Redwood Respite

Well, we ended up staying another two days in Albion, CA due to having to order the starter for our Saturn and then having it installed.  It was frustrating to have to rely on a shop to do a relatively simple job like removing and replacing a starter but, not much I could do about it.  I could've saved over $200 by doing it myself.  More maintenance problems cropped up before we departed!  The die cast bracket that holds the lower awning arm to the motor home broke!  Uggh!  So, I secured it using parachute cord and zip ties.  I told the girls that by the time we end up back in P.C. we will be skidding in being held together with bailing wire, chewing gum and duct tape!  Man, we laughed that it was just like stuff in the movie R.V.!!! Likewise, we felt like we were on the "dark side" of the Moon because we had zero cell service the whole week.  We did have wifi however, we could not call or text anyone, which made it hard to coordinate anything. A note for our friends, if you find that you don't get a response from us for a couple of days, try another means like e-mail, Face book, or text. Sometimes we have one and not the other.  And if you don't get a response at all, then we are truly out in the boonies for awhile. It's not that we have written ya off or drove off the edge! If it's more than a week...send out the search teams!!!!
Once we finally pressed on outta Albion, on this leg of our journey, we continued up the California coastline along Highway 1 and 101.  Again, it was an impressive display of some of the most beautiful coastline vistas, anywhere in the world!  We landed just north of the town of Crescent City, CA.  It was a mixture  rain and sun for our stay here, amongst the redwood groves. Enjoy!

This is why we came here.  We came to visit this park which is a combined State and National park that protects over 45% of the remaining old growth redwood trees.  The combined parks are comprised of about 133,000 acres of which about 39,000 acres are covered by the giant redwood trees (Sequoia semperviens) 

Here we are camped out in amongst some massive redwoods at a private campground just north of Jedediah Smith State & National Park.  It was a very nice and quite park.  We welcomed the lack of wind as compared to the flats of Albion!

Our first night here we had constant rain and pretty much the entire rest of the next day too.  We spent the day catching up on laundry, homework and after "school" the girls break out a puzzle. It was nice to get some things done that we couldn't this past week...like call folks on the phone!

We took a hike down the Stout Memorial Grove trail.  This section of the park  is named after Jedediah Smith, who was one of the first white explorers to travel to California over-land in 1826.

The girls marvel at the massive redwoods that have fallen across the trail.

Heidi and Hailey pose with a downed redwood that was cut to allow passage along the path.

Hailey...if it can be climbed...she will try it. Gotta keep an eye on this one!

Hailey goes over her Jr. Ranger assignments with Stacey as we explore the trail.  She was tasked to find various plants and animals within the park and recorded them, in order to qualify as a Redwood's Jr. Ranger.

Heidi poses for me down by the West Branch of the South Fork river. This was a great place to skip stones!  Tons of stones and nice wide smooth river.  We had  a lot of fun here!

Team Breitmann attempts to encircle a giant redwood....no way!  We could not even see the top of this tree.  Some of these trees were over 300 feet tall!  We felt like ants among giants.  We learned that some of the scenes from the movies: Return of the Jedi and Jurassic Park were filmed in these forests.  

Hailey finds an old friend that she first saw in Russian Gulch near Mendocino. We learned that these slugs are called Banana Slugs and are the second largest slugs in the world.  Native American Indians used the secretions of these to treat sore throats as it will cause numbness in the mouth/throat for 20 minutes.

This a view from Klamath Overlook, which over looks the mouth of the Klamath river as it encounters the Pacific.  While we were here, I was glad that I brought along binoculars because we got the privilege to not only see Sea Lions in the surf but, we also saw a Grey Whale hanging out here!  The whale even breached four times for us..a rare sight indeed!

We came across this cross on our way up the south bluff of the Klamath river.  It was built to stay that is for sure because it is two steel girders set in concrete.  No inscription just standing here.  Pretty neat. 

I thought of my time in the Air Force as an "Air Defender" when we came across the B-71 Early Warning Site.  During World War II, as a result of the attack on Pearl, the necessity of guarding American coastlines became more urgent on the Pacific Coast than on the Atlantic. The threat was further demonstrated when a Japanese submarine shelled an oil refinery north of Santa Barbara, California, on February 23, 1942. Another Japanese submarine shelled Esteven Point in British Columbia, Canada, on June 20, 1942, and again at Fort Stevens, Washington, on July 21, 1942. On September 9, 1942, a Japanese submarine-launched aircraft dropped incendiary bombs on Oregon forests roughly 40 miles north of the Klamath River. The radar station south of the Klamath River, in what is now Redwood National Park, was built in late 1942 and early 1943 as the northernmost California station in a network of 72 proposed stations, 65 of which were actually built, stretching from the Canadian border into Mexico. The Klamath station was designated by memorandum dated November 6, 1942, from the Office of the Commanding General, IV Fighter Command, as Station B-71, named "Trinidad." It was also referred to as the "Klamath River" station. The Klamath River Radar Station B-71 in Redwood National Park,  is a rare survivor of a World War II early-warning radar station, the first step toward the more sophisticated and pioneering early-warning radar defense network. Rather than using camouflage materials, the buildings of Radar Station B-71 were constructed to resemble farm buildings to disguise their true purpose. The station consists of three buildings: a power building disguised as a farmhouse, an operations building disguised as a barn and a functional wood frame two-stall privy or outhouse, now a partially collapsed ruin. The two major buildings were constructed for the Army by a private contractor specifically for the early warning aircraft station, and consist of block walls roughly two feet thick covered with wood-framed gable roofs with wood shingle finish.

The view from B-71 radar station.

Hailey found a bunch of these snails around the B-71 radar site.  They were HUGE!

Hailey, once again earns another Jr. Ranger badge as an official Redwoods National Park Jr. Ranger.  Next stop...Crater Lake National Park.  Look out Oregon, here we come!  God, willing and the creek don't rise!

California's Forgotten Coast

What a change from the Bay Area!  We ended up in a place called Albion.  It is not even a town.  It is marked by the Albion river and is about 5-10 minutes South of the tiny town of Mendocino.  We stayed at a place called The Albion River Campground.  The area around here looks a lot like New England and it is COLD!  It averages year round temperatures in the low 60's.  It RARELY ever even reaches 80 degrees in the summer.  It is commonly called the "California Forgotten Coast" because it is so sparsely populated and is largely not visited in large numbers compared with other popular destination sites in California.  We are glad we made this place a stop on our "journey!"  Enjoy!

This is a view from the West side of the Albion River bridge.  This is a great shot of the cove and the beach that is in front of the campground that we stayed. Heidi and I walked down to the beach to watch the huge Pacific ocean waves crash into the cove and onto the beach as the sun was setting.  We had a harbor seal pop up in the surf and say "hello" about 20 yards from us.  I was kicking myself for not bring my camera phone!  That memory is burnt into my minds eye, watching Heidi perched on a washed up huge redwood as the waves crashed up on the side of it!  Ya can't manufacture or buy that experience.  Thank you , God!

This is a view of the East side of the bridge.  You can see the Albion River on the upper left of the picture and the campground in the lower center.  This is where we camped for the week at Albion River Campground.  You can see the beach and the cove thru the bridge.  As you can see it is not much of a walk from the campsites.  The campground is a former lumber mill that operated up until the Great Depression.

This is a picture of the little town of Mendocino that is just north of Albion Cove, where we stayed.  Mendocino was founded as a lumber town in the early 1800's and was one of many logging towns to pop up along the "fog belt" of Northern California and on into Oregon.  The "fog belt" is roughly a shoreline to 3 miles inland by several hundred mile long band that supports the growth of huge groves of massive redwood trees. These towns fueled the insatiable demand for lumber, during the explosive growth of San Francisco, as a result of the discovery of gold in roughly 1849 and the Great Fire of 1906, which destroyed over 75 percent of San Francisco.  Many loggers moved to California from the Northeast US and Canada to these "new" logging towns.  As a result, they built homes and the town in the style they were accustomed to from back East.  So, these towns, like Mendocino, look just like what you might find in, say, Maine or Prince Edward Island.  When the Gold Rush fizzled out,  followed later by the Great Depression, many towns like Mendocino simply folded up.  Mendocino was "re-born" as a mecca for artists in the early 1970's and was placed upon the National Registry of Historic places.  It has been restored to it's former glory towhat it might have looked like in it's glory days.  Hollywood has used Mendocino to depict fictional New England towns in many movies and TV shows.  An example of such a TV show, was "Murder, She Wrote".  

We were lucky enough to have visited Mendocino on a day that they had a "farmers market".  There were plenty of cool stuff to try and look at.  Hailey's charm gets her a free plant from the nice folks at Flowers by the Sea.  She got a "rock plant".  It looks just like a pebble and a bloom sprouts out of it.  Weird looking and requires very little care or water. They are an online business as well and will ship stuff to you.  You can visit them at: Flowers by the Sea

I did mention that Mendocino was an artist community?  Well, it is also attractive to Eco-environmentalist and a very "progressive" crowd, which  I do not prescribe to their "world-view" but, I do respect their rights to say what they like...in fact, while I served in the Air Force, I was willing to put my life on the line for the rights of freedom of speech.  I do not believe many people of the "progressive" crowd realize that there really are people out there that want to eradicate all of us and ironically, the "progressives" are more than likely the first folks that our enemies would silence. And contrary to popular belief, our engagement in the world is NOT causing the creation of our enemies.  As a matter of fact, at the time of 9/11 we were the least engaged in the Middle East of anytime in recent history. The mantra of "we caused it" is akin to blaming the victim. Okay, sorry, I'll get off my political soap box!  You can't walk too far without seeing a political statement around these parts, so, I'll add mine!  Peace thru superior firepower, man!

A short drive from our campsite, we visited this preserve located on a beach cove.  Very nice.  It is one of many such parks slated for closure starting July 1st due to the budget woes of California.  Way to go California, sarcasm intended.

The beautiful cove at Jug Handle.

We found this guy on the beach at Jug Handle.  How neat to see these guys up close and in the wild.  This is a harbor seal and the girls named it; "Oscar" for some reason.   I don't know if it was male or female but, it's a "he" as far as the girls were concerned.

The girls and I climb up on the bluffs overlooking Jug Handle cove.  

On the way back  on the trail in Jug Handle, the girls find a neat little "hideout".  Heidi poses to the entrance to what they dubbed the "cave to Terabitha" in honor of the movie; "A Bridge to Terabithia".

The girls coaxed me into the "cave" entrance and "WOW" it opened up inside under a massive twist of trees.  It was the ultimate, natural tree house.  Hailey shows it off to me.

There are flowers EVERYWHERE, to the delight of Hailey.  Here she shows off her adornment of Momma's hair.

Back at our campsite, the girls go down to the Albion river and are curious about the local catch of the day.  These guys were smitten with the girls and they walked away with a Ziploc bag of fillets!  

This guy was right behind where the fishermen were cleaning fish and he would gladly "steal" left overs and scraps.  The fishermen said they have seen him here for years and have dubbed him "One-eyed Willie" because of his one good eye.  He certainly was friendly to the delight of the girls!

We take a 4 mile round trip hike down a trail in nearby Russian Gulch.  It was a beautiful day and we only ran into two other folks.

The Team Breitmann gals horse around on the trail.

Hailey, our eternal "tom boy", picks up these giant slug like snails that were everywhere!  Fascinating guys!

This waterfall is what we were hiking down to see.  It was like a fairy tale world.

Yours truly, down at the waterfall.  It was COLD water!

Hailey poses with a huge redwood that fell into the waterfall.

The formula for fun = kids + water!

Heidi and Hailey proceed to get soaking wet!  The hike back served to be not as pleasant for these two soaking and cold campers!  Ah, life lessons!

It's all fun and games until....We got back to our car parked at the trail head, looking forward to grilling up those fresh fish and some pork chops that I left marinating in the frig.  Well..as I turned the key...nothing...click...click.  Uggh!  We are in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone services.  So, I hoof it up to a primitive campsite and find a couple to see about "jumping my car".  I break out my cables and hook em up and....click....click....waft of smoke from the right back corner of the engine bay!  What the..?!  It seems to be emanating from the starter.  Uggh!  So, it isn't a battery issue. So, what now!?  Well, the couple takes Stacey up to the entrance and she uses a land-line at the Ranger Station to call for road side assistance.  Well....over two hours later we get our car and us extricated.  Oh, and....we can't get it fixed for two days!  Oh, and it is over $400.  Yikes!  Oh, remember...no one escapes trouble!  With any luck we will make it to Redwoods National Park by mid-week....hopefully!

Reflections so far...

We've come to a quiet place along the West coast of California and it's giving me some time to think.  It occurred to me that the blog might appear that we are  having a "perfect time", out here on the road.  Don't get me wrong we ARE having the times of our lives but, hey this is life and nobody gets a pass on difficulty!  So, I want to be honest in what I portray here on our blog.  At times it ain't easy!  I've come to the realization of how financially spoiled I have been.  The reality of a "fixed" retirement income is staring me in the face.  Yes, I'm suppose I'm whining because so many have much less.  For that I apologize.  I know that God is instructing me in this and that I have to learn to let Him teach me as we work thru difficulties.  With three months into our "journey" we've gone thru half of our savings cushion.  Most of which has been unexpected operating costs for both vehicles.  Some examples in the last 3-4 months; both air conditioners died, flat tire on the motor home, new valve extenders, leveling jacks malfunctioned, hot water heater blowout valve replaced, front rotors and brake pads replaced (Saturn), brake calipers seized/replaced (Saturn), serpentine belt tensioner broke/replaced (Saturn), couches replaced...etc, etc.  Also, gas prices here in California have really put a crimp on things.  We saw in Mendocino they were asking $5.82/gallon!  Insane!
Another difficulty is missing our friends.  I think most people think we are "unreachable" and view us like we are on a two-week "vacation".  I can certainly understand that.  However, out here on the road, while we are seeing and doing "vacation" like activities we are still "living life".  We don't go out every day.  We still have bills to pay, laundry to do, walking the dog, going to church, etc...  So this is just a different way of living for a year.  We are still available (most of the time) via phone, text, e-mail, Facebook and our blog.  We also are very much open for friends to come visit us on the road and come stay with us.  Got those new couches, ya know!  Or for those with RVs, hook 'em up and come "intercept us"! Maybe that's unrealistic thinking... dunno.
Sometimes, we've felt like we are crazy and we should just go "home" and end this "insane" journey.  This is especially the case when things don't go as planned or don't turn out the way we would've liked.  Then we come across a gem like Yosemite!  Or we meet great people with awesome testimonies of survival, war, recovery and salvation!  We too,  get to share our experiences...good and painful.  
Which leads me to a frequent question we get asked a lot:  "How do you all get along living together in a motor home?"  Like I said, "no one escapes!"  Not even heading out on our "journey" do we "escape".  Well, sometimes it does get tense and we've had our "Come to Jesus" meeting(s) where we put all our feelings and such out on the table as a family.  It's not "pretty" but, in that meeting and afterwards we work out some things and we've all realized that we don't get the luxury of "escaping" to our own rooms or shutting down on each other.  We must work it out, whatever it is or things will not go well.  We are all learning, as a family, how to do that.  It is a work in progress.  We don't do it "perfect" and when we don't it is painful to admit it to ourselves and to each other.  Speaking for myself, it is one of the hardest most rewarding things I've ever attempted to do.  Another question I get is: "How did you decided to do this thing...travel around for a year?"  Well, like anything in life it first requires a decision with a plan AND opportunity.  The opportunity part is in the hands of God.  I give full credit to Him.  Stacey and I did our part and He lined up the opportunity.  I could have never envisioned this journey ACTUALLY happening.  In fact, up until around 3 months until we "planned" to depart we were in doubt of the whole thing because the linch pin was the sale of our two houses and neither one of them sold. Was God trying to tell us something?  Are we crazy to do this thing right now?   Well, we rolled the diced and put both up for rent instead, thinking this can never work like this.  Well, how wrong I was!  Within a month both house were leased and providing income!  So, here we go!
"How long will we travel?"  That is another good question.  Well, both houses are leased for a year.  So....we are committed to at least living in our motor home for that time frame.  Admittedly, we both have our "ideas" of what we want to do during and after this trip and we "say" we are totally open to w God created "opportunities' He may have for us but, to be truthful that is pretty daunting...to be truly open to what God has in mind for us!  Are we really?  That might involve pain, right?  Who's up for some pain?!  Is this what I want or is it what God wants.  I'm attempting, daily, to hand that one over to Him.  Working on that one...daily.  It is a challenge, just like this journey symbolizes to me.

Bay Area

We reluctantly left magnificent Monterey and headed for the San Francisco Bay area.  We had a heck of a time finding a reasonably priced campground near San Francisco.  Camping anywhere near downtown San Francisco was stupid expensive!  We luckily found a place in Vallejo, CA.  It is roughly 30 minutes south of Napa and around one hour northeast of San Francisco.  Vallejo proved to be a great location,  as we pretty much split the difference from San Fran and Napa.  We spent a week here in the Bay area and loved our time.  We would have spent a couple of more days exploring San Francisco but, our wallets AND our bank account could not handle it!  This particular week encompassed Memorial Day.  It is impossible to say thank you enough and even the words 'thank you' are so minuscule and feeble for those that sacrificed their lives...and the families of those fallen...sons, daughters, husbands, wives, friends, comrades... Team Breitmann honors you all and we are grateful for the ability and freedom to travel about this magnificent country...bought and paid for by your sacrifices.  God Bless you all!  The freedom depicted in this blog is NOT FREE!  THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Team Breitmann visits the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA, which was a short 20 minutes from Vallejo.  The Jelly Belly jelly bean is considered to be the "gourmet" of jelly beans and first started producing them in 1976.  It was a favorite of former President Reagan when he was kicking his tobacco habit.

The girls wanted me to give them the "stern military look" as I sported the mandatory head gear for the factory tour.  As you can see, I just could not pull it off without suppressing a smile. 

We were surprised at the "all flavor" section.  There were many more flavors than these! Yep, we tried some!  Stacey tried Grass & Earthworm, Heidi tried Vomit & Soap, Hailey tried Soap and I had Booger.  Uggh...

We worshiped in nearby Benicia at Northgate Church.  A great teaching on being "real" as Christians.

After Church, we had a picnic in Benicia.  What  a "postcard" small town!

We took a drive up Napa Valley and stopped for a tour of the Robert Mondavi winery.  Here the girls are in the courtyard where the winery hosts concerts in the summer.

Heidi and I in front of the Oakville vineyards on the Mondavi property.

Team Breitmann roses in front of the Oakville vineyards.

Hailey and I get ready to set sail from Vallejo to San Francisco.

This is the high speed ferry we took from Vallejo to San Francisco.  We had considered driving to San Francisco, however to do so was VERY expensive....two toll bridges, ($25) gas,($4.24/gal) parking($72).  So the $75 ferry did not seem so expensive!

Hailey gets a kick out of how fast this ferry cruises!  We were cruising along at 35kts.  Pretty impressive for such a large vessel.

An hour after departing Vallejo, we arrive at the Port of San Francisco!

Heidi and Hailey take in the "must do" Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco.  They got a taste of the "big city" when we ran across a guy singing on the street corner; "Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, help me get drunk."  He didn't seem like he needed any help with that as he was obviously inebriated.  So much question from the girls from that encounter.  

Of course, what trip to San Francisco would be complete with out a ride on the cable trolley cars?!

We learned that much of the cable car system was destroyed in the great San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires and that there are only a couple of these lines running nowadays.  The city went to electric street cars and then to buses.  Most of the public transportation is electric.

Heidi wanted this picture put in the blog because she is a big fan of sushi and her friends love Ninjas.  We pictured something out of Saturday Night live with Samurai sushi Chef John Belushi.

The next picture will do all the explaining of the "why" of this sign!

Good grief!  We got a good workout walking these hills!

We had a picnic lunch in Alamo park, which is home to one of the most photographed neighborhood houses in the country..Postcard Row.  There are a ton of beautiful Victorian style house in this area and on into the Pacific Heights neighborhood.  

Ghiradelli chocolates hail from San Francisco....sooo...naturally we have to stop here to the delight of Hailey as we all split "The Cable Car!"

Here she is...at it again!  She spots all the hearts and steals them too!

Crashed on the ferry back to Vallejo!  What a day!

Coit Tower, a San Francisco tribute to the people of San Francisco and it's firefighters.  It was built in the early 1930's.

Atop Coit Tower.  It affords impressive views of San Francisco. Here you can see Alcatraz Island in the upper middle of the picture with it's white lighthouse on the northwest corner.

Hailey poses at the top of Coit Tower.

Here the girls are at the Chinatown gate.  Hailey hams it up with the "dragon".

Heidi our tea lover, tastes one of the thousands of variety of teas available in one of the tea shops in Chinatown.

A view down a street in Chinatown.  This place did not feel like we were even in the United States!  All the newspapers were in Chinese and some shops did not even have any English on their signs.

Monkey around in Chinatown, eh?!

Here is a food market with no English!  We went in and saw some stuff that we had no idea what it was!  

Hailey points to a butcher shop window..."uh, Dad are those chicken feet?"  Me: "Yes, yes they are.  And over there is a flat, dried duck with his head still on!"

We ate lunch at this place.  Everyone in there was speaking Chinese and 99 percent of the patrons were Chinese.  We had a heck of a time ordering as we could hardly understand our waitress!  It was very good and unlike any Chinese we have had!  Awesomely good.

A view of Alcatraz as we approach it for a tour.

The girls in front of the sign before we get prepared to do "time on the rock!"

This sign is the first thing you see as you get off the boat.  Notice the "Indians welcome" inscription.  We learned that the island was "occupied" by Indian activists in 1970, who wanted to call attention to the history of US mistreatment of American Indians.  The Indians held the island for 19 months before they were removed by the US Government.

We learned that Alcatraz started off as a Fort Alcatraz in the 1850s, following the "gold rush of 1849".  It was the first military fort on the West Coast and secured California and the United States as a power in the Pacific.  It continued to be a Fort until the 1920's when the US Army turned it into a military prison.  Then it was turned over to the newly created Federal Bureau of Prisons in 1933 and updated with state of the art technology.

Hailey poses in front of one of the 250 lbs remotely operated electrical prison doors.

A view of the three story cell block.

This is a picture of the floor in the cell block "cross over".  The scarring on the floor is as a result of hand grenades tossed in during the "battle of Alcatraz".  The "battle" occurred when the prisoners managed to take over this portion of the cell block, holding 9 guards hostage and executing 5 of them.  The warden requested the assistance of US Marines, who landed on Alcatraz to augment the prison officers in taking the prison back.  

Hailey earns yet another Jr. Ranger badge on Alcatraz National Park.  This is number five for her.

That's one big commemorative coin you got there, Hailey!  As it turns out, we were here for the 75th Anniversary of the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge!  How cool is that?!

The girls pose with a cutaway example of one of the massive suspension cables of the Golden Gate Bridge.  27,572 strands of wire per cable. Wow!

Here we are preparing to walk onto the bridge.

Me and Hailey on the pedestrian walk way.

Hailey looks, with mouth gaping, up one of the towers that the suspension cables hang from. 

Here the girls take a moment to watch a massive container ship slip under the bridge and out into the Pacific Ocean.

This is a great view of the downtown financial district.  Interesting fact about San Francisco banks was that during the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the subsequent Great Depression, not a single San Francisco bank failed.    This fact lured many from the "Dust Bowl" to the allegedly "prosperous" California coastline. San Francisco is still a leading banking and financial center of the world.

From our ferry, I noticed a USN aircraft carrier in San Francisco bay.  It was great to see her and again reminded me of Memorial Day!  

As we "fly away" from San Francisco we will continue to........