Travel from Meyers Flat to Crescent City, California

We drove our coach 140 miles, about three hours of driving, from Meyers Flat, California to Crescent City, California.

Here’s the map route, heading north:

Route

An interactive map, with potential and actual stops:

Ready to depart:

Ready to depart

Not the most successful departure, though; it was a rather tight corner getting out of the site, between a couple of signs, so we had to disconnect the truck so we could back up and try again:

A tight corner

Toading up

Another sharp corner at the exit:

Another sharp corner

Outside the RV park was a rather sketchy road:

Sketchy road

Sketchy road

7% downgrade:

7% downgrade

Eel River:

Eel River

Bridge:

Bridge

For the first time ever, we stopped at a casino for lunch. We parked behind another coach in the parking lot of Bear River Casino in Loleta, California:

Parked at Bear River Casino

Bear River Casino

Bear River Casino

Menu

Restaurant

Food

Back on the road:

Bear River Casino

Interesting murals in Eureka:

Mural

Mural

Mural

A rest area stop:

Rest area

Inside the coach with slides in:

Inside the coach with slides in

Low clouds:

Low clouds

Entering Redwood National and State Parks:

Entering Redwood National and State Parks

Damaged building:

Damaged building

Klamath River bridge:

Klamath River bridge

Roadworks with a temporary bridge:

Roadworks

Roadworks

Trees of Mystery:

Trees of Mystery

Ocean:

Ocean

More one-way roadworks:

Roadworks

Roadworks

Redwoods:

Redwoods

Redwoods

We tried a Pacific Pride fuel station, to see if it’d work, but it didn’t (which was fine, we didn’t need it, just wanted to try it, since our Open Roads fuel card is the same network, but Pacific Pride is more picky):

Pacific Pride

Arriving at our destination:

Destination

Destination

Destination

Fresh tank flush

Every six months we sanitize the pipes and fresh water tank in our coach using diluted bleach.

As part of that process, we run the water though the taps, down the drains, then flush them out with fresh water.

But to get the last of the bleachy water out of the fresh tank, I open the fresh tank drain. But I don’t want to just dump that water on the ground, so I rigged up a temporary pipe and quick-connect to hook up to the sewer pipe via the hose sewer rinse cap:

Fresh tank drain

Fresh tank drain

Plumbing

Giant Redwoods RV & Cabin Destination

We stayed at Giant Redwoods RV & Cabin Destination in Myers Flat, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Camping next to a river amongst the big redwoods.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-05-07
  • Check out: 2023-05-10
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Cloudy and drizzle
  • High temps ranging between 56-63°F, lows around 39-42°F
  • A little wind in the shelter of redwood trees

Noise:

  • No freeway noise
  • No road noise
  • No train noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

  • #35, pull-through, grass
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
  • Level
  • Large site: about 80 feet long by about 45 feet wide
  • Fire pit & picnic table on grass
  • Tall trees

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 20 PSI water, conveniently located
  • No sewer

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Campground Wi-Fi: 7 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up 55 ms ping
  • AT&T: 40-48 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 28 ms ping
  • Verizon: 48-56 Mbps down, 2-9 Mbps up, 36-55 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 41 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 50 ms ping, unreliable
  • Starlink: 10 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 70 ms ping, obstructed and unreliable

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Beautiful along the river

Do not let the sketchy road to the park deter you; this is an idyllic campground amongst trees and along the river. We had a “big rig” site with power & water only. Even though we were on a grassy surface, our site was wonderfully level. None of our cell carriers worked particularly well, and Starlink was a no-go under the trees, but the campground Wifi was decent enough to work during our stay.

I put “big rig” in quotes because, although our site was plenty long and wide, it was a tricky corner to get out of when we left, requiring a lot of finesse to dodge the trees and signposts on either side of the road. We camped at Giant Redwoods RV & Cabin Destination in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Avenue of the Giants is a must-do. One of the best trails to see huge trees is just across the road from the Humboldt State Park Visitor Center. Don’t bother with the coffee shop in Myers Flat; I’m not bitter, their coffee is.

Interactive map:

Things to do booklet and campground map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Paladin watching a family of quail outside our door:

Paladin watching quail

Quail

Entrance:

Entrance

Entrance

A cute little garden between the entrance and office:

Garden

Garden

Office:

Office

Office

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Cabins:

Cabins

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Dump station:

Dump station

Dog park:

Dog park

Path to the river:

Path to river

A wide area of riverstones:

River and stones

South Fork Eel River:

River

River

River

River

River

River

River

River

We had fun “collecting” interesting rocks — just taking pictures (“take only photographs, leave only footprints”):

Interesting rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Travel from Petaluma to Meyers Flat, California

We drove our coach 181 miles, about three hours of driving, from Petaluma, California to Meyers Flat, California.

Here’s the map route, heading northwest:

Route

An interactive map, with potential and actual stops:

Ready to depart:

Ready to depart

Motorcycles:

Motorcycles

Vines:

Vines

Vines

Vines

Bridge:

Bridge

Lunch stop:

Lunch stop

Lunch stop

Menu

Breakfast for lunch

Rough road — hey California, concrete isn’t a good road surface:

Rough road

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Listening to a Seattle Mariners game via the MLB app:

Listening to Mariners game

Cows:

Cows

Rest area stop:

Rest area stop

Rough road, no kidding:

Rough road

7% grade:

7% grade

Warning sign of tight curves:

Warning sign

Yep, a sharp curve:

Sharp curve

River:

River

Redwoods:

Redwoods

River

Redwoods

Narrow detour:

Detour

Detour

One-Log House:

One-Log House

Road Narrows, yay:

Road Narrows

Very close redwoods:

Redwoods

Redwoods

Legend of Bigfoot:

Legend of BigFoot

Bridge:

Bridge

More roadworks:

Roadworks

River:

River

Our destination:

Our destination

Our destination

Our destination

San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA

We stayed at San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA in Petaluma, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another nice RV park in another wine country.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-04-30
  • Check out: 2023-05-07
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Cloudy and drizzle
  • High temps ranging between 58-64°F, lows around 43-47°F
  • Negligible wind in the shelter of redwood trees, apparently up to 25 MPH gusts nearby

Noise:

  • No freeway noise
  • No road noise
  • Distant train noise, rarely heard
  • Occasional neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

  • #17, back in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
  • Very unlevel; used blocks on front jacks
  • Medium site: about 40 feet long by about 40 feet wide
  • Swing seat, table & chairs, fire pit on nice concrete patio
  • Tall trees; shrubs and hedges between sites

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 55 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Loose sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 5-14 Mbps up, 45-140 ms ping
  • AT&T: 11 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • Verizon: 16 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Swimming pool
  • Petting zoo

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A bit expensive, but pleasant enough after the initial hurdles

We stayed for a week in a deluxe patio back-in site in the redwood grove. The beginning of our stay was not auspicious: firstly, my husband went to check us in but didn’t have his wallet, and they demanded ID, so I had to go in with my full wallet because they not only wanted ID but to also actually physically see the “card on file” and made me swipe it instead of just charging it from the computer.

Secondly, unlike most KOAs, we did not have an escort to show us to our site…which was occupied by a long-term resident. So we had to drive our rig back around to the office to get that sorted out. They were due to leave the following day, but we got the (almost) as good site next to it. So even though I’d paid the site lock fee (like a chump), I didn’t get the site I’d selected (and did not get a refund).

The site was unlevel front-to-back and was just big enough for our 40-foot motorhome. Any longer and we would have either 1) hit the berm behind the site or 2) had our nose out in the street.

However, once we settled in, we enjoyed our stay here. The large family groups were in another part of the park, and the redwood grove area was nice and quiet. We also enjoyed the hedges between the back-in sites, which provided some privacy on the lovely patio. We camped at San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa is fun for Peanuts fans. Lots of fantastic wineries in the area. If you enjoy bubbly, definitely check out Iron Horse. Head to Muir Woods for a beautiful walk and take the scenic route along Hwy 1 back to camp.

Interactive map:

The RV park map; it says our site was #16, which was the one we had chosen (and paid the site lock fee to reserve), but when we pulled up to the site, it was occupied. So we went back to the office, and they reassigned us to the site next to it, #17:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

A nice fairly private patio, with shrubs and a hedge providing screening, and attractive stamped concrete:

Patio

Patio

Bear and fish stamps:

Bear and fish stamps

Our site

Not much clearance:

Not much clearance

Utilities; I used a water-weighted bag to secure the sewer, since it was unthreaded:

Utilities

This is site #16, which we were supposed to have, next to where we ended up; a bigger site, being on an angle, but otherwise much the same:

Next site

A free range peahen:

Peahen

Peahen

Peahen

Other sites:

Other sites

Most of the sites seem rather unlevel:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Entrance gate:

Entrance gate

Office:

Office

Office

Office

Petting farm:

Petting farm

Goats:

Goats

Goats

Goats

Goats

Goats

Goats

Jenn petting goats

Games:

Games

Deflated jump pad:

Deflated jump pad

Picnic area:

Picnic area

Picnic area

Chicken run:

Chicken run

Chickens and peacock:

Chickens and peacock

Chickens

Rooster and peacock:

Rooster and peacock

Chickens

Rooster

Chickens and peacock

Donkeys:

Donkeys

Donkeys

Dogrun:

Dogrun

Games:

Games

Feral cat:

Feral cat

Cabins:

Cabins

Cabins

Cabins

Cabins

Cabins

Covered seating:

Covered seating

Covered seating

Playground:

Playground

Travel from Paso Robles to Petaluma, California

We drove our coach 244 miles, about four hours of driving, from Paso Robles, California to Petaluma, California.

Here’s the map route, heading northwest:

Route

An interactive map, with potential and actual stops:

A steep hill in the RV park on the way out:

Steep hill leaving RV park

Joining US-101 for our trip up the coast (somewhat inland at this stage):

US-101

Listening to a Mariners baseball game, streaming from the MLB app:

Listening to Mariners baseball game

Pump jacks; when did we get back to Texas?

Pump jacks

Vineyards:

Vineyards

Roadside artwork:

Roadside artwork

A lunch stop at Wildhorse Cafe in King City:

Restaurant

Restaurant

Menu

Menu

Coffee

Breakfast for lunch

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Paladin on the steps, with my feet up:

Paladin on the steps

Historic El Camino Real bell markers:

Historic El Camino Real bell markers

Roadside artwork:

Roadside artwork

Bright pink flowers:

Bright pink flowers

Roadside artwork

Roadside artwork

A bald eagle:

Bald eagle

Historic El Camino Real bell markers

Paladin looking a little freaked out:

Paladin

A fuel stop at SC Fuels in Gilroy:

Fuel stop

Fuel stop

It’s a cardlock fuel station, but works with our Open Roads discount fuel card:

Cardlock fuel stop

Fuel stop

A snack (fun fact: the Pringles can sticks magnetically to the MacBook Pro in that spot):

Snack

Oakland Coliseum:

Oakland Collseum

Oakland:

Oakland

Flowers:

Flowers

Toll booths:

Toll booths

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge:

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

Green hills:

Green hills

Drawbridge:

Drawbridge

Our destination, a KOA:

KOA

Following our coach to our site (with some adventures with that; stay tuned!):

Following coach to our site

A bubble level helps us check when leveling our coach

Our coach has built-in hydraulic and air leveling systems, with a display that shows the level:

Leveling control panel

Leveling control panel

We pretty much always use hydraulic leveling, as it is more stable. In theory we just use Auto mode and it works… but sometimes on a rather unlevel site we have to switch to Manual to convince it to actually be level:

Leveling control panel

A useful addition to help check how level it is is a bubble level that shows two dimensions at once:

Bubble level

Bubble level

Bubble level

We put it on the floor to help see how level the coach is, and guide adjustments to get it level.