sandy needs a home

friends of ours have had to make a very difficult decision. sandy is in need of a new home. she's perfect for a young couple without children, an older couple, single person, family with school aged children. she's a girl who needs positive attention. unfortunately, there might have been a time before my friends acquired her that there was abuse as a pup. she loves the outdoors, hikes, walks in the moonlight. she loves the water and she's a great vehicle...she loves to pull a skateboard! if you're interested or know anyone looking for a great play pal, she's the dog. get ahold of us.

andy pitlock fundraiser

we had a great time in honor of andy, who was not able to attend, he was able to have his transplant last week. they had found a donor who was a closer match than his aunt and had the surgery right away. he's doing well in recovery. thanks to all who attended and thanks to the feisty goat for holding the event!

flower power

the other day, bleeding the baja brakes in the drive-way, i noticed something brightly colored placed ever so gently on a pine cone branch on our porch. from where i was, i knew it was a flower but couldn't tell whether it was real or fake, alive or dead. as soon as i was done with my pumping duties went over to inspect. as i got closer, the color of this flower exploded! i shrieked with excitement, "MOSES MADE ME A FLOWER!" moses, our extremely talented vw friend has been experimenting lately with clay. we are lucky enough to have acquired now two of his trial stick shift creations. thank you moses, i love it!

niello ranch run & car show

our first official show for '08. couldn't have been a more beautiful day to caravan into sac. this particular show is expanding by the second to where every year is a different set-up. i think i heard a rumor that next year's will be a two day deal. a mass exodus of 200+ vws playing follow the leader to loomis from the niello dealer to an awesome location, a horse ranch and pond which offers therapeutic horseback riding for children and young adults with neurological disabilities. everything was pretty much exceptional, the location, the weather, the raffle, the goody bags, the entertainment and did i say, dave won a trophy? there was even a tattoo artist (how is the emblem, robert?) and performing live...kandy striper.

damn spring

slogoinvws has this thing with mother nature. we plan something, she acts nasty. what is it with women anyway...

we thought we'd try something new this year called the "meet in the middle." we wanted to call it that cause that's what we're doing. for the reno and carson folks, it's about 1/2 way and bowers is the perfect place for everyone to have fun...bring a kite, a skateboard w/o wheels, a nerf ball of somesort or hey, bring your vw!

thanks muki for taking pics and sharing...i'm getting ready to off all the technology we own and depend on others for their picture taking skills...

day 19

ian

the last picture taken from my camera was of ian. our first encounter was a brief eavesdropping in coos bay of his inquiry of the area at the chamber of commerce. realizing it was the same person as we came up behind his yellow trailer we thought “that’s cool.” we became a little curious and intrigued to know who this guy was traveling by bike, alone on the hwy. making casual contact in port orford, offering a suggestion of where to pitch his tent was just that, casual. we exchanged “waves” at humbug mountain state park where his small tent was set up as the rains really started coming down. conversations in the bus about the guy on his bike were frequent, comparing him to people we know, wondering where the heck he was going and of course, wondering if we would ever do that. the handing off of the torch (sort of speak) was often, us passing him, us stopping somewhere then passing him again. we got up some mornings and wondered if we’d ever see him again. the picture was just that, thinking that would be the last time we’d see him, our trip was coming close to its end and we didn’t know where he was headed, he could stop at any moment. i opened the window, snapped his picture and asked him where he was headed, “san francisco.” long story shortened…we caught him getting ready to put a note on the bus in point reyes station, offered him lunch, chatted over great food, parted our ways, once again seeing him crest the hills into san francisco. we had this terrific feeling that we were just catching up with a friend. we really expect to meet up with him again on his journey to vermont from portland or back. please visit ian’s website to read more about him and his travels: http://www.studio-en.net/

afternoon 18

point arena lighthouse, ca

one of california’s tallest lighthouses at 115 ft., tied with pigeon point lighthouse.
california’s lighthouses: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/pull-state.asp?state=ca

day 18

mendocino, ca

in oregon, the forest and the beach touch. in california, the grass meets with beach.

evening 17

fort bragg, ca

not being in our own element we were out of the loop on where the party was for st. patty’s day. you get so used to the local radio stations bombarding the airwaves with commercial’s for the hot spots for green beer. not the case when traveling in an antennae free bus. we found out from a local where to have the best pizza, piaci pub & pizzeria and as you can see in the picture, the best brew.

morning 16

westport-union landing state park, ca

the transition from the 101 to the one was like a kick in the face. one starts out as a treacherous forested rollercoaster ride and when it was over…you’re planted right onto the beach, this beach. the ability to camp right on the grassy knolls overlooking the water was the most incredible thing. the waves crashing beneath you, the clear sky with no outside light interference which made the stars that much closer and the ocean’s glow from the moonlight, all breathtaking. one step better…waking up to those things minus the moon/stars plus sun, sea lion/seal playing outside, minimal footprints on the beach and my birthday.

late afternoon 15

humboldt redwood state park, ca

as the possibility of seeing a gas station got slimmer the gauge was dropping and the road started getting rougher and rougher…as we continued deeper into the twilight zone. trees became taller, wider and more abundant which made the light of the day disappear. we questioned the earlier recommendation of a fellow laundromat user, also a vw bus owner, who told us we had to drive a 31 mile road through the avenue of the giants. knowing this grey road had to have been more than 31 miles, we doubted that’s where we were but the trees and surroundings were incredible, it’s not everyday you see a red tailed hawk with a fish that he pulled right from the water beside you, fly through your path. worried we’d run out of gas, the tree tour was quick finding ourselves in great relief of the hwy. littered with signs to exit for the avenue of the giants.

afternoon 15

honeydew, ca

this was the coolest of bridges and the southern entry into the very strange little town of honeydew which we stumbled upon by taking a “grey” road. we wanted to stay as close to the coast as we could w/o totally off roading so any little break off of the 101 we took. its northern access point was fernbridge which is the home for the humboldt creamery then into ferndale. ferndale really stumped us, here’s this little town that obviously has money (all the homes and buildings were completely restored) in the middle of nowhere and off the beaten path. it felt as if we had just entered a staged event like all the residents should start singing and dancing in the streets in time period clothing: http://www.victorianferndale.org/chamber/. the road from there was a little rural, skinny and unpopulated which started to concern us. open ranges, farms and tiny communities through the foothills then on to the coast where we found the access points to the beaches were limited. the atlas we were using had no mileage for this road which also became a concern when watching the gas gauge. finally a deserted beach to comb after miles and miles of coastal ranches. then on to more unknown which took us on huge climbs and falls even seeing patches of snow on the shoulders. then came honeydew…where the locals stood at the only little market (it looked as if the five residents were having a beverage after their long day crabbing) with their mouths open, as if a car hadn’t passed through there in years.

day 15

klamath, ca

there were many roadside attractions along the coast of oregon/california: sea lion caves, prehistoric gardens, one log house, trees of mystery, west coast game park, etc. unfortunately, the majority of them were either closed for the season or closed for the evening.

evening 14

patrick’s point state park, ca

at this point in our trip we started to notice heavily populated state parks. the further south we traveled the more people. we took into consideration that many folks were beginning their spring breaks and taking their kids beach camping. other things we noticed is the state parks were getting more expensive and less taken care of. showers were becoming scarce. this particular state park did have some nice jaunts to different overlooks where we watched a single pacific white sided dolphin play in the waves from wedding rock.

day 13

bandon, oregon

after the first couple clouds of rain, we gave up trying to stop it from coming in the safaris. we watched the little storms come and go out on the ocean’s horizon so there was hope for a little sun to dry out the bus. however, when there’s a stretch of light to heavy to downpour for four days…you get a little hesitant to believe there’s an end. the rain never hindered our ability to have a great time and the reason for the jungles was apparent.

evening 12

umpqua lighthouse state park, oregon

a few of the evenings were spent inside due to the torrential downpours: playing eights, snacking, trying to get a local radio station and enjoying our “hippie chick” scented candle from newport bay candle co.

day 12

oregon dunes national recreation area

40 miles of oceanside dunes…a wet (or dry) dream come true! read more about the area: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw/recreation/tripplanning/oregondunes/
or more about sandland tours:
http://www.sandland.com/

afternoon 11

heceta head lighthouse state scenic viewpoint, oregon

our alternative transportation were bikes...to see a little bike sign on this bridge really struck me as strange...i guess they would have to cross them as well. we didn't do official counting of bridges, we're figuring on about 40 one of the days of travel. they were all equally as impressive.

day 11

yaquina head lighthouse, oregon

oregon’s tallest lighthouse, 93 ft.
oregon’s lighthouses: http://www.oregon.com/trips/lighthouses.cfm