On Things Along the Way 24

For photos:  http://willemcoetzee.blogspot.com/2014/07/fotos-28.html

We arrived at our San Francisco destination, 10 minutes from the airport, after a 5 ½ hour trip from Yosemite and were fortunately rewarded with a fine campsite high on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, http://www.sanfranciscorvresort.com/ .  The facilities were top notch and it was really uplifting for Susan to take in the venue prior to turning in for the night. Her flight was in mid morning, so we left shortly after breakfast. Short term parking at the airport was in short supply, notwithstanding a huge maze of a parking garage. After circling around for 10 minutes and following people looking for their cars with no success, Willem and Susan left Fickie and Stella to continue with the effort, while they headed for the United Airlines Terminal. Susan already had her boarding pass printed the previous evening in the RV, so things went smoothly to the security gate, where Willem turned back. It took a bit of searching for the others, who only minutes before have found a parking spot at last and the threesome took off to San Francisco for sightseeing. Our first destination was the Golden Gate Bridge to familiarize ourselves with the route for the next day when we would be hauling the RV through downtown to the same. Mission accomplished and photo opportunity taken, which would not be possible the next morning, we turned to Golden Gate Park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Park  , where we found a convenient parking spot on John F Kennedy Drive and perused the park to the Japanese Tea Garden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Tea_Garden_%28San_Francisco,_California%29 , a worthwhile experience.

Then aiming for lunch at the Fisherman’s Wharf, where lack of parking tripped us up and had us run into the same in China Town. Thinking that Chinese close to camp might be more feasible, that is where we headed and succeeded in Pacifica. We drove around, exploring the scenery https://www.google.com/search?q=pacifica+ca&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=nhmrU5iIJ9jcoAT5mILoCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CD8Q7Ak&biw=1366&bih=622 and returned to camp to prepare for an after rush hour traffic start and very long drive to Mendocino the next day. Meanwhile we learned that Susan had arrived safely in Chicago and was met by Matt at O’Hare Airport.

The trip to Caspar Beach RV Park between Mendocino and Fort Bragg, CA http://www.casparbeachrvpark.com/ was off to an eventful start soon after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, when Willem mistook the GPS direction and had us on a most scenic drive along Bridgeway. So far so good, but getting us back on Route 101 by following Madam GPS was the exciting part. Needless to say, she directed us via the shortest way which was a challenging narrow dwindling affair up and over mountain ridges and shortly after being back on Route 101 we noticed a broad highway entering from where we just came! True to our standard practice, we followed Route 1 along the coast. And consistent with previous experience, it was truly beautiful but a trailer hauling challenge. Our photographers were in awe of the scenery, when not gasping at Willem’s antics behind the wheel. In the end we decided the way to do this thing with a sizable trailer en tow, would have been to zip north inland on Route 101, go west on Route 20 and get to Caspar Campground. Enjoy the rest of the day at this beautiful site and make a daytrip later sans trailer on Route 1 to San Francisco, returning via Route 101, or visa versa.

Nevertheless, there we were in a great place with a full hookup site, albeit rather tight but with extremely jovial though transient neighbors. Some of these were attracted by the claim to fame of the place and the region: abalone. In a way it also played a role in our decision to go there because when scouting out camp sites on the web a couple of years ago, Willem called the private RV park, which seemed more trailer accessible on the web than some State Parks. The fellow at the other end informed him about the abalone season and culture, which reminded him of the regional cultural affair of shrimp baiting in South Carolina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrimp_baiting) . The fact that getting abalone entailed diving to dislodge the molluscs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalone   from rocks sounded in line with what might appeal to Fickie and his scuba diving interest. The guy suggested we contact him 6 months prior to arrival for a camp site. Having shared this education and more acquired from the web with Fickie, it was a sealed deal, which we executed as suggested.

Fickie wasted no time befriending folks at the fish cleaning station in camp, where abalone and all kinds of fish were being processed late on our second day. The bottom line was that abalone taking is a highly protected and regulated, absolutely non-commercial activity. It required a California fishing license at $15 per day and an abalone permit of $25, which allowed taking 3 per day with shell diameter larger than 7 inches. They are harvested off rocks at some 20 ft depth that are reachable by boat or kayak. Given the low water temperature, body suits of 8 mm are needed. To Willem the thing looked feasible for Fickie, seeing the unique opportunity. But it would require another body suit since his is only 3 mm. thick. Fickie’s primary informants were Rick Botto, a physician from Lake Tahoe and his son, Ben and his family. Having thought matters over a bit and learning that an appropriate suit could be rented, it still didn’t address the experience factor, which could influence the successful outcome of the outlay.

We felt that Fickie should suggest to Ben (whose father had since returned home) that we take them out with our boat so Fickie could dive with them and benefit from their experience. However, Ben and his friend were planning to go to a different bay the next day for spear fishing, rater than taking more abalone.  This was a bit disappointing because we wanted to at least taste the stuff and since it cannot be bought, Ben offered to take and gift one for Fickie during their spear fishing outing. Upon their return, Fickie was entertained on going through the process of retrieving and processing the edible aspect of an abalone and Stella got to prepare it for us. Delicious but having satisfied our curiosity, we would not go to similar lengths again to obtain more of it! Stella reciprocated with ‘melk tert’, which was appreciated correspondingly. Such memories are worth taking away from a place together with the goodwill of people we have so often experienced.

Outings to Fort Bragg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bragg,_California where among others, we saw salmon boats come in at the fishing harbor and unloading their day’s work; Mendocino http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendocino,_California  and the Point Cabrillo light house http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Cabrillo_Light which elucidated the triumphs and tragedies of seafarers along the Pacific Coast, were memorable experiences. Some of the latter were related to the opium trade, about which http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_trade  is informative:  In China, recreational use of this drug began in the 15th century, but was limited by its rarity and expense. Opium trade became more regular by the 17th century, when it was mixed with tobacco for smoking, and addiction was first recognized.^{[citation needed]} Opium prohibition in China began in 1729, yet was followed by nearly two centuries of increasing opium use. China had a positive balance sheet in trading with the British, which led to a decrease of the British silver stocks. Therefore, the British tried to encourage Chinese opium use to enhance their balance, and they delivered it from Indian provinces under British control. In India, its cultivation, as well as the manufacture and traffic to China, were subject to the East India Company (EIC), as a strict monopoly of the British government.^[3] There was an extensive and complicated system of EIC agencies involved in the supervision and management of opium production and distribution in India. A massive destruction of opium by an emissary of the Chinese Daoguang Emperor in an attempt to stop opium imports, led to the First Opium War (1839–1842), in which Britain defeated China. After 1860, opium use continued to increase with widespread domestic production in China. By 1905, an estimated 25% of the male population were regular consumers of the drug. Recreational use of opium elsewhere in the world remained rare into late in the 19th century, as indicated by ambivalent reports of opium usage.^[4]

Global regulation of opium began with the stigmatization of Chinese immigrants and opium dens in San Francisco, California, leading rapidly from town ordinances in the 1870s to the formation of the International Opium Commission in 1909. During this period, the portrayal of opium in literature became squalid and violent^{[citation needed]}, British opium trade was largely supplanted by domestic Chinese production, purified morphine and heroin became widely available for injection, and patent medicines containing opiates reached a peak of popularity. Opium was prohibited in many countries during the early 20th century, leading to the modern pattern of opium production as a precursor for illegal recreational drugs or tightly regulated legal prescription drugs. Illicit opium production, now dominated by Afghanistan, was decimated in 2000, when production was banned by the Taliban, but has increased steadily since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and over the course of the war in Afghanistan.^[5][6] Worldwide production in 2006 was 6610 metric tons^[7]—about one-fifth the level of production in 1906. 

This issue and its cousins have a long history and are still with us, politics and all!

And then we left for our last venue in California, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=413. The going was about as challenging as it was getting to Mendocino, but once again, the beauty of the Northern California coast, exquisite! https://www.google.com/search?q=northern+california+coast&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xsOtU76-OMXhoASdkICYAg&ved=0CDEQ7Ak&biw=1366&bih=622

This park, along with Prairie Creek, Del Norte Coast, and the National Park Service's Redwood National Park, are managed cooperatively by the National Park Service and the California Department of Parks and Recreation. These parks make up 45 percent of all the old-growth redwood forest remaining in California. Our RV was tucked in between humongous redwood trees about which some statistics were quoted in On Things Along the Way 23, and a passerby commented on how snugly it fitted; must have required some skill to get it in there. In reality it wasn’t too bad and at least one previous challenging example came to mind. Willem made a run for a Walmart parking lot in Crescent City to get phone and hotspot connections for internet, so as to call Chicago and look ahead at state park campground reservations throughout Oregon and Washington State. These seemed pretty scarce for Oregon, which sent him back to the RV where our Good Sam Campground Directory was, with private campground listings. While Fickie and Stella went hiking, he prepared listings for targeted venues, which we reviewed after dinner and decided to pursue the next morning via our hotspot, back at the Walmart parking lot.

At Jedediah Smith the trees shut out sunlight, assisted by the location low down between the densely wooded mountain ridges. Since we couldn’t run a generator between 8:00 pm and 10 am, we got dinner done, read a little and were in bed even before 9:00 pm. This was encouraged by the really long day on the road. Furthermore, it stayed dark so late that we were rather surprised to find it was past 9 when we ultimately got up! We ran the generator to charge batteries, run computers and prepare meals. After hiking and Fickie and Stella having befriended the kind attendant of the instructive Visitor Center, we returned to Crescent City, where Willem secured a couple of reservations. He was encouraged on the phone by the very helpful lady at Harris Beach State Park in Oregon to check the next morning by 11 in person if a spot for two days might have become available due to a cancellation. Meanwhile Fickie and Stella took care of the shopping list, so it was with considerable anticipation, and touching wood, that we departed redwood country the next morning.

Looking back at the mixed bag, which is California, by and large we enjoyed the State immensely. We met terrific people, some of whom we expect to remain in touch with. It was also a great learning experience. Given the size of the place and its variety, it has in many respects been a trend setter for the US as a whole. In addition, the agricultural importance of California to the US cannot be overstated. It has been said that as California goes, so goes the nation -- unfortunately. As of late, not only does the US mirror California’s woes economically but also politically. Having been super sensitive to the pressures of interest groups, the absurdity of some of their impact translated into political correctness which is so deeply rooted that the rest of America had better not follow suit. Texas discovered it to the ire of some in California and enjoys an enviable economy. A case in point: Having been inescapably exposed to the likes of Nancy Pelosi over the last few years, at first one could chuckle at the sense of humor of the Californian electorate. But a couple of elections later questionability shifted from the elected to the electorate. The punctuation mark lies in the Golden Gate Park, which sports a Nancy Pelosi Drive. The pendulum effect might work for California but it is going to require some lubrication, adjusting, introspecting and rethinking counterproductive trends that have been cultivated for a generation at least. Heeding lessons from the past might not be a bad idea. There have been fine precedents in the State. The information age and the internet could perhaps facilitate such in less than a generation with an informed, changing electorate. Let’s hope.

When irresponsible financial conduct of corporations and households exhaust resources the result is bankruptcy. On the other hand governments never run out of resources. Unlike individuals, government can simply let the currency depreciate through printing, also borrow and raise revenue by taxing its subjects – increasingly and justify it in terms of the political fad du jour, as menued by their loudest disciple interest group. Hence, states and nations don’t go bankrupt, their governments simply impoverish the citizens. That’s when one hears ‘Texas, here we come!’ in California.