Diamond Lake, OR to Klamath, CA

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blog 09-30-17 Diamond Lake, OR to Klamath, CA

We left Diamond Lake about 9:20 am thanks to our improving routine. We each have our jobs to do setting up and breaking down camp and we get to it and get er done.... The night was cold and the heater ran all the time. I looked out a few times to see if it was snowing during the night but it had cleared so we were lucky. I think Ginnie would have had a heart attack if the ground was white when she got up.

We headed south on 230 which is a two lane road through state forest land. The trees were beautiful and the land was very hilly and curvy but we made good time and were in Grants Pass in no time. We drove for a few miles on the I-5 W then picked up 199 south, The Redwood Highway, and drove a few miles when I spotted smoke in the air. That is always a concern out here that there is a forest fire so as we came to a curve in the road we noticed that the cars ahead were stopped. We were lucky enough to find a shady spot on the road and we waited a few minutes then shut off the engine. We ended up waiting about an hour til the road finally opened up again. Here a class A motorhome, bus type, had caught fire and was reduced to a shell. It was very disturbing seeing that and driving by in a motorhome thinking that could be us there. The scene shook both of us.

The next part of the road was hair raising to say the least. To Ginnie's dismay I was driving and she had to sit and watch her motorhome narrowly miss rock cliffs on her side or look at the ravine we could slide down at any minute. The road was constant turns and going more that 30 mph was out of the question. The road followed a small river and they eeked out just enough room for a road, no shoulder allowed. Ginnie had to read the signs, I couldn't take my eyes off the road for half a second. We were so close to the rock wall at one point that Ginnie actually ducked waiting for the rock to hit us. It was a real nail biter.

Somehow we made it and crossed the border into California. We were pretty excited until we came to an inspection station where all vehicles must stop. We talked to the guard and said we had no fruits and vegatables but he was not interested in that. We had Jersey plates and they explained that they were going to inspect the vehicle because we might have Gypsy Moth eggs under the camper. So while one fellow looked under and around the motorhome another kept talking to us about what they were doing and why.Did he think we would drive away with a load of Moth eggs? He did keep us entertained for the 1/2 hr it took for the inspection and we did get a certificate to clear us for the next inspection should we encounter one. Great, all we have to do is remember where we put the certificate!

So moving on down the road again we had another section of hair raising curves and construction to help make it more fun. By this time both of us are just about dishrags and we were saved by finally coming to 101. I found a safe spot and pulled over and we switched drivers so I could recover and direct Ginnie to the campground.

Yes you guessed it, rt 101 was under construction, down to one lane in 2 spots, and had curves and now giant redwoods to dodge. It was a dark ride through the redwood forest and they didn't cut one more tree than they had to for the road. One tree had about 8" cut off the side so you wouldn't scrape it on the way by.

Finally at 4 pm we pulled into the driveway of our campground in Klamoth and were thrilled to see it was right on the river. We checked in and spoke to Gary and told him of our eventful trip and he graciously upgraded us to a river front pull-through site. We love pull-through sites and to be right up to the river was a fabulous bonus.

We settled in, put up the kids yard, hooked up the water, sewer and electric and had coctails in hand by 5. The river is the Klamath River and empties into the sea just a short distance from here. There is a big hill to our backs and on the other side of the hill is the ocean. Gary gave us directions to the Redwood Nat'l Forest just down the road and showed us on the map where Jurassic Park was filmed, a must see tomorrow.

Our plan is to leave early and visit the redwood park then come back and have lunch, get the boys and take them to the beach. We'll see how that goes.

There are a few things to add to the blog about today. The campground we left in Diamond Lake closed today and we were one of the last campers out. The elevation there is 5300 ft and they could get snow at any time so it's just better to close now. The forecast for next week is high in the mid 40s and low in the 20s so we are leaving town just in time. They turned all the picnic tables upside down on 2 boards over the stones at each campsite, guess they winter better that way.

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Comments

[Traci Money]

Inspection
HI Kathy ... catching up on your blog ... as always very entertaining and informative ... and pics are always fabulous David and I drove from Texas to Lake Tahoe last year ... to make a round trip we went into California for a bit down to Vegas hwy... we were also quite surprised by the inspection ... I asked David if we made a wrong turn and went to Canada or something. We have never experienced something like that in our travels ... weird for sure