TRAVELLING THE WEST COAST USA

WOW!!!   HOW LIFE GETS AWAY FROM US.  HAVEN'T BEEN ON THE BLOG FOR AWHILE AND JUST FOUND TWO ENTRIES I HAD'NT POSTED.
 HERE THEY ARE!!

JUNE 2017!!!!

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​The Gypsies and the Princess are hitting the road again. 
We have just set out on a month long trip up which has been a long time coming. Our plan is to travel across Arizona to LA, take Keira to Disneyland, and then head north following the coast. Not sure how far north we will go but that is part of the adventure.

And adventure it has already been. Many of you know the complications we have gone through getting Priscilla fixed. It started on a trip to Carlsbad and Roswell. Having problems with the engine as we arrived back in Albuquerque, we took it back to the mechanics and determined that Priscilla was destined for a new engine. The engine was ordered and after a big delay of 3 weeks, it finally arrived but was in such bad condition that it could not be used. It was back to the drawing board and having an engine rebuild. 
The guys at the mechanics worked diligently to get the engine done in time. We received Priscilla back after 2 months at the mechanics, on Friday night at 530pm. We worked til midnight that night with some very good friends helping us to get a new awning on and to get ready for the trip. A big shout out to Daniel, Mary, Ashlee and Noel. You are all awesome and we appreciate you so much. So glad we have you in our lives. 

So we are now on the road!! A few challenges have already been thrown at us, just to remind us that traveling is 90% hard work and 10% incredibly amazing. By the way the 10% totally is worth it. 
Before we left, we realized that in the time Priscilla was at the mechanics our registration had expired. We couldn't simply renew it as she needed to have an emissions test. And of course the places that did both emissions and the rego, were all unable to accommodate Priscilla height in their testing stations. After a few stops we were able to get an emissions test done and a couple of days later were able to do the rego online. What a learning process that was.

Just to add a new dimension, our air conditioning stopped working just outside of Albuquerque. This had happened once before and we topped up the freon and it worked again. Normally air con is not a big deal for us, but it was 97 degrees Fahrenheit with a hot wind. AGGGHHHH!!  The freon trick did not work this time and we knew the pump was probably not working. We bought a spray bottle filled it with water and Keira became our air conditioning, spraying us at intervals as we needed it. 
​We found a great mechanic outside of LA who did amazing work and got us back on the road again.

9/2/2018     This was our first big trip that we had taken Maddie on (our beloved Border Collie). We were a little nervous about how it would go, but she was amazing. She took everything in her stride and we quickly realized that so long as we, her people, were with her she was ok. 
The trip was great. It was terrific to be on the road again.
​We headed for LA and spent a day at Disney, which was the highlight of the trip for Keira. She loved it!!!

​DISNEYLAND:

​THE BIG SUR

The scenery was spectacular along the Big Sur which is a stretch of rugged coastline in central California. Unfortunately part of the road was blocked due to landslides so we didn't get to see it all.

Campsite on Central Coast

Views along The Big Sur

Beautiful stream near our campsite

Our first giant redwood experience

MONTERREY AQUARIUM

We visited the famous Monterrey Aquarium, which was pretty spectacular. The jellyfish were amazing and probably my favorite part.

THE FARM AND FRIENDS

​Another highlight for us was visiting Simon, Kari and their 2 boys Ty and Jamie on their farm just outside San Fransisco. We had met each other in Banos in Ecuador. Their plan then was to return to the farm they had purchased and make a go of living a simple self sustaining life. And they were doing it!!!

Keira loved being on the farm and feeding the animals.
Maddie also enjoyed the freedom!!

​And they have lamas!!

MEETING FRIENDS
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​Marsha, our amazing friend and adopted family member was also traveling on the West Coast. She was now off on her own adventures in her camper van Betsy, volunteering at two festivals.. We caught up with her for a few hours.

​We mostly camped in State park campgrounds as we travelled. At times we wondered if we would find a place to camp for the night as the campsites in California are booked months in advance. There are not many opportunities for free camping and there are quite a few rules in California. With some creative thinking and some convincing we did manage. The campgrounds were a great place for Keira to meet other kids and through her we met some really nice people.

​There were many highlights of this trip. I think I will let the photos tell the story.

​THE REDWOODS:

THE COAST:

​CAMPING:

​Mike did some work on the road. Not a bad office to have!!

BANANA SLUGS: in abundance near our campsites. Keira loved finding them.

INLAND OREGON:

We went inland in Oregon and visited Crater Lake. It was spectacular and reminded us of parts of southern Chile.
It was still surrounded by a lot of snow so parts of the road were not open. The campground tried to charge us $40 for the night to camp on snow with no facilities open. We were not open to that so found a place outside the park to free camp on a river.
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VOLCANIC ACTIVITY:

​We came across an area of volcanic rock on our way back to the coast. It had quite an eerie feel about it.

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ORGEON DUNES NATIONAL RECREATION AREA - SOUTHERN OREGON COAST:

We camped at Honeyman State Park from which we could access the sand dunes. We had many hours of fun hiking the dunes and swimming in the cenotes.

massive sand dunes; there were several fresh water pools to swim in.

NEWPORT AQUARIUM OREGON:

Keira and I (Marissa) visited the Newport Aquarium. It had all the same things as the Monterrey but on a smaller scale. The bonus was also smaller crowds. We spent about an hour just watching the otters.  
Mike in the meantime spent the day in bed recovering from a run in with bad oysters.

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OREGON COAST:
As we progressed north the weather got colder and there was no swimming any more. 

WASHINGTON STATE:

​Washington State was pristine and beautiful. It didn't disappoint. We will definitely go back to explore it more.

The trip came to a conclusion with Keira and I flying home and Mike driving back with Maddie.
It was an amazing trip, giving us a flavor of what that part of the world has to offer.