This blog is to document my life and adventures living full time in a motorhome. Volunteerism has always been a big part of my life. Join me as I highlight my trips, adventures, work for California Department of Technology and enjoying life with dogs.
So, for a while now I've been trying to get away to the Oregon coast. My sister Karen and Brother-in-law Mike have been to the Brookings a number of times over the years in their motorhome, and up until now I had never been able to make the trip. Finally, this year, after two false starts, I finally made it.
This was Remi's third or fourth RV trip, and with each trip, she does better than the time before. I still don't think she likes the idea of the walls sliding in when I close up the motorhome in order to hit the road, but she is getting use to it.
In order to get to Brookings from Yreka, you have to travel up I-5 to Grants Pass, then take the 199 south-west back down into California to Crescent City to hook up with the US-101. You then take the US-101 north into Oregon and the first major town is Brookings. The 199 can be a little steep and windy at times. It doesn't leave much room for error on large rigs like the Allegro Bus, but, everything went fine on the road this day. Half way down the 199, we stopped at a rest area for a quick potty break.
A fellow volunteer from Rescue Ranch had suggested that when I go to Brookings, I stay at an RV park called "AtRivers Edge". So, I booked myself a stay and made this trip. It's a very nice RV park which though it has been there for 60 years, is well maintained. The RV park is right on the edge of the Chetco river.
Once camp was all set up, I went on a quest to find Clam chowder in a bread bowl and found Catalyst Resturaunt here in Brookings. The chowder flavor was fine, but they made it a lot more cheesier than I like, but it was edible. I'm sure Remi would have been thrilled if I had let her eaten it. :-)
After dinner, Remi and I walked to around the warf area of Brookings and also visited the beach which was just adjacent to it. The warf is actually fed by the Chetco river and the Pacific ocean. So, in order to get to the warf, boats have to travel up the Chetco river Jetti from the ocean to get into the Warf.
The beach is very pretty. I don't think Remi had ever been to the beach before, but it didn't take very long before she decided that it definitely was something she wanted to explore more of.
Between the warf and the beach is an RV park that I didn't know about. The RV park sites had a view of the Pacific ocean and this was an absolute prime location. I will definitely stay here the next time I come up to the Brookings area.
Here is a little video of our adventures on Thursday as well.
I know it has been almost 4 months since my last post. That post was when I was on my way home from a 2 week trip with Karen and Mike to visit family in the Bay Area as well as southern California. Since my return, I've been really busy volunteering at Rescue Ranch here in Yreka. I've been helping out in just about any way possible at the ranch. I've tried to have my focus be doing videos to help dogs get adopted.
The biggest developments though for the ranch was the fact that a vacated horse ranch was given to the Ranch, and the Lava fire around Mt Shasta that resulted in over 140 dogs coming to the ranch while folks were evacuated.
We had a number of stray's that came to the Ranch as a result of being found out in the remnants of the Lava fire devastation. About 5 dogs came to us with burns and/or smoke inhalation. Three of the dogs required virtually "Round the clock" care from our staff and volunteers. But, the care they have received has really allowed them to thrive. All five dogs were evacuated from various illegal pot grows in the area burned over by the Lava fire. Three of the five dogs have been adopted, two of the dogs are still looking for homes. The five dogs are: Ash - Ash was found by a Cal Fire fire captain as the truck he was driving passed Ash as he crawled out from under the deceased body of his mother. He was treated for smoke inhalation and given Sub cutaneious fluids. Ash was adopted by another fire fighter in the area.
This is Lady... She was also found by a Cal Fire crew and was injured when a propane tank exploded from the heat of the fire, covered her with propane and later ignited. She has recovered well and was adopted by the fire fighter who found her.
This is Paws... He was found in a pot grow area with all four feet burned from walking on the hot burned out area. Paws has been treated and is ready to be adopted from Rescue Ranch in Yreka California.
Like Paws, Presley was also found with four badly burned paws after being found in a burned out Pot grow from the Lava fire. His paws are all healed and he is also available for adoption at Rescue Ranch.
Zelda was found by a Siskiyou county sheriff's deputy tied inside a grow house for pot in the Lava fire area. Zelda was treated for minor burns on her feet and adopted by the Deputy that found Zelda.
Rescue Ranch was very fortunate to received so much great assistance from local merchants from all over the state of California. Check out this this video recognizing their efforts.
Rescue Ranch staff and volunteers worked tirelessly to care for over 140 dogs that came into our care during the peak of the Lava fire. We were very fortunate to have a number of members of the community come and volunteer in order to augment our hand full of dedicated staff and volunteers. Here is another video that I created to recognize all the hard work that everyone does at the ranch, not only during the fire, but every day of the year.
As someone who has volunteered for the last 18 years at animal shelters doing Dog Rescue of one form or another, one of my favorite TV programs is "To the Rescue". A program that highlights various animal rescues throughout the USA. I reached out to them and told them about Lady's story, and they are actually going to come to Yreka and do a story on Lady and her adopter Ari! I'm so excited to have been able to help put Rescue Ranch on the map.
Ever since Carol announced she wanted a divorce, I have sort of wondered which way my life would go. What I am finding, is I am returning to a feeling that I had back when I volunteered for Blue Devils... What I am finding is a purpose, a purpose of service to others. Though I found helping Blue Devils rewarding, it wasn't as purposeful as doing dog rescue and even helping during disaster situations. Last summer, shortly after Carol left, I was asked to help out for 8 weeks at CAL OES. I found that experience extremely rewarding, educational and purposeful.
This summer I fortunate enough to help out for 10 days at the Animal Services Staging area. From here Animal control officers from all over the state came to help out and were dispatched to various burned out areas either to evacuate animals from the area if necessary, or if possible feed and care for the animals at their homes if their owners had been evacuated, but there was no immediate threat to the animals. I was called in by North Valley animal Disaster group of Butte County to help out. This was an amazingly rewarding experience. There were a lot of 14 hour days, just like when I worked at CAL OES the summer before, but just like at OES, I worked with some truly amazing people. Though I was there as a volunteer, I felt like my contribution, doing logistical work, was just as important as that of those who were going out in the field. I know my work wasn't as important as those going out in the the dangerous areas, but they all sure made me feel like I was an integral part of the mission.
Most recently, I've been helping out at the Rescue Ranch Sanctuary area. There is a concerted effort to turn former Horse paddocks into dog runs. We are repurposing materials from structures that are taken down and building dog kennel areas. This is very similar to a way that I use to help the Blue Devils back in the day when we would disassemble crates from Port Chicago naval weapons' station for materials to be used at the Blue Devil rehearsal field called MARS.
I feel like my legacy in life is helping others. Karen pointed that out to me early on in my life. She thought that I should become a paramedic or a firefighter. At the time I had other career goals in mind, but now, at the ripe old age of 59, I realize she was right. Though I may not be able to participate in the way I could have 30 years ago, I know I can still make a difference. And while I may never find love again, the way I did with Carol, I do realize that I have a purpose, and having that purpose will keep me going, at least as long as my body holds out.
Remi and I turned in early on Monday night once we got home from dinner with the clan. Tuesday morning we got up at 5:00 am to start our trip home as early as possible. We first stopped at a truck stop in Long Beach to top off our fuel tank before the Long ride home. Fortunately we got an early enough start to beat most of the morning commute.
I stopped in Dunnigan just north of Sacramento on Tuesday night to get a few hours of sleep at a rest area before the final push home on Wednesday morning.
We got back to our base camp in Yreka about 9:30 AM on Wednesday. The trip went very smooth for us and was filled with lots of enjoyment!
Last full day in Long Beach consisted of getting the campsite closed up before my trip home started on Tuesday. At the end of the day we got together again with Steve Lana Morgan Brian Mike and Kevin Mike and Karen for our last stuffy ride of the trip as well as a splendid dinner hosted by Karen and Mike at a When terfel little dockside restaurant. This time in the Duffy Karen got a chance to pile up the boat and she did a fine job with just minor totorage from her brother-in-law Steve. :) The sunset at the end of the evening was amazing!
On saturdy the 15th we want for another Duffy ride with Steve and Elena but this time we also had their daughter Morgan and her husband Brian along for the ride as well. We had a wonderful time commiserating and getting caught up on life since Covid started. It was also another beautiful outing in the Duffy.
Saturday evening anded with a delicious Tri tip barbecue at Steven Lennon's house. On Sunday, the whole clan came over to the RV park, were I hosted another barbecue but this time consisted of chicken and baked beans as well a salad and dessert of course. :) Remi got a chance to meet everybody and improve her socialisation skills including meeting a new buddy indie which happens to be Morgan and Brian's dog. :)
On Friday may 14th we travelled from the Elks in Fresno to the golden shores RV resort in Long Beach California. It was a relatively uneventful trip between the 2 locations except for of course the obligatory traffic in the LA basin on a Friday afternoon.
Once we arrived in Long Beach, we quickly set up camp and then we want to Steve and Elena's home In Long Beach. We got a quick tour of the house and then we went for a ride in their Duffy through some canals In the Long Beach area. We even got to see some jellyfish!
It was a very nice ending to A day that was a little on the long side for travelling. Nonetheless we had a marvellous time on Friday.
We found our visit to the Fresno area quite rewarding and surprising. We found that the city of Fresno has quite the extensive population base, with lots of homes that are 30 years or more so older. We also found quite a bit in the way of active restaurants and a downtown that has been revitalised predominantly with brewpubs sprinkled along the old Main Street. We took a trip on Wednesday out to Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks. This was very rewarding trip Out to these national parks. Karen and Mike had never been here. I had been here with Carol about 3 years ago when we were on our way to Morgan and Brian's wedding. It's a truly beautiful area, with the massive Canyon of Kings Canyon, as well as Sequoia National Park. We visited many of the old sequoias in the area. The general Grant tree, was quite impressive. We also took the jeep off reading to the Chicago stump.. We enjoyed just a wonderful visit exploring the wonderful sights of these 2 national parks.
