The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

I don’t think I mentioned that another victim of the Cerro Gordo road was one of my suspension air bags.  The stock springs can not take the weight of the camper. The airbags lift the back of the truck and generally give a better ride.   Anyway, one blew 3 weeks after I had them installed in San Francisco.  This put the truck on a tilt so I had to empty the air from the other airbag.

I limp back, with a pronounced fore-aft list, to Woodland where the folks at 4Wheel Campers have been more than helpful.

The journey was exceptional in its own way as there had been a lot of snow and some parts of the road were very bad. 45 mph most of the time.

I made it to Woodland after dark but Aaron from 4Wheel Campers had offered to let me stay in the camper on their site.

8:30 the next morning they grab my rig and start fixing it. These are busy people and I really appreciate that they change their schedule to get me back on the road.

Yay! Aaron at 8:30 and we are off

They fix  various cosmetic damage with new trim, install special safety chains, which would stop the camper sliding out if ever the turnbuckles loosen. However to stop that eventuality, they install lock nuts on all the turnbuckles that should prevent them from moving.

Jessica!

They also refit the electrical connection from the truck to the camper, which had been ripped out, and carefully slide the camper back onto the bed of the truck. All better!

TLC

They do not charge me.

It is when things go wrong that you have the most rewarding experiences – well up to a point. Everyone I have met during this, er, incident has been wonderful. None more so than the 4 Wheel Camper crew, who did everything possible to help me get my dream of bumbling around the West, watching birds and sleeping in the camper, back on track.

Thanks 4 Wheel Campers. Amazing service!

Today has been remarkable! I set off to drive the Cerro Gordo Road. http://www.theadventureportal.com/death-valley-national-park/cerro-gordo-road/

I tried to drive this road 11 years ago in a Range Rover. Alas, it kept breaking down, down and I never made it. I am very confident that the Tacoma/Camper combo can make it.

Beware.

The trail is tough, with many patches of very broken road and steep inclines. The Tacoma does really well and we reach the half way point without too much trouble.

Looking down into the valley. Collapsed pylons from !903  block the view.

On we go, up and up. I stop the truck to walk up the next stretch to reconnoiter the difficulty. Returning I notice something. There is no longer a camper on the truck! I had felt nothing. She must have slipped off the back very discretely. About half a mile down the road, I find this.

Oh dear

Oh dear, oh dear

This is very, very bad news. I am truly in the middle of nowhere.  7000 feet up and 20 miles of very narrow broken road before you hit paved highway. To get here you have to have a very capable 4 wheel drive vehicle. I will need crane to lift the camper back onto the truck. How many off-road machines with cranes are there? Oh dear.

Anyway, I managed to drive the truck around the road-blocking camper and set off back to civilization.  I am very down.  The logistics of getting the camper back on my truck  are very daunting.  A mega-off/road, crane truck? Maybe they have one somewhere in the States. I cannot leave her there in the middle of the road and I foresee a helicopter lifting her up and dumping her at the side of the road. All options involve thousands of dollars. So much for my dream of bumbling around the U.S. watching birds and sleeping in the camper. I have only owned her for 3 weeks!

I slowly make my way down and meet this.

What!

2019 models comparison

Twelve of America’s top off-road experts are doing a comparative test of the 2019 models. There is at least $500,000 of truck in a line.  Range Rovers, Toyotas, General Motors,  Jeep, Ford, the creme de la creme of off road machines. They are writing articles, making videos and recording podcasts. Buy Four Wheeler Magazine. Go to their website: http://www.fourwheeler.com , listen to their podcasts: @truckshowpodcast.

They are equally surprised to see me as I am to see them. We are in a very remote place.

There are 12 guys. ” No problem Neil, we can find a way to get her off the mountain.”

Let’s get to work

We chock her up on boulders.

We manage to lift her back on the truck. These guys are very skilled and a major problem becomes a minor hiccup.

Back where she belongs.

What are the chances? I must buy a lottery ticket.

So I do interviews for the podcast, a Scot, living in Japan with a disconnected camper on the notorious Cerro Gordo Road is a good story. They shepherd me down the mountain and after effusive thanks, I head back home.

I think I have have mentioned my good luck before. I cannot shake it off.  After a disaster, what chances of meeting the 12 most qualified people to help, an hour later, high up on a very lonely mountain? Thank you er Jesus.

Seriously though, I am for ever indebted to Sean, Verne and all the other guys, who I am sure were on a very tight schedule, but dropped everything to help me.  People are good.

The goal of the trip is to drive the Saline Valley Road.

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/1018-saline-valley-usa.html

It is a beautiful day and I am looking forward to seeing how the Truck/Camper combo will perform off-road.

We amble along without a care. The scenery is  – choose your adjective.

Looking back to the Sierras from the Saline Valley Road

We go up high into the snow.

We come down into an old mine, of which there are several. Here we meet Richard and Zack, the only people I see on the whole trip.

Zack,Richard, me

They are amazing. They are archeologist/archivists, working for the Federal Government, surveying the mining camps in the West. They have been camping out for the last three days. It is very cold. They tell me wonderful things about the logistics of gold mining in these lost places in the 1890s but I am in too much of a hurry to pass it on to you.

Gold Mine

Some views.

Empty desert.

The Who. 

I have to hurry. Great trip. I get back to Alabama Hills, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Hills and camp.

Where I camp.

Sorry to rush you.

I am going to rush through the next two posts as the third is unbelievable.

I set off Sunday morning towards Big Pine to drive the Saline Valley Road. This means crossing the Sierras and then driving way down South on 395. This is always a great trip but this time it is complicated by a heavy snowfall.

Driving up 150

There are flashing signs as early as Sacramento blasting out ” Chain Checks on summit of 150!” I do not have chains but am damned if I am going to buy some, as I am a total cheapskate and have big snow tires and 4 wheel drive on the truck.  I am not one

of the selected to check if I have chains. I have such good luck! The drive is however very freaky as there is much snow, not enough however to worry the truck.

Mono Lake is beautiful. America is so big.

Even 395 has  portions that are snow covered. Such fun.

I arrive at Big Pine after dark and snuggle down in the camper. The furnace is excellent. It is below freezing outside but I am toasty.

Campsite at 7:30

View from Campsite. So cold, I am not used to this.

Different view of the same thing.

Ready for a big day.

Thick smoke and then pouring rain foiled our camping ambitions over Thanksgiving. However the latter had the effect of eliminating the former, and Saturday is bright and beautiful. I pack the truck and head off to the famous Point Reyes.

I think half the population of San Francisco had the same idea as the whole park was thronged. The number of people somehow made the slow, lonely pastime of birdwatching inappropriate. How many people with binoculars do you see at Disneyland?    This put me into a bad mood, which only got worse as I struggled to find somewhere to spend the night. Campsites near Point Reyes are grim and full. I head for the hills but find only private property and gated tracks. It is now dark and I am considering returning to San Francisco when I see a huge, rented, furniture truck parked amongst rocks near Dillon Beach.

I ask Patrick and Meg, who are, of course, moving to Seattle to set up an acupuncture business, if it is OK to spend the night.

“A guy in the store in Tomales said no one would bother us here, so I guess it is OK. This place is called Elephant Rock, isn’t that very beautiful?” https://www.google.com/maps/place/Elephant+Rock/@38.2480193,-122.9499231,2570m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x80842c5e6625d537:0x4bb0b98de1b383ab!2sDillon+Beach,+CA!3b1!8m2!3d38.2507515!4d-122.9652768!3m4!1s0x80842cfe04a86b5f:0xb25ace0a1de75b3f!8m2!3d38.2494713!4d-122.9445139 

I burrow the Tacoma into the perfect spot between big boulders and suddenly everything gets better. I cook up Arrachera and eat the best ever hot steak sandwiches, with strong Californian red. I snuggle into my big queen bed and sleep like an elephant seal.

Dawn creeps into the camper.

Sunday is completely different. I am out and about at dawn and return to Point Reyes.

Where I spent the night.

I get there very early and have the place to myself, well, apart from animals and the like.

Wheee!  Elk fun.

Drakes Bay. Not a soul.

Semi Palmated Plovers.

Mummy Elephant Seals taking it easy.

American Kestrel.

Sunday morning Elk.

Wonderful morning, made better by getting a Senior’s ‘America The Beautiful’ pass at the Ranger Station. This gets me free entrance into all National Parks and lots of other things like half price entry to campsites. $20! At that price I should have bought two.

I live on Fell St in San Francisco. I have to write a little something to say how much I like living here. The houses are beautiful, most built around 1900 – old in the U.S.

I live in that house.

Just across the road is the Panhandle Park.

Oldest trees in San Francisco.

Parking in San Francisco, as in any city, is a big pain. Not so on Fell; a couple of years ago the city  decreed that only those living on Fell could park on Fell. You have to apply for a residents parking permit but it costs very little. This means I can park the truck outside the house or in the near vicinity. What a difference this makes!

Suitably colored Gold.

Truck under old tree just across the road from house.

Two blocks South, which is a pleasant 5 minute stroll, is Haight St with everything you could want; hardware store, great food stores, restaurants, bars, celebrity. 6 minute stroll East is Divisidero with equally everything you could want.

Not far away is Bevmo, the world’s best wine store. Huge selection and crazy marketing, so if you buy one bottle, you get a second for 5 cents.

Bevvy Mo. One of many aisles.

So you get 2 of these for $18. I don’t understand.

Every morning, I stumble to  Central Coffee for my double shot Americano. They are nice to me. They call me Neil. http://centralcoffeesf.com

On the hill behind Fell, is the University of San Francisco’s Koret Sports Center. https://www.usfca.edu/koret This incredible facility is open to local residents.  Well, it has been pretty  much closed recently because of air pollution and Thanksgiving, but on Monday I start an  intensive course of Boxing, Swimming and Yoga. These are all supervised classes with instructors who know what they are doing. I will lose 15 kilos.

Then there is my room, which I love.

View of room with some of James’ amazing mirrors.

I am very happy here.

The idea behind the camper is that I can travel to obscure parts of the U.S. to take pictures of birds and camp in some comfort.

So, as soon as I get the camper, I set off for the Sacramento River wetlands, where there are many birding opportunities.

I set up camp by a remote boat launching slipway on the river. I pop up the roof and luxuriate in my queen bed in the cozy warmth provided by, what the builders call, the furnace. This terminology seems a bit extreme, I think heater would do.

At dawn, I am on the swamp.

Dawn over the wetlands.

Killdeer. Click on all bird photos to get the real thing.

Great White Egret

White Crowned Sparrow.

Red Tailed Hawk.

Northern Shoveler.

Mummy, Daddy and adolescent Snow Geese.  There are tens of thousands.

Pintail.

So many birds! This is what I like doing, I am absorbed. The day rushes by and I finally head back to San Francisco.

The city is completely hidden by smoke. I drive over the Bay Bridge but cannot see the huge skyscrapers of downtown SF.  Apparently San Francisco has the worst air quality of any city in the world. Yay!

As  you know, there has been a devastating fire North East of San Francisco. Many have perished in the worst recorded forest fire in California history.

I head straight towards it to have my 4 Wheel Camper fitted. https://fourwh.com  Strange trip. There is thick smoke everywhere and the usual landmarks, ocean, mountains, bridges, have all disappeared.

Anyway I get to Woodlands.

Truck before camper. Strangely visibility better in Woodlands than in SF.

The people at 4 Wheel Campers do a great job.

It only takes an hour to get the camper fully installed.

Jessica explains how it all works.

Camper in camping plumage.

Camper in traveling plumage. Sun going down in the smoke.

Yay, I have my Camper after a couple of years of planning.

San Francisco is covered in smoke from the deadly forest fires across the Bay. People wander around wearing  facemasks. Schools are closed. I had to go to the DMV to renew truck documents and find a milling, vaguely dangerous crowd.  All driving tests were cancelled. Many, very unhappy people, who had waited weeks for their appointment. I was scared someone would pull a gun!

Anyway, I have to get connected. First phone, then computer. I have a Japanese phone that I have to get naturalized. I go to the nearest Apple Store.

” Can you make this phone American?”

” No problem Neil.” says my new best friend, Travis.

Naturalization

I now need to get a US SIM card. With my usual luck, I walk  straight into an ATT kiosk that has been set up in the middle of the mall. Aaron is competent, clear and smiling. 10 minutes later, I have a US number and a designer plan for the 4 months I will be here.

Thanks Aaron

I have no laptop since leaving gainful employ. James digs out his MacBook Pro, which he no longer uses. It is not feeling very well, it will not start up and the battery is dead. Who you gonna call? Love Haight Computers of course. It is on Haight St, very close to the apartment.

Go there

They fix older Macs. New battery, re-install operating system = $160. Same day service.

My new computer!

Amazingly, a colleague from OIST days stumbles out of the smoke. Harry is on some kind of fact finding tour of Californian universities.

This is not Japan.

Burgers!

So, I am now in the USA and will remain here until March 2019. I have finally got a computer so can start posting again.

Farewell Ginowan Marina. I have spent a memorable 10 months there working on the boat. She was more or less a wreck in January but is now an almost new boat. This was only possible because of the constant support and encouragement from the people at the boatyard. Thank you Kiyuna san, Sato san, Akiko san, Tabata san, China san, Nick san, Rika san, Kano san, Miyagi san, and a host of others.

Rika san helps me lower the mast for the last time.

I go for a last wander around the pontoons. The water is crystal turquoise and full of fish.

Lion Fish

Thousands of sprat like things swim around the stanchions.

Thank you Ginowan Marina – I’ll be back.