Highway 101

The Pacific Coast Highway through California, Oregon and Washington should be on every traveler's "bucket list". It is one of the most scenic roads in the country. Today, I drove Highway 101 South (a/k/a Redwood Highway) down to Eureka. One moment you are hugging the coast looking out over the Pacific Ocean and then before you know it, you are driving through a majestic redwood forest. Here are some of today's highlights...

Northern California beach

A tight fit

Herd of elk

Crescent City, California

The next stop on my itinerary is Crescent City, California which is located off Highway 101 along the Pacific Ocean. From here I plan to travel up and down the coast taking in the beaches and redwood forests.

City Harbor

Battery Point

Battery Point Lighthouse

View from the Battery Point Lighthouse

Crater Lake

A massive volcanic eruption 7,700 years ago left a deep basin in the place where a mountain peak once stood. Centuries of rain and snow filled the basin, forming Crater Lake. It is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet and holds 4.9 trillion gallons of water.

I had intended to drive around the lake, but the East Rim Drive was still closed due to snow. It looks like mid-July and August would be the best months to tour the park (talk about a short season). It was overcast today, so the photos do not quite capture the brilliant deep blue color of the lake...

Too Much Information

Yesterday, I stopped at a RV dealership to have them test the 7 pin connector to see if it was delivering power to the Jeep's battery. Before they would perform that very simple test, they first required more information on my RV then the South Dakota DMV. It took longer to check into service then it did to find and repair the problem.

Today, I tried to get a haircut. They wanted me to stand outside with a mask and give them my name, telephone number, email and mailing addresses. I told them I was only in town for a couple of days and just wanted to get a haircut. Their reply was "I must give them that information or they would not cut my hair". I decided to let my hair grow a little longer.

I miss the simpler times when if you wanted a product or service, you gave them your money and did not have to play twenty questions.

Medford, Oregon

Medford, Oregon is the next stop on my tour of the Pacific Northwest. I chose Medford for several reasons:

• It has a retina center where I was able to schedule an appointment for my next macular degeneration injection.
• It is large enough to have all the amenities that I would want without the traffic/congestion of larger cities.
• It has several RV dealerships along with a Freightliner facility in case I might have problems with the Jayco Seneca. This turned out to be fortuitous in as much as the 7 pin connector failed to send power to the Jeep which left me with a dead battery. Fortunately, I carry a power pack with me so this was not a big problem. It turned out to be a blown fuse which was a quick and easy fix.

Oregon trivia:

• It is only one of two states nationwide where it is illegal to pump your own gas (if your car or truck uses diesel, you can pump it yourself).
• It has no state sales tax (I will be stocking up on anything I can use in the near future).

View from my site at the Southern Oregon RV Park

Juniper Lake

This area is a fisherman's paradise. There are numerous lakes, most with primitive campgrounds, that would make for a great weekend getaway. Juniper Lake is located in the southern portion of Lassen Volcanic National Park about 13 miles north of Chester, California. The drive starts out as a paved road lined with tall evergreens...

Click on photos to enlarge

It then turns into a rough dirt road that is like driving on rumble strips...

At the lake people were kayaking and enjoying the warm, sunny weather...

On the north end of the lake there are private cottages that were built before the area became a national park...

Mystery of the day: "What was this suitcase with boots on top doing out in the middle of nowhere with no one around"...

Lassen Volcanic National Park

The main reason I stopped in this part of California was to tour the Lassen Volcanic National Park where all four types of volcanoes (shield, composite, cinder cone, and plug dome) can be found here. Lassen Peak is one of the largest plug dome volcanoes in the world. Its last eruptions were between 1914 and 1921, with the largest explosion on May 22, 1915. No one can say when or where the next eruption will occur, only that it will.

The other major feature of the park are the boiling mudpots created by the hydrothermic system deep underground. The sulfurous gas they give off allows you to smell them before you see them.

I have some videos that I shot in the park, but the Internet connection here is so slow I will have to post them once I get back into good 4G territory.

Update (6/18/2020): Was able to upload boiling mudpot video early this morining...

Update (6/19/2020): It took 3 hours, but I finally got the last video uploaded...

Lake Almanor

After taking the morning to rest and pay some bills, I took a leisurely drive this afternoon around Lake Almanor, a pristine lake surrounded by old growth evergreen trees...

Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox, Westwood, CA

Lake Almanor with snow-capped peaks in the background

First pelican I have ever seen on a fresh water lake

Lassen West RV Village

It has been a long time since I stayed in a wooded campground, much less one that advertises an average site size of 8,000 square feet (talk about social-distancing)...

I am using the Lassen West RV Village as my basecamp for the next week to explore the northeast corner of California in my Jeep. It is currently raining and 61 degrees which I am enjoying immensely. Starting tomorrow, the forecast for the week is sunshine and moderate temperatures - just what I was hoping for.

World's Largest Ammo Depot

Just in case you were wondering where the World's Largest Ammo Depot is located - it is in Hawthorne, Nevada...

Yesterday, I drove the Jayco Seneca up to Hawthorne from Las Vegas (~300 miles) and so far, have been very pleased with the RV. It's about 20 degrees cooler here than what I had been suffering through in southern Nevada and that is a much welcomed relief.

2015 Jayco Seneca 36FK

Although my 2016 Heartland Bighorn 3570RS fifth wheel was one of the best RVs I have owned, I got tired of having to make two trips to new destinations in order to take my Jeep with me. So, I traded it and my 2011 Ford F-350 for a 2015 Jayco Seneca 36FK Class C which is built on a Freightliner frame and has a 340 hp Cummings diesel and Allison six speed transmission capable of towing up to 10,000 pounds...

It's too early to say much about the vehicle other than I like the layout and it drives more like a heavy duty truck than a RV. If all goes well, I hope to head north by the end of the week to avoid the desert heat.

Update (6/12/2020): After spending four nights in the RV, I have discovered a couple more things I like about the vehicle:

• Today, we have had heavy winds here in Vegas and the Jayco Seneca has been much more stable than my fifth wheel. I suspect that is due to the unit weighing over 22,000 pounds and having four leveling jacks.
• It has a tankless water heater that once you set the temperature where you want it, you just turn on the hot faucet, wait 15-20 seconds and you are ready to shower - no messing around with the cold faucet. The other advantages of the tankless system are having hot water for as long as you have propane and not burning propane when it is not in use.