Trip Odometer: 5,194
Monday Feb 27 – Sat Mar 4: We departed our housesitting gig but couldn’t find anywhere within a day’s drive to camp without rain, snow, and/or 30-degree temps, so we booked a cozy AirBnB in Diamond Springs, just a few miles up the road. The first two days there were cold, with precipitation alternating between rain and snow. Later in the week we finally got some sunny days with a few nice walks on nearby trails. But by Friday we were back in the rain again. Our Airbnb came with a nice backyard and a Traeger smoker … Matthew tried it out and made a couple of DELICIOUS dinners!
A nice little place to stretch out and dodge the weather for a week. 
You gotta have a glass fire thing. 
And a Koi pond helps. 
We had a sunny day and took a hike at Sutton Mill in Coloma CA. 
Apparently where the California Gold Rush started. 
A fun watering hole in Placerville. 
The mural shows a dog that must have been shot out of a cannon.
All of this weather has revealed a slow leak in the camper roof (!!!) – looks like it is getting in where the roof panels butt together. It is too cold and wet to do much about it at this point, but we are keeping an eye on it.
Saturday, March 5: We headed out of Diamond Springs for Ashland, Oregon. Yet another drive where there was a winter storm warning for a mountain pass we needed to cross. In this case, Mt Shasta pass. The warnings were so dire in the morning that we decided to trade the straight-shot four-hour drive through the pass for an eight-hour drive along the coast that would skip the mountains and the storms.
Our route was Folsom, Sacremento, Woodland, then Hwy 16 through Esparto, Capay, Brooks, and Rumsey Canyon.
“Wow” for Rumsey Canyon. We don’t have a photo to do it justice. Is was just miles of windy road with these steep green hills and fast running streams. We’ve made a note to come back here and camp when we can.
Then we picked up Hwy 20 and drove along the shores of Clear Lake to reach Hwy 101, which we would then take north for the long drive to Ashland. At this point we called our Ashland host – she said the weather was blue skies! She had hung her laundry outside to dry! We had a choice to make – continue another five-plus hours on our current route, or backtrack for the shorter route and risk the mountain pass. Even with the backtrack, we would get there sooner, so we made the u-turn!
Back we went through Lucern and Clear Lake, then on 20 East to Williams, which was very beautiful with all the almond trees in bloom. Then onto good old I5 through Redding, Shasta Lake, Mt Shasta (by the time we got here the weather alert had been removed – the drive was fine), Yreka (capital of the State of Jefferson), Mt Siskiyou, and then Ashland!
We had a lovely evening with our friend, Alaskan-turned-Ashlander, the amazing Sandy Burd.
March 6: We had made the long drive to Ashland so that our last leg to Bend, Oregon would be a relatively short one. And, amazingly, there were no winter storm warnings when we set out this morning! We took what looked like a scenic route called Dead Indian Memorial Road.
It turned out that the road put us back up in the 4000 ft altitude! We saw very few cars, and these only at the start of our trip. The further we got down the road, the higher the snow, the narrower the road. And then there were intermittent blizzards.
But we made it through, spurred off the road to Keno, then Hwy 66 to Klamath Falls and Hwy 97 to Bend.
In Bend, we met the folks we would be pet sitting for, as well as Mollie and Lizzie, the doggos. We settled in for a nice dinner together. Claus and Annette left at 3:00 am the next morning, and we had a fabulous week in their beautiful home, hanging out with Lizzie and Molly, exploring Bend, and staying out of bad weather!
Lizzie and Molly = sisters! 
They share everything, 
even the stick. 
The living room view at our house sitting gig — Sisters Mountains! 
Oh, and it continued to snow while we were there. 
But that doesn’t ruin the fun in Bend too much. 
Ducking out of the weather in a McMennamins Pub. 
Signs are everywhere of past fires. 
A kayak sculpture by the river downtown.
We also had the good fortune to spend time with dear friend Natalie – one of Kayla’s first and enduring Sitka friendships. Natalie and her family now live in Bend, so we could meet up for walks, dinner, river sauna, a quick trip to Sisters, and even a bowling birthday party for Nat’s daughter!
Bend is just under 4000 ft above sea level, and we’re here to testify: altitude is no joke. Though we spent a week there, neither of us ever felt like we acclimated to the altitude. We would get out of breath just doing simple things.
And all that changed on March 16! We pointed the Bettie Mobile downhill and headed towards Portland! And that’s a post for another time.
Hey you three, now I am counting the Betty-mobile, well done. Sounds like you are heading north to Alaska. April 1st no joke, is the library’s 100 anniverary, lots to do.
Not much to report. Doing Ok, the ice is still on the trails but the rain is back to help wash it away.
It is a treat to see your photos and hear/read? what you have been doing. Off to Hazel land on Sunday!! Keep on keeping on. Aloha, Jeff B
love it , so interesting.
Nice story and photos! Good luck in the pursuit of dry and warm weather.
You guys really have the travelogue thing down. Are you going to become influencers? How many followers do you have? Easy money.
Love your adventures. Like the traveling sauna and doggies, of course. Miss you. Snow has finally gone and I can see there is spring in the yard popping up it’s head. Love ya
The snow never ends. Keep chasing the warmth. You may yet find it.
I was just thinking about our time in SD, really enjoyed it