9-20-2024
H: 88ºF L: 52ºF
Thousand Trails Russian River, Cloverdale, California
Today is an adventure day! We headed north to Ukiah, CA. We went to City of Ten Thousand Buddhas which offers a Buddhist monastery and temple plus schools for children and a university. We ate at their all vegan restaurant, Jyun Kane Vegetarian Restaurant, and had an early dinner. It was so good! After lunch, we went to the temple where we saw peacocks with their babies and perused the free Buddhist books. The whole campus had a peaceful vibe.
Next we went to the Redwood Tree Service Station which is now a free museum dedicated to the history of this gas station. It is made from the trunk of one tree which was over 1500 years old when it was cut down. The service station opened in 1936. The small museum contains relics and is free.
We also enjoyed some wood carvings in front of a Motel 6 in Ukiah. I couldn’t find much of a backstory on these but they were well done and set in a little park-like area with a man made waterfall and stream. Definitely not something typically found in the landscape of a Motel 6.
We ended our trip to Ukiah with some grocery shopping. We had to make three stops because neither Costco nor Walmart had kale. In fact, Walmart’s produce section was so small it only had oranges, strawberries, potatoes, and lettuce all next to a large cake and bread section. I couldn’t believe it. Luckily, there was another grocery store just down the road which had ample produce.
9-21-2024
H: 88°F L: 51°F
Thousand Trails Russian River, Cloverdale, California
We went to a flea market and enjoyed looking at some of the antiques including a medical device of unknown purpose. I found a vintage (1940s according to the seller) Anchor Hocking moonstone hobnail perfume bottle without the stopper for 50¢. I’m going to use it to root some plant cuttings. We talked to one vendor who is vegan, whole-food plant based and a chef. It’s always nice to meet kindred spirits.
Next we went to Lake Sonoma Recreation Area to take the boys hiking. The lake is man made like most lakes in California.We stopped at the visitor center and a really nice woman gave us maps and suggested the best hiking location for us. The views were gorgeous and the hike lead us through several forests and over a dry stream bed. We saw some trees with dark red, very smooth trunk and branches.
The hike was going well, everyone was enjoying our time in nature, and then… I fell and split my knee open and ended up at the Healdsburg Hospital Emergency Center. Dr. Edward Wang did a great job cleaning all the dirt out of my wound and applying six stitches. Daniel had fun talking to him about lifestyle medicine while I tried to not look at my knee. Daniel and I both know the next couple of days are going to be long because I do not handle pain very well.
9-22-2024
H: 90ºF L: 65ºF
Thousand Trails Russian River, Cloverdale, California
It was a long, mostly sleepless night due to the pain and the brace I have to wear to keep my knee straight so I don’t pull the stitches out. So it was a good day to stay at the camper just relaxing. I’m so glad we have decent cell service at our campground so I could just veg-out with Netflix. Daniel worked on a few projects.
9-23-2024
H: 96ºF L: 62ºF
Thousand Trails Russian River, Cloverdale, California
California is known for its wildfires. We read that a firefighter in Cloverdale, the town where we are currently camping, deliberately set 5 fires right before we got here. All the fires were contained and caused minimal damage. But… wtf!?!
My knee is infected. Luckily, Dr. Daniel was able to call in a prescription for an antibiotic for me. It’s swollen, oozing pus, and quite painful. We knew there was a high probability of infection because the wound was filled with dirt and rocks.
We drove to the National Forest Service Ranger Station in Upper Lake, CA but they were closed. So we stopped at Ukiah Latitude Observatory which, from 1899 to 1982, was used to study the earth’s wobble as it rotates. The Ukiah Observatory is one of six which were built around the world and one of five remaining. The information collected at these observatories eventually lead to the development of GPS.
9-24-2024
H: 95ºF L: 64ºF
Thousand Trails Russian River, Cloverdale, California
We stayed at the camper today. I made dog food, baked crunchy chickpeas, and did some laundry. I was quite proud of myself for getting all of that done with my injured knee. Daniel took the Cybertruck in for a problem with the regenerative braking while towing. We mostly relaxed and hung out to allow my knee to heal.
9-25-2024
H: 78°F L: 55°F
Thousand Trails Russian River, Cloverdale, California
Today I woke up feeling nauseous so we stayed home. One good thing about all this down time is I’ve been reading more. I just finished a book which has been on my list for a while: Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Although I found the writing style to be a bit choppy, the storyline seems apropos to today’s political climate.
9-26-2024
H: 86°F L: 52°F
Thousand Trails Russian River, Cloverdale, California
Today we explored Healdsburg, CA. We found a fun antique store with a lot of fun stuff including a great priced three piece cabinet that we’d use for our books and an art piece of a deer giving birth. That is one hard part about traveling – you find things that are just too large to lug around. Daniel did say we could see if the cabinets are still available once we are done traveling.
Stats
Expenses:
- Tesla Cybertruck fuel: $0
- Tesla Model X fuel: $0
- Campsite: $0
- Camping memberships: $26.11
- Food: $328.92
Tesla Cybertruck miles driven: 68 (20 kWh)
Tesla Model X miles driven: 224.8 (74.9 kWh)
Number of people asking about the Tesla pulling the camper: 1
Contact Happy Vegan Campers!
Happy Vegan Campers are traveling the country and building a passive house! Any suggestions on places we should visit or questions about our house? Love our recipes? We’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment at the bottom of the page or send us an email: happyvegancampers@gmail.com
Wonderful adventures! Too bad about you feeling sick, though. Hopefully you get better quickly and get on the road. Also, same about Handmaid’s Tale. 🙂
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We are having so much fun! I’m definitely on the mend and sleeping better. Thanks!
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Hope your knee heals quickly.
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Thanks! Daniel has been luring me into walks by tempting me with rock hounding. 😁
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So sorry I haven’t commented in a while, but I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts. We just came back from a three week vacation in the Pacific Northwest and loved it. We stayed on Orcas Island for a week and fell into easy-going island time. And we enjoyed hiking in Olympic National Park at Cape Flattery to see the westernmost part of the contiguous United States. It was nice to have a break from Houston weather. I hope your knee gets better quickly! Living vicariously through your adventures!
Kathy Drago
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Hi Kathy!!! So good to hear from you! I loved the weather on the coast of WA and OR. Wasn’t Olympic NP gorgeous? Cascades NP is another one of our favorites. Hope you’re staying safe in TX!
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