Report No 2

We left Gisela thursday the 6th of may 2004. So we were ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!
Heading north we followed the freeway no 1 or 101 along the coast. Being happy with the wellgoing we coudn´t imagine what there was waiting for us.

Luca is always sitting in his car seat while we are driving. And he is usually very happy there and he often sleeps. So he was when driving uphill and then the engine lost it's power. Funny feeling: What the heck was that?!? Well, we made it over the hill and everything seemed OK. We enjoyed the nice scenery with the sea to the left and some nice hills to the right. Feeling free is nice!
The weather is nice and the sun is shining. As the Pacific is cold the temperature is around 16° and quite a wind is blowing from the sea.

Even the stong sun couldn't put the color back to our white faces driving up the next hill: we didn't make it!
Our camper lost power again and this time completely!
So there we were standing next to the road in our new home. A quick look under the bonnet made everything clear to us: we needed HELP! 1800 AAA HELP (1800 222 4357)

It took them two and a half hours to come and as we expected: we ran out of petrol! 180 Miles ago, when we picked up the camper (RV) Gabi told us that the petrol is full. The petrol gauge was first showing empty. But Klaus fixed it quickly. In fact the gauge is simply broken and it just shows once a full petrol tank and the next minute an empty one! Our bad luck was that the tank was only a quarter full when we received the vehicle.
Howwever, 3 hours later we were on the road again and the AAA, which we joined 2 days ago, pays $180.

Our first campsite was carpinteria and we could test the stove, the shower, the hot water, the toilet, the microwave and the heater. Everything works perfectly and in the meantime we are qite familiar with saving the resources. At San Simion Alex backed a 'proper' bread in our gas-oven - much nicer than the spongey bread one gets here;-)

Heading north along the beautiful coast we drove the big sur and passed through San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge. Using the very left lane w didnt even have to pay the toll. (Maybe a fine is on its way;-) North of San Francisco the roads became winding and the scenery changed. More forests and in general much greener.

14th of May 2004

Every now and again we have reception with our cell phone. This makes it possible for us to check the email sent to @kitzinger.ch. On the 14th of May we left california and entered oregon. We stayed in the oregon dunes national park where people drive around with their beach buggies and similar vehicles.

Luca loved climbing up and especially down the sand dunes. He is not walking yet so he has outdoor dirty clothes that really get filthy, but he loves it outside.
We feel at home in our camper and have our daily routine. Luca usually sleeps when we drive in morning. we carried on always following the coast, which is always a bit different but always beautiful. We came over a 4 mile bridge to the state of washington. Our next stop was at olympic national park. Unfortunately the campgrounds down south were closed (still winter up here apparently) and we had to drive over another 2 hours till we found a spot by the sea.

We spoiled ourselves to some hot springs in the olympic np, which we all thoroughly enjoyed - especially luca.

At Port Angeles we took the ferry over to Victoria (Vancouver Island). The trip was very nice and the boat was rocking. Didn't see any whales - a pity. Entering Canada wasn't a problem. A few questions, show the passport, give a smile and on we went...

... but the Canadian story is a different story and will be continued in our next report;-)

20th of May, Tofino (Vancouver Island)