Category: Boondocking

Anniversary Trip 2025 – Humboldt Redwoods

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Boondocking, Campgrounds, HAM, Harvest Hosts, Lance, RV Life, TravelLeave a comment

Hard to believe that it’s been 38 years since my wife and I eloped; and took my family with us. This year we decided to take a trip up to Humboldt Redwoods Avenue of the Giants for the week. We packed up the trailer and went to church and afterwards headed off to our first stop.

Incidentally, if you look closely you see a white strip above the black bumper of the trailer. Just under the ladder you see a small black dash in the white strip. That black dash is my travel mug for my coffee. There’s no telling how long the mug rode along on the back bumper of the trailer. All I know is that it was never seen again.

Nelson Family Vineyards

Since it was a long drive we decided to break it up into two days. We drove up to Nelson Family Vineyards, a member of the Harvest Hosts program, to stay our first night. It was absolutely gorgeous and peaceful. It was cloudy when we arrived but the clouds cleared off that night and the stars were unbelievable. We enjoyed the walk along the vineyards and the old-school playground they had there for the kids. Probably installed back in the1960’s. Very quiet stay; the only noises we heard were coyotes.

Ancient Redwoods RV Resort

The next day we made the short 2 and 1/2 hour drive up to Ancient Redwoods RV Resort. Per our reservation it told us to drive directly to our site, no check in needed. We did and found our receipt and reservation information on the power pedestal. We were parked up near the front in a pull-thru space. There was no RVs next to us the entire time. There were some 5th wheels and Class A’s clustered together toward the back of the park but we had plenty of privacy and a great view. The pictures below were taken at the entrance to the RV park.

The Redwoods

We spent two days exploring the redwood groves. Not two consecutive days; we tried to break it up between beach days, shopping, and forrest. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Our first redwood day was spent walking on the Founder’s Grove trail. Just a short two-mile round trip walk in the woods.

On another day we visited the Garden Club of America Grove which was technically closed but only to automobile traffic. We walked in and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the end of the season.

We also drove down onto a gravel bar on the Eel River. We spent some time enjoying the peace and quiet of the river.

Victorian Architecture

We also spent some time exploring some of the wonderful Victorian-era architecture of the area. There were two great examples in Eureka and and then the entire town of Ferndale. They just don’t build them like that anymore.

Eureka

Ferndale

Coastal Drive

We also spent a couple of half-days at the local beaches. Just walking and breathing in the clean air. We pretty much had these beaches all to ourselves. The first was Samoa Beach, the second was Clam Beach. I don’t have pictures of the sandy beaches we walked on because they were pretty featureless very long strands of beach. I did get photos of the coastal cliffs and rocks we explored, and those are below. They were taken just south of Trinidad, Ca.

Shopping and Dining

Of course what trip would be complete without shopping and eating out, including coffee-getting. I’ll be honest, we were hoping to get some good seafood being that Eureka is a coastal town. However, the reality is that most fishing off the north coast has been shut down. Most of the seafood is deep-fried, sadly. However, one gem we did find is Vista Del Mar. It’s half-bar, half-cafe that served some killer grilled fish tacos. The other restaurants were so-so. Cristy did do some shopping in their downtown and picked up some oysters at another bar. While she was off doing this I was playing ham radio while parked on a waterfront street. I contacted the USS Iowa in Los Angeles and some guy doing Parks On The Air near Boise, ID. Not bad for a battery powered mobile high-frequency rig.

Coffee

Although it never used to be, coffee has become a passion of mine. I hated coffee growing up but within the last 5 years or so I’ve experienced a sort of coffee renaissance. A few mornings I made my own coffee using some some coffee I pre-ground before the trip. My favorite coffee is purchased from Revive Coffee in Sonora, Ca. Their Confluence Espresso blend is my absolute all-time favorite so far for just straight-up coffee. On one of our coastal excursions we decided to try a local place. The highest rated in Eureka was Witness Coffee Roasters. We ordered caramel lattes, with Cristy getting her customary decaf. We were a little disappointed in how weak the coffee was. Looking to console ourselves we drove to Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate and got THE best coffee of the entire trip. It was rated lower that Witness but was much more flavorful. I ordered ANOTHER caramel latte and it was really good, but the magic happened when we poured the drinking chocolate Cristy ordered into my latte. We mixed to two and Cristy’s brain just lit up! Second best coffee of the trip was at Mind’s Eye Manufactory & Coffee Lounge in Ferndale.

And since all good things must come to an end our trip came to an end on Saturday when we drove back down to Nelson Family Vineyards to stay one more night before driving back home. It was just as peaceful as the first time we stayed there. These trips always feel too short when we’re on them and have to come back. Our consolation this year was that I wouldn’t have to rush home so I could get back to work next year! Looking forward to it!

2024 Camping Season – Part 1

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Boondocking, RAM 3500, Ram Truck, RV Life, RV Parks, Travel2 Comments

2024 was a year packed with camping for us. I tried to get Cristy away at least once a month to give her a break from all her caregiver duties. Here is a brief list of where we went:

December 2023 – Jackson Rancheria Resort
Okay technically this wasn’t in 2024 but it started off our camping season. Jackson Rancheria is our favorite nearby park for a quick weekend getaway.

March 2024 – Black Oak Casino Resort
Not exactly what I’d call a resort. It was clean and well-landscaped but very cramped.

April 2024 – The Californian RV Park, Acton, CA
We drove down to see the wildflower superbloom and ended up on the planet where Captain Kirk battled the Gorn. Fact.

May 2024 – Red Hills Fly-In
This is a fly-in that I put on at a friends ranch and airstrip. I just invited myself and my friends to his airstrip and he loved it. Jack and Myrna Moyle are wonderful people. There are no hookups here at Moyle Valley Ranch so this is boondocking at its finest!

10th Annual Red Hills Fly-in

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Boondocking, Lance, RV Life2 Comments

Ten years ago my friend Joey Myers and I were sitting in the living room of our dear friends Jack and Myrna Moyle. They have a 110 acre ranch near Jamestown in the Red Hills Area of Environmental Concern which is managed by the BLM. Joey and I had flown in to say hello. After a bit I mentioned that his ranch would be a beautiful place to host a fly-in and campout. Without hesitation Jack said, “Well you should put something like that together.” So I did.

But before I tell that story, I need to tell the story of this ranch. Jack and his wife Myrna bouth the ranch over 50 years ago. There was one small shack on the property, no trees, no electricity, no utilities of any kind. Jack and Myrna were raising their family of 7 in a one room shack. When they weren’t working Jack and Myrna disassembled some chicken houses on another property they had purchased. Myrna pulled the nails out of the wood and straightened them while Jack was hammering those same nails back into those same boards to expand their small home. They added on three more rooms, a barn, some other makeshift outbuildings and planted a bunch of trees to keep their house cool in the summer. No utilities remember?

One day a mutual friend named Jim Hembree landed on a dirt road that ran through Jack’s property to stop for a visit. Jack was enthralled and wanted to learn to fly too. He firgured that dirt road would make a great runway to fly from. Being a heavy equipment operator by trade he expanded that dirt road and graded it and then had a runway! He bought a Piper Cub up at Columbia Airport and began getting flight training in it. He had the instructor fly him down to his runway on his ranch and teach him how to land there. After that Jack completed his pilot training by taking off from his runway, flying up to Columbia, taking his lessons, then flying back home to his runway.

Fast forward a few years and a few months and we had our first annual Red Hills Fly-in on Memorial Day weekend. This past weekend was our 10th annual and likely last fly-in. So much could be written about it but I like pictures so I will let the pictures tell the story.

We got to spend two wonderfully peaceful nights in the company of friends in a beautiful setting. You can’t ask for more.

The Refrigerator Saga

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Boondocking, Lance, RV Life, TravelLeave a comment

Last January (2023) I noticed some cracking on the interior plastic of my refrigerator. The fridge still worked but I hated looking at the cracks and at the time we had no clue as to what had caused them. Knowing that I want to sell this trailer some day I decided to replace the refrigerator. Watching the videos on YouTube showed that it wasn’t that complicated. So I ordered a refrigerator and then had it shipped to my house. I hired a mobile RV tech and we gave it a go.

We got the old refrigerator out of it’s cubby hole and then tried to get it out the front door. We couldn’t. There is a sharp, narrow 90 degree bend to get around the kitchen cabinet and out the door of the trailer. Try as we might we just couldn’t do it. I helped him put everything back and gave Lance Parts and Service a call. The appointment was 3 months away and I had to ship the fridge down to Lancaster, CA where they were located. That turned out to be another whole blog post. Let’s just say, I finally got it down there.

We told them we would be arriving the night before so we could be there in time for the 7am appointment. They said we could stay in their parking lot where they had electrical and water hookups. We took advantage of the electrical, didn’t need the water. The drive down was fairly exciting, just a normal day on Highway 99 and the Tehachapi Pass.

We spent the evening in their parking lot but they have wonderful landscaping so it felt more like an RV park. Also, the temps were low enough that we didn’t need the AC. We sat out in the grass and enjoyed the cool evening breeze before turning in. We dropped the trailer off at the service location which is basically the delivery entrance for the manufacturing plant. It took an hour to get it all checked in. The lady at the service counter said she’d call me when it was done.

It took them longer than they expected because the fridge was the same width but slightly shorter. They didn’t want to give it back to me with a gap above the fridge so they had to fab up a new piece to close the gap. That meant it would take an extra day.

Sidebar: The lesson I learned was that I should have ordered the replacement refrigerator through Lance. That way it would have fit the existing cutout. I tried to save a few bucks by doing it myself and ended up paying more. Lesson learned.

Cristy and I had to stay at a hotel over night so we chose one next to food and shopping down in Palmdale. I have to admit it was kind of cool to see the Lockheed Skunkworks hangars. I thought they would be a bit more secretive. The two Lockheed Martin hangars dominate the landscape. The next morning at breakfast I got a call from the Lance service department that the trailer was ready. That was good news as I thought we wouldn’t get that call until late afternoon. We finished breakfast and drove back up to Lancaster.

When we went to pick up the trailer we found they just left it right outside the gate.  Barely any room to maneuver my truck to hitch up.  No place to turn around.  They expected me to back out past two parking lot entrances and out onto the main road.  With the way people drive down there I told them no way.  I asked them to turn the trailer around.  They ended up moving it out into the turn lane in the center of the street. 

So what are my thoughts on the whole experience?  Lance did swap out the fridge and did a good job fabbing up the new wood surround.  The fridge was the same width but a bit shorter and they finished it off nicely. The door swung the wrong way.  I asked them why they didn’t go ahead and reverse the door swing so it would match the old refrigerator. I basically got a “not our job” answer from them.  They then told me the door isn’t reversible anyway.  Uh-huh.  I reversed the door this morning with zero experience.  Took me about 30 minutes.  They could have done it in 10.  Not a huge deal but geez.

I also asked them to look at the gap between the bathroom wall and the ceiling.  They said it didn’t look right but didn’t look like a huge problem either.  If I want them to investigate why it happened I’d have to bring the trailer back at another time and leave it with them for a day while they measured things.  Okay, we may do that.  I’m also going to take a picture of the gouge they put in the door frame when they swapped the fridge.  They can fix that next time too.

So I guess I expected more from them.  Maybe I expected too much.  I feel like it was the same service level I get at the DMV.  Just… basic stuff.  No going out of their way to make the customer happy.  Just doing EXACTLY what the customer asked and no more.  Okay.  That’s fine.

I really like our 1995 travel trailer.  We enjoy travelling in it. That being said the customer service is lackluster.  We will probably not be a repeat customer.  We will be wanting something bigger next time anyway.