absolute worst nights at any motel was back in the 1980's on a motorcycle ride that went up the 101 from southern California. It was also during an extreme heatwave along the 101 with several fires getting started in the area hills along the route by it getting so hot the news was reporting spontaneous combustion!
After a long miserably hot, over one hundred degrees almost all the way there, motorcycle ride I get to a Motel 6 I had a reservation for in Salinas. It was actually the first place I'd ever been at in those early days of travel to not have any air conditioning at all. I remember being told "it doesn't usually get hot enough around here for A/C". Well, it was hot enough that night! So that long, long night was no sleep, just laying there sweating and dosing. Terrible! I now don't really remember much about the ride other than the heat and that night. What it was for, or even which run pin I have that goes with it. Oh well.
Now back to this motel.
In looking around Stacy did find about a 9 inch diameter plug in fan in the closet and we got that plugged in and squeakily running and we opened the window and door to try and get some ventilation going. We settle in, Stacy and myself will be in one bed, Sandy and Justine in the other and Natalie in the portable crib the check in clerk was able to finally find that had been reserved for us.
After the twisty turny drive from the 101 to here it was nice to relax a bit before going out for anything. Then Sandy discovers in the rush to get going a very important bag had been left back at home, all of her and the kids clothes!
Sandy and I go to the local Safeway we'd seen to get a couple of things and see if there is any souvenir clothes that could be purchased to help out. None there but she did ask the checkout clerk of any thrift stores and we had the lead on a couple to check out the next day as most places were already closed for the day.
The next morning we go have breakfast at a small cafe in town. Since the motel had a small restaurant in front there was no "continental breakfast" available, just coffee and muffins, so Sandy had found this cafe online also and it sounded good. A "Wizard Of OZ" themed cafe on the main drag. So we have breakfast there then drive to a highlight stop of the trip, "Glass Beach". Well one of several along the coast that one can stop at, we parked and walked over to a fairly accessible section.
Another location I'd never even heard of let alone ever stopped to see.
The Glass Beaches are areas where, like driftwood and stones that get smoothed out and pulverised by the ocean, pieces of old glass and plastic from the days when the city dump was literally dump it into the sea. Much of the trash like that has been broken up and turned over time to have washed back up in natural coves and become the bulk of the 'sand' of the beaches along this area.
As I said above, I had never heard of Sea Glass before then, but since that day I've read about how coveted Sea Glass is for its collectability. Sandy was telling us that the most rare type of the glass is red glass from the old lenses and bottles.
All I know is that it was very interesting to look at all the variety there was at this cove. We saw all kinds and colors but none of the elusive red sea glass. As it's washed by the sea water the glass is very pretty, when dry it is still interesting looking but the pieces lose much of their luster. Even though there was signage asking to not take any of it we saw several people looking for certain pieces and keeping some of what they found. Yes, including me, I found a piece of a ceramic pot of some kind, a piece of metal, and some plastic that was probably part of an old head light or turn signal with its formed in ridges. Very interesting indeed!
After some time at Glass Beach, we load up and drive the short distance to Mendicino, another place I'd never stopped at but has always wanted to. At least it was cool and drizzly there. It had been so hot. Sandy had found a kids store she wanted to check out for clothes for Justine and Natalie. Everybody goes looking for the store but Justine stays in the van with me.
We mainly people watch and Justine shows me she can touch her nose and ear with her toes. Got the photos to prove it!
Sandy and Stacy come back, Sandy has found bargains at the kid's store and is very happy about all she'd gotten. We walk over to a small restaurant have some lunch then go driving North on Highway 1. We wind up driving a long time on the switch back roads of Highway 1 all the way over to where it picks up the 101. On the 101 we drive south to Willits, where we'll be going to the next morning to ride the Skunk train and see where we'll need to be the next day. A van is not the best vehicle to drive long distances in twisty road conditions, at least not with more people than a driver and maybe one passenger. Car sickness was an issue!
Stacy and I had ridden these roads on our Gold Wings, even towing trailers, but in a boxy van with its body roll if too fast, slow and steady was the only way to go without people throwing up! And Stacy was really close to doing just that. While Justine and Natalie didn't say anything I really think they felt it too.
That evening when we finally get back to Fort Bragg and the motel, the long day and maybe with the car ride too, Justine and Natalie both have their first major melt downs of the trip. Turned out to be their only melt down which was nice.
While Stacy tried to calm Natalie, Sandy tried to calm Justine. It wasn't happening!
We became "those" people at this older motel. The neighbors on one side slammed their door and drove off for awhile but no one was pounding on the walls or called the front desk over the screams.
In about 20 minutes it was all over, Sandy had taken Justine out for a walk to calm her and get her away from Natalie so Natalie would calm down too. After that it was almost like it never happened and everybody cleaned up and went to bed.
It was finally Skunk train day.
This was the main focus of this trip within a trip, so Justine, who at this time is really into trains thanks to the PBS Kids show "Dinosaur Train" could ride in a real train. Stacy had been on it years ago and Sandy had also but didn't remember it but we have the photos when her grandparents took all three of them on it.
It isn't the day long excursion it once was due to a tunnel collapse several years ago that the operators and the state haven't had the funding to repair. But this 3 hour tour promised to be fun for all of us.
We check out and have a quick breakfast at the Fort Bragg "Mickey D's" then drive the half hour East to Willits to catch the train.
On the train it was actually an enjoyable experience. The cars are old and need repair, gone are the glory days of the older photos of the Skunk train with brightly painted cars, the old steam engine is no longer used, too expensive to operate was what was told.
The seating in most the cars was all ripped up. We kept walking to the last car and found it must have been the most recently renovated car a decade or so ago as it wasn't too bad. Lots of rust though and a lot of paint and maintenance is needed to get it back to a former glory.
Justine was loving the ride as was Natalie. Justine kept wanting to go out to the open observation car and watch the world go by. Sandy took her out and then Stacy took her out several times, even when it started raining on the way back to Willits, Stacy and Justine kept going out to the open car. Justine got soaked and Stacy would have if she wasn't wearing the rain jacket we'd gotten for her and Sandy at the gift store. At the halfway / turn around point lunch is provided if you want to buy it and everybody did.
Ride all done about 2 pm and we started to head back towards San Francisco. We get closer and start to get into some slow early afternoon commuter traffic, Sandy says it should be faster going through the Napa area so we detour because she's driving.
On a 'good' day we would have been back at Sandy's, via the GPS info, in less than an hour. In the now stop and go two lane traffic away from the freeway it was going to be hours!
Time slowly passes and as our bladders were all about to pop we finally get to a shopping center and Sandy pulls into a gas station so we can GO!! This was where Justine and Natalie had one over the old folks, with their diapers, they just went!
Feeling better and Sandy's starving so we go to a Sonic Burgers drive in and have dinner in the same complex. By the time we're done and back on the road the traffic is much lessened and it becomes a less eventful rest of the way back to their house. This was Thursday now and Stacy and I had to be back on the road the next day.
Friday morning and Sandy's car is repaired early so we stay so Sandy can take care of it, take the rental back and get her car. Early in the afternoon and Stacy and I are on the road heading back to Idaho. Before we left Sandy's and because it was a Friday night, I had gotten us reservations at the Rolling Hills Inn and Casino in Corning. So that was our destination for the night. It was a good one too! Next time we make the trip we'll stay there for sure! While Stacy enjoyed some slot machine play I loved the 30 MBps download speed of the Wi-Fi and watched stuff on my iPad. Didn't even turn on the TV but for a short time the next morning before breakfast.
Saturday morning after breakfast and we started out with plans of staying in the Spokane area that evening, and getting home the next day, Sunday, but we made the mistake of not getting a reservation for that Saturday night at some point during the day. We drove and drove, through thunderstorms and heavy rain in the Bend Oregon area, to winds in the plains area of Eastern Oregon as we made our way to the 84. But we didn't think we'd need reservations in our own general area, how wrong we wound up being!!!!!
At about 6 pm we're in Pasco, Washington, we stop for a bathroom break and some snacks at the Burger King. We talk about calling it a night but Stacy says she's doing great and we continue. We should have gotten a reservation while we were stopped, but we didn't.
It's now around 10 pm and I'm beat and getting concerned because Stacy is calling all the places she or we would normally stay at and nobody has any vacancies! After calling and calling even to places in Coeur D' Alene, 2 hours from home, no vacancies!
So we stop in CDA and get gas. I'm pretty upset now after this turn of events and kind of wreck the evening for Stacy with my mood and complaints of "we should of" and "Never Again!".
So we drive on home, get back about 12:15 AM after 822 miles from Corning California! A very long day!
So, we had a great time overall, we really enjoy spending time with Sandy and the kids and going places and exploring with them. We learned 'again' not to underestimate summertime travel and the need for reservations!!!
We should have remembered we'd learned that one in 2012 when the same thing happened pulling the trailer on the way down to Sandy's for her baby shower before Justine was born. The first day out and not only did we have issues with the trailer we had then but the RV camps we'd wanted to stay in Oregon were all full and we spent hours finding a place to park for the night, and in another heatwave in the July of that year!
Well, live and learn right?
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