TravelStream™ news feed for member katta7 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/katta7 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:40:07 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1246088294/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1246088294/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1246088294/tpod.html Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:40:07 -0400 Our Runaway Vacation in North America

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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

We had a long night to endure before we touched down. But it's great to be home!

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Van Nuys, California, United States

The road into LA was a patchwork quilt of potholes and grooved surface - not fun. As we drove the streets looking for our RV park we had to try to avoid our side mirrors hitting the cars whizzing past us - and Hannah was not impressed when one van touched our mirror when she was in the front seat, again.

We met a lovely couple from South Carolina in the site next to us, who became the recipients of the remainders of our supplies. We did manage to successfully finish off most of our food.

We were really sad to be handing back the van that had been our home during our travels. It also signified the end of our holiday.

After a couple of weeks in our RV/motorhome we had settled into a pattern. Each of the kids had checks to make before we moved away from our camp = step is up? everything is stowed? doors are closed securely? etc.

It did make life interesting when we went around a corner and the fridge door flew open - whoops, didn't click it closed properly. Everything had to be put away, or it could become a missile. We kept the fruit bowl in the sink, the oven dish in the drawer, the cups inside the jug, etc.

One side effect is that we sported a few bruises, bumping into things or tripping over things in the confined space. But the worst one was a gash on my forehead caused by the coin slide at the laundry in Circus Circus - not even in the RV.

We were happy with our choice of a 29 foot C class motorhome - 9 metres long. There is always a compromise between space and manageability. We've seen the difficulties vehicles with trailers have had reversing into sites or negotiating tight corners and we were grateful we didn't have to share them. We've also seen everything from the compact campervan that we're used to seeing in Australia to huge buses with 4 slideouts (expandable sides), ie. 2 on each side, some towing cars as well. Being out of holiday season we didn't often see kids in them, just a couple.

Once we had returned the van, we felt like a responsibility had been lifted from us.

Our final day in the US we spent at Venice Beach. It was a pleasant place to be, especially considering it was so close to the city. The kids played on the sand (while trying not to get too sandy for the flight home) and the parents had a relaxing walk.


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Kings Canyon National Park, California, United States

By Melanie

When we went to see the giant trees (sequoias) mum and dad were very excited. We went on a walk to see the largest tree in the world. First we walked through a fallen log. It was hollowed by fire and big enough to house 5 people (bigger than our RV). Then we walked under the towering redwood. Higher than our eyes could see and would need at least 15 people to hold hands around it (average).

Next we drove to the largest sequoia. We stood on bricks set out as what the stump of the tree would look like and it was giant/humungous/massive/making us look like dwarves etc. There were other sequoias on the Congress Trail with names like The President, The Senate and The House.
Sequoia NP was freezing and we had to rug up a lot but I enjoyed it.



The next day we went to Kings Canyon. We listened to music from the Stone Age on the way down the windy, narrow road. At the bottom we went on the Zumwalt Meadows walk. We walked along a boardwalk through the meadow, over a bridge, over rocks, through burnt trees and beside a fast flowing river. Hannah had to stop at every part and examine or collect something, Jasmine kept jumping out and saying 'boo', Dad would wait patiently for one of us girls on our latest escapade, and Mum would want to walk at a brisk but viewing pace. ( I was being perfectly normal of course).

Its sad to be leaving America and it was signified by Roads End (the end of the road in Kings Canyon). That night in the campground we had a campfire under the trees and toasted marshmallows (just before it started sprinkling with rain).

See ya in Australia.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1245301721/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1245301721/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1245301721/tpod.html Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:58:48 -0400 Our Runaway Vacation in North America

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Merced, California, United States

Popular Yosemite National Park gets nearly 4 million visitors a year and this year the numbers were swollen by 5 eager Aussies in their now not-so-shiny RV. And when we arrived in the valley we could see why it is so popular - the setting is amazing! Sheer cliffs of granite surround a green forested valley floor with a rushing river, ending in a glacier-shaped canyon.

We stayed outside the park as all the park sites had been booked out for months. Indeed, the private campground at Indian Flat had lost our reservation and we were grateful when they shoe-horned us in the last spot available. Only half an hour’s drive to the park entrance is pretty good for Yosemite.

We had a quiet day to begin with, checking out the visitor centre, watching the introductory film and signing up a junior ranger. There was also an Indian Village. Unfortunately the Indians had been kicked out of the park years ago before they could build a casino, but we did find a very helpful Indian “cultural interpreter” in the museum, who explained how obsidian arrowheads are made.

Yosemite has an abundance of waterfalls and they are at their best right now. The views in Yosemite valley are not that easy to see as the valley floor is mostly forested. However, we walked to the base of Lower Yosemite Falls and were seriously impressed. Even better than our waterfall at home during a summer storm! And take a few steps back and you can see the Upper Yosemite Falls as well.

We also checked out the Happy Isles, where there is another interpretive centre and a couple of islands midstream you can walk to. The sun was shining, a perfect spot to be…happy.

The next day we hiked (no bushwalking here) to Vernal Falls, along with a hundred other happy hikers. Vernal Falls has a serious amount of spray, so we were glad to have brought our rain jackets. After lunch Karen and the girls went horseriding to Mirror Lake, while Richard walked there. The horse riders got soaked by a brief summer storm and after getting changed into dry clothes were ready for a buffet dinner at nearby Curry Village.

Our third day involved driving to Glacier Point, which is high on a cliff overlooking Yosemite Valley. From Glacier Point there are spectacular views across the valley and beyond. Far down below you can just make out the toy cars and buses endlessly circling the loop road, and tiny inflatable rafts drifting down the river. We went on a ranger walk to nearby Sentinel Dome and the ranger explained how plants conserving water is like good money management - some save, some are frugal and others just live within their means.

Our time in the park was just about perfect until the next morning when on a winding section of forested road, there was a loud bang as the passenger side mirror clipped a branch and shattered the passenger window. Hannah was in the passenger seat at the time and received a shower of safety glass. We cleaned up the glass and headed to a park exit, stopping briefly to see a black bear who was grazing in a roadside meadow. We drove to the town of Merced, and after 5 fruitless inquiries, finally found a glass repair shop who agreed to replace the window the following morning. Unfortunately, no-one in town has the special RV mirror we need, so it looks like no fun doing lane changes from now on.
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Moss Landing, California, United States

The Monterey Bay area is famous for its sea life, so we went to see it for ourselves. The hamlet of Moss Landing is on the Bay and boasts a tiny harbour, a giant gas power station and a sort of river, called Elkhorn Slough (pronounced “slew”). The waters are teeming with wildlife. It may be that the power station discharges warm water into the Slough, making a pleasant environment for sea life.

After checking in at the RV park, we headed down to the beach for a bit of castle construction and noted that the sand was covered with bits of crustacean shell. The local pelicans are a bit like the Luftwaffe, divebombing the fish with considerable success. For extra charm, a sea-lion was fishing off the beach and popping its head up for a look at us from time to time.

There are lots of sea-lions at Moss Landing. One jetty has been completely taken over by sea-lions and there are a handful of others invading the marina. Big eyes and long whiskers belie a vicious personality ready to defend their territory. Then there is the smell. Sea-lions and other seals eat lots of fish and their fishy aroma is less than pleasant….

Elkhorn Slough also has resident sea otters. Not the cute little otters you get at the zoo, these sea otters are as big as a mid-sized dog. They dig up shellfish from the bottom then float on their backs while cracking open their snack with a stone they use as a tool.

We hired a couple of kayaks for a paddle up Elkhorn Slough to get a better view of the wildlife. But in the afternoon the wind got a bit wilder than the wildlife and we found the paddle back to be a 4 mile ordeal against wind and wave. Abandoning chivalry and spouse, Richard, Mel and Jasmine paddled ahead, leaving Karen and Hannah to battle the gusts, until after more than 2 hours of paddling and then a rest on a muddy bank, a motor boat kindly towed them back to Moss Landing, along with 2 other kayaks.

To celebrate a hard day’s paddle, we bought a gallon of otter food - clams, mussels, crabs, and prawns in a tasty Italian sauce from the local fish shop for our dinner and concluded that sea otters have it pretty good.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1244349008/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1244349008/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katta7/1/1244349008/tpod.html Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:00:34 -0400 Our Runaway Vacation in North America

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San Francisco, California, United States


We stayed at Marin RV Park at Larkspur in San Francisco, a handy 30 minute fast ferry ride across from the city which we enjoyed each morning and evening. Our first day started off cloudy and bleak, and we wondered where the Spring had gone. But the sun came out and warmed us up for our trip out to Alcatraz Island.

Alcatraz was a military prison and the most secure prison in the US from 1936 until 1963 specialising in prisoners who were considered escape risks, including Al Capone.
We had a great time following a tour which explained how 3 men escaped in 1962, as presented by Clint Eastwood and others in the movie "Escape from Alcatraz". It was clearly very unlikely that they survived the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay, but it was a great story. The audio tour of the cellblock described the bleak living conditions in prison.

In the afternoon we explored Pier 39 (a tourist area which has a resident population of sea lions on the adjacent jetty) and Fisherman's Wharf, which was nothing like I remember it from my brief excursion many years ago and has lost much of its charm. But we did sit down to a seafood meal at one of the stalls for a late lunch or early dinner.

Next on our list was a ride on a cablecar up the hill, which was fun. It's a real stop-start affair and was crowded, and we couldn't believe the way that some people were hanging on from the outside, especially when we passed closely to the cablecar coming the other way with people doing the same.

At the end of the line, after we had got off and crossed the road, we heard the sound of tyres and a crunch - a taxi had crashed into the side of the empty cablecar, even though it was an area where no cars are allowed. This traffic incident was attended by at least 5 policeman and was covered in a short article in the San Francisco Chronicle the next day. That added a bit of excitement to the day.

Our 2nd day in San Francisco was more active. We hired bikes and rode along the seafront and across the Golden Gate Bridge in brilliant sunshine. The water was an aqua green and the bay was beautiful, with Alcatraz Island in the centre. There is much in common between SF and Sydney, which also has it's harbour, bridge and the island prison of Fort Denison.

We stopped at the Exploratorium science museum on the way back, a warehouse filled with hands-on exhibits that demonstrate science and how we are influenced by our perceptions. We spent a couple of hours there and could have easily spent more.

Our ride back to the ferry wharf was in an historic trolley bus or tram, so we can say we have sampled all of the transport delights of SF.
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Crescent City, California, United States

Redwood country is just across the border in California and we found a great campsite under Redwood trees in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Old Jed knew a good tree when he saw one - California Coastal Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) are the tallest in the world (but not the largest, stay tuned for their cousins, the inland Sequoias).

The old-growth redwood forests are beautiful to walk in, damp and mossy, and with the giants towering over you it feels a bit dark and mysterious. They have huge trunks and grow straight and tall, with the branches only starting two-thirds of the way up. Their small cones belie their size. Some trees are cut off at the top due to lightning

Dinner was special - the girls all cooked meatballs and spaghetti with a salad on each plate in the shape of a person. That was all while the parents went for a walk by the river. We arrived back to be waited on - wonderful!

We could have happily spent another couple of days on the coast and amongst the redwoods, but unfortunately time was running out. Only 2 weeks to go now....
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South Beach, Oregon, United States



Our forest campground was beautiful, aptly named the Paradise River.

After roughing it in the mountains we felt like a bit of luxury so had Sunday brunch aboard a sternwheeler plying the Columbia Gorge. In our case, "gorge" was both a verb and a noun. As well as the gorgeous scenery we were treated to a race of the latest Moth class dinghies - literally flying above the water on hydrofoils. I've never seen sailing boats do that before. The sternwheeler captain wasn't impressed as they skimmed across her bows at high speed either.


The mountain roads were still partly blocked by snow so we changed our itinerary and headed for the coast instead. Oregon is pretty much one continuous forest stretching south from Washington State to California and its rugged coastline is dotted with State Parks, beautiful rocks and chilly beaches. We took a couple of days to amble down, stopping at a handful of the hundreds of viewpoints.


Unfortunately, disaster struck as we tried to exit a car park. One of the rear wheels went into a ditch and the great beast was stranded like a whale. It took a couple of hours to get a tow truck to winch the RV back up and onto the road. Fortunately there was minimal damage.


The weather was now cloudy and cool, and the mist rolled in over the hillsides at times.
At one lookout we saw a whale spouting just beyond the breakers, and lots of seal lions and seals at a couple of places. One entrepreneur charged money to see sea-lions in a sea-cave - what a hide, considering we saw them for free in the state park down the road at Simpson Reef.


Our next campsite was a county park with a view over a beach. Again we treated to the sound of a foghorn every 15 seconds from the navigation marker, but it was distant enough not to interrupt our sleep. Fog is obviously common here.

We were also interested to notice that the temperature in Sydney is a mirror of the temperature here on the US west coast...

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Woodland, Washington, United States

Melanie's blog:
When we drove up the next day to Mt St Helens, we were shocked. After we reached a certain point, the landscape was no longer forests, but a barren landscape with blacked ground, burnt and fallen trees and randomly scattered boulders. From Johnstone Observatory we had a perfect view of the mountain. We learned that it had erupted over 20 years ago and was a recently active volcano. It was so exciting and funny because there was snow outside yet it was almost 30 degrees C.

Richard's blog:
Mt St Helens used to look like Mt Rainier but more like an upside-down cone, until it's north-western side blew off in 1980. The force of the blast was enormous, and with the landslide, mudflow and blast the eruption flattened a huge area of forest, killed 57 people and generally devastated the area. It was incredible to still see the devastation even after 29 years, with a few young trees growing up amongst it all. Now there is a new dome growing in the caldera, which will presumably have its turn at erupting one day.

We spent a night by the lower Columbia River, watching the boats go by, then drove to the Ape Cave, located on the south side of Mt St Helens. The Ape Cave is a lava tube, formed in an ancient eruption of the volcano. The lava tube is rather like a railway tunnel, a long cold dark winding tube made of basalt. It was a bit scary as we walked right to the end, about 1km underground, then turned around and went back again.

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Paradise Inn, Washington, United States

Leaving Vancouver, we crossed the border into the US again, with a 40 minute delay at the crossing, where we had to leave our citrus fruits behind.
Then we drove to the foot of Mt Rainier, where we camped in a lush forest of tall Douglas Firs and Cedars, next to a creek.

Mt Rainier is famous for its high rainfall, but we were blessed with a brilliant day of sunshine when we ascended to Paradise. Mt Rainier is a volcano and has a classic volcanic shape shaped by glaciers.

Melanie says as we drove up she thought it looked like an ice-cream with a top cut off.

It was too early for wildflowers as there was still a heap of snow. We were really pleased to find that we could hire snowshoes from the NP so we set off for a view of the mountain and glaciers.

Melanie says - "We went snow shoeing for the first time in all of our lives. It was very hard work but so fun especially when we were sliding down giant hills."

We returned to the same forest campground, tired out but happy.
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