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#1 searching for nowhere

searching for nowhere

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Posted 22 February 2021 - 09:06 PM

Back in the fall of 2020 I hatched a plan to head south the first of February in 2021.  The plan was to get away from the cold and wet.  Drive south on I-5 to Bakersfield and then head east and explore towards Death Valley.  Then covid hit California hard.  Driving through California didn’t seem responsible with the ICUs full and I didn’t want to drive down the east side of the sierras pulling a trailer with the potential of icy roads.  Surprisingly California started recovering from covid in February.  I made the decision to go south.  

 

Here are a few lessons learned or reminders.  

  • Gas stations don't work without power. Duh.  I knew a major ice storm and gone through the Portland area and it resulted in a major power outage.  I checked the roads on the ODOT site and they were all open.  What I didn’t think about was that gas stations had lost power during the storm.  My first attempt to get gas saw a closed gas station!  Yikes.  Exploring a bit further I found an open gas station with lines.  I was happy to wait in a line to get gas.
  • Campgrounds with the sign “Reservations Required”.  What?  Can I spend the night?  At the Armitage County Park, the sign meant you stop at the office before choosing a site.  At Sycamore Grove USFS campground it meant you pay by phone calling reservation.gov.  
  • Campground websites can’t be trusted for open/closed information.  Before I left, I had figured this out and was calling all my potential overnight stops.  Phone numbers are in the Ultimate Campground app.  An example was a COE campground.  Their website indicated it was open for the season.  But I couldn’t make a reservation (my way of verifying that it was open).  I called recreation.gov and the nice man explained that the campground was open for the season but temporarily closed.  
  • Max speed limit in California when pulling a trailer is 55 mph.  I liked this rule.  I could calmly drive slow.  
  • Watch the weather and DOT reports.  This one I think is obvious for everyone and I was on top of this.  I ended up spending an extra day north of the Siskiyous waiting for the weather to improve.  
  • I’m fortunate.  In southern Oregon and perhaps elsewhere, campgrounds are being used to house people that lost their home in the fires, in FEMA trailers.

 

I’m now at what I think of as the “start” of the trip.  At Red Rock Canyon State Park California.  I’ll start posting to my blog in a bit about the trip.    

 

 


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Camping with a small trailer.  Everyday is a good day to go camping.

 

https://searchingfor.wordpress.com/

 

 


#2 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 22 February 2021 - 10:57 PM

We stayed at Red Rock on a trip to Zion and enjoyed it.Nice quiet  and peaceful.

Enjoy your trip.

Keep us posted on your spots.

Stay safe.

Frank


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