Day 31, Tuesday March 31st: Moving North on CA-101

Tuesday we got up to 50F and rain but since it was a driving day, no big deal. I did have to get under the Serenity and see if I could do something about the broken exhaust hanger. 

Exhaust Hanger

I had a short piece of Cu 12 wire, so I used it to put a temporary support for the exhaust pipe.  I drove all day and completely forgot to get more wire, but so far it is still holding things up; I will try to remember tomorrow to shore it up with some more support. 

After getting wet and dirty under the RV, we got showered, dumped our waste tanks and filled our fresh water tank before leaving Jedediah Smith SP. When I pulled into the dump station, whomever dumped before me did it without opening the tank cover. I just can't understand how humans can be so stupid, it was disgusting. I was tempted to put a picture in the blog... I reached in with stick to open the valve and hosed everything down as best I could with their short hose. I stopped at the ranger station when I left and said...that mess back there was not me! 

We were on the road about 09:30 and planned to stay on 101 along the coast. 

We did make a quick stop at Kellogg Road Beach because someone told me to check it out, but for the life of me, I can't remember who or why? I think it was one of our FMBBC guys...Doh. 

Kellogg Road Beach

It is a nice beach, completely secluded and empty.  

Kellogg Road Beach was a quick stop and we got back on 101 North. I booked a Harvest Host overnight at the Blue Heron Cheese Company in Tillamook, Oregon, about a 300 mile drive.

North Bend Bridge (1936)

We crossed many bridges on 101, I particularly liked the Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge, an historic cantilever bridge located near North Bend, Oregon. It was built in 1936 and is one of 11 bridges on the Oregon coast that where built under the supervision of McCullough, so they changed the name of this one in 1947 in his honor. 

Baker Beach

The coastal scenery is amazing, ranging from vast beaches to massive rocks with the waves crashing onto them.  I took this picture just north of Florence Oregon, google says it is Baker Beach. 

Just a sample of driving 101.

June wanted to see whales, the most famous whale watching town in Oregon is Depoe Bay (they supposedly have a pod that lingers there), so we planned a stop there. We did not see any whales but it is a beautiful coastal town. 

Blue Heron Cheese Company

We arrived at our HH around 17:00, there were already other campers on site, it is a big place with more than just Cheese. It has animals in a petting zoo and a peacock running loose on the property, pretty cool. 

Peacock

This guy runs around the property.

We shared a wine tasting and bought some cheese...and wine. They were very friendly and the wine was good.

They had a big parking area that was nice and level, it is a great place to stop if you are passing through. 

The Harvest Host program works for both parties, we spent $50 on wine and cheese, and I would rather do that than pay a campground to just park for the night. They had 4 RVs in their lot, if they do that most nights, I am sure it helps their bottom line. 

Tech Sidebar: Skip if you don't care.

I think I have remedied my issue with our Kenwood Dash Head Unit and Android Auto. When I installed the Kenwood, I ran a USB input to the front of the dash in front of the driver seat. If I use this wired connection instead of the wireless connection, it doesn't tie up my phone's Wi-Fi radio.  So now I am able to connect my phone to my Starlink Wi-Fi when there is no cell coverage and project this to my Kenwood Headset for navigation and audio streaming.  It also makes an immediate Android Auto connection which used to take some time before. 

End of Sidebar

Wednesday we plan visit the Fort Clatsop National Memorial (Lewis and Clark Nat'l Hist'l Park) and then continue North on 101 towards Olympic National Park.