on the road 2011 usa - westcoast - week 3

Hi there ..... I am getting more and more up-to-date ... it;s 16th june as I type this week three update ... being on the road all the time, there is simply to much stuff to be experienced, I lack the time to do digital updates with all these amazing national parks around me ... so you will have to be patient ... although I must say, week 4 is almost done, just like some of the past two weeks .. so ... I should be closing in on myself ... and also ... you dont have to read this stuff ... it's mostly done as a sort of diary for myself, but I know some of you like to read along and hopefully some get inspired and go out there to make me part of their own travelstories ... the world is big and amazing . get out there, stand up and evolve !



17th May

Woke up at the beach at the magical Cape Kiwanda, nottin had happened that night, no cops chasing me away, no locals burning some rubber off their tires either ... so it was great to have the peace of the morning there, the thought of jumping in the sea popped up for a second but very quickly left my head as soon as I remembered the cold from the day before ... no way jose .. Made my way up north, I stopped at a safeway supermarket for some much needed supplies and as I was loading them in I was approached by a guy in a big white van, offcourse he started about the bus .. as they all do .... ha ha .... he asked me what my route was and as he heard of my plans he pulled out a book that contained info about hot springs in the southern part of the usa. Mineral wells that pop up out of the earth, boiling hotpots full of healthy water and more amazingly, most of these were at brilliant locations, free and in the wild so to say ... "Keep it" he said, i carry a spare copy most of the time, so I can give it away .. yes .. lucky me ... That book would maybe lead me to some more amazing spots

As I rolled further along highway 101 I made my way into washington via an amazing bridge



and not long after I found a nice campsite right by the water



so I decided to pull in there because this was Indian Land and there was a lot of police and locals that would not agree with me pulling up at somewhere for the night. And after all I had been having some free nights so the 15 dollar charge was "bearable" again. I made a nice fire, watched the full moon rise on one side and an amazing sunset in the west



and only made it to bed at 04.30 after all the wood had gone and I had listened to loads of music, loud over the headphones, and after Mother Moon had been wished well ... yep, I slept like a baby ...



18th may
Despite the late night I woke up fresh and early, another day awaited ... filled up my water tank with fresh 30 liters of water, ready for more miles .... on my way towards yellowstone I decided to visit the Lewis and Clark centre today, these guys pioneered the trail to the west in a way (after the indians were long there offcourse) but these guys had to confirm stories about raging rivers and places where steam was coming from the ground (yellowstone) and other places that were unimaginable to the ones who had never seen or experienced these sights. I mean, can you think of a canyon 1 mile deep, with stones in all colours of the rainbow, and a whitewater river rushing trough it below ? If so, you probably have seen a discovery channel programme about the grand canyon or the likes ... in these days they only had painters that were taken along the discovery trips, so they could somewhat register what they see, and with their paintings they could take these sights back into the civilised world along to the curious ones waiting at home for news about these new unseen lands .... .. and so off they went, trough canyons, over rivers .. fighting bears and indians and rattlesnakes. It is an amazing story to read and see things about. When they had reached the Pacific Ocean, it meant the end of their journey, they stayed there to wait for spring and to collect salt from the sea for the journey ahead, and as the snow had gone, they went back east with a bag full of stories to be told ....

It was good to witness more stuff about the american history, after all that is partly why I am here .. After this cultural injection (and a Nike outlet store that had the perfect hoodie waiting for me ... again, beautiful baby blue, michael jordan "design" basically meaning nice and baggy, and now they sold it for 20,- instead of the regular 70,- .... in the pocket along with some shirts for 5,- that had the brilliant print: just do it - made in 1972 - you might be able to guess what year I was born .... so I had to take these along ... After the small shopping spree I drove further along the coast and into the Olympic National Park which is big ... very big .. almost covering the entire peninsula on the left side of seattle, the park is unique cause it has a combo of rainforest, dunes, beaches and snow covered mountains, all closely connected.

I made my way to the sea side and found a nice campsite where I could stay for 6,- as I got 50% discount with my annual pass



(or so I thought, cause as I type this I now know that the access pass discount means a discount for disabled persons, who get a socalled access pass .. to me the word access was the same as annual - pass ... as it gave me access to all the parks for a year, so .... it also seemed normal that with a pass you would get a "prefered treatment" over the regular visitors but hey ,.... some smart ranger told me the exact rules when I entered Death Valley and asked him if there were any places that offered the pass discount ... uuuuh what discount you mean ... ha ha .. ok ... gotcha ... but to be honest, I played stupid after that and filled out my access pass number and paying the discounted price, it also looks like they dont check if you have a pass or if you are disabled etc .... so hey ...



Anyway .. so I paid 6,- and the campsite was sorted for that night, I made my way to the beach for a nice hike with amazing pieces of wood ..




I left this one there for others to enjoy .. its one of natures most amazing sculptures I found so far ....



I love the Pacific !!!





19th may

Today it was time to visit the neighbouring village of La Push which was part of another indian reserve as where I had camped, this was on the other side of the river and as I pulled up in the harbour I saw three indian guys who seemed to be kiling time in front of their trailers with some drinks and a beautiful view of the sea. It turned out they had gone fishing earlier that day for the village bbq later that night, we started talking as he wanted to swap his vw beetle for "my" van ... They were cool guys ... telling great stories about the neighbouring village having killed a whale but ending up shooting the poor thing with a 50mm canon instead of using oldskool spears etc to kill it ... the pictures were horrid seemingly, and even the United Nations asked questions about it, as the killing of whales has been forbidden (yeah right .. come on Japanese whale killing bastards ... tackle these guys first UN !!!)

We even played some golf (I stopped after 2 hits after a first hit nottin but air and the second attempt I almost broke the glass of one of the big campers that was parked bekow ... uuh so much for me hitting goldballs .... I needed some more practice I guess .. scotland had been a while.

here is the "airshot - literally hitting nottin but air" ....


here is the camper I almost hit ....



and here are the Indians .. !



The guys burned some cd's with original Indian songs for me to listen to to and get in the mood for some spiritual hike to certain places along the beach that night and next day .. nice ... I promised to use some of it for a tekno remix and send it to them when I get home ...

After that great encounter I did a great hike along the beach and those spiritual places ...



awesome with a blue sky and seagulls soaring ... For the night I decided to drive to Lake Ozette as there was a campsite and possibly soem free spots to be spotted ... The campsite was nice but there was a big group of youngsters that were tooo present, not exactly what I was after ..... so I made my way to a point where boats can be launched into the lake, and from there I found this small road that was a disused logging road, it actually stopped after 500 meters so it was an exciting but perfect looking spot for a good nights sleep ..



it turned out that the frogs from the lake kept me awake for a while, but when I let go of the fact that they were not singing in sync I slept soon after .... breakcore frog lullaby ...



20th may
Walked up to the most northwestern point in the usa today, awesome pacific ocean again .... earlier on, on my way there I did not really like the vibe from the indian village that was located in the corner of the peninsula ... You had to pass trough their area to reach the tip of the peninsula and in a way the village had a troubled feel .... even though there was a huge fishing community, the atmosphere was strange ... as if they were relying on the visitors to pay their access fee but they only liked the money and not the people ... (you needed a pass to go trough the area) so most people go and buy these passes, and buy some more shit along the way in the stores selling these passes .. I decided to play stupid .. I was not gonna stay there anyway .... After spotting some great eagles in the harbour,



which was a treat I went east again ... I decided to start heading for seattle, and when darkness fell I found myself looking for a spot and after leaving some campsites behind that were ok, but not really what I wanted, I saw this great public parking ... really a big field with no one there .... ok .... I 'll take it, for free ... ... and slept great with sweet Indian dreams heeja hoo heeja heee ..






21st may

So today I went back to civilisation, bigtime. As I headed into seattle there was a special feeling coming over me, what a city, very friendly and green .. great atmosphere.



First parked the bus safe in a garage and then put on my walking shoes, I did the tourist thingie by hopping on the monorail and got off at the needle ...



made a ton of pictures and then made my way downtown for more sightseeing, found the library, designed by Rem Koolhaas, it just needed some more open space surrounding it I thought .. but hey ... space ismoney these days ....



had a stroll inside and then did not know what to do anymore, this was downtown, and I felt lost with all these expensive stores, restaurants and cafes. As I walked back to the parking garage I saw a bus that headed for the U-district and that U- was short for University district, and that is where I wanted to go, in the guide books they all write these great things about this part of Seattle but it was too long a walk from downtown so here was the answer .. i hopped on the bus (busses here even have a system that allows you to take your bike along) and the driver was a great guy, he let me off right at the corner of where a street festival was taking place ... with my nose in the butter so to say ... Had a great evening there, found amazing shoes in a second hand shop ... I swear I wasn't looking for any but these were just perfect and waiting for me ... after some great chinese food and some unexpected compliments and ego boost from some woman who were smoking outside a bar (too bad they were smoking .. ha ha ) This time I used the -bus in the garage- as an excuse to take off .. but if turned around ... uuuh "I could pick up my bus tomorrow early in the morning, but that would mean I have nowhere to sleep tonight ?) .. might try that at some point ...

I made my way back to the parking lot as I needed to pick up the bus before midnight ... Then made my way out of town, said goodbye to the skyline and its twinkling lights and not soon after I had left Seattle I pulled off at some business park, drove all the way to the back in the dark and found out the next day that it was a perfect spot that I would not have driven to during daylight, but in the dark, I was sort of guided there ...



it was quiet and served me just right after the busy Seattle dayout ......



22nd may
Finally it was time to head for yellowstone, the long awaited part of the journey was about to begin ... going east .... but later that day I had a change of mind, there was this great Roosevelt Lake area with the Coulee dam that I had seen on the map, and it was not far away .. earlier on I had thought of going there but in the end I decided not to go, I mean I have seen dams before .. and artificial lakes .. but yes, you guess it .. for some reason I ended up taking a detour to go there in the end, .. and boy, it was great, the landscape along the way was amazing, canyons, lakes .. big skies ... yes .. bring it on ...




Checked out the dam and Electric City (now that is a cool name ..) and spotted a national forest area not far from the dam, you can sleep for free in the national forests as long as you are away from official campsites and paved roads, so I went there, into the hills and Indian territory and I had in mind to take a small ferry across the colombia river the next day to take me back on route to yellowstone.



The spot I found that night had an amazing view as you can see and it was a joy to see darkness take over here ....




23rd may

the ferry across the colombia river ...



Almost turned around to drive the long way back, but then the ferry popped up from around the corner of the river



yes .. here it was, and it was exciting to get on that thing ... it was small, and in a way I was glad there was no wind .. On my way out of the lake area I drove trough more (small) canyons and headed east towards Yellowstone. Visited a tourist trap town .. they have big signs up with : amazing mine tours, or historic old town etc ,.. but it is mostly run down stuff ... went to a dusty museum that gave some insights about the mining that had gone on there, it was gold digging country after all, but it was a cheesy exhibition ... or better ... dusty .. justy like the folks working there .. kiling their days there .. literally ...

As night fell I went towards a campsite in a small town that I passed trough, campsite was deserted, but looked ok and quiet, but then I noticed the area behind the campsite looked even better .. right by the river and I found a disused railbridge, and some bushes that were perfect to hide behind as I would probably get some visit from the local sheriff if they would see me camp out there (right behind the campsite) ...




it took some manouvring but it was perfect, woke up once because of the rain and thinking I needed to move the bus as the river could swell and flood the area where I was ... but soon let go of that crazy thought and went back to sleep.










and that was week three .... on to yellowstone ..... via a place called potosi ...

on the road 2011 - usa - westcoast week 2

10th may

This was the day it was all starting for me .... I was gonna hit the road all by myself ... First me and my parents made our way back from Yosemite, which was a nice drive... Dropped mum and dad at the airport in san fransisco, one more emotional goodbye, I guess we've had quite a few this past year. All for the dive into the great unknown, filling up your days with new smells and sights, turning knowledge into wisdom and gathering some new knowledge along the way, it's evolution that counts, instead of running to stand still ... ..

So start all engines, lock your doors, seat belts on, 55 miles is 88km per hour .. no speeding here .. here we go .... First I went to haight ashbury for a cup of tea and some vinyl searching, ended up with a mint copy of U2's lp Boy, with the "altered" sleeve design. A picture of a young boys face was the design for all other countries, but this was not possible in free and brave america kaaaaa ..... so they changed it's photo for the sleeve to a morphed thingie of the faces of the four band members ....



After the record hunting and landing on earth from saying goodbye to my folks, and really realising that it had all begun ... it was time to hit the road, on to sausalito, just outside san fransisco. There I had spotted my first free and comfy parking spot a few days earlier. It is located right next to the first houseboats you see when you come off the highway and enter sausolito after you crossed the golden gate bridge. There is a small cluster of houseboats, or what looks like them in some instances, cause it is really messy looking and if you dont know better, some look as if they could sink any day ... anyway, right next to the last "hippy" colony sort of thingie, there was a small parking area, right by the water. That was gonna be my spot for night one, along with the guy that was sleeping it rough style, a few meters away from me, out of sight for anybody as he was behind some big logs of wood and tucked away underneath some blankets. I guess he had a full tummy as earlier that day I had left him the cans of tuna and some corn that was left from my parents and since I dont eat that stuff, he was a good "candidate"



Did some much needed re-organising of the content of the bus, stuffed all the books away inside the clothing compartments, and i was glad i found some room by the gas and water tanks, so with those out of the way I could easily fold down the bench, to make it into a bed for the night, without having to deal with a full stack of things, now it was a done deal in a matter of a minute. Then it was time to warm up the pasta my mum had left me, and have an early night, I was exhausted ...


11th may

Woke up all fresh and ready to go, it was a blue sky and straight away I made a major change of plans, after all it was day one, and from what I had seen the past copuple of days I was not gonna go on the major highway north, and slightly east towards reno, on the way to lassen national park as "planned" originally. Instead I decided to follow the amazing coast driving on the 1 and 101 north. This pacific northwest coast, you can not imagine what it looks like, especially with the spring colours and the sun that played along. So, highway 1 and 101 it was from then on ... on to redwood national park, and up north .. maybe ...or cut inlands to lassen np ... ?
After a great drive along the magnificent pacific ocean I found this amazing campsite where I had a very nice and huge campfire and peaceful night, even though I had to pay 20 dollars, I got a lot of "inner rest" so to say ...



This place also meant sleeping upstairs on the bed that sleeps like a dream ... unreal for a small camper van like this, the bed is modified with a proper matrass and wow ... the freshness from all outside air coming in trough the ventilation nets that you only have in the canvas that makes up the fold up roofs outsides all around. And the sound of the sea, making me fall asleep in an instant ...

no cops chasing me away, a nice spot for a fire, loads of wood to be scavenged in the forest right next to the campsite ... it was bang on by the sea with a nice beachline to be explored just before the sun was to set, and found a nice chair ... took some running for the pic .... ha ha ,..




no cops chasing me away, a nice spot for a fire, loads of wood to be scavenged in the forest right next to the campsite ... it was bang on by the sea with a nice beachline to be explored just before the sun was to set, and found a nice chair ... took some running for the pic .... ha ha ,..







12th may

today was all about the redwoods and the avenue of the giants, huge trees along the way, so impressive, making you feel like a little tiny thing compared to these monsters that are some 2000 years old. The camping was expensive in the park, as usual ... So I decided to continue a bit inland after the point where highway 1 had connected to highway 101 again, here was the huge jedediah smith forest, that was a national forest, this meant that you can roam around, and find a spot as long as you are not too close to an official camping. Ideal ... went to the ranger station to ask for some tips, and boy did I get some ... I made my way up a dirt road, into the forest and up the hill, decided to leave the first "spots" alone, as they were a bit too close to civilisation and made my way further up untill I found a spot right by the river without any possible room for any neighbours, perfect ... Build a huge fire again, by now I had a full set of clothes for campfires, the smell was too much to wear during the day, but at night ... things changed ... and after that nightly intermezzo this time it was not the sea but the sound of the river that made me fall asleep in an instant after I had once again, occupied the upstairs bed.




13th may

Decided to stay in the forest, it was amazing here. Did some more wood hunting but could not complete the entire route along the mountain, as there was a gap that was too deep and big right in the middle of the road, making it impossible for the bus to clear .. ah well .. it was ok, I had spotted my coming nights spot along the way a little while down the hill,bang on a bend in the road, giving you a clear amazing view of the mountains that embrace the jedediah smith forest.




Build myself a nice kickass campfire and made a nice office with a view ... music maestro please ... although it remains strange to have your headphones on while there is this amazing campfire that is making its own set of noises besides the occasional owl that was going off .... it was another great night after a relaxing day ...






14th may

Today I left the forest behind, time to head north. Along the coast again, small winding roads, going up and down the hills. Made my way to the drive trough tree, a huge sequoia tree with a man made hole so that you can drive your car trough it. Paid 5 bucks entree fee with the guy looking at the car and saying yes uuuh I think he will just fit trough uuuh maybe uuuuuh yes i think so ..... only to find out that the bus was too big to fit underneath the tree... grrrr ... tree still looked amazing though, one of the huge sequoias along the way. When looking for a place to sleep, it turned out that this was gonna be a bit more tricky to find myself a good spot ... as it was an area with only one real road and no ways leading off it, the in a bend where traffic slowed down there was a small parking area next to a closed and deserted coffee shop and from there I spotted this, on the other side, which turned out to be an exciting spot, great ... the ingenious cooking pot grabber did not what it was supposed to do when I was clearing the water from the freshly cooked pasta, 500 gr pasta down the bushes ...





15th may

Did a lot of miles today, finally ... after some days of slowly making my way up, today was a nice change. The coast was mesmerizing along the way. Also as I made my way into Oregon it was a joy to see the landscape fill up with lakes in all shapes, the population was definitely geared up for water. Most cars had the option to pull huge boats, or had big canoes on top, the outdoors was very much alive here. It turned out to be hard to find a spot today, so after some exploring in Newport Beach's harbour without any luck as everywhere they had signs up telling you it was forbidden to sleep there. Then I spotted a police man and decided to simply ask him, he should know ... . He refered me to some logging roads after you get out of town. Ok, that was an option but as I made my way to the outskirts of town I spotted my first Wallmart.



This meant a sleeping place as wallmart allowes rv's to spend the night on their parking lots.. It was not my preferred option, but when I saw I could hide in a quiet corner behind some of the garden stuff they were selling, it was ok.



Sometimes these parking lots are used by the local youth as a hang out and then you dont get any sleep ... But tonight that was no problem .. And next morning I would have a toilet close by ... sometimes wallmart rules.



16th may

Making my way north along the coast was a joy again, the sun was out and it was astonishing to see what water has done with the rocks along the way. Cape Kiwanda had a big parking right by the sea, it also has a big ramp allowing cars to get access to the beach so they can launch their boats into the sea. When I arrived there it was quite clear this was a bit of a magical place.



With on the right hand side a huge rock heading out into sea with at its land-edge a huge sand dune that could be climbed, I thought it was much more interesting to get into the rock that heads out into the water to see how the beach looked from there.






And I was not dissappointed, boy was it beautifull, I actually spend my entire afternoon there, even jumping into the ice cold sea, ha, 2 minutes at the most, longer was impossible as I was literally freezing, my legs were all tingly and I was glad there was a small camping not far from the parking where I could go to catch a warm shower, felt a different being when that was done ! Then made my dinner, let all of my pasta fall straight into the sand when I wanted to get rid of the water after it had cooked .. fuck me, secodn time that happened .. ... did it all over again and was extra carefull, succes .. in the end I could eat right by the sea, about one hour before the sun was to set. Then I spend the rest of the evening in awe as on one side the sun was going down with a fantastic colour pallette spread out over the ocean and the rocky coast. And on the other side the moon was coming up, almost full ... right above the hill ... picture perfect !





Slept like a baby at the parking lot, some locals had told me it was ok, ignore the signs and simply sleep there ... ha ha ok .... ciao4now ....