Another restful night on the ocean shore. Up at 7, walked on the beach with Donner, breakfast, broke camp, on the road at 10.
I would have preferred to stay an extra day or two but the weather, although slightly warmer than the last few days, did not look promising. With what little information i could gather, my instincts told me it was time to move on. Besides, i was getting too comfortable at Kalaloch, and one of the main reasons i take these trips is to break loose from my comfort zone. I never cease to be amazed at how the skills learned and resurrected during these trips carry over to all facets of my life, e.g., drawing conclusions from a paucity of information, which conclusions usually are always right, and taking the more difficult path to break out of my comfort zone.
Our plan (I write in the plural because Donner always seems to agree with me) for today was to make a big push down to Newport, where i knew there was a cozy camp. But ar 4:30, my GPS told me i would not arrive until close to 7, meaning 730 in my case, factoring in breaks for Donner and pit stops for the Defender and me. At that point, i pulled over, scanned my prior blogs for the Nehalen State Park, where i had stayed last year, and as good luck would have it, we were 10 minutes away. So it came to pass that Nehalen is our new home for the night.
We pulled into Nehalen at about 5 and immediately selected the same great site we had last year, right against the dune separating the camp from the beach. But two minutes after i arrived, an RV pulled up and the driver proclaimed that she had reserved the site for the night. (Probably Elmer's cousin.) As good luck would have it, my neighbor at the next site informed the RVer that the electric outlet was not working at this site, so she arranged to go to another.
Donner immediately took his position on our front lawn to scout out new dogs and was handsomely rewarded jn minutes when five handsome canine friends ambled by for their evening walks. As usual, Donner gave all of them his customary kisses, Joe-Biden style.
Camp was set up,and dinner for all was over by 715, just as useable daylight disappeared and a light rain started to fall. Life On The Road does not get any better than that. I rewarded myself for good planning by breaking out another 187 ml bottle of fine Merlot for in the tent latter.
In the tent, after the evening's in-tent chores were finished, i set out to do some serious planning. Putting aside the ingredients of these plans, i decided that it was time to get out i
of my comfort zone on this spectacular coastal highway. So, tomorrow we will head southeast to Crater Lake and spend the night there (or the following night if we do not make it there tomorrow). Then, on Monday or Tuesday, we will start the 680 mile drive to Death Valley.
Now that i had made a decision, it was time to do some detailed planning, so i got on-line (yes, there is internet in this camp) to research Death Valley to prepare for our arrival on October 17th. Oops, peak season starts on October 15, two days before we can arrive. There is only one reservable campground, and that starts filling up in April. (There are several first-come-first-serve campgrounds but i did not want to have to put up with that hassle, or perhaps end up not getting a site at all.) So, i quickly signed on to www.reservation.gov and, as good fortune would have it, was able to book one of the few tent sites remaining. I reserved it for five nights just in case i get delayed in arriving. I have been delayed before, as readers of my previous blogs know, and it is not thrilling for me. Some readers of my blogs, however, seem to enjoy these segments.
There are any number if reasons why i want to visit Death Valley, but one is the get a photo of the Defender at the lowest point in North America. I already have a photo of it next to Denali, the highest point, and this next photo will put it in a class all its own.
From Death Valley, the plan (but plans do change) is to drop into Zion National Park, then the north side of the Grand Canyon, after which we will make our way to Moab again, hop onto l-70, and camp one night on the Colorado River at a wonderful camp in a canyon i found last year. From there, the dreaded 1826-mile drive home on I-70 begins. I hope we avoid the blizzard-like conditions we ran into last year crossings over the Rockies.
Again, these are plans, and can change. But at this stage of my trips, i need to start getting specific so i do not run out of time and decent weather.
Ed and Donner, from the road
PS Once again, i apologize for any composition errors in this message. I just do not have time or battery to edit it into my usual literary masterpieces.
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