Hello Everyone,

Here I am at Camp 7, the Crescent Creek Cottages & RV Park and I am happy. I only trekked 6.8 miles today, and I am ok with it!

Yesterday day was a real challenge and I went to bed surround by everything being wet. I was fortunate that I still had one pair of dry wool bottoms and top and one pair of wool socks. I placed small items like water bottles between my sleeping pad and the side of the tent to keep my sleeping bag from touching the wet sides. I had mentioned that my bag, the Back Country Bed, has water resistant down and that made all the difference in the world. Down looses its insulation properties when it gets wet, and even though my bag was wet in spots and still felt moist, it stayed lofted up and kept me warm. I don’t know how anyone could camp in wet weather without a water resistant down bag.

As I mentioned, the entire tent was wet, and even more so in the morning just due to the humidity in the air. No matter how good a tent’s ventilation system is designed, under those condition it would still have some condensation. However, I think that a tent made as a one piece with a built-in fly, like the Sierra Design Flash, would definitely have kept the inside of the tent dry while setting it up in the rain. Sorry to go on with tent stuff.

It rained all night and until about seven in the morning. Everything felt wetter in the morning, including my so called waterproof shoes. The arms on my wool top were so soaked that I was able to wring them out. I realized later that I didn’t zip up the armpit vents of my jacket.

I wasn’t sure if I should start out again as I wasn’t sure about the weather. I also wasn’t sure if there was a motel close by and figured  if there was I’d definitely walk to it in the rain. I had no cell service, but I had sent out a message to Mindee anyway asking her to check. It wasn’t until I started walking that her reply came through that there was a motel possibly within 5-6 miles of my location, if I really knew where I was. The owner had also told her that he would pick me up if I wanted. That was tempting, but no that would be too easy.

It had stopped raining but the sky still look dark and I had decided to go on before I got the message. It dropped to the low forties at night but was in the low sixties by ten. After walking a few miles I spotted an old open and abandon log cabin thought what a great place that would have been to camp in had I gone that far.

After about five miles I came across the Crescent Creek Cottages. Mindee had told me that the owners where from Camarillo, in Ventura County where we live. He and his wife turned out to be two of those truly really nice people that I wish I could meet every day.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay as I was hoping to trek a little further. He looked up the weather and it showed heavy rains tonight and the next day, and rain continuing until Saturday. He said there was a restaurant and store a mile down the road, and then nothing else for 35 miles. I decided to walk to the restaurant as I wasn’t in the mood to cook oatmeal in such a wet environment and had not eaten. He offered to drive me but I told him I’d walk. He then offered to pick me up if I change my mind. I thanked him and off I went.

I was about a half mile down the road when a car pulled out of a dirt road. The lady driving happened to be the other owner and just stopped to say hello. We chatted for a bit and she offered to give me a ride if I needed it.

I ended up in one of the two restaurants in the area, which had only one car in the parking lot and no one inside. Memories of my wonderful experience at the Diamond Junction Cafe came back into my mind. It turns owner was very pleasant and sat and talked with me the whole time. Funny I mentioned the Diamond Junction Cafe, and before I could say anything she said that the owner has been know to be kind of weird.

After my real good lunch, and hearing of the coming weather, I decided to stay at the motel for at least one day and dry out. I called the and the woman owner came right down and picked me up.

I had no idea what the rooms looked like and was pleasantly surprised when I hit there. It’s right on a creek, with a nice back porch and a full kitchen. Wow, I could get spoiled here and not want to go on!

After I started unpacking all my stuff I realized that just about everything was wet. I took everything out and turned up the heater. The owner had told me to use their washer and dryer and she supplied the laundry detergent. I mentioned that I should have gotten something to cook and she offered and took me back to the store. I didn’t feel bad driving as I had already walked there.

Now that I am laying here in a nice warm room with wifi (no ATT for me the next 35 miles) and everything drying out, I realize that I made the right decision to stay here. Besides, I was going to make it a point to try and have at least one day of rest every 7-10 days of trekking.

Will send a blog tomorrow if I can. Please keep those positive thoughts and prayers going my way. Please excuse the typos, spelling, etc. 
Ted