The Storm Rolls In and We Head East Across Northern CA

Tuesday-Thursday, September 23-25, 2014

With the decision to leave Cape Blanco State Park on Tuesday, we needed a plan for where we would go next. Originally we had hoped to have a week or two on the coast, relaxing and walking on the beach, but the seasons caught up with us. The first major storm of the Fall/Winter hit the Northwest. Sunday we could feel the wind reversing direction and coming up from the south. A sure sign that summer was over. The overcast sky and chilly temperatures were moody and intriguing, but, we didn't relish being stuck in a small, chilly, damp RV for the next week.

Tuesday we stayed in our campsite until the 1:00 pm checkout, finished posting on the blog and then drove to the lighthouse overlook and ate lunch. We had one last commune with the beaches below, and felt the winds hitting us broadside and rocking the rig. Then we made the short drive to the town of Port Orford and parked at the Battle Rock Overlook. We stayed there the rest of the afternoon watching the storm pick up along the coast, and being rocked crazily in the wind. Not wanting to drive in the heavy rain until the next day, we drove over to the city lot on a bluff overlooking the harbor and fishing boats. Port Orford provides this lot for RV's, about six good sized ones can fit. The sign says, RV's $20, but there are no envelopes, nor a way to put money in the broken iron post, so we figured we would stay free for the night.

Looking south at Humbug Mountain from Port Orford

The Port Orford commercial pier

Our end site nestled up against the side of the bluff gave us some shelter from the rollicking winds, and we spent the night with the rain pounding the roof. Dawn brought more rain and we splashed out through the huge puddles and drove south through Gold Beach and Brookings. This part of the coast is some of the most picturesque. We didn't stop to view it, but could see the huge surf as we drove along. High surf warnings were posted as the waves coming in a new direction were reshaping the beaches and dunes after their summer configurations.

Our free campsite on the bluff in Port Orford

Driving south on US 101 - The RV was much cleaner after the 3 hour rainy carwash

Huge surf among the sea stacks

Just south of Brookings we entered California. The plan was to re-visit three places from our trip up the coast in the Spring. Six River Brewery in McKinleyville, and the Emerald City Laundramat and Wildberries Market in Arcata! We hit the brewery at lunch time and I was able to have my all-time favorite micro-brew that has Humboldt County strawberries in it. Greg wound up with a girly raspberry lambic ale. We watched the pouring rain out the window and enjoyed our lunches.

Wahoo Tacos and Raspberry Lambic

It wasn't a month yet(!), but we found ourselves at our favorite laundromat so we went for it. While the clothes washed we crossed the street to Wildberries Market, also one of the best natural markets we've found. The trifecta! Good brews and food, clean clothes, and a re-supply of good food, but we still needed a place for the night. We did a repeat and went to Clam Beach just outside of McKinleyville. It's only a small county campground with a parking lot and a few sites to pitch tents in the dunes. We parked, paid our $13 with a senior discount, and settled in for night to wait out the rest of the storm.


By Thursday morning the rain stopped, we said goodbye to the coast and drove east on Highway 299 out of Arcata. The fog and clouds gradually lifted as we ascended into the forested Klamath Mountains. We decided to drive until we were ready to stop, or found someplace interesting to land, possibly one of the lakes around Redding. Our ultimate destination was Reno, Nevada, simply because they have a Walmart where our new phones can be shipped for us to pick them up. Over two years of hard use and my smartphone has turned into the “Demon Phone”. Let's just say that it has developed a mind of its own that was psychotic... Then we want to retrace our route south along Hwy 395 along the eastern Sierra Nevada in California.

Fog and rain in the Klamath Mountains

While we checked out camping at Whiskeytown Lake, (just a paved parking lot with no hook-ups), we got a text that the phones were in early, so that settled our plans. We drove the rest of the way to Lassen Volcanic National Park, climbing as we went, up to 5,900' and cold weather! Unfortunately we caught up with the weather system and the road through the park was closed and being plowed out from snow in the highest areas. Checking into the Manzanita Campground at the entrance, we found out that they had 2” of rain, and it showed. Some of the campsites were washed out. It took a while for us to find a flat campsite without the potential for a river to run through it. Good thing, too. We had more rain, and the temperature fell to near freezing during the night.

Sunshine near Redding along the Trinity River