BoenBaja - 6-6-2024 at 08:45 AM
It’s June 5th, and we’re finally back home in Santa Margarita CA after being on the road since March 25th, 10 weeks and 2 days on the road in our
29’ Keystone Cougar 5th wheel. All in all it was a memorable journey, although not without a few problems along the way. I need to backtrack a bit
now, as when we were staying at the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park we had the pleasure of a visit by an old high school buddy of mine, Dennis B., who
now lives in Eugene OR. During high school we were in a group that included myself, Dennis, his older brother Don (who was best man at our wedding
over 50 years back), Jay J. (Donnie’s future bro-in-law) and his sister Jenny J. (Donnie’s wife), Ron G., John R., and a few others who’d join
us occasionally on some of our adventures.
One of my fondest memories was when 3 or 4 of us would go to “Tin Can Beach” (or Bolsa Chica as it was later known) with Donnie’s 18’ Grumman
canoe to surf the waves there. We would paddle into a wave and the other guys on regular surf boards would part like Moses at the Red Sea, scampering
to get away from impending doom as this titanic craft lumbered toward shore, but I digress.
While camping at Umpqua I drove down to Charleston on Coos Bay to Chucks Seafood Company, on of our favorite must stop places on the Oregon coast and
picked up some fresh fish and a half bushel (about 60) of oysters for a dinner of halibut fish tacos and bbq’ed oysters for Dennis. A simple dinner
but gourmet nonetheless! The next day we drove a relatively short distance to Oregon’s Cape Blanco State Park for one night, then on to Stafford RV
Park in California for 2 nights where we camped right on the “Avenue of the Giants” in the Redwoods National Park. Unhooking the 5th wheel and
driving about 35 miles through the Avenue of the Giants was absolutely incredible and thoroughly awe inspiring. The next stop was at Nice CA to camp
on Clear Lake, then on to Patterson CA for one night, and then finally home. To quote the Dead, “What a long, strange trip it’s been!”