San Fransisco

We left Eureka, CA, on a gray day, much like most of our days in the Northwest. We drove through redwood forest along rocky coast toward wine country. The scenery was much like Spanish countryside with its green rolling hills, Eucalyptus trees and vineyards. Our first stop for meeting with kayak outfitters was in Point Reyes, a beautiful piece of countryside surrounded by forest and sloughs, which are like estuaries. The weather started to turn to our favor boasting temperatures in the high 60’s-- a welcome change and what we had been looking forward to. We drove further south to Oakland where we would spend the next week, parked on a quiet, hilly cul-de-sac (gracias, Armando!). Our bus attracted a lot of attention from the locals and we gave several tours of our little home and explained the journey we had started almost two months ago. We spent the next several days exploring the surroundings areas, working around the bus, and Amanda visited several schools in the area that specialize in Somatic Psychology. We made some new friends which we hope to keep in touch with. Armando’s neighbor Stephanie invited us out Friday night and we biked several miles to a late night art walk. Much to our surprise we found ourselves fading at about 9 o’clock; we had forgotten about the time change. At the moment time had slipped to the wayside, freeing us from much of what confines us to our daily routine. We work when we can and play just as often. Amanda had a mini Rice University reunion with Jeff, Rene and Leif in San Francisco. I spent one Saturday with a friend from a semester in Spain. It was great to see her again, a much overdue visit. The night before our departure south I went on a beautiful full moon kayak in the bay with folks from California Canoe and Kayak, a premier outfitter and guide service. Needless to say I brought the paddle along which got a good review. That same evening a dear friend from high school called to have dinner, a pleasant surprise since both of us were leaving for extended trips in the morning.

The following day we awoke early and continued our journey south to LA, where we plan to have our winter stay and replenish our bank accounts. The journey has brought us through some of the most breathtaking landscapes we have seen on the West coast. Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing was one of these places. We spent the night on the water, falling asleep to the barking of seals and the ocean surf. In the morning we took our kayaks off the bus for a morning paddle. Let me describe the procedure of removing a 16 foot boat from atop a 10 foot high roof rack. This involves two people, one on the roof and the other on the ground. The person on the ground catches the boat as it slides delicately off the back, becoming almost vertical. The one on the roof then lowers the 50 pound boat over the edge with a rope. While this may seem a simple task there are certain risks such as crushing a $3,000 boat, slipping off the edge of the slanted roof or dropping the boat on someone’s head. The paddle was full of sea life such as sea otters, seals, loons, pelicans and the standard seagull. The seals follow the boats and playfully dance in the water beside you, sometimes for miles. The sea otters bob their head out of the water like the whack-a-mole game at Chuck E. Cheese. Watching them play chase and wrestle in the water, as well as watching one momma sea otter cross the river on her back with her furry baby asleep on her belly, was one of Amanda’s favorite things.

The journey to Monterey was my biggy on the notorious Route 1, but south for the next sixty miles we would be in for a surprise. The road has many treacherous curves and with steep cliffs on either side. Signs warn of landslides and fires every few hundred yards. The guard rail would be nothing more than a speed bump if we lost control. White knuckled I drove 15 miles an hour for the next sixty miles. That didn't stop from us enjoying the beauty of the landscapes and the breath taking contours of the shoreline. I puttered along at my slow pace, yet even if I had wanted to drive faster it would have been futile because the road was so winding that our bus would have had a hard time staying on the road. I could just imagine how thrilled the traffic behind us must have been, yet none of them beeped or gave us the finger. Every so often I would stop to look at the GPS. "I can't believe we have only been seventy miles, at least we only have thirty to go." Well after dark we managed to pull over and find safe parking. Only eighty five miles from where we had started that morning.

seattle

Seattle was gorgeous. We had several good business meetings with outfitters in Seattle. Seattle Raft and Kayak will be the first store in Seattle to carry our paddles starting in spring 2009. It was fun to see Amanda and Dave and daughters Hazel and Nora. It was very rainy when we visited but we managed to hike a mountain that was like a rainforest, lush greens and browns, large ferns and tall pines. Our next push south landed us in the town of Eugene, where Roger and his roommate were our first bus riders for this trip.

Early the next morning we headed west to the Oregon coast. The weather cleared enough the following day to allow us to go kayaking. The ocean was wild and Amanda was a bit seasick with the huge swells, but we saw seals, puffins and jellyfish. The coast is much harsher than most of the east coast, except for Maine. The swells were enormous; every dip down in the swell hid the horizon from view. The ocean would have made lunch of the boats if we managed to get too close to the rocky cliffs. We landed our boats safely and packed up for our next drive.

The following day, as our luck would have it, the bus started to run funky. Justin found a leaf stuck in the fuel line and managed to get her running again. We took the short ten mile drive to Redwood National Forest, more like Jurassic forest. These giant prehistoric looking trees tower overhead, darkening the sky. One tree appears to be enough wood to build a modest two story house. Justin expected small dinosaurs to swoop down from the trees at any minute. Actually, the Star Wars fight scenes with Ewoks were filmed in a forest nearby.

We were just leaving Redwood National Forest when the bus decided to quit again, but in a gradual, I’m-too-tired way. Smarter this time, we chose where to break down, which is not always an option. We stayed put on the beach just south of Orick. More relaxed than our last breakdown, we took a nice walk on the beach. The warm winds poured down off the hills toward the surf and we finally had warm weather. We watched the sun set over the National Park instead of an industrial park. The roar of the ocean is a lot more comforting than the roar of a diesel engine. If the police come by we know just what to tell them…we are getting a tow in the morning, right after our second cup of coffee.

Buddy's towing hauled us to Trinity Diesel in Arcata, about 300 miles north of San Francisco. Arcata is a small town right on the coast. Kind of agricultural, a little run down, crunchy, liberal. We made use of our time by promoting the paddle and biking when it wasn’t raining. One day we decided to explore a wildlife refuge on a rainy day on a resident's recommendation. We left our bikes in the forest and walked out on the dunes. We emerged to find a double rainbow and a sunset over the ocean. We continued toward the beach and walked through a pygmy forest. The coast was just as wild as Oregon; rather than cliffs, we looked out on extensive dunes and marshes.

The following day was Sunday which we spent relaxing in the parking lot where we were staying. Our host, the shop owner, had allowed us to run an extension cord out to our little home so we could power our laptop. They also gave us the code to their WiFi, which allowed us to indulge our addiction to Lost and watch episodes on abc.com.
On Monday the mechanics and Justin got back to work on the bus. Monday evening we were back on the road, but broke down again 300 feet from the shop. We managed to crawl back in and had to pump out all of our fuel because it was filled with dirt and debris, bad gas. We made it all of 13 miles that day, staying the night again since we had missed our chance to visit local outfitters. The next day we had some good talks with outfitters in the area and were able to take a nice paddle in scenic Arcata bay. Next stop San Francisco.

Stop, Go

Well, I'm sorry its been a while, I guess we fell off the blog wagon when we broke down and life got a little crazy...but we're back! We made it out of Utah, through cold Idaho, west through Oregon, and we were so close to Portland and the coast when the Wander Bus came to a sudden and decisive halt. The engine died and would not start again. It happened at a four way stop in little Hood River. Justin jumped out and opened up the hood, I grabbed him the toolbox and rummaged for the number for roadside assistance. A passerby helped out by getting in the road to direct traffic because a long line had formed behind us; drivers just didn't want to believe our hazard lights meant they needed to go around us and some didn't even want to obey our impromptu director. Maybe his landscaper's attire created some doubt. Anyway, Justin had his head in the engine in an instant, replacing one of the fuel filters, and soon diesel had spray coated him and a 3 foot radius, but to no avail. The cops came and were anxious to get our vehicle out of the street. The tow truck finally arrived, and Justin was working on the engine until the moment they hooked up the vehicle. We were towed to a shop at the edge of Portland where Justin and the intake staff worked on the bus until past 10 pm. They also informed us that they would not be able to work on the vehicle, there had been some miscommunication and we shouldn't have been towed there in the first place, we needed to go to an International repair shop for an International engine. So we slept in the bus in the parking lot and in the morning we got towed again. The silver lining is that the repair shop had a clean, hot shower for stranded people like us, and it felt for a moment like being in a hotel. We do have a sun shower, but we hadn't had sun or the necessary seclusion.

The International shop had said that they would look at if not start work on the vehicle that same day, but instead it took them five days to even look at the bus. FIVE DAYS! It was in a seedy area in the outskirts of Portland, which happened to be quite rainy and cold. I like Portland fine, minus the rain, but Justin was bothered by all the street punks. One thing that's great about Portland is how bike-friendly it is, with bike lanes, bike routes and riverside bike paths. Sustainability is big, and the kayak outfitters we met with were stoked about the bamboo paddles. We also liked how the city breaks up into small neighborhoods, with clusters of independent coffee shops, cafes and bars. We were thankful to stay with Joe and Casey during this time, but they had a lot going on and we eventually stayed in the bus by sneaking into the repair warehouse at night, where mechanics worked until midnight and started again at 6 am. Our repair bill was huge (a friend said "I thought you meant that amount minus a zero") and once we dried our eyes we were on our way north to Seattle.