Camping Trip to Van Damme State Park, Mendocino and Grizzly Creek Campground, Humboldt

6/19/17 Monday

Nancy and I had been preparing for our yearly camping trip for a couple of months. The heat wave in Lafayette had been unusually brutal for the last few days and the anticipation of a trip to the coast was palpable. We had done most of the packing the night before so we could just shower and hit the road. The only last minute item not packed was ice – a necessity for the gourmet perishables we had stocked away for the trip. I rushed off to Safeway hoping to just run in and out quickly -No Dice, No Ice. They didn’t even have dry ice. I had to get a refund and then headed to 7/11. At 7/11 it was the same deal. Of course the temperature was in the 100s for the last two days. It was the cause for the shortage. I came back to the apartment empty handed and we packed the last few items quickly having done the same routine for years. I must say we are very organized. We double checked for everything we needed (of course I had forgotten a few minor things – more about that later). We were out the door by 7 AM and made a quick stop at the gas station and as luck would have it they did have ice. Back on the road traffic was light until we got to Mare Island. It was backed up for most of the ride to Novato but it was a beautiful day so we hardly noticed. Nancy had plugged in some TED talks from KQED which were very thought provoking and that kept us involved for a few hours. In the talks Joe Biden was interviewed and so was David Brooks. Both men had some great insights in to life and how to deal with adversity.
Nancy had to pee just before Petaluma and I made an emergency exit. We almost got run over by an angry woman driver in an SUV as I exited the freeway and had to change lanes in an unsafe manner – my bad, totally – my sporadically malfunctioning turn indicator was at fault. We found a gas station and Nancy got relief. On the way back to the freeway we hit a Starbucks for coffee refills. Back on track we made great time to the cutoff at Cloverdale. The road was under repair from the winter storm damage and there were a few one-lane road challenges. At Yorktown we stopped again. As we passed through Boonville it seemed that there was some kind of hippy event going on as evidenced by all the “long hairs”. We discovered later that it was a Reggae festival. Still we were amazed at how Boonville has grown – kind of sad. The rest of the trip was smooth and got even better as we got to the coast and experienced beautiful fog. I can’t tell you how nice that was after sweating for the last week in a major heat wave. We arrived at the campground at around 11:30 and it was vacant. As we set up the first thing I noticed that we had left the tent broom behind again – one of several we had purchased over the years. Now we had to buy another one. I was thinking that we should start a broom museum for all the camp brooms in our collection and classify them by the year purchased and type.

Our camp site was off the big lawn area away from the families and noise. The bathrooms and water needed for cooking and cleaning were a small hike from the site but well worth the sacrifice to avoid the loud broods of the genetically challenged spawn.

California's official state mollusk

A quick photo of a giant banana slug was necessary to appease Nancy and document this curiously orange and slimy terrestrial gastropod mollusk that reminded me of the president. Nancy made sandwiches and I tinkered on my guitar enjoying the peace and cool weather.
A trip to Mendocino was next and after a quick survey of the individuals who are still trapped in the 1960s we decided to head to the Fort Bragg Safeway – a safe place for shoppers like us. The staff there were so nice – you would be too if you live in such an idyllic place. Fresh wild Alaskan salmon, garlic and shampoo were purchased and then it was off to ACE hardware to get the next broom for the collection and a bucket for water. There was a little drama as we left – a parking lot “rear-ender” – an accident more suited to Lafayette parking lots.

happy campers

We stopped at our beach across from the Van Damme campground for a quick walk with Sandy and headed back to the site to make dinner. I quickly assembled the new propane BBQ – the best purchase of the trip - and Nancy prepped the cauliflower rice. I grilled the salmon and got to use another fun tool we had brought along with us – a blow torch – great for searing the skin on salmon and, of course, starting fires.

Blow torch chef'ng

Dinner was fantastic – of course it was – we were camping and we were starved. Sandy, however had a major issue with the popping of the campfire. She has been traumatized by popping sounds as of late and we probably need to take her to see a therapist when we get back or get her some doggie downers for the next camp trip. She spent a major portion of the trip on Nancy’s sleeping bag.
Dinner clean up went quickly even though clean up is always a challenge without hot running water. I’m sure that California Safe Serve requirements would not have been met but all in all we never made ourselves sick. Nancy and I played a card game of guessing what card we were thinking of. Our telepathy improved as we played I must say. We went to bed early and had to deal with a slightly disturbed dog which would be a theme for the rest of the vacation. I slept well but as usual the night time call of the wild was a challenge for both of us. At about 1 in the morning after Nancy got back from the outdoor water closet she encouraged me to check out the stars – really breathtaking since there was no light pollution and no other camp lights around us.

Sandy on Nancy's sleeping bag

6/20/17 Tuesday
I got up at 5:15 and made coffee and made my morning trek to the john. After a screaming hot shower – I couldn’t seem to adjust the heat but at least I got clean – we made breakfast: bacon, which I had smartly precooked before the trip, eggs and melon. After securing the campsite we headed to Mendocino beach. The river empties into the cove there and it was warm and beautiful with the waves and giant logs of driftwood that were left from the massive winter storms. Then it was off to Port Bragg for gas, a belt (I have lost some weight and my shorts were falling off), a hoodie for Nancy, contact lens cases (of course I left several back at the house maybe I’ll start a section of the museum for them too), ice, a beer for Nancy, sodas, and metal grates for the cooler to keep the food out of the ice.

Dwarf pine tree???

Shopping finished we drove down the coast looking for Casper beach. Even though we had been there before we were unsuccessful. We ended up stopping at Jug Handle State beach to see the dwarf pine trees noted on the posted park signs – not much to see since they are dwarfs (ha ha).
 We went back to Mendocino cove to relax on the beach but it was windy as hell.
We stayed anyway and I fell asleep on the beach waking to sand being jammed in all my crevasses and a slight sunburn. (I’m still digging sand out of odd places). Sandy had to be carried  at the end of our stay and we thought she might be sick. Turned out she was just done with all the walking and exploring. Back at camp we took a brief respite and started dinner – turkey burgers with mango salad.

Mendocino beach

Dog on a Log

Ongoing entertainment was provided by the local Stellar Blue Jay. He was determined to get the cashews out of the dry storage box and Nancy was just as determined to feed him bread crumbs which he ignored with disdain – the Jay won the battle of wills.

Stellar Jay shopping

Dinner and clean up finished we were visited by an interesting “hip” gentleman from LA who stopped by to chat. He was a neophyte at camping and was really “digging the scene man”. Later we made a point on our evening walk to visit him and his two buddies at their site. They had just come from the afore mentioned Reggae festival in Boonville. As it turned out he was a life coach. Later I ran into one of his friends and we ended up discussing surfing and pain management – don’t ask me how the conversation evolved in that direction.

6/21/17 Summer Solstice – Wednesday
Once again I was up by 5:15. I made a breakfast of scrambled eggs, garlic, avocado, mushrooms and ham. Then we headed up the coast again into Port Bragg’s Old Town. What an interesting place but obviously suffering from the invasion of the “Millennials”. There were dozens of new chi chi shops clearly not marketing goods for the locals. We did, however, go to a most fabulous meat market that Nancy found on Yelp - the “Roundhouse Smoke House”. Aged steaks, cold smoked steaks and home made sausages filled the cases and we became overwhelmed with sumptuous choices. We finally chose two bone-in pork chops, chicken cordon bleu sausage and “turducken” sausage.

Then we hit the stores looking for nothing in particular. On the way back we hit Safeway again for Nancy’s beers, propane and salad fixings.
Back at camp Nancy made tuna salad for lunch and we took a quick nap as both of us seemed to be a little cranky by this time.
I awoke from my nap to find a grey squirrel stealing our dried fruit and nut snacks reserve. He had taken the plastic screw-top container up to the road and had managed to, amazingly, unscrew it. I started yelling and chased him up a tree - blue container top still in his thieving paws. He yelled back and finally dropped it. The local gang of blue jays who were cheering him on got a few spilled bits but most of our snacks were recovered. I complained to a ranger about the crime and he said that greys often threw pine cones in front of cars so that they would run over them and crack them open – dumb animals – I think not.
We decided to drive up the coast again and after asking the young lady ranger for directions we were off to Casper Beach. (Note to self: its across from exit #409 on highway 1). The beach was lovely and crowded but really fun. Sandy got sandy.

Casper Beach

Casper Beach

Back at camp we grilled the pork chops rubbed with garlic, salt and fresh cracked pepper – unbelievably delicious and Nancy put together a salad. Best meal of the trip – even better than the salmon.
For our night time entertainment, we played the dreaded game of the scrabble, which I won for a change – thank you iPhone dictionary. We turned the lights out at 9:30.

6/22/17 Thursday
After a night filled with the not quite soothing music of crashing waves and the tolling bell on the buoy in the cove we managed to get out of our sleeping bags by five. We showered and packed with un-packing in mind so that we could set up camp quickly at Grizzly Creek. We got on the road at 8:45 and made the trek over the mountains to Willits on highway 20. Our goal was to eat breakfast at our favorite breakfast joint there – Gribaldo’s. The name and menu had changed slightly but the ownership was the same. We sat in the patio with a smoker belching smoke around the corner. We had biscuits, eggs, watermelon and smoked tri tip – really satiating.
Back on the highway there was more construction and repairs caused by massive winter landslides. At one point the traffic was stopped at one of the big sides just outside Leggett and we were forced to wait at least 30 to 40 minutes. Our fellow travelers got out of their cars and walked dogs and shared travel destinations. It was actually a nice break after the mountainous curvy roads we had traversed.
Back on the road we stopped quickly at Garberville for gas and pee. But as we approached our first destination – Fortuna – the check engine light went on as I had to break quickly for a slow tractor on a bridge. That really put a damper on an already stressful drive. We stopped at Safeway in Fortuna and got more supplies. I checked the oil and for any obvious problems with the engine and could find none. We decided to go to Grizzly Creek anyway but there was a pall of doom that followed us to our destination and through the night. Twenty miles later we found the campground and checked in. Grizzly Creek State Park is located on the Van Duzen River. The site we had reserved was too small and right on the highway. We negotiated a new spot but it was still very close to the road – oh well. We set up camp quickly and took a look at the river – no dogs allowed – which also sucked.
We made dinner – grilled turducken and chicken cordon bleu sausages from the “Roundhouse Smoke House” and chicken apple sausages from Safeway with salad. Really awesome wieners. A group of “20 somethings” set up camp next to us and were very chatty most of the night but neither the traffic or their talking kept us awake. I did have a mild panic attack during the night related to the check engine light but I got Sandy to cuddle with me and that helped.

Sandy and Friend

6/23/17 Friday
I woke up at 5:30 as per usual and did my morning routine – bathroom and coffee – in reverse order this time. We took a quick walk to the beach to reconnoiter for a swim later in the day. Showers accomplished (much cooler and cheaper water in this park) it was time for a breakfast repast – leftover chicken apple sausage, onions, garlic and egg scramble. We decided to try and find a special grove of Red Woods that Nancy had been reading about and took a drive east. Over night a small miracle had happened – the engine light was off now – I had opened the gas cap on the truck and and filled the anti-freeze jug the night before. Maybe that did it or maybe the truck was just f’n tired from the trip to Fortuna. Anyway, the fact that it was off really improved our moods - Thank You God. We had no success in finding Cheatham Grove going east so we stopped at a store in Swain’s Flat (a one store town) on the way back and got ice and sundries. We went west past Grizzly Creek and found another county campground and walked the rocky beach and took pictures of the rock escarpments across the river – spectacular.
We went back to camp and did a hike across the river. There was too much poison oak to make it a fun hike for me since I am hella allergic. Next it was time for a swim. We set up on the beach across the river from camp like we had planned to and dipped in the refreshing shallow waters and got a

Grizzly Creek

little sun. After that it was nap time for me. My stress from worrying about the truck had me worn out.

Nancy with Ewok - Cheatham Gove

Nancy talked with the rangers after our siesta to find the correct way to Cheatham Gove and we were off. Amazingly we found it and as we hiked in we ran into our neighbors from camp – the kids from Santa Cruz. The redwood grove was breathtaking; it was the same grove that Star Wars - Return of the Jedi was filmed in – sans Ewoks except Sandy.

Cheatham Gove

On the way back to camp we stopped at other areas to find accessible beaches. One of the stops had broken glass from a recent car burglary on the ground - our camp’s beach seemed to be the best, and safest option.
Dinner consisted of grilled chicken thighs and left over salad – the last of the greens. Again I must say that the purchase of the propane BBQ was one of our best acquisitions for the trip. Dinner was delectable. The evening was spent walking the camp to see what other campers were up to, window shopping campers and playing guitar. We were in our sleeping bags by 9. 

Saturday 6/24/17

Bridgeport

I got up at 5:30 and made coffee and journaled in the cool quite morning. We decided to run into Fortuna after our showers and eat later. We stopped in Hydesville looking for an open post office with no luck. We headed to Fortuna and Safeway to purchase some more Alaskan salmon, buffalo burgers, propane, paper plates, salad fixings and fruit. We got gas and found the Fortuna post office but it was closed so it was back to Safeway for stamps for Nancy’s post cards to the kids. I found a back way to Hydesville and on the way we discovered Riverside Produce and bakery just before Hydesville. It was run by Mennonites and the produce and baked goods were stupendous. Nancy got cookies, a small berry pie, ripe apricots and a tomato. Back at camp we grilled up the burgers and had a fruit assortment – and a chocolate chip – walnut cookie. We noticed our neighbors from SC were heading out so we gave them the tip about Riverside Produce. After breakfast we went to our usual spot on the river for an hour for sun and swim. The water seemed a little cooler but the sun was hotter – great counterpoint. After the swim we laid down for a bit and then went to the Ranger’s Store for some window shopping and Wi-Fi. Being a little bored at this point we decided to find Bridgeport.

We drove east about 6 miles to the turn off. It was not much of a town – a post office and defunct bridge were the only signs it had a history of activity.

Van Duzen River

Van Duzen River

Bridgeport

Van Duzen River

Dinner consisted of grilled salmon with caper butter and sautéed squash – and berry pie. We didn’t save any for obvious reasons. We went to the evening campfire and received a lecture on S’mores from the young ranger. It was obviously geared to the children in the crowd but Nancy and I enjoyed the history lesson. The marshmallow ingredient evidently evolved from the words “marsh and mallow”, the mallow being a root used in the middle ages for medicinal purposes and to thicken foods and marsh – the place where the root is found. Later, of course, eggs whites became part of the original recipe but it has since been bastardized to just be a manufactured sugar concoction. The word “S’more” comes from “give me some more”. Girl scouts may have invented them in the 1920s.
We played a game of scrabble afterwards but it was Nancy’s turn to get revenge this time. My starting draw of letters could have only spelled Japanese words and that’s how the rest of the game went for me.

Nancy and Friends

We went to bed at nine but there was a lot of noise coming from the other campers and the road. Sandy was very agitated and had a hard time calming down. Evidently I left the tent open a crack and about ten some other camper came to the door asking if we were missing a dog. Thankfully they looked at her tags and went to the ranger to see where the Ottobre’s were camping. Half asleep I wandered over and got her. She was hanging out at the camp next door – next to the fire – which was very odd since the fire’s popping is what started the whole nervousness issue she was having. She still couldn’t calm down so Nancy put her in the truck for a few hours only to get up a few hours later when it was quiet to bring her back into the tent. It was a restless night for me also knowing that we were going to pack up in the morning...

6/25/17 Sunday
We were up early and packed for the long voyage back. In the process of breaking down we broke down the tent permanently – one of the main supports snapped. Well I guess we will have to find a new tent – with more amenities of course. The trip back was uneventful but we did stop in Willits to eat at Gribaldo’s restaurant again and get gas. Traffic sucked as we got to Novato – but it was expected. We were glad to get home to cooler weather and our own beds again. Great Trip…
A Review of Van Damme State Park: Positives – beautiful, close to the ocean, showers a little to hot for me, a large variety of camp site choices, great staff. Negatives – temperatures are variable, bring warm clothes just in case.

Van Damme Beach

A Review of Grizzly Creek Campground: Positives - nice and clean, close to the river, good hiking and swimming, easy access to the highway, nice showers, great staff. Negatives – smaller camp sites, fewer choices of camp sites, close to the road which at times becomes a race track with you occasionally waiting for the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass, no dogs in the river. Recommendations: Go but bring ear plugs…

Grizzly Creek

Horsetails

 

BBQ

Mennonite Produce

The Late Tent

Grizzly Creek Site

Ron and Friends

Happy Camper

Doggie Therapy

Mendocino Beach

Blue Jay Menu

Dog at Work

Cheatham Grove

Mennonite Chickens