My Biggest Adventure

In a couple of weeks I'm about to launch my biggest adventure so far. I'm going out on my own "Travels With Charley in Search of America" (Charley's my dog - a poodle). I have a couple of days left of work, will tie up some things at home and then will head south for the winter.

I plan to log my trip here, which will help me organize memories, will be a reasonably easy way to let loved ones know where I am and that I'm safe, and will hopefully be  interesting to those who are just wondering what I've been up to. Am I excited? YES! Am I a little nervous? Yes. Am I ready for this? Ugh - not yet. There's so much to do, but I'm working on it.

The picture here is my home away from home. I've only been out camping in it a couple of times so far, but it seems like it will be a good fit for what I'm planning.

Many people have told me they could only imagine quitting their job and going traveling before they're old enough for retirement. Only time will tell whether this is one of the best decisions I've ever made or one of the worst. But I'm ready to take a chance to find out. Wish me well. And if you want to meet up somewhere out there, let me know!

McMenamin's McMinnville

Continuing the microbrew theme, I've ended up at the Hotel Oregon, a funky McMenamin's property in downtown McMinnville. Wasn't sure what I would think of it, since I read a variety of reviews. Some loved it, some absolutely did not. Two things were clear: 1) It's a historic downtown hotel, so the rooms are small, many even with shared baths, and 2) There's a rooftop bar, and they provide earplugs in the rooms, so it might get noisy here on the 4th floor.

I took a room with a shared bath, with one other room having access to it. To my benefit, though, they said they wouldn't book the other room tonight with me having a dog (which itself costs a little extra). Guess I'm lucky it's a quiet night here. It's around 9 as I write this, and I can't hear the rooftop bar over my own radio. Yes, I said radio. There's no TV in the basic rooms here. Thank goodness I have plenty to amuse myself with. I've got an iPad, books, magazines, podcasts, and there's always the rooftop bar if I get desperate. I had a great dinner here of a salad and berry cobbler, and Charley's happy, so I'm lovin' it so far.

The room's small. The photo here shows about 2/3rds of it. The bedspread is classier than what you see - The first thing I do when I get to a hotel now is spread out a sheet from home so the dog's got a familiar scent and if he's on the messy side, we're not leaving paw prints. It's been a good strategy to remember.

We also cruised through Woodburn to see tulips in bloom. The farm has it's "tulip festival" going on, and their signs mentioned a $10 parking fee once we got there. However their dozens of vendor booths weren't open on this rainy day, and nobody was enforcing the fee, so we just drove through towards the exit with a slight pause. Pretty fields, but nowhere near the quantity as in the Skagit Valley. Big decision tomorrow: One more night out or go home. Guess I'll decide tomorrow.

99 Bottles of Beer....

Today was a nice, relaxing day. Took a long walk along the Deschutes River in Bend, then window-shopped in a couple areas around town. Late afternoon I went on a tour of the Deschutes Brewing Company.

I'm having trouble deciding where to go from here. Not ready to head home yet, but I'm still working on figuring out the next destination. I'd really like to go back to the beach, but it seems like too long a drive to hit the coast from here. Plus it doesn't help that it's likely to be raining anywhere I choose to stop. I guess we'll see.

Bend, Oregon

I'm liking Bend a lot so far. Got here late afternoon. My hotel fronts a National Forest area full of trails that eventually lead to the Deschutes River. After getting settled in, we went for a little hike (okay, I walked and Charley ran as much as I'd let him.) The photo on top is the view at the top of the
trail we took. The photos below are of Charley enjoying the outing. 

Afterward I found dinner at the Cascade Lakes Brewing Co. Lodge. Lots of microbreweries here - won't have time to visit them all :(

A Good Doggie Day

After keeping Charley in "solitary confinement" for so many hours in Reno, I felt I owed him a good day enjoying nature. We took a drive into the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity recreation area, specifically around Whiskeytown Lake. Went for a little hike up Brandy Creek for a ways (wasn't smart enough to bring a camera to capture the pretty waterfalls), then decided to go ahead and take the gravel road to completely circumnavigate the lake. Didn't see anyone else on the gravel road and actually put the Toyota into low gear and 4-wheel drive to get up one of the hills (okay, I probably didn't need to, but it's good to work the mechanism now & then). The photo was from one of the high points on the gravel road above the lake.

We stopped at Oak Bottom and sat on the beach and enjoyed the sun for awhile. It's a popular beach and there were plenty of swimmers even though all the facilities (like restrooms) aren't open for the season yet. Then drove back to Anderson and took a nice end-of-day walk along the Sacramento River at the Anderson River Park, where every other person/group was also walking their dog. I seem to be back in Charley's good graces again.

Tonight: Best Western in Anderson. It's a small-town area with few city lights and seems like a great place to view the lunar eclipse, but there's a partial cloud cover so not sure what I'll see.

Tomorrow: Entrada Lodge in Bend, OR

Lassen Volcanic Area

Lassen Peak. The barricades mark the road closure as they're still clearing snow from the park highway.

I left Reno Sunday morning (not a winner). Looking at weather conditions to the north, I decided I just wasn't ready to leave the warmth of California and headed west instead. I drove toward the Lassen Volcanic Area, hoping to see some of the hydrothermal features, but realized as I was looking into it that the roads were still closed for the winter. There was only a small portion of the Lassen park highway open, but I took a drive up there anyway. The area they call the "devastated area" is indeed similar to the Mt. St. Helens blast area, but much more recovered since the last big Lassen blast was in 1915.

I decided to stay somewhere near water for Charley's benefit and ended up just south of Redding, where it's around 80 degrees during the afternoon. 

Today: Staying again at the Best Western in Anderson and spending some time along the Sacramento River
Tomorrow: Headed to Bend, OR for a couple days. Planning to get a room reserved at the Entrada Lodge since it sounds dog friendly with trails to the Deschutes River. Probably stopping by the Deschutes Brewing Company while I'm there, too.

Yosemite!

There's no way I can describe how beautiful Yosemite National Park is, and I only saw what you can view by road and paved trail. Plus there are still a few roads closed for the winter. Twice I was looking out at a spectacular view, only to realize there was an even better view if I just turned around and looked the other direction. It's a place that can make anyone feel small.

Yosemite is a little more dog friendly than Death Valley. It's limited, but there are some places to explore with the dog. Charley was positively giddy about getting down to the Merced River and the plentiful dried oak leaves to run and jump around in. 

El Capitan and Half Dome, with Bridalveil Falls just right of center.
You basically emerge from a tunnel to immediately see this view for the first time.

Yosemite Falls

Was driving out of Yosemite Valley, looking for a place along the river to lunch on leftover BBQ from last night. I stopped here because there was a pullout and an easy walk down to the river.
Surprise! Another gorgeous view of Bridalveil Falls.

Tonight & Friday night: Reno (Sands)
After that: ??? Not sure yet