We moved from Santa Cruz to Eugene in 1980, so we planned a full week in Santa Cruz to reconnect with old friends. We had intended to stay at the Santa Cruz RV Park in Scotts Valley, but when I…
Russian River Rest
When we bought our RV, we were given a year’s membership to Thousand Trails, an RV resorts club. It gives us 30 free overnights per year, and after that it’s only $3 per night. The catch is it has to…
Roads to Cloverdale (and back)
When we left Linda’s Land near Port Arena, she headed north back to Eugene, and Kelly followed us to our next destination on the Russian River (near Cloverdale). Even though Cloverdale is directly east of Port Arena, there is no…
Point Arena
Point Arena is a small, cozy village 35 miles south of Mendocino on the Northern California coast. It has a quaint downtown strip that includes the basics: café, organic market, thrift shop, bar, garage, and an incredibly nice library. Linda’s land,…
Mendocino, CA
Then… I first came to Mendocino in 1976. After graduating college with a degree in theater and no idea what to do with it, I’d decided I couldn’t survive one more Ann Arbor winter. I bought a used Dodge van,…
Women on the Land
By the time we got to Linda’s land near Point Arena on Friday, we were so exhausted by three days of white-knuckle driving that we were ready to stay put for a while. Linda had to leave the next morning…
Convoy to California
Kate has a friend from work who is semi-retired now and owns land near Mendocino, California that is set up as a family camp. For years she’s invited us down there, and we finally took her up on it. So…
Eugene Stopover
We drove back to Eugene from Seattle on Saturday, March 14. It rained most of the way and took nearly twice as long as it normally does in a car, even though we only had two or three short stops.…
Through Skagit Valley back to Seattle
We heard on the news that the tulips in Skagit Valley were blooming early this year. We’d seen photos of those tulip farms in full bloom, and it is just gorgeous. So instead of taking the ferry back from Whidbey Island, we…
Whidbey Island
On Wednesday, we left Bessie tucked safely away in Tobi’s driveway and took the ferry to Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, where our old friends, Claire and Marsha, live. These are our oldest friends (I’ve known Claire since 1977), and…
Kid Visit in Seattle
From Portland, we drove a few hours north to Seattle, where our daughter, Tobi. and god daughter, Aly, live. We wanted one last visit with each before we headed south. We parked Bessie snuggly in a side driveway next to…
Portland, Oregon
Onward to Portland, where we stayed with Kate’s “childhood chum” and her husband for two nights. Sherry and David recently moved to Portland (Clackamas, actually) from Mill Valley, CA. They have a huge house with an incredible view of Mount Hood,…