To the Desert and Back!

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franken60

franken60

10 Year
Joined
Sep 20, 2014
Threads
108
Messages
1,242
Location
Victoria BC
Back on the island and it feels so good! mostly because its safe up here, safe from the crackheads.
So we finally were able to get tickets to the Desert Trip Music Festival and I bought car camping...that meant roadtrip.
Day1
Left Tuesday October 11th on the 7pm boat to Tsawassen, made it over the border and down to Olympia to skip Seattle traffic the next morning, end of a road campsite next to the tracks.
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Day 2
Woke up and carried on South. I had made contact with a few different IH8MUD clubhouses through the states to aid in campsites and such, luckily we were greeted in Southern Oregon (Ashland) by one member, @CDmpc . He brought us to an amazing Brewpub for dinner and then escorted us to a beautiful campsite atop Mount Ashland right on the Border overlooking Mt Shasta and northern California! Had a fire and a couple beers before bed.
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Day 3
Woke up and decided to make a solid push for Indio California. Long day starting at 630am. Made it to Huntington beach where we briefly met with a friend before unsuccessfully finding a site on the beach to camp (too many rich folk and gated communities), ended up in Cleveland National Forest with the snakes and cactus for the night, 130am.
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Day 4
Friday morning left bright and early for Indio, nice short 2hr drive. grabbed wristbands and food and waited for @xshaydx so we could convoy in, a wrong camping pass put a stop to that for Shayd unfortunately. Set up camp and the beers started flowing. Friday Shows: Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones. Excellent.
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Day 7
early to rise and pack up before saying our goodbyes to new friends and old. A few jumpstarts along the way...people seem to figure i had cables for some reason....they were right. Fought winds and traffic all the way to LAX where I dropped off my buddy John for his flight back to Vic before heading North along the coast (last minute decision). Santa Monica Pier was awesome, touristy but had to be done. made it almost to Oxnard Cali before the violent vibrations began. Fried a Ujoint. limped to a shop in Ventura for the night. they couldn't figure out how to get it apart since it was "seized". Ummm, generally a torch will fix that bud. Ended up spending the night in the Macy's Mall parking lot surrounded by crackheads starting fights with palm trees. with a beer in hand, watched the show until midnight. Not a good way to start the trip
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Day 8
Waited until 3pm for everything to be wrapped up on the truck before making my way North to Pismo Beach for the night, huge beach, endless dunes and Latino Music as far as the eye could see. Spent the night watching the sunset, then gazing at the stars, more beer was involved of course, and a little something we picked up in Washington Legally.
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Day 9
Slept in a bit (8am), tested the water temp, took some pictures, roamed the dunes and headed North. Today was a fun day, I'd been in contact with a guy in San Francisco who designs and makes hiking/outdoors gear (ALite / Boreas). He found me on Instagram and noticed I was headed through California and invited me for a tour of his shop, of course I agreed and headed straight there. Wound my way through the streets of SF to his quaint studio where he was waiting. I got an in depth tour of everything from where the ideas are born, to where they trial and error products to where they make the final product in house. They showed me a few places to camp as well as worthy detours along the way on google maps. Before I left I was gifted with a new Backpack and Lightweight hiking chair! Absolutely blown away with the generosity, a huge highlight of the trip without a doubt. Thanks Todd!
Drove over the Golden Gate Bridge with a grin from ear to ear and took to highway 1 all the way to Samuel P Taylor Park where I spent the night listening to two jazz fiddles harmonizing a campsite over. Awesome day!
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Day 10
Head up the coast carrying along highway 1 through up the most beautiful road/coastline in the sunny weather. Picked up a joyful old hippie named Wayne along the way who payed in green (not the paper kind) for my troubles and gave me some tips on places to stop along the coast. I then headed deep into the redwoods where I took the scenic Byway "Avenue of the Giants" through some of the most beautiful forest I've ever seen, it was like a hour of Cathedral Grove with less tourists! Camped at the end of Cannibal Island road at a County park this night (not good) where I was circled by dingoes all night (flood lights on!).
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Day 11
Well California, it was a slice but its time for Oregon and some more serious weather. Straight to the dunes I went. Arrived in Reedsport around 3pm giving me ample time to find a site. With the help of some local knowledge and the go ahead to not register and buy a flag I headed for the beach. down a dirt road (first of the trip!) to a state park before hitting the sand. drove some trails in the dunes where I eventually found a beautiful spot in the grassy dunes spitting distance from the surf. With a wet wood fire lit being fed by the warm breeze, The new chair came out and a fresh pack of beer. Spent the night listening to Eric Clapton and the thundering waves.
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Day 12
To Washington we go! up the 101 as per usual. Crossing the Columbia was heart warming, leaving sunny Oregon on route to a visibly wet State was actually awesome. so ready for rain hahaha. Found a campsite at Lake Sylvia and set up shop. Made friends with a 72year old Veteran now drifter who had more stories than one night could handle, stayed up until 1am sharing adventures and experiences drinking craft beer.
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Day 13
Heading home today! left Lake Sylvia before the sun came up and headed for the Coho. Stopped along the way to make some breakfast. tried my hardest to eat the rest of the perishable food that wasn't allowed back into Canada. Made it with an hour to spare and enjoyed a brisk but clear cruise back to the Island.
so good to be home!
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Fan-fawkin-tastic! Good stuff man. Say, Howd the 3b like the Cali diesel (if you can call it that) I limped my dodge into Oregon on vapours before filling up. My truck wasn't a fan.
 
slowandsteady BJ said:
Fan-fawkin-tastic! Good stuff man. Say, Howd the 3b like the Cali diesel (if you can call it that) I limped my dodge into Oregon on vapours before filling up. My truck wasn't a fan.
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#2 diesel! no idea what it is, what its for or how its made but didnt seem to make a lick of difference to be honest. the little 3b ran great the whole trip, musta loved the warm weather and long days of highway use.
 
franken60 said:
#2 diesel! no idea what it is, what its for or how its made but didnt seem to make a lick of difference to be honest. the little 3b ran great the whole trip, musta loved the warm weather and long days of highway use.
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One of the benefits of old IDI diesel technology vs. new common rail DI technology. We can burn darn near anything as long as it's oily. :)
 
burnz said:
i like the day 6 shot of everyone's got beers in both hands!! epic trip is an understatement!
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Double fisting beers 100% of the time!

GTSSportCoupe said:
One of the benefits of old IDI diesel technology vs. new common rail DI technology. We can burn darn near anything as long as it's oily. :)
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Exactly, rattly little things didn't sputter once
 
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