The following morning we continued our trek Northward and arrived at Chinook RV Resort in Klamath, CA. The campground was right on Highway 101 and located right on the Klamath River not far from the mouth where it meets the Pacific Ocean. The price was right at $15.00 a night for full hook-up with cable, WiFi, and a scenic location. Most of the campgrounds in this area cater to campers that like to fish and are booked during the Summer and early Fall at the peak of the Salmon and Steelhead fishing season. We had decided to stay at a private campground, because the National Park Service does not operate any campgrounds in this area. Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Del Norte Coast Redwoods and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks do operate campgrounds, but they are quite expensive considering that they only have sites without hookups. In addition, the sites are wooded with not much sun for the solar panel. Anyway, we set up camp at Chinook and Rene rested over the weekend. While Rene's sinus issues improved, her abdominal pain continued and she requested that I take her to a clinic in Crescent City on Monday.
We arrived at the Sutter Coast Health Clinic Monday morning and after a quick exam they indicated that she may have appendicitis and directed us to the ER across the street at the Sutter Coast Hospital. After completing some forms she was seen in the ER by a PA and then by a surgeon. The surgeon sent her for a CT scan which confirmed the diagnosis of appendicitis. Now...I don't know about you, but we were always under the impression that if you have appendicitis you must have your appendix removed immediately, right?! Well... apparently there are some new treatment options that the medical profession is using that we were not aware of. What they do now, in some cases, is insert a drain and treat the abscess with antibiotics for a week during an in-hospital stay. After that week they discharge you, but have you take more antibiotics for 10 days, then you come back two weeks later for a recheck. If all is well they schedule laparoscopic surgery to remove the appendix in about a month. I confirmed this treatment plan with my sister, Linda, the nurse, and she indicated that what we described was exactly what was done for her daughter, Lauren, my niece, when she was diagnosed with appendicitis. So, with that said, Rene was admitted and treated in the hospital for a week. After our initial shock of having to deal with a serious medical emergency on the road, we came to realize that the staff at this "small town" hospital were all extremely professional, friendly and very accommodating. I was able to move the RV to the hospital parking lot where they provided me one of the two RV spots they had, with water and electric, at no charge! Rene responded very well to the treatment and the following Monday she was discharged after the last CT scan showed that the abscess was gone.
We returned to Chinook RV Resort, and after a day of rest, Rene was feeling well enough to start visiting some areas of Redwood National Park. Let's take a moment and look at some facts and differences about Redwoods and Sequoias. The Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) grow in a narrow strip along the Pacific Coast of California and Southwestern Oregon. Giant Sequoias grow only on the Sierra Nevada's Western slope. The worlds tallest living trees, Coast Redwoods tower over all other trees and some have been recorded as being as high as 370 feet. Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) grow to larger diameters and bulk, but do not grow as tall. Coast Redwoods can live to about 2,000 years old and average 500 to 700 years old. They have no known diseases and do not suffer any significant insect damage. Giant Sequoias can live to be 3,200 years old! We were in awe being in the presence of these magnificent trees!
We started our exploration at the Klamath Overlook, just down the road, at the mouth of the Klamath River. This was where we saw grey whales the following week. In between days of R&R we visited the Park Headquarters & Visitor Center in Crescent City, the Battery Point Lighthouse, the Stout Grove, the Kuchel Visitor Center in Orick, the Big Tree via the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Gold Bluff Beach, Fern Canyon, Point St. George, Lake Earl, Tolowa Dunes State Park and the Crescent Beach Overlook. During this two week period we also took care of some chores with trips to Walmart, the Post Office and to Del Norte Tire to buy new tires for the Jeep. We also did some laundry at the campground. All in all, we enjoyed touring around the area. We took it easy on the hiking and kept to the less strenuous trails since Rene was still in the process of recuperation.
During this two and a half week period before Rene's recheck, we spent some time with Jeremy & Hazel who we met at the Chinook RV Resort. They were from England and had been traveling around the United States for the past nine months. They had spent the previous three years traveling around Europe in a camping trailer or "caravan" as they refer to it. When they decided to visit North America they made arrangements through a RV dealer in the UK to purchase a new 5th Wheel camping trailer. They flew over last Summer to pick it up in Indiana along with their Dodge pickup to tow! We spend quite a bit of time with them having afternoon tea (vodka & tonic for some of us) and enjoyed getting to know them. They said when they are finished traveling in North America they will have the truck and trailer shipped back to the UK where they will continue living in it full-time. They will be traveling to Canada for a few months to visit friends and relatives. I believe they are on Vancouver Island for a month as I write this. They also indicated an interest in venturing into Mexico on the Baja Peninsula. We exchanged contact info and plan on staying in touch with them. You never know... maybe one day we will do some RVing over in Europe and can hook up with them!
Rene had her follow-up visit with the surgeon on May 1st and a CT scan on May 3rd and everything looked good. She has an appointment for surgery on May 28th. In the meantime, we will be traveling to Crater Lake NP, Olympic NP, then down the Oregon coast with stops near the mouth of the Columbia River to see the Lewis & Clark National Historic sites. We will then continue South to Oregon Dunes National Seashore before coming back to Crescent City. We will fill you in on that trip in our next blog.
Regards,
Frank & Rene
PS: To view more photos of our travels please use the link below to Frank's facebook page.
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