Travels With Picasso

I completed another painting from our winter sojourn to the southwest. Art proved to be quite difficult due to the weather that prevented painting outdoors much of the winter. Our small trailer does not allow space for painting indoors. However, we have an ample supply of photographs to use for reference to paint pictures from this trip for years to come.

This one is my interpretation of a Falcon Lake yucca at sunset.

This one is still wet and on the easel, which you can see in the top of the frame. It is from a photo I took on Big Sur at sunset. The fog made the colors purple. These plants with their dried seeds stood out against the diffuse light. Is it a surprise that someone from Seattle finds pictures of sun good winter subjects?

We arrived home about 2:00 this afternoon. It has been raining and blowing since then. We haven’t unpacked more than the essentials yet. There is always tomorrow.

We traveled 8,417 miles through Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Although only passed two vehicles on the way down, we began to pass more on the return trip and lost count after 20 passed. (The reason was that I became more confident towing the trailer and I learned that keeping it at 60 made the hills easier to get up.) We haven’t totaled other items yet, but will post some of that in coming days.

We need to make a few small repairs on the trailer: a broken refrigerator latch, a leaky wheel well (discovered in the recent rain), and some adjustments on the cupboard doors. However, Picasso survived this cruise in good shape. When the rain ceases we will give our little silver home a good bath.

Posts will continue with some thoughts on our travels and planning for our next trip. We are due to leave in mid-May, so there isn’t time to dawdle.

We escaped the Redwood Curtain this morning and crossed into Oregon a short time later. The Oregon coast was spectacular in the morning with sun, a deep blue sea, and dry (mostly) roads. We turned inland at the Umpqua River and followed the Umpqua Scenic Highway to I-5 south of Eugene. That is a beautiful drive. The road was better than 101 and dry as well even though there was snow on the side of the road in the high places.

Tonight we’re spending our last night on the road at an RV Park in Salem. It’s 32, but dry. Tomorrow we will hit Seattle in the rain. What else is new?

Today we ventured behind the Redwood Curtain. This mysterious place is sometime referred to as Area 101. It is a little-known geographic area containing eerie happenings.

Area 101 contains some of the strangest phenomena known to  the human race. Today we saw trees so tall that they were snow-capped like mountains while it was raining at their bottoms! The forest is so dense that it gives rise to strange beasts that resemble men. These Sasquatchs as they are called roam the forest looking for God knows what. Other gnomes and elves seem to leap from the stumps and snags in forest. They display themselves at roadside stands, proudly eliciting terror in innocent tourists.

The weather in Area 101 is beyond belief. One side of the mountain has sunshine and it is snowing on the other! Rain mixes freely with snow, sun, and anything else it likes. Roads are posted “Chains Required” but are dry! Other roads have no signs and have snow and slush on them! One doesn’t know whether to turn on the heater, the defroster, or open the windows.

Suffice it to say that Area 101 behind the Redwood Curtain is not for the faint of heart. However, we do believe it is the preferred choice this week for travel to the north. The snow and freezing temperatures in the Sishyous make I-5 very troublesome.

Please watch for us as we emerge from behind the Redwood Curtain on our trek to Seattle.

Due to the snow and freezing temps in the mountains we are taking Hway 101, the Redwood Highway, north. This will keep us under the protection of the warm Pacific. It also allows us to see the Redwoods. Leaving Sonoma within an hour.

Yesterday we drove to Woodside to have lunch with an old college friend of mine. Kevin and I hadn’t seen each other in 45 years. It was great to reconnect and to get to know Barbara whom we have only known in letters. We had a great meal in Buck’s Restaurant, an interesting place filled with “stuff.” A few samples are a collection of bronzed baby shoes, several race car bodies from an environmental race, a sampler of breakfast cereals, a Tiffany style stained glass chandelier, and cowboy hat lights over the tables.

Late in the afternoon we drove into Sonoma valley to the Jacuzzi Winery. Yes, it’s the same name as the family that invented the famous hot tub. They have a delightful winery that also specializes in olive products like flavored oils, dipping sauces, and tapenades. We came away with some products to bring home to Seattle.

That brings up a delicate subject. I feel it’s only fair to warn Seattle that we are coming back this weekend. Due to the weather that has followed our travels this winter you need to be prepared for the worst! We’ve been hanging out in CA hoping to fool Mother Nature into thinking we were staying put until we make a mad dash over the mountains. I’m not certain it has worked. Seattleites, considered yourselves duly alerted to bad weather coming your way.

It was grey in Sonoma County today, but we didn’t let that stop us from visiting some favorite places from our last visit with Aunt Gen. We started the day with a drive to Bodega Bay and hiking/photography on Bodega Head. It was cold and windy, but as beautiful as ever. The gulls, herons, and egrets soared against the cliffs.

Next we drove to Armstrong Redwoods, one of Herb and Gen’s favorite picnic spots. It was dark and foreboding there with raindrops punctuating the atmosphere. A few rays of sunshine broke through as we were leaving.

Our last stop was the Napa Valley and Sattui Vineyards. We didn’t stop at their castle vineyard, but went to the old original one. The wines didn’t taste as terrific as they have in the past. Perhaps we’ve been drinking too much of that $2 wine and have lost our taste buds? We didn’t buy any wine.

Lunch along the way consisted of a baguette, brie, and sun-dried tomato pesto. Aunt Gen would not have approved because we didn’t include a tablecloth, plates, silverware, and knapkins. We ate on paper towels in the car while looking out at the ocean.

The countryside is awakening to spring. Many flowers and trees are blooming. However, there is snow on the mountains/hills above Calistoga. We have had ice on our canopy the last two mornings. The forecasts for northern CA, OR, and WA don’t sound promising. It looks like we will get a small window of opportunity on the weekend to make a dash for Seattle before the next cold front descends.

A Great Blue Heron greets us to Bodega Head

Today was our first day in the San Francisco Bay area. We drove to Berkeley and spent the day with Vicki, Kiriki, Jennifer, Emerald, and Iris. It was great to catch up with them since our joint visit to Lopez Island last summer. We had lunch at Saul’s Deli, at great NY style deli. I had a wonderful Ruben sandwich. Other delicacies at our table included bagels and lox, turkey pot pie, potato latkes, corned beef hash and eggs, and a Mediterranean Mezze plate!

After lunch we went to the rose garden in the nearby Berkeley hills and proceeded to walk/hike up the steps, trails, and roads to vistas above Berkeley.  On the way we saw vistas of San Francisco Bay, met an artist in front of his house where he was looking at a couple of new paintings in the sunshine, talked to a local man about the new mansion a Twitter executive is about to put in the midst of the neighborhood, and worked our butts off climbing said hills.

The late afternoon was a time for conversation and napping. Then Jean and I headed back over the Richmond Bridge to Sonoma county. If the weather looks okay for photography tomorrow we will go to Bodega Bay. If not, we will visit wineries. Either way we can’t lose!

I think I forgot to mention that yesterday we passed 7,000 miles on the trip meter this winter. That means another oil change if I can find a Jiffy Lube in the next two days.