The thoughtful adventures of Man, Woman and Cat.
I took delivery of Peggy, my new truck, just after the first of the year. After a shakedown trip to Florida with the new camper, I departed Georgia on the third of June. On September 21 I arrived in Fortuna, California, the unofficial turnaround point of my 2018 odyssey . Up until now I had been travelling to get here, when I leave Humboldt County I will be travelling back to Georgia.
I’ve never had the knack for timing purchases in the fields of investments or real estate, and this weakness apparently extends to gas stations as well. When in Idaho, I thought I could save ten cents a gallon if I waited a few miles. Then suddenly I was in Washington, and the price went up forty cents a gallon.
Oregon was a little cheaper, but they have a peculiar rule: you aren’t allowed to pump your own fuel. It’s not a Back to the Future deal; you won’t get your windshield washed or oil checked, you are simply forbidden from operating the pump. This means you have to wait for an attendant, who in a big station may be handling a dozen pumps. Nobody I asked could explain why the State mandates this, only that it had been that way for a long time.
The final surprise came in California, where the price of diesel fuel increase a full dollar a gallon. I suppose I should have expected it, since everything is more expensive here. My tip for travelers is you might want to check here on your phone as you approach state borders to help you time your gas purchases. I know I will from now on. Continue reading “Northern California Coast – Klamath to Arcata”
If I’ve learned one thing in my time on the road, it is that it’s always good to have a prearranged hole to hide in when the civilians flood the parks. On weekends you can usually get by with a reservation made a bit in advance, but with holidays the demand is higher and even the private RV parks fill up a month or more prior. Three day weekends without a specific holiday focus are the worst, and the opening and closing bells of summer, Memorial and Labor Days lead the list of high traffic camping weekends.
Being a crafty sort, I had a scheme for dealing with the situation: pull a Cousin Eddie and squat in a friend’s driveway. I had a list of folks to connect with in the Portland/Vancouver area, and one was my old pal Dave. He owned a semi-rural property in Camas and managed to convince his wife that having a homeless guy living out in the yard for a week wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded, so I was in like Flint to avoid the Labor Day mob scene.
Continue reading “Portland Oregon/Vancouver Washington – Friends & Family, Cars & Planes”