Moving On September 20, 2009 Today we drove in and out of rain today as we traveled through IN, MO and entered KS. Sunday traffic in the cities of Indianapolis, St. Louis and Kansas City made driving easier. We spent the night in Lawrence, KS home of University of Kansas. It was a long day. Arrive in Colorado September 21, 2009 It was a gray morning with black, black clouds. As we traveled west it began to rain and lightning. The light was an otherworldly yellow-gray. We traveled the full length of Kansas and the gray clouds were always before us. [View Full Entry]

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We left home September 18th via York, PA. Frank had a short furniture making class he wanted to attend. After class on the 19th we drove west towards Pittsburg. The leaves were actually turning on the east side of the Allegany mountains. Red, orange and yellow color dotted the green mountainsides. On the western side the trees were still green. The PA farmland was a patchwork of dark brown plowed earth, light tan crops and yields of yellow goldenrod - - a pretty autumn scene. Cornfields were still standing green in Ohio. Made it 475 miles today. [View Full Entry]

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Travels in the Cozy Turtle 2009 We weren’t sure we’d be able to take a trip this year because it’s difficult to leave my father now that he’s ninety and one of our dogs has been very sick for the last four months. But things worked out and we are taking about three weeks in mid September to early October to see the state of Colorado. We’re looking forward to seeing the fall color of the aspens, the beautiful Rocky Mountains and other geological wonders. [View Full Entry]

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We arrived home Wednesday afternoon. God blessed us with a safe trip of over 8100 miles. It seemed when we traveled toward home time dragged. It took 5 days to travel cross country by the “middle route”. We traversed the entire west-east length of Nevada, Wyoming and Nebraska. Then we dropped down to Kansas City, Missouri where we picked up I64. We drove through a small part of Illinois and Indiana, continued eastward through Kentucky, West Virginia and finally into Virginia. It was a great trip. This time we adjusted quickly to the RV routine and even the dogs seemed more [View Full Entry]

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Lassen NP is at a high altitude and is one of the coldest places in CA. It was sunny and 36 degrees this morning. The Visitor’s Center is only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday during this time of the season. We were happy it was Friday! We got an interpretive guide and started our tour through the park. Lassen Volcano erupted in 1914 and had outbursts over the next 7 years. It acted similar to Mt. St. Helen’s. As we drove through the park snow was more evident and got deeper as we climbed in elevation. We understood why the park [View Full Entry]

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This morning we traveled the Avenue of the Giants, an area with a state park and acres and acres of old growth redwood groves, right off of Highway 101. The road wasn’t narrow, but it did wind around big trees that were close to the highway. We stopped at several places to walk through the groves. The woods were dark and quiet except for chirping birds, very peaceful. The forest floor was carpeted with a dense layer of redwood needles, ferns and rotting trees. The redwoods are overpowering and give you a sense of insignificance. Redwoods are taller than Sequoias, but [View Full Entry]

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Today was my day. I wanted to visit Mendocino, I read it’s a unique California town. We stayed 2 miles north of town at Russian Gulch State Park last night. Frank parked CT in Mendocino about 8:30 am and I walked around. It was overcast and cool. Mendocino is a unique sea town; lots of Victorian houses turned into B&B’s and Inns; quaint architecture; numerous shops, galleries and spas; a bit pretentious, but definitely unique. I found a quarter acre lot for sale 2 blocks from the shore for $450,000. (what a steal). It was a very photogenic town. Next we [View Full Entry]

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We started our exploration of the Northern coast at Salt Point State Park where we spent the night. We got to the beach early. On one was in sight. The breeze was cool and gentle and you could smell the ocean. The sun was shining and the coast was peaceful, no crashing waves. Just offshore a group of harbor seals were clustered together (not near rocks). Every now and then one would bark and it would echo off the rocks. It was wonderful Today we traveled up the northern coast starting with the shoreline at Gerstle Cove in Salt Point walk [View Full Entry]

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This morning our destination was Healdsburg in the Sonoma Valley about 45 minutes away from where we stayed. I had been told this was a central area near a number of wineries. The town has a central plaza with upscale shops and cafes around it and a number of wine tasting rooms. I was more interested in seeing the wineries and vineyards than tasting the wine. After some advice from the Visitor’s Center, we visited Bella winery that had their tasting room in a “cave”. That was different. We never did taste their wine (cost $10) just walked around. Then we [View Full Entry]

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When we left Yosemite (5/24) it was raining. Our plan was to buy groceries, do laundry and find a place to stay near San Francisco so we could drive over the Golden Gate Bridge early Sunday morning. We accomplished our goals and spent the night at San Leandro, an Oakland suburb. CT was on the road by 7:15 am Sunday. Traffic was manageable and Ginny got us to the Golden Gate Bridge in an hour with no problems. We didn’t have to go downtown, but we did drive through the city. We stopped on the SF (south) side of the bridge [View Full Entry]

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