Travels with haRVy

Benton looking sad as we leave our house and dog sitting gig in Langley, WA.

Last winter we spent over two months drifting south along the Pacific Coast from Washington State to SoCal. We enjoyed spectacularly sunny weather during most of that journey. This year with cool wet weather up north we proceeded at a considerably faster pace. It took us a little over two weeks to get from lovely Langley, WA (see previous post) to Santa Barbara.

Photos from our stops along the way follow.

In Seattle, WA at our favorite mechanic’s shop for some routine maintenance work.

Michael serving up the sticky-rice stuffed turkey for the Thanksgiving supper he graciously invited us to.

A sampling of the Taiwanese influenced side dishes served.

We camped at Rob and Sue’s beautiful family farm in Ridgefield, WA where we arrived just in time for a second, more traditional Thanksgiving feast. Thank you!

Rob also gave us an invigorating rumble seat ride in the Model A Ford he has owned since high school.

We spent an afternoon in downtown Portland, OR walking along the river.

Apparent year-round live-a-boards. We also saw many folks residing in tents and old RVs. Unfortunately, we have witnessed this “almost homeless” trend across the country.

Random stop along the Oregon Coast.

Bakers Beach near our campsite.

Hiking over the dunes to get to the beach.

A couple of nights with my sister in Brookings, OR.

A few more with Penny and Ed in charming Arcata, CA. They are currently awaiting delivery of a brand new van for their own cross-country trek. Looking forward to meeting up with these dear friends again somewhere along the road.

Jaxson Keys Winery was our Harvest Host in Hopland, CA.

 I love these oak trees that cover the hills of Central California. Sorry to say we saw many that were obviously suffering from the years-long drought.

Yard art along Highway 101.

A quiet night among more California Oaks with a Boondockers Welcome host.

Another overnight with Harvest Host at Windmill Farms in Arroyo Grande.

Lunch stop at Gaviota State Beach.

High-school friend Diane hosted us in her driveway (again). Thank you!

From the bluffs above Santa Barbara while on wonderful walk.

No volleyball playing during this extremely high tide.

Leadbetter Beach, a favorite surf spot. Not many out on this occasion though.

Striking Mediterranean architecture downtown.

Charming Cheshire Cat Inn where we spent a luxurious 23 hours.

My cousin Ann serves breakfast at the inn. It was fun to see her again too.

We are now back at my brother Jeff’s house in Camarillo, CA. We are so fortunate to have this convenient SoCal location when we are in the area. Thank you Paula and Jeff for making us feel so welcome. We are extremely grateful.

From here I go to my annual week with Janet on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, CA. Al will be camped out in nearby Costa Mesa. We have no definite plans after that so I guess we’ll get out the map, check the weather forecast, and head in what feels like an appropriate direction. Like a rolling stone…no direction home.

Following are a couple of random spider web shots I took before leaving Langley.