September 21, 2016 Whiskeytown Lake to Manzanita Lake

Let Whiskeytown at daylight and entered Redding. Ran a few errands and found a Trader Joe’s, bonus! That took care of lunch, dinner and snacks.

Headed out of Redding toward Lassen Volcanic Park. Upon arriving I asked about camping and was told to grab a spot at Manzanita Lake Campground as soon as possible as it would soon fill up, the other campsite had closed. I got a good spot, they didn’t fill up but came close.

Drove around looking for places to take pictures. Most of them looked like they should be taken in the morning. I went back to the camp and made my TJ rib eye over a campfire.

It is suppose to get cold tonight so I am taking everything in the tent with me.

Time to crawl in the sleeping bag.

September 20, 2016 Brookings to Whiskeytown

Left Oregon today and entered California at Crescent City continued down the coast to the 299 cut off to Redding. Found a campground in the National Forest by Manzanita Lake.

Nice drive down the coast now I am in chaparral country, Manzanita, beautiful red trunks, missed those.

The sky was filled with stars until the moon rose and the skies filled with clouds.

I hope it is clear in Tahoe this weekend, should be great for star filled skies.

So tomorrow I will head out to Redding and then into the mountains.

September 19, 2016 Newport to Brookings

A foggy drive down the coast, I was going to cross over to Corvallis and onto I5, but I decided to continue down the coast.

The fog started to lift a bit so I pulled over to take a look. I pulled behind an RV, a Coachman, with RI plates. I get out and go around front of the car and run into the couple from Little Compton that I met in Yellowstone. We figure we may run into each other this weekend up in Tahoe.

Tomorrow I will probably cross into California and head toward Redding and the back way to Tahoe; I have never been that way.

A political update, signs from Montana to Oregon, Trump lots of them, next some Jill signs, one Johnson. There was one very large sign that said “Hillary for Prison”, that was it for her. Prepare for the end of the world as we know it. Time to get Bernie back in there.

Have a good night.

September 17 and 18, 2016 Mt. Rainier to Long Beach to Newport

Heard the pattering of rain on the tent this morning. Thought I would read a bit and see if it would stop for a bit.

Felt really good and noticed that the mat under the bag felt especially soft., almost like a water bed. I then realized that the tent site was a bowl and I had 1 to 2 inches of water under the tent. Fortunately, the waterproof bottom didn’t leak.

So I got up and quickly threw everything in the car and headed out.

The rain kept up throughout the day. I headed out to Long Beach to visit an old friend with whom I had reconnected on Facebook. It was a four or five hour drive through the middle of Washington. Love the smell of the moist forest and ocean air mixed together. A nice layer of fog was hanging over the coast.

I arrived at my friend Jim’s house around three. Met his wife Annie and then he and I went and caught each other up. He does amazing woodwork, and has lead a very full life.  Annie made her signature Nacho dish for dinner and it was incredible.

In the morning Jim fed his Ravens, Bluebirds, squirrels and every else came for breakfast.

After a delicious breakfast by Annie I headed south.

I followed 101s until I came to Newport, stopping a few times along the way.

Went out and had a nice Dungeness crab salad with a cup of cream garlic and crab soup. It is not in season but the waiter told me they can there own crab each year. I had also been told that this was the best seafood restaurant in town, so I tried it and it was very good.

So now I am almost caught up, tomorrow I head toward California by next weekend I should be in Tahoe.

September 16, 2016 Mt Rainier

Woke to a nice but chilly day. Drove to Paradise to catch the sunrise. As a bonus I captured the full moon setting.

I then drove further up the around the mountain and found a few more places before turning back to make breakfast.

Later I drove down to the camp store and another lookout. I then returned to camp and rested until five.

I then drove out of the park and around the mountain to attempt to capture the full moon rising over the top of Mt Rainier. Getting intermittent sprint access I had a app locate the best spot. I then set up and shot the sun setting and the moon rising.

The clouds covered the mountain and behind me the clouds covered the sun. I waited for an hour for the clouds to part just for a moment, didn’t happen. Though I did get a nice blue light photo with the moon backlighting the clouds over the mountain.

Then I had an hour drive back to my campsite.

Went straight to bed.

September 15, 2016 Lacey to Mt Rainier

So I have sprint again and I set Waze to escort me to Mt Rainier, good to know they know every backcountry road to get you where you want to go. Just hope you are not in a hurry.

Lost the Internet in the mountains, again.

It is beautiful up here, driving around to see as much as I can. They are doing road construction up here, so again one delay after the other.

Checked in with the Ranger station to find the best view for the moonrise on Friday. Then drove around looking for the best sunrise location. Tomorrow I will scout out some more locations.

I am finding that I have not allotted enough time for this trip and I am going to have to come back to many places I have visited.

May have to spend the next few years traveling so I can hit these places at different seasons. Sounds good to me, it is great to be out on the road.

Tonight I have my first steak since I have been on the road, I am going to cook it over the open flames of my campfire, can’t wait.

Time to cook see you later.