California!!

May 8, 2026: I continuted through the pines and snow-covered mountains making my way northwest into California.

I found a very nice laundromat in the gorgeous town of Truckee. It had top loaders! It costs $6.00 per wash! Wow! That is the most expensive I've encountered in two countries! Wow!! Online I checked some other laundromats in other Californian towns and they are all about the same between $5.00 and $6.00 per load. Wow! I can't stop saying, "Wow!" The dryers were .25 cents for TWO MINUTES! As a comparison, in Arizona it's .25 cents for six minutes.

On that note, the highest gas prices so far are $6.39 per gallon. Oh, update: $7.00 per gallon!. About two to three dollars more than Nevada or Arizona.

I continued driving south through Lake Tahoe which is like a dream world! I don't even need to check to know I could never afford to live here! Followed Highway 89 north through the mountains which then opened up to the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen! Gorgeous mountains, green fields, tall pine trees, crystal blue lakes and rivers, and emerald green foliage. The most fragrant wildflowers all over the sides of the roads. California poppies, too! The landscape was dotted with pretty towns and idyllic farms. Lots of national forests, campgrounds (most are closed right now), and pull-outs for dispersal camping along the highway. May is always a great time of the year to road trip. It's spring and still "off" season. I'm sure I'll keep saying this, but after eight months in dreary, beige desert dust, this green is mesmerizing! The smell of the wildflowers and the pine trees is intoxicating. I forgot the smell of freshly cut grass still exists somewhere! I forgot how glorious real country is. I sure missed this!

I camped in a burnt-out forest west of Chester. Destruction as far as the eye can see. It's very discouraging. This area would have been spectacular to camp in when the trees were still healthy and alive. Now it's just desolate. This is by no means the only burn-out. They are all over. One must get permits for anything that has a flame: campfires, propane stoves, etc.

Why did I stay here when I'm sure there are better locations ahead? It was private, off the highway, and I was exhausted. I just needed to stop for the day. The weather is warm yet mild, the breeze is cool. It's a  perfect place to be, well, except for the blackened trees. It's definitly quiet and peaceful. Also, often it's difficult to find a free place to park overnight in the forest on weekends due to recreational visitors. May is not so bad, but as summer rolls around it will become more difficult. There is wide open sky and sunshine so everything in the van is working. This is a great place and it's my goal this adventure to slow down and stay put if it's great. So I stayed an extra day!

I watch a lot of van life videos, most are positive to a fault, unrealistic, and irritating. Some are warnings on how difficult van life is, aspects few people really discuss. Recently I saw a video produced by a young woman who had been living in her van for four years. She compared her old life paying rent, bills, working three jobs, meetings, dates, appointments, time demands and then emphasized how peaceful living in a van is not having to constantly be somewhere and worry about money, but to just relax and enjoy the time one has on this earth. I found this to be very inspiring. Aside from my constant worrying about potential mechanical worries, it is relaxing. It's only when I'm in Tucson for the winter subjecting myself to appointments, spending money, and constantly running errands that it gets stressful, but once I leave Tucson, I don't have to be anywhere! I'm just killing time, watching the scenery change everyday, and living my life.

Anyway. Here is a symbol of hope...hope for my current surroundings and hope for my future life:

These little seedlings are sprouting up all over!  A lot of these burn-outs are being forested since only the bark is often burnt leaving the wood underneath white. Wonderful wood! Why let it go to waste?

This is the life and death cycle of nature. Even after we are dead and gone, nature persists! Life continues. Too bad we can't be more responsible with her.

Continued to Redding to get water at Walmart and visit the Orchard Co-op. Disappointed in the co-op, I headed to Sprouts. Gas is $6.59 a gallon here. I stepped out of my van and was hit by the most glorious scent of WATER! There is moisture in the air finally!

I left Redding heading southwest with an idea to find a beach and warm-ish weather. I find if I select "avoid highways" Google Maps will take me on an off-the-beat-and-track adventure through the country giving me a chance to see something besides the sides of freeways which are quite boring. Today didn't disappoint. A16 was a twisty turning route through green-treed hills opening to gorgeous valleys of fields covered with green grass. Green, green, green! Unfortunately, these smaller country roads don't have tourist pull-outs so you can't stop and look. Also, you don't dare slow down to catch a glance with drop-offs on one side and farm trucks hauling horse trailers in the other lane driving twice as fast as they should. I drive these little roads really slowly not only because they are bumpy, but I don't want to take those twists too fast!

One problem with the twisty turning mountain roads besides the drop off is as one is negotiating those turns, back and forth, back and forth, one tends to get sleepy from the rocking motion! I nearly fall asleep at the wheel. I have to really concentrate to pay attention. This is not safe at all!

I continued along highway 36 which also winded its way through tall pines, high mountains, and deep valleys. Love the babbling rivers and creeks. I camped next to Rattlesnake Creek. The downside to camping under the trees is I wake up the next morning with very little solar power!

Into the Woods...

View from Big Blue of Rattlesnake Creek...yes, I'm watching for snakes.

The next morning I headed west on Highway 36 - such a gorgeous highway and this section of it twisted and turned magnificently through the mountains. I turned south onto Van Duzen Road. OMG! Narrow country road through the mountains and down into the incredibly deep valleys! I was driving the lane closest to the hill and the other lane, the drop-off, cliff-hanging lane, well, it was dropping off! At least every mile there was a stop sign right before most of the lane had fallen into the abyss! It was frightening! There was one part that looked like a mini-sinkhole! I didn't think to take photos until I was nearly off this highway so this one makes it look like I am exaggerating! In most cases the whole lane was gone!

Even though the road was narrow, potholed, broken, cracked and falling into the abyss, the views of the valleys miles below were stunning! Beautiful farms! Wildflowers covering the fields. Majestic pine trees. Green, green, green. All my allergies went away! Again, I couldn't take a lot of the photos I wanted to for fear of falling into the abyss myself...

I drove through Alderpoint and found my way to Garberville, cute little town with the spectacular Chatauquah Natural Foods Co-op including a restaurant that has been in business over forty years. Drove to Miranda along the Avenue of the Giants.

I scanned iOverlander for a place to camp. There isn't much along Highway 101 and I did not want to sleep at a highway turn-out so I headed to the beach. I suffered another twisty, narrow road with a drop off until I realized Google Maps didn't know where I was nor where I was supposed to go, and erroneously sent me seven miles up a mountain. I cussed my way down the mountain to the beach through beautiful farmland. Seeing a west coast beach nearly made me cry!  I walked a long the shore a bit and into the ice cold waves. This is Ferndale Beach:

Early the next morning with clouds. Sun was shining by 10am.

Stayed an extra night. Every morning around 6am the surfers showed up. Now I know I'm in California! Oddly enough they didn't park down by the beach, but up by me surrounding my van bumper to bumper. I felt a little bad taking what is obviously their space. It was fun watching them surf, but I know how cold that water is and I questioned their sanity. The second morning I said, "Good morning." and chatted them up a bit asking about surfing. One left, and the other came over to talk about surfing. He also told me about the real estate in the area and since he was a former nomad told me where NOT to camp on the coast: Eureka.

I drove through Ferndale and walked the main street, breathing deeply the pungent aroma of cow manure from the surrounding ranches. The architecture is wonderful! Old Victorian-style buildings maintained lovingly and painted in brightly decorative color schemes. The houses off main street and in the neighborhoods were the same with so much decorative variety!

This last photo is the miniature playhouse in the Hadley Park - beautiful garden with native plants, lots of flowers. Across the street was a laundromat with top loaders so I did a load of laundry at $5.00 per load.

I drove to Fortuna. My invection cooktop stopped working! The wire has pulled out of the unit. Damn! How do I cook anything? Sorry to say there aren't very many organic or gluten-free options out in the country. I attempted to visit an appliance store and they could fix it...minimum $30 just for the assessment then $90 per hour thereafter. Well, the cooktop only cost $99! I've started shopping around to see what to do. In the meantime, I'm limited to foods I don't have to cook. At first I was at a loss for how to do this since most foods one doesn't have to cook are high histamine and those make be miserable. However, I LOVE not having to cook! I love not using all my solar power for one meal then worrying how I'm going to keep everything running!

I've been casually looking for real estate as I travel, but in this area although there is a lot of cheap acreage, the reasons it's cheap is it has no access until one owns a monster ATV. Very disappointing especially since the landscape is so gorgeous. I did find a real estate agent who is fragrance free and scents make her sick!! Hooray! It's like a miracle! I wanted to cry with relief!

I attempted to look at property in Shelter Cove over on the coast with beautiful views of the ocean. Getting there was a nightmare with another narrow mountain highway, drop off on one side, and serious switchbacks! I was doing 10-20mph in a 45mph with big trucks constantly coming at me and coming up behind. It was terrifying. Big Blue at times did not want to go up hill and I feared she would stop working in the middle of a mountain. Before I even got to the properties, I turned around and went back! Still, it's gorgeous landscape and some of the giant redwoods were on route jutting up from the drop-offs.

I drove to Eureka to check out their health food store and go to Walmart. Surfer guy was right. There was something really creepy about Eureka. Most of the people looked homeless. Not that I have issues with the homeless since I am considered legally homeless, but they all seemed to have that crazed desperate look in their eyes. The Walmart was in a mall and I did not feel safe parking my van in the parking lot. I got water (which was free!) and didn't stay long.

That night I stayed at the Bear River Casino. One must check in at the "cage", get a Player's Club Card, sign some forms, and they give you a $10 credit to gamble! I've read some nomads win $50! Unfortunately, they allow smoking in most of the casino which drifts all over even into the non-smoking section so that's not going to happen. They have a whole page of rules to follow, but it's all basic etiquette and thoughtfulness that everyone should be following and so often people [in RVs] rarely do. I can use their bathroom! It's very quiet parked in the back parking lot once the employees with their loud car stereo systems leave. I walked around the casino every morning and every night.

View from the Bear River Casino with Ferndale in the distance.

The casino which is the property of the The Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria (tribe) has the cheapest gas in SoHum (South Humboldt - the county) at $6.15 a gallon. There is a line up at the pumps everytime I drive by. I got up really early one morning and got in line before anyone else. I also dumped my garbage and my pee bucket in their bathroom. It's a great one-stop service.

May 16, 2026: It rained the last night and I had an overwhelming desire to leave the next morning. I headed up Highway 101 to Arcata then Highway 299 to Redding. The scenery was stunning and from about Big Bar to Weaverville the highway followed a gorgeous river. In Big Bar there was a kayaking event happening. On the way I passed quite a few adorable towns, but the most spectacular was Weaverville! Lots of art studios, art centers, art galleries, little stores, a Buddhist temple, museum. On the way in I saw a group of people on one of the corners who were about to protest! My people! I joined them for about twenty minutes. I kept thinking, I want to live here! And...there is a health food store for sale!! That is tempting! 

I stopped in Redding for no-cook foods then continued along Highway 299 turning off on Highway 89 northwest to a little camping spot in the woods on the way to Burney Falls National Park. Another van pulled in late at night and parked about 500 feet away, but left the next morning. Awesome hiking roads all interweaving and intersecting throughout the forest. Cool in the 60s, but windy and the windy caused a lot of dust.

Drove to Klamath Falls, Oregon, for some errands. Got everything done including making an appointment for an oil change and other van stressors that should have been done properly by other mechanics who failed miserably.  This is a neverending battle. This auto shop has the best reviews in town so I hope they can finally fix all the issues. Drove back to California and stayed at Indian Tom Lake which is right on the state border. I'm still amazed by all the water here in the north: beautiful lakes, pristine rivers and babbling creeks all around me. The dry dusty deserts of Arizona was really damaging to my psyche OR maybe it just made me appreciate the northwest.

Indian Tom Lake

Indian Tom Lake in the morning

Mt. Shasta in the morning