Vacation Wrap Up
Well I hate to say it, but as good as I felt last Sunday...I probably feel as bad today, because its all over!
The trip went fairly well overall, although the weather was downright crappy. I got there on Tuesday with a huge storm looming, and the ocean was downright ferocious. Massive waves were battering the campground, which was right on the beach, though fortunately set back enough to where we weren't in any danger. I had to spend that night in my parents' RV because the owner of the grounds didn't recommend putting up a tent at all due to the weather. That would kind of be a reoccuring theme throughout the trip in fact.
Wednesday morning there were scattered showers which gave way to beautiful sunshine. I decided to head into the town of Fort Bragg to check it out and walk around a bit. Along the way, I got some fantastic photos of the still churned up sea. The normally calm entrance to the harbor was churned up with swells and spray. I walked around downtown, and even checked out the library's free wi-fi system with my laptop. Because the weather was so nice, I decided to set up my tent at my campsite.
Thursday was when things started to head south a bit. There were showers off and on Wednesday night, but nothing major. Thursday itself was mostly cloudy with some showers, but the rest of my family plus their two friends that went decided to go out to the town of Mendocino. I also wanted to check out a state park that had redwoods, but the ranger at the gate was such a bitch about my family having a dog, that we decided just to go elsewhere. Mendocino is of course a lovely town; however I was pretty agitated near the end because my tolerance for walking around and looking at shops wore very thin. I did at least get the new Stephen Colbert book out it all.
That night was when a near disaster happened. There were torrential showers that night, and my tent couldn't hold up to that much rain; so it started leaking. At about 4:30 am I finally had to abandon ship and get as much of my clothing and stuff out there as possible. A lot of it did get wet though. Fortunately I still had a dry change of clothes for the next day.
Friday I was pretty bummed about it all. While the rain had stopped by noon, and eventually gave way to sunny, bright weather, I couldn't go back to my tent because there were still puddles inside. Another night in their stupid RV (and why the hell didn't they turn on the heat that night! Gah...). I did at least take one more trip into town. Honestly, for me, the camping trip was essentially over then anyway.
The drive back yesterday was stunning though. I decided to go down the coast a little ways further and then down through the Navarro Redwoods area, and the Anderson Valley. I hadn't been that way in well over a decade. I stopped off at a casino near Santa Rosa on the way back. River Rock I believe was the name...I had seen the advertisements from the freeway many times, but had never been. It was worth the side trip...I spent over an hour in there, including grabbing some lunch, and really only lost a minimal amount of money (and had I stayed longer, I convinced I could have come out ahead; but I was really tired and still had an hour and a half drive ahead of me).
All in all a good trip...but damn, look what I have to look forward to tomorrow. Nothing. I did learn that the job I was so hopeful about several weeks back ended up turning me down. Dammit. I kind of figured since I told them I would be out of town this week, that they'd probably call me this week and just leave a message. Seems kind of lame to me. Back to the drawing board...
The trip went fairly well overall, although the weather was downright crappy. I got there on Tuesday with a huge storm looming, and the ocean was downright ferocious. Massive waves were battering the campground, which was right on the beach, though fortunately set back enough to where we weren't in any danger. I had to spend that night in my parents' RV because the owner of the grounds didn't recommend putting up a tent at all due to the weather. That would kind of be a reoccuring theme throughout the trip in fact.
Wednesday morning there were scattered showers which gave way to beautiful sunshine. I decided to head into the town of Fort Bragg to check it out and walk around a bit. Along the way, I got some fantastic photos of the still churned up sea. The normally calm entrance to the harbor was churned up with swells and spray. I walked around downtown, and even checked out the library's free wi-fi system with my laptop. Because the weather was so nice, I decided to set up my tent at my campsite.
Thursday was when things started to head south a bit. There were showers off and on Wednesday night, but nothing major. Thursday itself was mostly cloudy with some showers, but the rest of my family plus their two friends that went decided to go out to the town of Mendocino. I also wanted to check out a state park that had redwoods, but the ranger at the gate was such a bitch about my family having a dog, that we decided just to go elsewhere. Mendocino is of course a lovely town; however I was pretty agitated near the end because my tolerance for walking around and looking at shops wore very thin. I did at least get the new Stephen Colbert book out it all.
That night was when a near disaster happened. There were torrential showers that night, and my tent couldn't hold up to that much rain; so it started leaking. At about 4:30 am I finally had to abandon ship and get as much of my clothing and stuff out there as possible. A lot of it did get wet though. Fortunately I still had a dry change of clothes for the next day.
Friday I was pretty bummed about it all. While the rain had stopped by noon, and eventually gave way to sunny, bright weather, I couldn't go back to my tent because there were still puddles inside. Another night in their stupid RV (and why the hell didn't they turn on the heat that night! Gah...). I did at least take one more trip into town. Honestly, for me, the camping trip was essentially over then anyway.
The drive back yesterday was stunning though. I decided to go down the coast a little ways further and then down through the Navarro Redwoods area, and the Anderson Valley. I hadn't been that way in well over a decade. I stopped off at a casino near Santa Rosa on the way back. River Rock I believe was the name...I had seen the advertisements from the freeway many times, but had never been. It was worth the side trip...I spent over an hour in there, including grabbing some lunch, and really only lost a minimal amount of money (and had I stayed longer, I convinced I could have come out ahead; but I was really tired and still had an hour and a half drive ahead of me).
All in all a good trip...but damn, look what I have to look forward to tomorrow. Nothing. I did learn that the job I was so hopeful about several weeks back ended up turning me down. Dammit. I kind of figured since I told them I would be out of town this week, that they'd probably call me this week and just leave a message. Seems kind of lame to me. Back to the drawing board...
posted by I.M. Weasel @ 8:50 AM
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