Exterior – Riveted

Behm Canal | Walker Cove to Fitzgibbon Cove

Laura Domela — Mon, 30 May 2016 12:14:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

Reflected landscape at Walker Cove:

Also, those are bears eating grass, just below the AK flag on the bow:

We left Walker Cove yesterday morning just after 9am (and after getting 5 more Dungeness in the traps). It rained ALL night the night before. By morning the rain had mostly stopped but it was back to being extremely misty here in Misty Fjords. Foggy, even. The group of 6 boats traveling together (from the Roche Harbor Yacht Club) was also heading out this morning, and two of them were ahead of us as the rest of them untied their stern lines and peeled off from the very organized cluster. We were about half way out of the canal when we heard them on the radio….long story short, it sounded like as one of the boats was lifting their dinghy up onto their upper deck with their crane, the main crane cable snapped and the dinghy crashed down (the side of their boat?) and ended up floating upside down next to their boat. They said everyone was okay and it sounded like they were working to get the dinghy turned over. Eeeeek! How scary would that be? The crane’s main cable! Another vote for the stern davit!

The cruise up to Fitzgibbon Cove was just gray and rainy and not all that scenic. The wind was around 15kts behind us, and the current was with us so we were going a knot or two faster at our normal cruise rpm, but going the other way would have been a bit more uncomfortable. View from our anchorage:

We anchored in about 50 feet here in Fitzgibbon, and Kevin put out the crab traps (there’s supposed to be great crabbing in here) while I picked the crab we had already cooked. Pretty soon (like, maybe today) we’ll start freezing some crab to use for less crabful times. I’d imagine the crab frozen in milk would be just about perfect for my newly found crab bisque recipe.

Pulling traps this morning got us 6 keepers!

There are supposed to be tons of grizzlies here in the sedge grass meadow at the head of the bay…we saw one lone (large) male from pretty far away, but that’s it.

The wind died down overnight, luckily. This cove might be more protected in other conditions, but certainly not these conditions.

Here’s today’s map from Walker Cove to Fitzgibbon Cove (26 nautical miles, about 3 and a half hours):

And I know what you’re thinking…”Ooooh, hot springs!” but I believe it’s a private fishing resort, and not in fact, a place we’ll be stopping. Sad face.

Nanaimo’s Living Forest

Laura Domela — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 22:59:13 +0000

We're in Nanaimo for the next few nights, at the Living Forest Oceanside Campground. Our spot is great — full hookups, a water view, cable TV, and fast Wi-Fi.

We left the lovely Pedder Bay Marina and RV Resort this morning at 11am, drove about an hour and a half to Nanaimo, checked in here, and worked the rest of the day. I marinated some cod a little bit ago (olive oil, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, garlic) and Kevin's smoking and grilling it for some fish tacos (monitoring the temp of the fish with iGrill while he watches the Tour de France from the bedroom).

We bought a bundle of firewood for a fire tonight because, well, camping! (…and apparently there's probably going to be a fire ban any day now, according to the gal at the front desk.) They have canoe and kayak rentals here, a little cafe, beautiful forested sites not too close together, laundry, a boat launch, volleyball, a playground, hiking trails…the list goes on, but it doesn't feel like one of those jam-packed campgrounds you frequently think of when you see that list of amenities. It feels more like an Oregon State Park (and Oregon State Parks are awesome!)

Here's a quick photo of the finished fish tacos. They were delicious…the fish had a great smoky flavor. We'll be making these again!

Another Day in Ashland

Laura Domela — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 19:51:16 +0000

We got up earlyish this morning and decided to head over to the Morning Glory Restaurant for breakfast. The place has great reviews on Yelp and it did not disappoint. Breakfast was great, and just the fuel we needed for another bike ride.

Today we drove up to Central Point (just North of Medford) and rode the other part of the Bear Creek Greenway trail that we didn't cover yesterday (to South Medford and back, about 15 miles round trip). This part of the trail is not quite as nice as yesterday's part of the trail. Some parts are pretty and it still runs along Bear Creek, but most of it is quite close to I-5 (noisy) and there were quite a few transients campers, camping where they likely shouldn't be. No big deal, and still great to have the path at all, but you get the picture…probably just because it's closer to Medford (bigger city).

The weather today is fabulous!

It was a little cloudy this morning, but by midday the sky was mostly clear and it was in the low 70s. After the ride we stopped in town at Mix Sweet Shop for a cappuccino and a macaroon, then came back to camp and Kevin moved a pork shoulder we had brining out of the brine and onto the smoker. Then we went on another smaller ride around part of the lake, and I stayed back to do some work while Kevin extended his ride a bit.

The dinner we put together last night turned out so good! Kevin grilled some halibut (with a little lemon and pepper and butter), and I made an asparagus salad with prosciutto and a truffle viniagrette that was delicious. (Peeled then blanched the asparagus, then cut stalks into "short thick matchstick" sized pieces and tossed them in a viniagrette of olive oil, truffle oil, white balsamic, pepper, and some truffle salt, topped with small pieces of prosciutto.) The salad and the fish went perfectly together (and nicely with the Sauvignon Blanc we picked up at the Dana Campbell winery yesterday). Tonight's dinner will be pulled pork with Carolina sauce, and some fresh organic green beans I picked up at the market yesterday.

We'll head back to Bike Friday in Eugene tomorrow to have a few tweaks done on the bikes before going back to Portland for a few weeks.

Coastal Living Magazine – April 2014

Laura Domela — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 13:15:00 +0000

Remember last May when we told you we were being interviewed and photographed for an article on Airstreaming for Coastal Living Magazine (along with Kristiana Spaulding and Deke & Tiffani Waters)? Well here it is!

Coastal Living April 2014 is available on newsstands now. I haven't found a copy yet (here, at the COAST!), but you can definitely download the April issue to your iPad if you can't find one and don't wanna wait. This is what the cover looks like:

Great writing by Barry Yeoman and super cool photos by Brown Cannon III. It was great fun working with these folks!

Here's a shot of our shoot location, over at the Bob Creek wayside, just up 101 a bit from where we were staying at Sea Perch RV Resort (where we happen to be staying again right now):

What bench?

The Airstream is Clean and We’re Heading to California

Laura Domela — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 18:34:23 +0000

We washed the Airstream last weekend and in a couple days we'll head south to Eugene to pick up our new Bike Fridays, then continue on to Napa/Calistoga/San Jose for a couple weeks (work trip, mostly) where we'll start to break in our new leather Brooks saddles in our spare time (or more likely, they'll be breaking US in). In May we'll be taking these bikes to Italy and riding from Venice to Florence, along with some exploring in the Tuscan countryside. (I KNOW!!! Italy!! We'll tell you more about that in another post.)

Also, we just replaced all of the overhead cabinet acrylic sliding doors (annoyingly scratched up from stuff sliding around while towing over the past 4 years) for under $200 and they look fantastic. I'll take photos and tell you guys all about that in another post too. (Can you tell, this is gonna be a quick post?)

See you soon!

Aluminogan Day Two

Laura Domela — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 03:30:01 +0000

Today was spectacular. We did an awesome group hike up the road, around the back and to the top of the mountain, and then back down the front to our campsite (about 4 miles). Some shots from the hike:

Interesting sign at some of the neighboring property:

Zoom in here:

Evidence left from a lightning-caused fire:

We hiked about 2 miles to the top of the hill overlooking Leigh & Brian's property (and our very tiny, far away enclave of aluminum…right in the middle tiny dots of gray):

Looking back toward the top of the ridge:

Back at camp we showered, prepped some food for our group dinner, played guitars, sang songs, mixed drinks, played with sticks, and took tons of photos. Here's Dave and Ann (and THOSE CLOUDS!):

And after dinner:

Dinner was fabulous. Everyone just made stuff to go with a "taco night" theme and it worked out beautifully. We had pulled pork (three different varieties), grilled zucchini, guacamole, salsa, corn salad, black beans, delicious homemade sauces and salads and cheeses and, well, a big bowl of bacon thanks to Dan of Mali Mish…a great hit, actually! Amanda (Watsons Wander) made two pies for dessert…both vegan, both amazing: chocolate, and peach, with vanilla ice cream.

And here are a bunch of pretty shiny trailer photos (L to R: Watsons, Mali Mish, Works, Riveted):

And here's everyone:

(L to R: Watsons, Mali Mish, Works, Riveted, Democratic Travelers)

Tomorrow: Canada!

Random Photo from a Past Roadtrip

Laura Domela — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:19:14 +0000

I was tired of looking at that door latch at the top of the blog, so here's a photo of our campsite on the Kentucky River near Frankfort, Kentucky last fall. Wouldn't mind being here right now instead of standing at my desk at home working.

New Spot at Champoeg State Park

Laura Domela — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 23:15:21 +0000

Well, we're here. We had a major hitch problem just as we were pulling out of Skamokawa, but we were able to MacGyver a fix that let us get to our next spot (whew!) and there are now parts on their way to us. Will break down the hitch issue in another post. Ah, the RV life.

It's 92 degrees Farenheit outside (7:02pm) and we're inside the Airstream right now in the AC (good to run it once in awhile anyway, we say) sipping a cold beer (getting less cold by the second though) and finishing up some work before we crack the fresh cooked crab we picked up yesterday in Ilwaco for dinner (will serve with a salad…no cooking tonight).

We went out to do a couple errands a bit ago and ended up stopping at the cute little historic Butteville store to get some marshmallows for roasting tonight (although it's a bit difficult to think about sitting in front of a fire right now, because it's So. Dang. Hot.)

Anyway. Here's the cute little historic Butteville Store:

How historic is it? 1863! That's how historic.

We got some marshmallows (non Jet Puffed brand – one strike against the cute little historic Butteville store) but we also got a teeny little container of salted caramel ice cream (one gold star FOR the cute little historic Butteville store) so we're set on dessert for a few days I think.

This is the inside of the store:

They've got some necessities, a few grocery items, ice cream, wine…they make great sandwiches, and it's just generally a cute spot to stop and check out if you're in the area.

Leaving Skamokawa

Laura Domela — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 13:08:24 +0000

Last night after dinner (clams!!) we went for a walk down on the beach. It's not a very long beach when the tide is high, so last night's walk was a little short. When we came back to the Airstream it had gotten dark enough for all the solar lights to come on so I snapped a few twilight photos with my iPhone.

I'm glad this area of the campground is dry camping. It's so beautiful and uncrowded. The rest of the campground is nice too, but over there you can't see the ships from your office like we can here.

We're leaving this morning and heading to Champoeg for the week.

Dry Camping on the Columbia River

Laura Domela — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 20:37:22 +0000

I'm sure we've mentioned before, but we love this place. The weather's been sunny and gorgeous and our solar is keeping up just fine with all the things we're running: both laptops, phones and iPads charging, microwave, espresso maker, Traeger grill plugged in outside…I even dried my hair this morning after my shower and we're at about 86%. Oh yeah, and lots of recharging of hexacopter batteries.

Skamokawa Vista Park, Washington.