A Grand Tour kind of trip

Laurie had a forestry conference in San Luis Obispo and I had a chance to tag along. We planned to take the train down for a slow relaxing journey. It got complicated with all day talks on Saturday and need to be back for Sunday morning cancer group. We decided driving would be best.

Things started accumulating. First, a pickup of 50 pounds of Urea for Peig. I still don't know why but assume one of her many art projects. No problem and we changed our route to include delivery in Stockton. Next Elle found the perfect bike upgrade for littler son who is outgrowing his first pedal ride. She beat a horde with similar needs and we added a stop in Saratoga for pickup and hauling the rest of the trip.

Two stops down we visited my mom to exchange late xmas gifts, work on her computer and sort out how to help her in contact with our scattered family. That didn't go well and made for a frustrating experience before hitting the road for our destination. We got in after dark just in time for the famous Thursday farmers market.

Laurie opted to skip her Friday field trip so we visited two of many coffee shops, watched butterflies at the mission, and got yarn she has wanted since last fall. We drove to a Monarch garden enjoying the warm afternoon, funny docent talk, took digicam photos and watched a mating pair climb Laurie to get airborne. Lots of fun and a perfect way to finish “Chasing Monarchs” by Robert Pyle. Now I have to write up what I've learned about climate change and other issues for the threatened migration of this iconic species. Warm winter temperatures in the high 70s reminded us while we enjoyed them. A Greek dinner and quiet evening rounded out the full day.

Saturday had us up early for a shuttle to the Cal Poly meeting. I walked back for a good free breakfast, loaded the car and checked us out. A three mile walk across town found a popular coffee shop. I had the day to explore before picking up Laurie. I walked 12 miles and drove out to Morro Bay where everyone else was already enjoying fine weather. On the way back I stopped at Toro regional park to check out the botanical garden. Back with time to rest in the parking lot before picking up Laurie for our 4 hour drive home. We had a picnic in the car and ran into heavy fog for much of the drive but who could be bothered by such minor details.

A very full and fun trip indeed. Next time we’ll likely take the train and mix biking, walking and exploring but this was a most efficient and colorful trip.

Largest known Monarch overwintering site in California

Looks promising

Sunning Monarchs

Close-up view spotting scope view

Mating pair found Laurie to get off the ground

Maybe an idea for some new earrings?

Day 1 Train to Portland

Quiet night on the train after an hour late start. We got good seats in the front of a car near the back of the train. That means extra legroom and less foot traffic at night after dining and snack cars close. In the morning we were awake before the sun came over the Cascades and saw a little snow on the north slope of Mt. Shasta. It's dry every where in the middle of what has become a year round fire season. It's hazy in the distance near the town of Weed as one would expect with a name like that.

Farther north I can recognize the Klamath valley by the large green irrigated fields, wrecked vehicles and trailers. Nice to enjoy a little LTE cell phone coverage while passengers pile out for the "fresh air" break. The next one won't come until Eugene on the other side of the mountains in the Willamette valley. The air was way too smokey to be considered fresh though, especially around the small community of Oakridge we passed through.

Train time gives one time to relax and think. If I was hanging on to a steering wheel there would be little time to look around. From high over head in a plane the view below would be limited to cloud cover, smoke, and specks on the ground. No way then to get a feel for the terrain and things altering the landscape mostly in view at all times.

Right now I'm thinking about a wolf named OR-7 or "Journey" who made history by trekking into California several years back for a return that was nearly 100 years in the making. We are passing through the same part of Oregon where that wolf spent a lot of time. Wandering in and out of California while logging thousands of miles in search of a mate, this wolf got international attention while hardly ever being seen or detected and yet doing what wolves do. Back in Oregon last year another surprise happened in the general area we are now. A mystery wolf turned up and they produced at least 3 young pups and started a pack that could repopulate California too. Those of us who worked on wolf conservation and management saw this coming but not so fast. Nature is full of surprises. The mystery wolf wasn't known in Oregon where wolves in the few established packs are tracked by radio collars. She may have fled the heavy hunting pressure in nearby Idaho where there is a very different approach to wildlife conservation.

We were soon beyond the large range of mountains that separates Oregon from California in many ways. We next got a close look at the agriculture and range lands that are the heart of the Willamette valley and Oregon. As we stopped for fresh air in Eugene I remembered getting off here with bikes and baby Lennon a few years back on a 600 mile fall ride through the same valley up to Portland to visit Rowan & Katie and then over to Astoria and down the coast to Florence before heading back inland to Eugene. What a trip that was and eye-opening how families with young children could travel and camp by bike. Elle and family have since raised that bar significantly.

Right now we are traveling a very familiar path at the beginning of this trip. Hey, what happened?

"Tunnel!"One always shouts that when it suddenly goes dark on a train. Try that on a plane sometime. It can work in a car but only when you are traveling with friends. Otherwise the drivers around you may swerve unsafely.

Where was I? Oh yes this part of the trip is familiar and so are our thoughts. As we continue on there will be a lot more questions and quickly scribbled bits of information.

We arrived just in time for Rowan to pick us up after their farmers market ended. Back on the farm, baby Ella has grown and changed some since our last visit a month and a half ago and we could see many new projects and additions elsewhere too. Playing with Ella while we help with chores came back naturally and we were soon enjoying a dinner of tamales and farm salad with everyone. Of course tomorrow starts early with tasks to do for all so it quiets down quickly afterwards. We are on a farm you know.

A "new"60+ year old dozer to grade around the barn for a new grant and lots more

Day 0 Grand Tour

        We are starting the trip a day early now to squeeze in a little more time with Rowan and family on the farm outside of Portland. Rumor has it that I'll be asked to dust off my chicken whisperer skills and help with the final processing of the flock of over 50 young "meat" birds I took care of on our recent visit in early August. I'm looking forward to more time with baby Ella and wandering about the farm again.

We started the last day before leaving at a local coffee shop to go over final lists and finish our tasks by bike before it got too hot. Not sure that worked but we did get everything done by early afternoon in two trips. That left mainly final packing and house chores. We are using different luggage and packing techniques for this trip and spent extra time going over, ok fiddling, with everything before we finally zipped the bags up and went back to generating more emails. If nothing else we seem to have captured that elusive "Rick Steves" look that is so popular now.

The final rush before declaring the trip on saw us in front of our computers pumping out emails to those we work with. I had general plan update deadlines, ongoing parkway fire problems and other issues, duck pond fish kill drama and more to pass along. The idea is that these and our other many important activities will stay behind in the capable hands of others while we explore and learn more about the bigger world around us and hopefully bring some fresh ideas and solutions home afterwards. Right now we'll probably settle for the break and sometimes restful distraction that comes with our travels.

Our friends Russ and Martha kindly offered to give us a late night lift to the station so we've started this multimodal public transportation adventure in an EV. That fits well with our intent. We're hanging out in the station which is still under renovation to restore historic features and become a more complete multimodal facility. Our midnight train is running about 45 minutes late so it will actually be tomorrow when we actually board for this next adventure. Maybe this counts as day 0 and 1 then?

Check out those clean color coordinated bags & we'll see how they hold up to baggage handlers.