The Route to California

I decided to add a couple extra days to my journey from Boise to So Cal, and travel down the California coast (and thereby avoid barreling through the Nevada desert for long hours in the middle of the day).  I’ll get to visit some old friends along the way, see Crater Lake, the magnificent redwoods, the Pacific Coast Highway, and enjoy life more.  :)

Here’s the route.

Just a few more weeks!

24 Hours in Boise

My flight landed at 1:15pm on Thursday, and Mike & his 18-month-old son met me at the airport in Boise, we drove around, had lunch, and completed the paperwork & transaction. Ollie was all mine! It was a really nice afternoon, hanging out in Ollie with Mike , and getting things done.  Mike is really good people, and I couldn’t have asked for a better, smoother sales transaction and tour of the area.  Mike’s mother in law came to pick him up, and Ollie & I were turned loose. There were a good four hours of daylight left, so  Ollie & I went for a ride around town. Saw several other Westies, a couple Eurovans, Bays, and some nice old Beetles.

I had seen a Baja Fresh while Mike & I were driving around earlier. We don’t have those in PA, and I had fallen in love with fish tacos during my first visit to San Diego back in ’94, so I was all over a takeout fish taco combo dinner this evening. I made sure Ollie was filled up with gas, then we headed out of town on Warm Springs Ave, met up with Rt. 21 and headed southeast towards Lucky Peak Reservoir and beyond.

Mike had told me about good places to park and camp out that way. Gorgeous scenery out here. The landscape is a combination of these velveteen-flocked elephantine hills and vertical basalt column cliffs, often quite flat on top, like a mesa.

   

This section of Rt. 21 basically follows the Mores Creek upstream through to where it tumbles and flows through the canyons it has cut on its way.  Driving through this terrain reminded me of driving through Norway, with its twisting passes, and sudden and sheer mountainsides that rose far above the upper viewing limit afforded by the windshield. I stopped several times along the way to take pictures.

Sunset was later than I was used to — after 9:00pm — and by that time I had found a nice turnoff, creekside, to camp in for the night. I closed all of Ollie’s curtains, strung up some battery-powered LED lights (glad I brought those with me), settled in and had some dinner. Also played some dinner music — when Mike installed the stereo, he wired it to the key sensor in the ignition, so the key doesn’t have to be turned to the accessory position in order for the stereo to get power. It just needs to be *in* the ignition. Brilliant! He also wired in an iPod connector that connects at the back of the unit and comes out inside the ashtray in the dash. Double brilliant!! There’s a remote for the stereo, but it needs a battery. I’m definitely looking forward to kicking back some evening and controlling the tunes from the bed. :)

Here’s the Mores Creek Park day-use area close to where I spent the night:

 

After spending a lovely, relaxing Friday morning in beautiful country, I packed up, and took Ollie back to town where I put him in storage.

He’ll stay in the clink until I come back in mid-June to spring him, then we’ll be on our way west through Oregon, down the California coast to just east of L.A.  I had such a lovely time in Idaho, and Ollie is a fantastic van.  I can’t wait to come back in a month!

More later – I’m exhausted after my return flight.  That’s another story altogether.

The Route Home

My intrepid 74-year-old mother, Janet, has eagerly volunteered to fly out to California and drive back with me.  Actually, those were the first words out of her mouth after I told her I was considering buying a Vanagon and making this trip.

Here’s the route I’ve decided on.  We won’t have a whole lot of time to stop and sightsee, however.  Once I’m back home, though, future trip planning can begin!

Soon….

In a few short days, I’ll be flying to Boise, Idaho, to purchase the VW Vanagon Camper pictured above.  On this blog, I intend to chronicle my travels with Ollie the Vanagon, starting with our very first meeting, which takes place on Thursday May 17th.  Stay tuned and please keep in touch!