Burlington Campground

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It’s All About The Wood

Full disclosure, Lee wanted to name this post something else, the twelve year old boy in him thought of all sorts of inappropriate titles, but I put my foot down.  It is all about the wood though, for a variety of reasons that will become clear as you read through.  First and foremost we love campfires and getting wood on the road has been a bit of a challenge.  The bundles of wood that campgrounds sell are ridiculously priced, and usually not very good wood, so we try to carry as much as we can with us, purchased from local vendors.  I’m going to let Lee pick up here though, because he has learned quite a bit about this process over the last year and if you like fires as we do I think you will find it interesting…

It’s not really that complicated, it just takes a little time and some research.  I’m not an expert, but when I was a kid, I lived in a house that was heated exclusively by a couple of pot bellied wood stoves. I spent more time messing with stove lengths than I care to remember, and while nothing is as warm as a wood stove, when you’re a kid, it sucks. Every summer I had to spend countless hundreds of hours cutting, splitting and stacking wood. Sometimes stacking it so high I had to climb up on top and my brother would toss stove lengths up to me to stack them. If you don’t catch well, and I didn’t, you get hit with more of them than you catch. Wood is hard. It hurts when it hits you in the ankle or head. And you never want to be on top of a cord of when it collapses because you’re a kid and stacked it poorly so you could go play, by the way. Wood is hard. It hurts when it lands on you.

In the winter that wood had to be toted inside, in order to be of any use, and the godawful mess that it made, from the little itty bitty pieces of wood that were everywhere and constantly had to be cleaned up, and the ashes, and constantly pouring water into the cast iron pot on top of the stove to keep some humidity in the air. I hated it, and I swore that once I was an adult I would never mess with wood again. But it turns out that I enjoy campfires quite a bit, and I’m a cheap bastard, and some of the useless crap my Dad told me about wood when I was 10 stuck inside my head.

Whenever we get to an area I keep my eyes open for people who sell wood from their home, or if there’s a trailer full of wood parked in a parking lot along a main drag somewhere. Sometimes I just look on Facebook, or the internet. There’s always someone, somewhere, that sells firewood for people to use in their fireplace or wood stove. Usually they are selling it by the cord, so I call them and explain that I’m looking for a lot less than that, and once they understand, the prices come way down. Mostly they get a good laugh out of how I’m beating the system. They know that the “bundles” that campgrounds and stores sell is garbage wood and ridiculously priced. And generally these guys are selling very good seasoned wood; for people who heat their home with wood, they wouldn’t be in business for long selling bad wood. For anyone that doesn’t already know, seasoned wood is partially dried, and burns better than freshly cut wood.  Unseasoned, or “green” wood is much harder to light, and doesn’t burn well, or very hot. The moisture content cools the fire. There are also difference in soft wood and hard wood. Soft wood is good for a nice little fire, but if you want heat and duration, hard woods burn much hotter, and much longer.

So how do you know if the wood is ready to burn? Some people will tell you how long ago the wood was cut and split, but that doesn’t really matter, because how well seasoned it is doesn’t really depend on when it was cut. For deciduous trees, sap moves to the roots in winter, so for those trees, if they are felled in winter they already have a low moisture content. And while soft woods take between 6-12 months to season, hardwoods can take up to two years. But a soft wood that’s two years old is too dry, and will burn way too fast. Surface moisture from a little bit of rain also doesn’t matter, all that matters is the moisture content of the inside. Wood won’t season well packed into a truck bed either. It really needs to be stacked loosely and in the open air to season properly, so don’t buy it green to save money thinking that it will season while you drive it around. And finally, split wood seasons much faster than rounds.

So, how do you know if it’s ready to burn? If you are using a moisture meter, 20-25% moisture content is ideal. Apart from using a moisture meter, there are some pretty reliable trustworthy ways to tell. First, look at the bark. If the bark is barely hanging on and loose, or falling off, that’s a good sign.

Next is color. Seasoned wood is lighter and paler than unseasoned.  Also, look at the ends. There should be radial cracks from the outside inwards.

And finally, the wood will tell you it’s ready to burn. If you knock two pieces of it together, it should not have a dull “thud” sound, but rather a sort of hollow “ring” that holds for a few seconds. It’s hard to explain, but you can definitely hear the difference.

This wood is NOT seasoned. Closely clinging bark, rich color, no cracks.

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Notice the difference? The color is light and sort of faded, there’s hardly any bark, and what little there is is falling off, and most importantly, nice deep radial cracks. This wood is seasoned and ready to burn! Pull up some chairs and some drinks and have a campfire.

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And the best part is, buying wood in this way gets you WAY more wood than bundles, and it’s WAY cheaper. In our case, we have an 8 foot truck bed, but there’s a crossover tool box, and of course, the 5th wheel hitch, and a 45 gallon portable grey water tank in the bed as well. The crossover toolbox doesn’t go all the way to the bottom of the truck bed, so I can stack a fair amount underneath, and then I basically stack everywhere I can squeeze it in. It ends up being between 1/3 and 1/2 a cord of wood. We can usually get that much in for anywhere between $60-80. That might seem like a lot of money, but first, take a look at how much wood that is, keeping in mind that there’s two or three rows stuffed UNDER the toolbox.

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You can just see the edge of the portable water tank at the bottom of the second picture, and on the upper right corner of the first picture, there’s a “hole” that we use to keep two milk crates full of bottled water. So that’s about 1/3 cord, and we paid $80 for this nicely seasoned hardwood, which is a pretty good deal. At our most recent campground, they were selling bundles for $8 that had about 6-8 pieces of what I would call junk wood, and it took about 4 of those pieces to make one of these pieces. Most stove-lengths are split so that the end looks a piece of pie, usually two splits per log, so it yields 4 pieces of stove-length. The junk you get in a bundle is usually split twice again, so there’s twice as many pieces, but they burn much faster, and have far less surface area. It’s basically kindling.

If you were going to buy this same amount of wood from a gas station or campground, by volume alone, I would say it would probably cost closer to $300. And it wouldn’t be good stuff, either. So this is one of those rare cases where just a little bit of work gets you more of something better for less money.

And finally, if you aren’t getting the wood delivered to you, when you go to pick it up, take a look at how it’s stacked, or just ask the person over the phone if it’s straight-stacked or cross-stacked. Wood is measured and priced by the cord, or cord portion; half cord, third cord, quarter cord, eighth cord. A cord is 4′ high, by 4′ wide, by 8′ long. That’s a volume of 128 cubic feet. Obviously wood doesn’t stack like bricks, so there’s some air, between the pieces. The actual amount of wood will vary, depending on the size and shape of the pieces, which is no big deal, that’s just how it is. But given that, the actual amount of wood in that 128 cubic feet is generally closer to 100 cubic feet, so part of the deal is that about 20% of what you’re buying is just air. How the wood is stacked before it’s measured is VERY important. Some unscrupulous vendors will cross-stack wood instead, as opposed to straight-stacking. Some will tell you that cross-stacking allows air to circulate through the wood and season is better. This is nonsense, most of the moisture leaves the wood from the cut ends, so straight-stacking exposes the cut end to open air. What cross-stacking ACTUALLY does is make it look like there’s a lot more wood than there actually is. By cross-stacking, you can easily reduce the wood in a cord from 80% down to as much as 60%.

This picture of cross-stacked wood contains about two-thirds the amount of wood in the second picture of straight-stacked wood.

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Cross-stacked wood has lots and lots of gaps,so too much of the measurement is air. Do you want to buy wood to burn, or air?

backyard wood shutterstock

As much as I hated cutting, splitting and stacking wood as a kid, that picture above makes me smile. That’s properly split, stacked and seasoned wood, and will make really nice fires.If you’re a full timer, and like to have lots of campfires, and want to spend the least amount of money, hopefully this has been helpful information.

Back to Trace….

It’s also all about the wood because I love wood.  Wood bowls, sculptures, trees, they all speak to me and one of the best things about the Redwoods has been how much wood we have been surrounded by.  We have been in every single place that was open in the immediate area and even though we only had one day left, I wanted to check out the Redwood National Forest.  It was a two hour drive but I just couldn’t leave this area without seeing the National Park. The drive up was absolutely lovely because we had a perfectly sunny day and we stopped several times to run minor errands.  We also timed it so we were in Eureka at lunchtime and I got to try the Vietnamese Restaurant Pho Lan Phoung, which is on 101 heading north before the Target.  Vietnamese is my absolute favorite Asian cuisine and although the restaurant was not as good as my favorite restaurant in Massachusetts, it did not disappoint.

Afterwards we drove up the coast and stopped at the multiple Lagoon parks along the way.  There is Big Lagoon, Stone Lagoon, and Dry Lagoon and each one of them had a beautiful view, plus lots of birds in the water.

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This sign cracked me up and had me automatically looking for high ground

This sign got my attention and had me automatically looking for high ground

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Afterwards we moved a bit inland and drove to the Redwood National Forest.  As a general rule, the National Park is always a bit better than the neighboring state parks, but in this case it was absolutely not the case.  We stopped at Lady Bird Johnson Grove and although there were a few tall trees it had nowhere near the majesty of Founders Grove or even the grove where we are staying in Burlington.  Honestly I would give it a pass, but I would definitely stop in the small town of Orick (pop 650) because there were several wood artisans there and we saw some amazing creations.  At one of the places we stopped,  Jim, the owner of Wagon Wheel Burl, came out and asked if we needed help.  We started talking about the piece of wood we were looking for to replace the top on our little end table, and he immediately said “RVers?”  We both perked up and he said he had similar requests several times and would be happy to help.  He walked right into his workshop and found a beautiful piece of bird’s eye burl that was close to the size we were looking for, and when Lee explained the sizing he immediately took out a grease pencil, drew out the cut lines on it, and said it would be $30,  cut and ready for us to finish. WOW.  Other people we had talked to wanted to add $50-$60 for cutting and sanding, but he just said “No problem.” and spent 10 minutes quickly sanding and shaping.  I was stunned, as it was our last day and I had almost given up but for $32 (including tax) we now are the proud owners of a beautiful piece of redwood.  Lee is going to coat it and attach it to the table we have, but the hard part is done.  So I absolutely, positively recommend going to see Jim if you are in the area.  Not only was he incredibly nice, but his prices were reasonable, and most importantly, he solved my problem.  A girl couldn’t ask for more.  I actually wanted to hug him, but controlled myself!

The coolest park of the Ladybird grove was the nice ramp they built over the road

The coolest park of the Ladybird grove was the nice ramp they built over the road

Picture of the grove

Picture of the grove

Loved this sculpture

Loved this sculpture, the turtle was huge

DeDe and Denny should do something like this in their garden

DeDe and Denny should do something like this in their garden

And my very favorite which was a huge castle done by James

And my very favorite which was a huge castle done by James.  The detail was incredible

James cutting my piece of wood

James cutting my piece of wood

I'm happy!! Can't wait to see what it looks like stained.

I’m happy!! Can’t wait to see what it looks like stained.

 

And if all that wasn’t exciting enough, we caught the sunset on the way home at Clam Beach and as an extra surprise Lee took me back by Carson Mansion to see it all lit up for Christmas.

It was a lovely day and a great way to cap off our time in the Redwoods.  Next up, Monterrey and some time with our baby girl Kay.  The onto the Rose Bowl!  I’ll try to keep up with the posting, but if I get a little behind it’s for a good reason…family time!!

Campground Reviews 

Burlington Campground Avenue of the Giants near Visitors Center 3 out of 5 pine cones

Beautiful campground in an old growth Redwood grove.  Very close to lots of terrific Redwood hikes.  Not recommended for larger rigs because it is difficult to get to the smallish campsites.  No services.  Weak AT&T and Verizon signal.  Clean restrooms, pay showers, friendly staff.  Terrific visitor’s center next door.  It is very dark in the grove so staying for long stretches of time can wear on a person.  $35 dollars a night is pricey, but it’s well tended.  Maintenance comes twice a day.

 

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Thoughts on our Park System and its Rangers

Since it’s been raining almost continuously for the last several days (apparently we are setting some kind of a record), I thought I would take a few minutes and talk about our park system.  Although Full Timers come in all political varieties, one thing I think most of us agree on is the importance of our National Parks system. The parks contain the beautiful places we want to go, but they also provide work kamping opportunities and in general really nice places to stay.  Initially as a person who hadn’t camped, I found the system pretty confusing.  But since I am a curious person by nature over time I think I have cobbled together some understanding of how it all works and I wanted to try to explain that here.  At the top of the park system food chain are the large National Parks like Yellowstone and Glacier.  These parks are well funded and well maintained, often charging up to $30 a week for access.  Since these are all definitely places to visit eventually, we recommend an America the Beautiful pass ($80 a year or a lifetime membership for $10 after you turn 62) as a way of mitigating those costs.  Most people know about those places but many might be shocked by the cost, I know we were.  Along with the well-known parks, however, there are numerous lesser known national parks.  These vary in cost from the $30 above down to free, and include everything from wildlife areas to historical monuments.  Kitty Hawk for example is a National Monument and cost $4 for entry.  Although these parks do vary based on location and funding, in general, they are well maintained and range in size from the very very large to the very very small.  Outside of many of those federal parks are state parks.  In general, the federal parks seem to have the “A” locations and the state parks have the “B” locations close by.  There are also many amazing state parks that are nowhere near a federal park. Many state parks have a park pass of some kind and those vary wildly from state to state.  Unless you plan on spending a lot of time in a state with such a pass, its really not worth the money to buy them generally.  They are designed for the state residents who frequently go to the parks.  The state parks vary wildly on quality based on funding.  Some have “day use” fees, a charge to use the park for the day particularly common when there is a lake, others are totally free.  Next there are county/city parks and although these are less common some really nice ones exist across the country.  They are a little harder to find, mostly just used by locals, and on occasion have “day use” or vehicle entrance fees.  The public land that is not managed by one of the aforementioned groups generally falls under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.  BLM manages millions of acres across the country and has the most opportunities for free or nearly free camping.  I knew next to nothing about BLM when we started full-timing, but our work kamping job in Susanville was for BLM and we got somewhat educated on how the process works.

What I have found interesting about northern California is Federal, State, County, and BLM parks all exist very close to one another.  It is very easy to cross the imaginary line between one park into another here and unlike other areas they all seem to hold some prime real estate.  Thus these different agencies need to work in close proximity with one another, sometimes even sharing office space, and although their goals are the same (protection of the land and its resources) their methods and chain of command are somewhat different.  As with any other inter-agency interaction there is some conflict, made worse by extremely limited government funding.  I approve of these agencies working together, and I definitely approve of elimination of unnecessary funds, but after seeing the vast scope of the ranger’s responsibilities I am a little concerned about the long-term viability of our park systems.  Here in this portion of the Redwood Forest they have just four rangers covering 52,000 acres 24×7. That’s 81 square miles. To put that in perspective, Toledo, Baltimore and Kansas City are all 80 square miles. Initially, I thought “How hard can it be?”  The land largely takes care of itself and the campgrounds and visitors centers bring in some money.  Perhaps that was true when we were children, but the world has changed and the job is much more complicated.  The two major threats this park system faces are drug cartels and poachers.  Apparently the Redwood climate is perfect for growing marijuana and the Mexican drug cartels have created large farms inside of the more remote portions of the forest.  When I discovered this I was incredibly offended.  This is public land and my tax dollars are paying for this and the thought of drug cartels using this land for such a purpose just makes me angry.  Not only do these cartels cut down trees and steal precious water resources for their crops, but they also engage in turf wars that occasionally end up with dead bodies.   When I inquired about whether the DEA gets involved, I was told only if it is a huge farm, but the smaller growers are handled solely by the rangers.  All four of them. They use some pretty creative techniques to discover these grower locations, which I won’t get into, but are very philosophical about the fact that they can only do what is possible with the resources they have.  As a matter of fact, they are very philosophical about the job in general.  They take the world as it is and do what they can, always with a real dedication to protecting the natural resources.

The second issue here is poaching of the Redwood trees which makes me even angrier than the drug cartels.  These full grown trees are worth between 2-3 million dollars each on the underground market! So despite the logistical challenge of cutting down a tree and getting it out of the forest, attempts are frequently made.  Sometimes they leave the tree and just cut off the burls, which have a high “street value” as well and are used to make clocks and other decorative wood items.  The local population is extremely helpful when it comes to reporting suspicious behavior and the rangers themselves are well-trained and dedicated to protecting the trees.  All that being said, with so few of them it does happen and the thought of a 1,000 year old tree being taken really sickens me.  Yes they are just trees but they are many many hundreds of years old.  They have survived fires, loggers, and floods to exist today and they deserve to be protected for future generations.  Along with these park-specific issues, the rangers have the standard duties of coordinating volunteers and park aids, overseeing the campgrounds, law enforcement in the park area, overseeing maintenance of the facility,  and of course, educating the public.  We have all seen park rangers and thought, what a great gig.  I know I certainly thought that.  But we see only about 10% of what they do, and some parts of the job are not so great.  Not that one person I have talked to has complained.  They are proud of what they do, despite the long hours and what I am sure is relatively low pay,  it was clear to me it was just not so much a job to them but a calling.  I don’t want to over romanticize the rangers, but the ones I have met have been pretty impressive.

So, I went back and forth on whether or not to write this post.  In general, I try not to get political, because that is not what this blog is about.  But since these parks are such an important piece of what we do as full timers, I felt it was important enough to write about.  We are all concerned about our taxes, and everyone wants to get the most value for the money we pay.  For me, the value of these parks is incalculable.  That doesn’t mean they should get a blank check by any means, but the next time you hear about funding for our parks system, please keep in mind all the things that they do.  I know I will.

Oh and I forgot to mention they also get involved in community events.  Here at the Visitors Center they have annual tree lighting ceremony and Santa stops by.  This year Santa came in a Ranger truck that was really cool.  I got to talk to the volunteer who helped with that this year and he was an incredibly nice man named Scott.  He is a retired police officer, brand new full-timer (May 2015), and despite not having raised any children was the perfect man for the job.  He was a little nervous before he started, but was a natural.  The local choral group also came and sang and the ranger’s and volunteers made cookie and punch for everyone.  It was a really sweet small town event, and since the nearest mall is 1-1/2 hours away, possibly the only chance some of these kids will have to get a picture taken with Santa and it was nice to see the park system give a little back to the local community.

All the stuffed animals were decorated

All the stuffed animals were decorated

They really cracked me up

They really cracked me up

My absolutely favorite was this weasel

My absolutely favorite was this weasel

June (back right) is 95 years old and still volunteers frequently. She's awesome!!

June (behind desk) is 95 years old and still volunteers frequently. She’s awesome!!

The rangers were singing along with the choir

The rangers were singing along with the choir

Santa came in on the back of a rangers truck

Santa came in on the back of a rangers truck

And he lit up the Christmas Tree

And he lit up the Christmas Tree

Santa was great with the kids

The kids all had a really great time

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Downside to Our “Hub and Spoke” Approach

We travel using what I call the “hub and spoke” approach.  We go to a central point in an area and stay there and explore from that location.  This is different from how many people travel, moving every few days or every week, and there are pros and cons.  Since we are in a fifth wheel and like to deploy our outside stuff (chairs, rug, etc) staying put in one place makes that extra effort worth it.  We feel more “at home” and we minimize travel days, which are still not my favorite.  There are many advantages to this method of traveling, which I have talked about quite a bit, but there are also some downsides which I should probably explore.  When we come to a new area there is a feeling of excitement and adventure.  So many places to see and the newness of it all is a lot of fun.  When we stay in a place for awhile though, no matter how great, eventually the bloom starts to come off the rose.  The little things start bugging us.  Traffic, lack of services, bugs, the general unfriendliness of people, and of course the weather.  Weather is so much more a factor for us now than it was in a sticks and bricks.  I barely registered the weather when living in New England because I largely went from my house, to car, to work, to car, to home.  Sure I would smile on particularly nice days, or be concerned with huge snowstorms, but I hardly spent any time in the outside at all so it didn’t matter so much.  Now we are outside all the time and most of the things we want to see are somewhat weather dependent.  My favorite part of seeing the sites is taking pictures and this is no fun to do in rainy conditions.  If it’s too cold we can bundle up, but I have personal limits on that sort of thing, especially when it’s really windy.

When we come to an area I make a list of things I want to do.  I try to combine bad weather activities with outside ones, but frankly the bad weather activities are far less interesting and they generally cost money.  The very best things to do are almost always outside and free and consequently the bad weather items on my list are usually much shorter.  Again, this is very different than living in a sticks and bricks.  We had all the creature comforts in our house, and if we wanted to wander out in bad weather we had our favorites restaurants, movie theaters, shops, etc. That’s not the case now, and that’s fine, because this life isn’t about all that, but you can’t do the cool outdoor things every day.  Well, to be fair, you can, but I am simply not that hardy.  When we come to an area the bad weather days happen, but the need to get “settled”, catch up on errands, or other chores make it OK.  I actually appreciate some of those days.  But once all those things are done and we’ve been in a place for awhile, the bad weather days are not so great.  We start to get on each other’s nerves.  We get a little snippy and the inside space, which normally is just the right size, starts to feel a little small. We have been doing this long enough now to recognize we need to give each other some space under these conditions, but where?  Outside is somewhat off limits and inside feels confining.  Either one of us could jump in the truck and run some errands, but that almost always involves spending money.  So it’s a big challenge, and one we are still trying to work through, and I wanted to mention it, because it rarely happens when we are new to an area.  Probably because just getting acclimated is an activity in and of itself and that can be done regardless of the weather.

So I recognize the pattern, but let me talk specifically about this “hub” of the Redwoods.  We have been here  a couple of weeks and had great weather (comparatively) most of the time we have been here.  The average rainfall in November here is 11 inches and we have gotten nowhere near that, but even when it’s not raining dark falls very, very early.  As I have mentioned the high canopy almost completely blocks the sun and it is dusk by 3pm and pitch black by 5pm in the trees, even on a full moon night. We’ve been battling the gloom with an almost constant campfire (wood is free for us here, and a great advertisement for selling more so why not?) and that helps, but by 9pm I feel ready to go to bed every night.  In the mornings it doesn’t get light inside until well after 8am and really it’s not truly daylight until close to 10am.  So that’s a short day in the groves.  When we travel farther afield it’s different of course, but we are living here and work, meals, and the desire to experience the groves themselves keep us inside the forest.  We have started to think of it in those terms.  There is inside the groves and outside and it does feel like two totally different worlds.  Throw in some rain and it can lead to a wet, miserable day.  The first week we were here we thought the rain was neat and charming, now not so much. (See? The bloom is off the rose.) If our pattern was moving frequently, we would simply move on, actually we probably would have moved on before it even became an issue, but we are committed here and it’s very important we don’t start to feel like we are stuck here.

“Being Stuck” is an emotion I felt often in my previous life and not one I ever expected to have to deal with on the road.  My house is on wheels, for heaven’s sake, and we can always move on, that’s sort of the whole point.  When dreaming about the lifestyle that’s exactly what many people envision, but it’s not always that simple.  Budgets, family, work, weather,  and availability of campgrounds can conspire to keep you in a place longer than you want to be.  Every single person I have become close to has experienced that feeling at least once.  The good news is you do have more choice than you had previously, but at least for myself and all the people I know it is not a 100% footloose and fancy free lifestyle.  So that leaves us with figuring out how to combat those feelings.  I imagine this is going to vary completely based on individual personalities and the unique situation and to be honest we are still figuring it out.  After a year, we now recognize when we feel that way, which is a good thing, but we don’t always know what to do to fix it, short of moving, which isn’t always possible. But we have learned a few things to help lighten the pressure a bit so I thought I would pass them along.

  • Be extra nice to each other.  No, seriously, extra nice.
  • Feeling stuck is a state of mind, not being.  Recognize that and try to mentally adjust your attitude a bit.
  • Breathe through it, it does pass.
  • Get out and do something.  Even if it’s not optimal or a thing you normally would do, just getting out is enough.  Be careful though with this, because if you spend a lot of money frivolously, that could actually make it worse.
  • Work on a project.  We all have things we have been wanting to get to in our home.  Deep clean, build something, reorganize.  Just be careful here to not bite off too big of a project or you could feel more resentful.
  • Spend time with people.  Arrange to see friends on the area or put yourself out there and meet new people.  Social interactions aren’t really weather dependent and can add a level of newness to a place that is becoming stale.
  • Take the first decent weather day you can and take an all day trip to a new place.  Just the drive can reignite your excitement in the area and it can evoke the feeling of newness you had in the beginning.
  • Try new things you wouldn’t normally do.  Volunteer somewhere, take a free class in the area, try a new craft. There are endless possibilities and you might just land on something special.
  • Remember it’s temporary.  The feeling will be gone when you move to the next place.

Our most recent day to try to combat the “stuck” feelings was spent visiting all the kitschzy  little shops up and down the Avenue of the Giants.  Many of these attractions have been here since the 50’s and most have seen better days, but they usually cost just a few bucks each and they were a good rainy day activity.  It didn’t totally cure the feelings, but a couple of them were a lot of fun and we successfully avoided the trap of buying stuff we didn’t need in the gift shops. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see any of them, but they were fine for “filler” activities, because unfortunately every day can’t be exploring the Lost Coast.

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Looking up from the inside was really cool

Looking up from the inside was really cool

Here's the view

Here’s the view

The legend of Bigfoot store had some really cool locally made stuff

The legend of Bigfoot store had some really cool locally made stuff

Dede you would have loved this place

Dede you would have loved this place

The bigfoot carving was fun

The bigfoot carving was fun

Loved the sign in the middle

Loved the sign in the middle

I adored this sign...would have bought it but didn't like the material it was made from

I adored this sign…would have bought it but didn’t like the material it was made from

Really cool, unique birdhouses

Really cool, unique birdhouses

Lee loved the little wagons

Lee loved the little wagons

I was so tempted by this hummingbird feeder made locally but $33 was too pricey

I was so tempted by this hummingbird feeder made locally but $33 was too pricey

The One log house was great and only $1 to go inside

The One log house was great and only $1 to go inside

Front door

Front door

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I think this was originally the bathroom...so weird with the curved wall

I think this was originally the bathroom…so weird with the curved wall

The gift shop had these cool pieces of redwood

The gift shop had these cool pieces of redwood

I picked this one

I picked this one

Lee had an idea to try to take a piece and attach it to our table in our living room.  Loved the idea and at $20 for the above piece not too pricey.  Update: Unfortunately the piece was too small and when we went back the next day no piece was quite right.  They were kind enough to give us a refund.   We went back to the Burl n Drift wood shop and even walked through their storage barn but still couldn’t find the perfect piece.  The owner talked about cutting a piece down for us, but then we were looking at around $150 and after their process you lost a lot of the natural look.  A cool $20 idea was quickly turning into a much more expensive proposition, plus the owner was pretty condescending.  I get excited about wood, but obviously to him he is less artist and more businessman and treating me as the “little woman with the goofy idea” is not going to separate precious dollars from my wallet.  If he would have seemed at all enthused by the idea, I would have been happy to spend a little more. 

Confusion hill

Confusion hill

Largest free standing wood carving in the world

Largest free standing wood carving in the world

The place was pretty beat up

The place was pretty beat up

Lee trying to stand up straight

Lee trying to stand up straight

The house is built on the hill in such a way gravity appears to do weird things . Unfortunately it was too cheesy even for me and simply not worth the $5 each

The house is built on the hill in such a way gravity appears to do weird things . Unfortunately it was too cheesy even for me and simply not worth the $5 each

Chandelier tree was one of the drive through trees

Chandelier tree was one of the drive through trees

Beautiful tree and unlike the other one we saw very much alive

Beautiful tree and unlike the other one we saw very much alive

The car is completely inside the tree and totally hidden

The car is completely inside the tree and totally hidden

For only $5 a car this was well worth it and the grounds are large and very pretty

See how small the car is coming out the other side

No way our truck was fitting in here, but you can walk it

No way our truck was fitting in here, but you can walk it.  For only $5 a car this was well worth it.  The grounds were large and pretty and they even had a little pet area.   Plus you can’t go to the Redwoods without seeing a drive through tree!!

 

 

Lessons Learned 

When dealing with “feeling stuck” try some of these things.  Nothing is a silver bullet solution but they can help

  • Be extra nice to each other.  No seriously extra nice
  • Feeling stuck is a state of mind not being.  Recognize that and try to mentally adjust your attitude a bit
  • Breathe through it, it does pass
  • Get out and do something.  Even if it’s not optimal or a thing you normally would do, just getting out is enough.  Be careful though with this, because if you spend a lot of money frivolously, that could actually make it work.
  • Work on a project.  We all have things we have been wanting to get to in our home.  Deep clean, build something, reorganize.  Just be careful here to not bite off to big of a project or you could feel more resentful.
  • Spend time with people.  Arrange to see friends on the area or put yourself out there and meet new people.  Social interactions aren’t really weather dependent and can add a level of newness to a place that is becoming stale.
  • Take the first decent weather day you can and take an all day trip to a new place.  Just the drive can reignite your excitement in the area and it can evoke the feeling of newness you had in the beginning.
  • Try new things you wouldn’t normally do.  Volunteer somewhere, take a free class in the area, try a new craft. There are endless possibilities and you might just land on something special.
  • Remember it’s temporary.  The feeling will be gone when you move to the next place.

 

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First Thanksgiving Without Family

This is my first Thanksgiving ever without family so I wanted to make sure we did something completely different.  Some people try to recreate the family experience, and if you are with friends this is definitely a possibility, but I like to “remake” the holiday into something completely different if possible.  It makes it less sad for me, and also gives me an experience I wouldn’t normally have had.  I think my kids are thinking along the same lines this year.  Kyrston bought a complete Thanksgiving dinner from a local restaurant, Luca’s, in Keene that we are all really fond of, Kat and Micah had Mexican food with Jamie and Sara (they will eat the big family dinner over the weekend, and Kay really knocked it out of the park by going snow skiing for the first time, in Lake Tahoe, no less.  We had purchased a couple of beautiful ribeye steaks in preparation for the day but weren’t sure what the volunteering situation would be.  It turned out that the visitor center volunteers had a turkey dinner together which we would have liked to attend, but the campground was almost completely booked for the first time in years.  Usually this time of year the winter rains have started so a campground with no services is not the most fun place to be, but this year we have had many clear sky days and the park aides were very surprised when they looked at the reservation list and saw we only had three spots open.  All of the park aides were off that day so Lee and I made it clear we would work the day.  To be clear, no one told us we had to do this, but they didn’t tell us to close the kiosk either.  Mainly they seemed to leave it up to us and I thought it would be a great way to remake the day.  Plus, it just didn’t seem right to have a full campground and be here and not be available to help people.

So we started the day at 7am with our morning walk-through and Helen, my favorite park aide had prepped the daily check list for me in advance.  After the walk-through I went back to the kiosk and immediately had some folks come up with questions.  The visitors center is a great resource for people, but since they were closed for the day I answered questions (as I was able) about the immediate area.  I did a pretty good job throughout the day with basic information, and was honest with people when I had no idea.  Do you know where the Albino trees are in the Redwood forest?  (Apparently on occasion an offshoot of a Redwood is pure white because it can’t do photosynthesis and currently there are 12 scattered throughout the park.  The staff doesn’t tell people where they are though, because people think they will make great Christmas trees and cut them down when they see them.  First of all, those people are idiots, second, they die almost immediately because they are basically parasites and rely 100% on the parent tree for all nutrients.  Anyway, if you want to see one in founders Grove at marker #2 you can look up 150 feet and see one there.  They tell people about that one because no one can reach it. I learned this when Ranger Davis stopped by on one of her rounds and filled me in.  She was the only ranger working that day and was based 30 miles away but came when I needed her and was very nice…but I am jumping ahead.

After the initial morning rush, I settled in and started to write up a Camp Host Guideline sheet.  There is a huge book here, but nothing really specifically for camp hosts so I had asked Ranger John if I could write something up.  My one-sheet turned into three, but I feel pretty good that it has the main information on it, plus it helped me get more organized just by writing it down.  As I was writing I got to check in or help several people.  Many young groups wanted the hike trail maps for serious hikers, which I provided, and for those who were more meanderers like myself I talked to them about the places we had been so far.   One gentleman stopped because he was hiking the area and no gas stations were open.  He had no water or food so I gave him a bottle of water and three power bars we had in the truck.  Another lady was wondering if we had any green beans because her husband loves green bean casserole and she had forgotten to bring them.  I had two cans of french cut, she was thrilled, and when she tried to pay Lee $10 he refused the money and said Happy Thanksgiving.  It wasn’t all pleasant though.  The girlfriend of one couple was NOT happy because it was so cold and they wanted a refund (which we cannot provide), and several other couples wanted to move.  Because we were booked we did the best we could and by 1pm I had sold the last site and put up the campground full sign.  You would think it would slow down from there, but I guess the traffic was pretty heavy coming north and many people got in later than expected.  We also sold a ton of wood (over $200 worth) and in general were busy with questions and the like.  Around 3pm, someone stopped and said the water was running non-stop in the faucet in the men’s restroom.  I contacted the duty ranger (bit of trial and error on that one) and she headed up because maintenance had just left.  Lee checked it out and turned the water off to that one sink, and we ended up leaving it that way all day.  It was great when Ranger Davis came because I was completely out of change and she opened the safe and gave me all the fives and most of the ones in there.  She also stayed for awhile and helped answer some questions (which I learned from) and in general was very pleasant to hang out with.  We stayed really busy until 5:30 when she left and things finally slowed down and I closed the kiosk and Lee and I had our steak dinner.  One of the volunteers (a single in a B plus) actually brought us some turkey day plates, which was so sweet of her.  The other volunteer, JD, who she was with though, gave me a bit of a scolding about working on the day.  According to him the camp hosts never open the kiosk on Thanksgiving and “if you are here next year you should keep that in mind.”  I was getting off a pretty long day and have to say was a bit annoyed.  My personal philosophy is provide more value than the compensation you are receiving but draw the line at being taken advantage of. The big question is “What is being taken advantage of?”

I am a people pleaser by nature and it’s tough for me (with vague expectations) to not overdue it. For some (like Lee) this will never be an issue because he has a firm grasp on the appropriate when it comes to work-life balance, but for me, and I am sure many others, this line is constantly moving. I think, after much reflection and discussion with Lee,  that if I am choosing to do things because they make me feel good, great.  If I am “scurrying” (for lack of a better word) because of pressure (either internal or external) I need to take a step back and reevaluate.   So to break it down for this particular job (knowing it will change in every situation) the work we did helping people with sites, selling firewood, and answering questions falls in the former category.  Everything else falls into the latter.

At 8:30 we called it a night and I was in bed by 9:30.  I know my 13 hour day doesn’t come close to comparing to what my Amazon friends are going through (good luck with Hell Week btw), but it’s the hardest I have worked since I quit my job.  And it felt really good, I really enjoyed myself, and most importantly created a memory for my first family-free Thanksgiving.

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In the kiosk

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Steak turkey day dinner...so yummy

Steak dinner for turkey day ..so yummy

 

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More Volunteering and a Rainy Day

The last couple of days have been much busier here at the campground.  For the first time in years on Thanksgiving weekend they are nearly booked and we have been at around 80% capacity every night leading up to the holiday.  They must have known we would be here! It doesn’t really matter how many people are here though, so much as how they sign in, from a workload perspective.   Every morning, rain or shine, I go into the ranger building and check the overnight envelopes.  If people fill them out correctly the morning rounds are easy and our first few nights here that was the case.  The last couple of days though it took a little longer.  Sometimes folks put the wrong site number down and then when I see an “open” slot with people in it I have to look at the license plates on the sheet and try to find them.  If there are no matching license plates, which is now happening 2-3 times per walk, I have to knock on the car window and wake people up.  I carry envelopes and change with me and basically stand there until they pay.  Most people are pretty gracious about it, but twice we have had people say they didn’t have the money and once two young girls swore they paid and I sent Lee back out once I double checked the drop box.  He said he would have to call the ranger and suddenly the money appeared. The mom approach didn’t work so I sent the Dad in and he has tons of experience with raising girls!! Those situations are the exception though.  Mostly these people are getting in late and don’t want to mess with the envelope. I get it, but what they don’t know is this buys them a cheery wake-up call at 7am from yours truly.

I have been really surprised by how many people are staying here with just a car.  It’s not really creepy, they are mostly 20 somethings and the hotels around here are few and far between and expensive, but there are a ton of them.  Maybe this happens everywhere and I never noticed it before or maybe it’s a California thing but it seems like a pretty unpleasant way to spend the night.  These folks are almost always the ones who don’t use the pay envelope, but thankfully not one person has been hostile during the morning wake up visit.  They generally look sheepish because they know they shouldn’t have blown it off.  In my mind we provide the most value in the morning because I am sure some of those folks would skip out without paying.  We have also been trying to be here by 4pm on the days when only one person is working because 4-5pm can be a little busy.  We have gone over a couple of times and sold some wood or answered questions when they really got backed up.  Once the regular staff leaves we flip over our sign and we are “on duty” until 8 or 9pm.  Most nights we don’t see anyone, but one particularly nice night we sold 5 bundles of wood.  That’s been the easiest part of the job since it is dark and we would be here anyway.  People seem surprisingly hesitant to bother us and I have gone so far as to put a lit tiki pot over by the sign to make sure people know we are available.

So the work itself is fine, but the general ambiguity around the position is still tough for us.  When working for Stan we only had to keep Stan happy and he was great about communicating.  Here, we are dealing with multiple people and it’s not really clear who is in charge.  The normal volunteer coordinator is taking some time off, so she handed us to the ranger John who is new at running this area so he is deferring to the support staff.  They unfortunately all have a slightly different take on things so we can sometimes get different answers to the same question.  It’s also hard to get real feedback on how good a job we are doing, because none of them feel it’s their responsibility to tell us what to do.   I am trying not to let all this  make me crazy, but I have never been great at dealing with no one being in charge.  I talked to my friend Kelly about this though and she is working the split shift at Amazon and she has to change the way she does things when the night manager comes on in the middle of her shift because he and the day manager can’t agree.  So it could be worse.   My favorite person here is Helen,  who reminds me of my grandmother.  She is no nonsense but kind and has been here for 5 years so I try to keep her happy.  And no kidding, as I was writing this paragraph Lee came in the RV and said Helen was impressed by us this morning because we had finished our rounds so early in this heavy rain.  So we must be doing something right.

The weather here has been surprisingly good.  Usually they get 50-80 inches of rain in the winter, but we have had several sunny days.  Not that you can really see it in the grove.  We have a small patch of sun in the back of the rig, but it’s pretty dark here most of the day.  The lack of sun was getting to both of us so we decided to take our first day off and go to Eureka, but it rained pretty heavily on Tuesday so I stayed and worked.  Although these volunteer jobs  usually expect 20 hours a week we tend to work whatever makes sense.  You can ask for and receive specific days off, but the staff are not really fans of that in both places we have been and prefer you just let them know when you won’t be available and ask that you try to schedule the time when they aren’t busy.  The way we think about it, it’s a good gig and we are not going to get super picky about the hours but many people feel differently and like a set schedule.  I don’t recommend that, however, as several people have shared their feelings with us about volunteers who are “rigid” and it is generally not well received.  That doesn’t mean you need to feel taken advantage of, though.  If we give more hours or days than expected, I take the time when the weather is right or we have something planned.  We just try to schedule those activities when special events are not happening.  For example we volunteered to work thanksgiving since almost everyone else is off.  I have had jobs where I worked holidays before and since we don’t have anything special planned with friends or family, why not?  Provide a little extra value here and there and it is much appreciated.

Even on duty days there is still time to pop out and see things.  I really like the visitors center next door (one of the nicest ones I have seen) and we went to Big Tree Grove and saw the Tall Tree.  We also drove down to the horse campground, which is closed now, and picked some apples.  Lee’s philosophy, which I am adopting, comes straight from All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.   You work a little and play a little every day.  It’s a pretty good philosophy.  So really overall it’s a pretty good gig.  There is absolutely no antenna TV so missing my football some and the ATT signal is on the low side, but we definitely would have never been able to stay here without this gig.  We found out that they only like to have 30 foot or less RV’s.  Some of the sites are plenty big enough, but they worry about the road getting to them.  Experienced drivers would have no issue, but they strongly discourage the larger rigs.  Even the horse camp, which has tons of space, is on a road that is very narrow and not recommended for large RV’s,so you can’t get to it.   There are some private RV parks in the area though that a big rig will fit, but it’s a shame when most full timers can’t fit in a place.  In this case, though, the only way to make the road bigger would be to cut down trees and I can totally see why they would not want to do that.   

View of the visitors center from the back of our site

View of the visitors center from the back of our site

 

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Great display of local animal

Great display of local animal

Redwood RV!!

Redwood RV!!

Had a bed and everything

Had a bed and everything

The drivers seat...loved the bear

The drivers seat…loved the bear

Even had windows!!

Even had windows!!

 

Tall Tree Stats

Tall Tree Stats

Big Tree Grove , the tall tree

The Top of the tall tree is above. The pic below is the bottom

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Big Tree Grove

 

The horse campground

The horse campground

 

Tons of Deer because of the apple trees

Tons of Deer because of the apple trees’

They let Lee get pretty close

They let Lee get pretty close

Lee picking me apples

Lee picking me apples

Recipes

Crazy Marinated Pork Chops 

This recipe has an unusual combination of ingredients, but totally yummy flavor.  I am not a huge fan of pork chops, but loved this and Lee who really likes pork chops loved it as well.  You do have to marinade overnight though to get the full effect which requires some pre-planning. 

  • 3/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 2 TBL Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 TBL lemon juice
  • 1 TBL prepared yellow mustard
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 6 bone-in pork loin chops
  1. Combine all ingredients except pork and blend well
  2. Place pork in large Ziploc bag, add marinade, shake to mix well in place in refrigerator overnight
  3. Drain and discard marinade
  4. Grill covered over medium heat 4 minutes per side
  5. Y101Let meat stand for 5 minutes before serving——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.  Search Amazon.com here

 

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First Time Volunteering in a State Park

There are some differences between volunteering on BLM land and in a state park, but although I know my sample size is small with only 2 work kamping jobs, there are definitely patterns emerging.  I know folks are curious about what an average day looks like (I certainly was) and now that we are settled I will walk you through our day, but please keep in mind that every one of these jobs is different and to some extent what you make of it.  Because you are volunteering for the site, most people are hesitant about asking a lot of you.  Plus I don’t know what type of people they have been getting, but more than once Lee and I had been described as “mellow people”, which if you have met us will crack you up.  It’s not so much that we are mellow as professional and I have to wonder who they are comparing us to.  We are polite and friendly to customers and full time staff alike, always keeping in mind that we are visitors, but they have to live here.  It’s a pretty simple formula really.

So, details about this job.  We found it on the State of California volunteers webpage.  There were tons of opportunities out there, although the website can be outdated a bit so it took some legwork on Lee’s part.  First, he emailed all the ones we were interested then and it took weeks in some cases to hear back.  Then we had to get a background check (cost to us: $10 each) and fingerprinted, and send 20+ pages of application to the state.  California may be worse than others on the paperwork, but again this all took some time so some pre-planning is called for. Also, the back and forth communication was a bit vague.  Despite all of the pages of paperwork, we walked into this not knowing exactly what we were going to be doing.  That was partly our fault because we didn’t ask the right questions, but the communication was not great.  Once we go here, the people have been very friendly.  Keep in mind they don’t know what they are getting into either and there is a bit of a period where everyone is checking each other out.  Once they figure out that you’re going to help, and not make their lives more difficult,  things go much smoother.

We have been told at both jobs that “we want you to have a good time and explore the area” and the schedules allow for this.  This camp host job has us checking the overnight box in the morning for people who came in late and paid.  I then take the information and write it on a clipboard.  While I am doing this Lee puts the flags up (weather permitting) which he really likes to do.  Brings back his ROTC days.   Once he’s done,  we walk the campground loop making sure no one slipped in without paying, and everyone is in the site they stated on the paperwork.  It’s dark at night and sometimes people move around, which is fine, we just need to change the sheet.  If there are any reservations for the upcoming day, we put a little sign out so people know those sites are not available.  The “worst” of it is that if anyone did not pay, we am supposed to wake them up and have them pay.  Apparently this is pot harvesting season (yeah, who knew?) and lots of folks with tons of cash are traveling through.  But according to the staff they don’t want to pay.  Now, this is where it gets interesting.  We can’t make anyone do anything and the amount of pressure we apply is totally up to me.   So I feel about this the way I felt about people smoking pot in the BLM day use area in Susanville.  I am just not getting into all that.  Ask people politely once to do the right thing and if they refuse, document it and move on.  First of all, I think the state of California can afford the $35 if someone refuses to pay, and secondly we don’t escalate with people.  Lee taught me that.  It never leads anywhere good and that’s where being a volunteer comes in handy.  Since I am not getting paid, it’s ultimately not my responsibility.  When I explain my philosophy the full time employees and rangers seem relieved.  We are not trained to deal with these situations and they would much rather we left it to them.

Oh, one more thing.  There always seem to be some locals that you need to be a little wary of.  Either they are big shots in the community or activists who like to push the envelope.  In both places we have been we have been given detailed descriptions of folks we needed to “be careful with.”  I get it.  We lived in a small town and some people like to throw their weight around, but thus far our professional and courteous stance works just fine for those folks too.  Actually Lee is awesome at dealing with those people.  All those years of running the local public access station in the small town of Keene have made him eminently qualified for dealing with these situations.  I, coming from a corporate environment, had more trouble with it at first, but there are always people in every corporation who have power beyond their title and require special handling.  I just put these folks in the same category.  And thankfully I have had minimal dealings with the “crazies.”  My general stance in life with folks living on the fringe is to speak softly and respectfully and give them as wide a berth as possible. The first morning we didn’t have any walk-ins who didn’t pay, but the second morning we had three cars on two sites that hadn’t filled out the little envelope and put money in it and dropped it in the iron ranger. It is a little unsettling to knock on a car window at 7am, but my experience as a mother getting children out of bed to go to school definitely comes in handy here!  It’s all about unrelenting cheerfulness, which is particularly obnoxious at 7am. Hey, if they don’t pay the fee, fine, they are going to be inconvenienced.  I was definitely glad Lee was with me on these wake ups as he just stood there and looked official and I gently got people to pay.  The first car was full of 20 somethings from France and I told them how sorry I was about what happened in their country.  They paid, but needed some help with the paperwork which I gladly did.  The second car only had 30 dollars and I am pretty sure the name “Jones” was a fake one, but I took their money cheerfully and said “OK” when they said they would return with the other five.  I resisted the urge to tell them to make sure they left their campsite clean, again, years of experience with kids and mornings, and we went on our way.  It was kind of fun actually, except for that initial contact, and definitely woke me up for the morning.

Regular staff is here every day from 10-6 so we have the day to ourselves to work from the rig or explore.  We try to be back by 4pm  to help with the walk ins and we are then “On Duty” until we go to bed.  They have an Iron Ranger station (drop box with envelopes where people register) so we are available to answer questions and sell firewood or make change for people.  Two days in we have had no one see us at night, but we will see how the weekend goes.  We do have two days off, not sure when those are yet, but the expectation is 20-25 hours per couple.  Mainly though we are here as a presence.  As Ranger Thomas stated, folks might rethink mischief if they know there is a Camp Host on duty.  And again, since this is off season, so far we are only getting 5-6 campers per night. Oh and no restroom cleaning here.  They have a maintenance staff that cleans the restrooms and showers and empties trash, so that’s cool.

So after hearing all that you might be thinking, “Well, why bother?”.  You might have income coming in, and you don’t need to supplement your income.  Well, it turns out there are numerous perks that might make it worth your while, the financial benefit aside.  Some of these we have experienced, and please don’t expect these because I am sure they won’t be everywhere, are:

  1.  An “All Access Pass” – We get keys,  and so far, in both of the places we’ve been, the keys have allowed us access to areas where the general public can’t go.  This allows us to drive our truck on roads less traveled and really absorb an area.
  2. Having the place all to yourself – We love the shoulder season.  Yes, the weather isn’t optimal, but the places are largely deserted which lessens the work load and gives you tons of opportunities to be the only people experiencing a place.  Totally worth the trade off in our mind.
  3. Getting a full hookup site in a place you couldn’t normally stay – This is a big one.  This campground for example has only one site we could squeeze into and at $35 a night for no services at all  it is unlikely we would have ever stayed here. Thus far our two sites have been big with great views and the water, electric, etc have all worked great.
  4. Getting to really know people in the area – Folks have gone out of their way to get to know us and spent time educating us about the area.  They want you to like it, because they want you to come back. The free education has been wonderful, plus when people are super passionate about where they work, it’s infectious.   Really enhances the experience.
  5. Access to extra services – Here they have a full kitchen, small library full of books about the area, free wi-fi, a giant maintenance area with tons of tools that we can borrow, a woodworking shop, and one of our favorites: free firewood.  Since these jobs don’t pay they often offer extra little perks to sweeten the deal, because again, they would like for you to come back.  And why not?  Repeat volunteers make their life easier, plus give them some continuity of volunteer staff.
  6. Being part of a community – Part of how we travel is to go to an area and learn how the people live.  This is much easier when volunteering because people go to a lot of trouble to introduce you to the locals, give insights on the best businesses in the area, and basically make you feel more like part of the community.  You can pass through an area and see it, but our goal is to experience it which is different.  Experiencing an area involves getting to know the people a little bit as well. So volunteering is a short cut to meeting people.
  7. Giving a little back – Even though we are getting something for volunteering, we are giving something back to our wonderful parks system.  Volunteering was something I rarely had time for when I was working, going to school, and raising kids and it’s a nice feeling to contribute, even in a small way.  Being thanked by people for picking up trash or giving information goes a long way towards making it feel less like a chore and more like something of value.

So that’s my summary thus far.  Again, it’s a small sample size but I feel pretty confident about what I am seeing.  I’ve shared some pictures from our tour below.

forgot to share a picture of this delicious chinese buffet we ate at. first decent Chinese food in a year and the sushi boats were awesome

Forgot to share a picture of this delicious Chinese buffet we ate at our first night in.  First decent Chinese food in a year and the sushi boats were awesome and only $12.99 for dinner

Me and Ranger Tom in front of a Burl that was stolen and recovered. These are used to make clocks and the street value is $1K the retail is $5K. The rangers protect the forests from people poaching them

Me and Ranger Tom in front of a Burl that was stolen and recovered. These are used to make clocks and the street value is $1K the retail is $5K. The rangers protect the forests from people poaching them

Lee admiring the crazy big chain saws

Lee admiring the crazy big chain saws

There are lots of these little houses that summer workers stay in

There are lots of these little houses that summer workers stay in

This tree was at the visitors center with tags on what was happening at the different rings

This tree was at the visitors center with tags on what was happening at the different rings

The center was 912 AD so I had to touch it. Crazy old

The center was 912 AD so I had to touch it. Crazy old

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Here's our site

Here’s our site

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Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.  Search Amazon.com here

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First Time in the Redwoods

It’s been a very busy week and sorry I didn’t write sooner, but I think you will see why once you read this.  Wednesday we started to button things up in preparation for leaving, but Lee made time to  watch the Veteran’s Day parade downtown.  It was a small town parade, but Lee enjoyed it and afterwards he ran several errands.

Y_0038 Y_0044

I stayed back at Hobo Camp and did one more big clean prior to leaving.  Emptied all the trash, ultra filled the toilet paper, and scrubbed things down one last time, basically left it as I would want to find it.  Once we leave Hobo Camp they don’t open the gate at the road again until spring, but folks still walk and horseback or bike ride into the park and the restrooms do get used on occasion.  It was a very nice day, so I wanted to take advantage of the good weather and get it done.  Thursday was our day to pick up the truck and it wasn’t done until 4:30.  We decided to go ahead and keep the rental until the following morning which was a good call because Lee heard a knocking noise in the engine after just a few miles, and the check engine light came on.  We decided to take the truck back in the morning and although we were very anxious about it, there was really nothing we could do.  Plus, Stan was having us to his house for a goodbye dinner so we did the best we could to put it out of our minds.  I hadn’t met Stan’s wife Beverly yet and was looking forward to it, but we were surprised by the number of cars at the house when we pulled up.  Stan had invited some of the young people who work at the BLM, and what a great evening we had.  It is really great talking to people who are passionate about what they do and they were all really interesting.  Plus we had some songs (about trains!) and the food was really great.  It was so sweet when Stan stood up and gave a little speech about the work we had done and then gave us a picture of ourselves in a frame.  It really meant a lot to both of us, and was a wonderful way to cap off our time at Hobo Camp.  Plus one of our readers has signed up to camp host there next fall, so it’s great that Stan will have another nice couple next year!! He was very excited about it.

Listening to Folsom Prison Blues

Listening to Folsom Prison Blues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really nice group of people

Really nice group of people

Stan telling a story!!

Stan telling a story about Lee!

 

 

Out framed picture...so sweet

Our framed appreciation picture…so sweet

Friday Lee got up first thing and was at the dealer when it opened.  Now we were feeling the pressure because the weather was forecasting 2-4 inches of snow on Sunday and we really wanted to leave on Saturday before the snow, to drive through the mountains.  We had no idea though what would happen with the truck and again just took some deep breaths and thought good things.  At noon Lee drove back and the tech had found the problem.  One of the fuel injectors had been mis-programmed and was causing the engine to miss. This would have caused fuel economy problems, a loss of power,  and noises so it was a good thing Lee had them look at it and didn’t just ignore it in a hurry to get out of town.  John the technician (who has been terrific through the whole process) was very apologetic and Lee drove the truck back so we could take our test drive.  We knew we needed to drive at least 200 miles before towing (learned that from when Howard and Linda had their engine replaced) so decided to drive to Reno for dinner and a movie.  We saw Spectre which was incredibly disappointing.  Lee is a huge James Bond fan and has been waiting for this movie for months and it was really awful.  But then we went to Red Lobster (where we had our first real date) and managed to eat dinner for under $40.  Lee got the 4 course meal for $17.99 and I ate the add-on crab legs and his soup.  Plus we got waters and I used my packet lemonade and we had an appetizer.  Their prices have really gone up and I was thrilled at the $39 check before tip.  The good news was the truck ran very well and although we still were a little concerned about towing through the mountains with a brand new engine we both felt a lot better.  By the way the total bill on this was $16K with our part being the $1K deductible.  So please, please put your finger on the word diesel before pumping fuel, assuming you have a diesel vehicle!

Saturday morning we were up and moving by 7:30 because we needed to go to the tire place.  We have not been able to get new G rated tires because of our schedule and Lee was determined that we weren’t leaving without them.  So he ordered them from SimpleTire.com, and had them delivered to a UPS store and they were sitting in the rental car. The day before we had dropped the tires off right before returning the rental and since it was first come first serve at the tire place we wanted to be first in line.  Thankfully we were and they jumped right on it.  I do want to mention that when they were done the manager came out and checked it and two tires were under torqued and the pressure was low on all of them.  So if you get a tire replaced double check the work and ask for a supervisor to check.  That could have been very bad if a tire would have come off.  But Lee was on it and again we felt relief at having finally taken care of that problem.

Getting the tire fixed

Getting the tire fixed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Done!!

All Done!!

Immediately after the tires were done we were off.  Lee had done extensive research on the best route to the Redwoods and unfortunately both roads going over the mountains were on the scary side.  So we decided to go all the way south of the mountains and then back up on the other side, and take two days instead of doing it one. The drive down was good, with some icy roads in the beginning but mostly it was an easy drive.  There aren’t many places to stay near San Francisco, where Nick lives, unfortunately, so I ended up picking a KOA in Petaluma.  Wow. I had forgotten how crowded those could be.  The place was packed, the sites super tight, and the price was the most we have ever spent ($58 for one night water and electric only).  They did have some nice features for kids such as a petting zoo and a huge bouncy bag, but for us it was not where we would choose to stay.  We were also pretty disappointed that the camp itself wasn’t clean when we pulled in (beer caps in the fire pit, ad cigarette butts and small litter everywhere on the site).  For that kind of money the place should have been spotless.  Then when we called Nick he was still two hours away and could only meet us halfway in the city.  I didn’t have it in me to handle San Francisco on a Saturday night so we took a rain check and went to bed early.

The next morning we were up and out early and looking for a Walmart.  We wanted to stock up on food prior to hitting the Redwoods and Lee had found a Walmart neighborhood market close by. I hadn’t seen one of these since Florida and was excited to go there but the parking lot was very tight so we headed about an hour up the road and went to a “Super Center” in Ukiah.  It was not a huge Walmart but had a decent selection and some really good deals on meat so we filled the freezer and cabinets and walked out $300 poorer.  Since we got killed in Glacier going to the local stores I wanted to buy a months worth of everything I could, but we will see how this impacts the budget overall.  I am hoping I can get away until the end of the month with minimal trips to the grocery store.  Since we were only a couple hours away from the campground we just put away the freezer and fridge items and left everything else out.  In retrospect I don’t think I would do that again, however, because it really made my setup time longer especially because I had to rearrange most of the cabinets to get everything put away.

Also up until that point the scenery wasn’t that great.  I had a mental image of the Napa/Sonoma area but the parts we were seeing along 101 looked more like Central Florida.  Suddenly though, around Geyserville the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.  So many vines it boggled the mind and the rolling  hills were beautiful in the background.  Unfortunately I don’t have pictures because there were not many places to pull over and it started to rain but the views were amazing. As we got closer to the Redwoods the terrain became more hilly.  Lee called the road “relentless” as it was very twisty and turny.  There were two 6% grades and a 7% which I am happy to say the truck handled beautifully.  Lee was a bit stressed though, new engine, new tires, challenging road, but overall he did great.  Finally we left 101 and drove on the Avenue of the Giants.  We are staying at Burlington Campground at Humboldt State Park and it is very close to many of the important groves like the Founders Grove.  We didn’t really know what to expect, but aahhh the trees!

When I was a little girl my mother scraped together money to buy me the World Book Encyclopedia set which came with a set of Child Craft books.  I was an only child until I was 12 and we moved around a lot so I spent a lot of time with my nose in a book.  I loved that Child Craft set (still have them, couldn’t give them up in the purge) and each book was on a different subject.  One was on Plants and Trees and I loved the pictures of the big redwoods.  So as we were driving down the Avenue of the Giants I flashed back to those pictures and how much I wanted to see the trees as a young girl.  Here I was 40 years later making that dream come true.  And the trees do not disappoint.  They are so big, that it’s hard to capture them in a picture, although I have tried and when you touch them they feel soft and almost spongy.  Some of them are more than 2,000 years old and they are only still here today because a dedicated group of people in 1913 rallied people to protect certain spots against the loggers.  Rockefeller donated $2M during the depression to protect a group of trees and other groups paid money to protect a grove. So it was with wide eyes and an open heart when we pulled into our campground, but my bubble was burst a little when no one there was expecting us.  We had spoken to John the Ranger who said it was fine if we came in early to avoid the snowstorm, but he was off until Wednesday and hadn’t told anyone we were coming.   Because we are 40 feet they were concerned that we wouldn’t fit in any other site and the current hosts were not leaving until the next day.  After the volunteer coordinator called around and tried to find us a spot, we finally took a piece of road in a closed section of the campground and boondocked for the night.  It actually worked out ok, we just used the generator and some solar and it was very easy to back into our camphost site the next day once Shane and his husband left.

Shane was great.  He spent a chunk of the morning walking us through everything we had to do and was very organized.  I am so grateful to him, because without him we would have been a bit lost.  It’s not that uncommon when volunteeering at a State campground for responsibilities to be a bit vague.  Since the rangers seemed pleased by what Shane had done, we decided we would follow his lead and were lucky enough that he was generous with his time. He and his husband volunteer frequently at State Parks and say the disorganization is pretty common.  His advice was to stay busy and people would be happy.  There are ranger staff at the kiosk from 8-4 every day so we just handle helping people after hours and in the morning.  This will leave us during the day to explore the area and he also gave us all the cool places to see.  He loved it here and would have stayed if they needed him, and I felt much better Monday morning about the situation.  Plus I took a walk around the campground and, oh my.  The whole front section that we are in is closed and there is hardly anyone in the back.  So beautiful and since it is off season all ours!!  Plus we have keys that work on all the gates throughout the entire park so we can take our truck anywhere, even areas that are closed for the season.  Super excited and can’t wait to get settled and start exploring.  Will let you know how everything goes.  Oh and I hope you like pictures of trees because you are going to be seeing plenty of them 🙂

View from our camper

View from our camper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To give you some scope of the size check out our truck next to that stump

To give you some scope of the size check out our truck next to that stump that’s behind those three “baby” trees.

the canopy is beautiful . I am going to get a crick in my neck :)

the canopy is beautiful . I am going to get a crick in my neck 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right across the street from us

Right across the street from us

 

The Ranger Station we work in

The Ranger Station we work in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So so pretty

So so pretty

I love the stumps. this one was over 10 feet tall

I love the stumps. this one was over 10 feet tall

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was my favorite. Had so many burrels it is like a living sculpture

This was my favorite. Had so many burrels it is like a living sculpture

Huge living tree you can walk inside

Huge living tree you can walk inside

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from inside so cool

The view from inside so cool

This was at least 20 feet tall and you can walk inside it also

This was at least 20 feet tall and you can walk inside it also

Nice campsite!!

Nice campsite!!

 

Here's are sign!!

Here’s our sign!!

 

Y049

Lessons Learned

  • Put you finger on the word diesel before pumping fuel or you could lose your engine
  • Get higher rated tires.
  • When getting tires replaced on your rig ask the supervisor to come check the work and double check the pressure and torque yourself!!
  • Some things in life live up to their press

Campground Review  

Petaluma KOA 20 Rainsville Rd 2 out of 5 pine cones

The sites are super tight and only one vehicle could fit.  We have a forty foot trailer and it was close that we weren’t in the road.  Very expensive at $58  water and electric only.  $75 for full hookups pull through.    They did have some nice features for kids such as a petting zoo and a huge bouncy bag, along with a pool and they certainly make the most out of the little space they have.    We were also pretty disappointed that the camp itself wasn’t clean when we pulled in (beer caps in the fire pit).  For that kind of money the place should have been spotless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.  Search Amazon.com here