California Coast, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, and finally Alberta

 

We continued to head northward up the northern California coast.

 

 Found this nice pile of logs in an ocean-front pull-off.  Guessing they originated from one of the many blowdown clean-ups from the recent bad weather throughout the north west.  It made turning the rig around a bit of a challenge.  It wasn't till morning that I spotted the 'no camping' sign hiding behind the pile of logs!

 

Fort Bragg gave the opportunity to get some more fuel and food before selecting one of many great ocean-view spots up the coast north of there.  We spent a couple days there before resuming the northward trip and the route inland to join the 101 again.

Lots of interesting bridges going up the coast.

 

Took advantage of the free dump station at the rest area near Patrick's point, and added a can of fuel so we could make it to the slightly less expensive fuel in Brookings, Oregon.

One more oceanside overnight spot near Humbug mountain, a fuel top-off in Lincoln City and we said goodbye to the coast, had some stop and go traffic getting through Portland, and then made our way up the Columbia River.

One more short night at an undisclosed location on the north side of the Columbia in Washington state.

Very spring-like, and lots of birds singing.

 

A nice sunrise heading east along the mighty Columbia river.  Usually a very windy area, it was unusual to see calm waters and all the stalled windmills that line the river in this area.

 

 

Found a decent price for fuel in Post Falls as we crossed into Idaho before turning north for the Canadian border.



One last top off of the fuel in Sandpoint, Idaho, so we could make it to Alberta, without having to get any in B.C.
Got my 'summer' phone data line activated, and picked up a new sim card from the Rogers store there before visiting friends nearby.  Next night was more visiting over in Pincher Creek, Alberta, before the last leg on the way home.  Of course, the last few miles had to greet us with some nice snow squalls and wet roads.

Stopped at my mail box on the way home and got my full six months of mail from the jammed full mail box.  Yes, that's snow in the air and on the side of the box!  I came home for this?

 

Skies cleared a bit and it was nice to see that snowshoes were not going to be required to get into the house, like one year when we returned!

It didn't take Ms Hailey long to reclaim her usual spots and check out the drinking fountain.

Headed for the coast Plan C: - made it on third try.

 We had been camped at Sawtooth Canyon BLM campground south of Barstow, Ca for about a week.  It got really busy on the weekend with climbers, but emptied out somewhat on Monday.

(Watching a hockey game on the iPad at the campsite)

Because the weekend crowds would be gone, it was a good day to make the run back to Deep Creek hot springs in the San Bernardino National Forest.  This time, having figured out the lay of the land better, we avoided parking at the ranch, made a longer drive, but cut the hike by half to just over 20 minutes, from the usual 45.

It wasn't that hot, but Hailey seems to prefer to lay in the shade whenever she can.

(Another night-time moonlight shot out the window at the camp spot with the iPhone14)

It was time to leave, and start the long trip home for real finally.  The first leg took us up into Barstow to get fuel, then we headed west on 58, over Tehachapi pass and down towards Bakersfield.  To avoid the city, we turned off through Arvin, headed west caught a bit of the I-5 northbound, then back onto 58, headed for a little secluded roadside spot where we had overnighted before.  Heading up into the hills from McKittrick the rolling green hills were covered in flowers and green grass.  Another hour, and we would find our spot for the night with time to enjoy the scenery and bird life!

 

NOT!  With none of the usual 'construction ahead' or 'flagger' signs we came around the corner to find the road blocked with traffic cones!  There was a contract traffic guy there who informed me that the highway was closed because of mud slides and trees down on the road.  Thinking it might be a short wait, I asked when the road was expected to re-open.  'Friday?' was the reply!!  Then, I asked when it had closed, as there was no advance warning at all.  Well, it had been already closed for several days, but Cal-Trans had not bothered to put up any signage to prevent traffic heading down a dead-end road!

 

Plan B:  So, we had to back-track and head further north to try and find a route to the coast.  Of course, now it was necessary to fill up in the middle of nowhere for $6/gal diesel!    Our next attempt to reach the coast in the Cambria area took us west on 46 to and through Paso Robles.  This time - at least Cal-Trans had put up a flashing sign announcing that the coastal highway 1 was closed north of Ragged Point (our plan B overnight spot).   Plan C:  At least we didn't have to go down that dead-end route, but it was getting late in the day now.  Further north on the 101 we just found a quiet roadside spot near Bradley for the night.  A check online showed the coast road is not expected to re-open till December!

 

 On northward the next day through Salinas, Watsonville, and Santa Cruz, and finally the coast!

 We spent some time looking for a good scenic spot for the night.  Most of the pull-offs are 'signed', but some are not :-).

Finally settled in an un-signed, previously enjoyed spot we have overnighted before.

Down below I could see a flock of seals relaxing on the rocks during low tide, and a family of playful sea otters doing what sea otters do.

It was trying to rain the next day, so it was an easy decision to stay put and relax and enjoy the flowers and scenery a bit more.

Hailey kept busy monitoring the local mini-fauna.

She likes to do a bit of rock climbing too!

The next day was the run north through San Francisco.   Spotted this Waymo self-driving car passing me on the street, but I couldn't see if it had a driver or not. But on the top, and all corners of the vehicle there were little spinning sensors (?)  At first, I thought it might have been a new version of the Google Streetview cars?
No tolls on the Golden Gate bridge - northbound.


Then, we headed for the coast again at Bodega Bay, and found a nice overnight spot north of Jenner.  Hailey likes to live 'on the edge' - check out the video!

 

Law enforcement fly-by!(Watch full-screen!)