Florida to the Pacific NW

I am not going to agree that either Oakland or Marin is a suburb of SF. Just because two towns are close to one another does not make one a suburb of the other. Oxnard and Ventura California are perfect examples.

Locals wouldn't consider Oakland a suburb of San Francisco. They're even on different sides of the Bay.

Tom said:

Locals wouldn't consider Oakland a suburb of San Francisco. They're even on different sides of the Bay.

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I think the local from Oakland would be highly offended if you called Oakland a suburb of SF. It might upset the people in SF too.

the entire state of Wisconsin is a suburb of Chicago.

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Wisconsin is a place for the residents of Illinois to leave their money, then go home.  And I think you insulted the people of Racine and Kenosha.  I'm not sure if anyone really lives in Gary

hpykmpr said:

  We are sitting on the hill overlooking the beach at NAS Whidbey Island as I am posting this. I don't know if you have been here since they re-built the campground or not but it is gorgeous here . I think that is the nicest campground that we have ever stayed at. Thanks for the tip on Ferndale maybe we will look it up

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If you are in or near Oak Harbor, don't pass up a visit to Deception Pass State Park. It has dramatic views, beaches, fairly easy hiking, and a great chance to see a bald eagle or two. It's one of my favorite spots in the state, although it can be hard to get into the campground.

We made it to Cheyenne this afternoon on schedule, and checked in at the AB Campground. A very nice site. Took the shuttle, $1 per person each way, to the Frontier Days area in town.  This is the biggest thing each year for Cheyenne.  Dwight Yokum (sp?) was playing tonight, and the crowds were heavy.  We bought tickets for tomorrow's Rodeo.  There's one every day this week, and Championship Bull riding at night, a separate event and ticket.  Seniors only $19 each for the Rodeo, the Bull Riding was more.

The fairgrounds have a lot of vendors and exhibits, and we enjoyed browsing.  I decided that Wyoming Cowboys are tall and their Cowgirls are blond (mostly).  Lots of good looking people out here.  I'd forgotten that western clothing was so gaudy! 

Thanks Seilerbird for the Olympic Area NP tips.  Will check it out when we get there!

Ron and Joyce in Cheyenne WY

PS - did get to stop at Cabela's in Sidney Nebraska on the way today.  Bought a tee shirt.

That Cabela's was amazing when I stopped there in '03. Do take the truck up into Mt. Rainier National Park when you get there. I was working up there the last two summers on the Stevens Canyon Rehabilitation Project and it is a great sight to see.
The campgrounds in the park itself have a 27' trailer length limit, so it looks like you are good to go with your rig. Be aware, they will be tight to get around in.

When we are in Cheyenne, we always make a stop@ Sierra Traders. They sometimes have some real good prices on their items. Have fun @ the rodeo, we are hoping to make it to Cheyenne, during the rodeo, someday.
Indiana Journey

WashDad said:

If you are in or near Oak Harbor, don't pass up a visit to Deception Pass State Park. It has dramatic views, beaches, fairly easy hiking, and a great chance to see a bald eagle or two. It's one of my favorite spots in the state, although it can be hard to get into the campground.

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As newly weds and me in the Navy as an E-4 with almost no money, Decption Pass was our favorite spot.  We would pick up fishing tackle from Special Services on the Seaplane Base, buy some bait shrimp for very little money then go ling cod fishing at the Pass.  There were hiking paths along the bluffs above the Pass and it could get pretty secluded - quite nice and necessary for newly weds.   It is our goal to head that way, probably next spring, to retrace our steps, although, the seclusion probably won't be necessary after 50 years. :'(

WineLuvrs said:

BTW folks in the West refer to S.F. as San Francisco or simply the City. No offense intended kind sir, but saying Frisco marks you as a rube tourist.

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Us western folks also refer to SF as SF and as San Fran.  We also refer to it as a middling sized city just north of Silicon Valley.

Some of us also refer to San Francisco as the basement of the National League West.  Especially, those of us down here in the second largest city in the USA.  (Go Dodgers!)

Just an update for those interested in continuing to follow this thread...

Left Cheyenne today heading west on I80.  Went up to the top of the Lincoln Highway where they now have a marker and rest stop.  Then down to Laramie for fuel.  Getting fuel I realized that I didn't have my wallet!  Called the rest stop, information center, but they didn't have it.  We went back to the rest stop, a long climb, and parked there to decide what to do.  I checked the rest room to no avail, and we started calling the bank to cancel credit and debit cards, which we did.  Joyce went back in to the information center and said something about why we were parked there so long and that we were the "lost wallet" people.  The ranger reached under the rest and handed it to her saying that she'd been trying to call us!  ( we were canceling credit card)

So in the space of three hours, we lost my wallet, cancelled credit and gift cards, and had the wallet returned to us!  An emotional roller coaster!  We almost gave up, turned around and headed home with our tails between our legs, but we didn't!  We got back on the road, and made it to Rock Springs another 200 some miles toward our destination of Oregon and Washington.

The DW was great, searching and helping with phone numbers etc.  I have now copied all the important numbers in my wallet and placed the list in the glove box. 

We hope to make it to Wells, NV tomorrow, and Reno/Sparks on Thursday and Novato CA on Friday.  A few days near or in San Francisco and then we head north.  That is if we don't have another disaster!  I'm beginning to feel like Desi Arnez in "The long, long, long trailer."

Ron and Joyce in Rock Spring WY

Just goes to show there are still honest people around.  Glad you found your wallet.  So the down day turned into an up day.  Great!

ArdraF

OK, it has been a long time since I travelled I-80.  Is it Wells or Winnemucca that has the good Basque restaurants or are they gone now. 

If someone points out the right place, recommend one for them as they are an experience not to be missed.

WashDad said:

If you are in or near Oak Harbor, don't pass up a visit to Deception Pass State Park. It has dramatic views, beaches, fairly easy hiking, and a great chance to see a bald eagle or two. It's one of my favorite spots in the state, although it can be hard to get into the campground.

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We have been there and yes it is a beautiful park.

Jim Godward said:

OK, it has been a long time since I travelled I-80.  Is it Wells or Winnemucca that has the good Basque restaurants or are they gone now. 

If someone points out the right place, recommend one for them as they are an experience not to be missed.

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My favorite Basque restaurant in Nevada is in Reno, Louis Basque Corner Restaurant:

http://louisbasquecorner.com/

Thanks Seilerbird !  We're in Wells NV at the Angel Lake campground.  Tomorrow we'll be in Reno, God willing. I'll ask around about the Basque restaurant.  About time for a night out.

Got through Salt Lake City today with ease.  This new truck is making the mountains a joy. Only downshifts occasionally on long steep grades, and going down with the exhaust brake is easy too.  This new automatic transmission downshifts automatically when needed to maintain normal speed.  Went Down a 5% grade today and didn't need to touch the brakes!

Stopped at the pull out for the Bonneville Salt Flats, walked out on the salt took photos.

Blog is at (link in profile)

Ron and Joyce in Nevada

We did stay in Spark/Reno one night, but there were flash flood warnings for the area, terrible thunderstorms, so we didn't get out to try the Basque restaurant, Tom.

Made it over the Sierras to San Francisco the next day, and stayed for a few days at the Marin RV Park, which was tight, but doable while we visited my nephew Rob and his cute family.  He took us out to Pt Reyes the following day and we saw deer and sea lions, and stretched our legs on the hike.  Dinner that night was at an Italian place in Fairfax.  Very nice little town! 

Next day we headed north up 101, and after a twisty 33 mile ride west on Hwy 20, made it to Fort Bragg, where we got three nights at Pomo RV and Campground.  That's where we are now for one more day.  Enjoying the Medocino Coast!  Walked Glass Beach yesterday and did the boardwalk at MacKerricher State Park. Also took in the light house just north of the town of Medocino.

We have no WI-Fi here, and even my Verizon service isn't so hot, so I'm giving up on the blog, which required me to fire up the laptop and resize photos and videos before uploading them.  Instead I'm going to keep a brief journal here, and upload photos to my FB account for friends back home.  It's funny but my iPad doesn't like the blog site I'm using at all.  I get a few lines on it and it stops accepting text.  It's much easier to use the iPad, which I can do even with no WI-Fi, via 3G.  And FB doesn't mind if I send it larger photos.  They just resize them!

Today were going to the Botanical Gardens, and try to get a dungey crab for dinner.  Tomorrow were striking out again for the Eureka area.  While there I hope to drive 299 over to Willow Creek to the Big Foot museum.  Anyone been there?  Is it worth it? 

After that we're off to Oregon and Washington, our final, furthest destinations for this trip.  With a month to go before we should be heading back, we hope to have time to see the coast and some of the highlights of these two states.  But we're truly in vacation mode now.  Drive to a preselected area, get a good spot for a few days or more, explore what's there, and move on.  That's how we roll! 

More later!

Ron and Joyce along the Mendocino Coast.

Ron,
That little 33 mile ride over to Ft Bragg on 20 was easy compared to the drive that you will face going north. You will be able to see the tail end of your rig as you go through the MANY curves on your way to Leggett.
Have Fun,
Indiana Journey

Thanks for the heads up, Indiana. 

Ron

We had a great drive yesterday north on 101 to the Avenue Of the Giants!  Huge Redwoods!  Yes, Indiana, the roads were twisty and windy in places, but not the entire trip.  Some of the drive was four lane and comparatively level. 

We're staying at "Sounds of the Sea" campground in Trinidad, about 20 miles north of Eureka.  Our site backs up to the Pacific and we hear Sea Lions barking.  Running the furnace in the morning and evening has emptied one tank, so I switched over this morning to cook breakfast. 

Taking off for Willow Creek across 299 to check out the Bigfoot Museum. Hope it's open!  Tried to call a few times but they don't seem to answer. It will be a nice drive in any case. 

We're heading north for Oregon on Saturday, which troubles me because it's harder to get good sites on the weekends.  We usually stay put on the weekends.  We may start calling around this evening.  I've been told that Harris Beach is every nice, but it's a state park, and won't have WiFi, which I'll need to pay some bills on-line in the next few days.

Ron and Joyce in Humbolt  County California