So we were really looking forward to our planned lunch time stop.  Mt Shasta, just east of Mt Shasta City, which is past all the bad I-5 air.  A couple people recommended stopping at the health food store there, Berryvale, but we never saw it.  The town has several blocks of stores (and looked pretty interesting).

Once on the road, I realized I’d forgotten to put directions to the mountain on my palm.  Fortunately, it was on my map.  We took the first exit into town (should have taken the second, more northern, exit) and followed the signs to the visitor center.  The folks there were nice and the building was tolerable and reasonably scent-free.  The restrooms had a slight scent but I did not need my mask for the short time inside.  We got a street map of the town with directions to Panther Meadows.

A friend told us “Panther Meadows in August is something not to be missed.  The flowers, the fresh air, the streams, etc. are pretty spectacular…it is only a few hundred feet from the parking lot, so even kids can do the walk.”

I definitely feel like we missed something.  The drive to Panther Meadows was easy enough, and we had no problem finding it, but we saw nothing special.

Panther Meadows

This was it.  A small dirt parking lot, with some campsites a few feet away up the hill, lots of rocks, and a few trees.

We were all tired and cranky and starving and I had a splitting headache.  But there was no place to sit down, let alone eat.  The picnic tables were for the campsites, and they were all full.  We were told there was a one mile loop trail through the meadow; we saw what might have been a trail head, but nothing was marked.  We asked, but no one seemed to know where the trail or the meadow was.  I asked about the wildflowers and people just shrugged.

One arriving camper came over and said we were in the wrong parking lot.  That if we went a bit further, we’d get to the Panther Meadows day use lot and that it had picnic tables.  And that there were other areas with tables too.

There was no other Panther Meadows area.  We passed what must have been the meadow (with no way to drive in) but no there were no wildflowers.  It was hot and dry and most of the non-tree plants were dormant. It was a lot cooler on the mountain than in the valley.  Along I-5 our outdoor temp gauge read 103.  But it quickly dropped to 80 as we climbed.

We passed a lone picnic table or two.  In the sun with nothing around.  We went to the end of the road and found several tables.  Still in full sun with rocks and the occasional tiny shrub hanging on for dear life.  But there was a nice breeze.

Picnic table on the top of Mt. Shasta

We were nowhere near the top of the 14,162 mountain, but we were well above the 7450 feet of Panther Meadows.

Looking at the top of Mt. Shasta from uppermost parking area

The road up was a very easy drive, despite the elevation change.

Road leading up Mt. Shasta

We had a lovely picnic, though my headache deepened, along with weak muscles that came out of nowhere, and I realized I was suffering from altitude sickness.  It stayed with me until we’d been off the mountain for a few minutes (the base headache was freeway exposures and lasted all day).  Mt. Shasta City is at 3500 feet, which is low enough to avoid discomfort.

Picnic lunch: raw vegetable salad, banana nut bars, hummus, fish salad, and roasted vegetables

As we left to continue our trip, we passed Panther Meadows and stopped at the Bunny Flat (6900′) trail head to use the bathrooms (adequate, no water).

Bunny Flat Restrooms

We made our way back to the freeway and headed north to Oregon for the night.

Bunny Flat Trail Head

After this visit, I just assumed my friend was mistaken about August being wet enough for flowers.  Reading the various web accounts about Panther Meadows though, it seems it’s a special spot.  I’m not sure if the flowers persist through the summer, but many people mention the streams.

Had I known more about it, I would have found an easy access picnic spot (perhaps in town) then gone to Panther Meadows for an after-lunch hike.  Though there wasn’t much I could have done about the altitude sickness, being fed and rested would have given us the wherewithal to explore the area and find its treasures.

Links:

• Sacred Spring: Panther Meadows on Mount Shasta (Peggy Vincent’s description of the area)
• Recreation in and around Mt. Shasta (Mt. Shasta Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Bureau with lists of day hikes and other information)
• Mt. Shasta Area – Campgrounds

©2010 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

As we drove up, we found clean air, large campsites where no one seemed to be a smoker (I saw one cigar many sites away and that was it), and a huge empty field flanked by, what else?, blackberry bushes.

The view from our tent

Champoeg State Heritage Area
Champoeg Rd NE
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_113.php
503-678-1251 Ext. 225
Reservations: 800-452-5687

From Southern Oregon (a few minutes from Grant’s Pass), the trip is 230 miles, 3:45 hours.  From Petaluma, CA, it would be 10 hours, not counting stops.  It’s about 35 minutes south of Portland.

Directions: From I-5, take Exit 278 and head west. Follow the signs.

Check in time 4pm; check out time 1pm.

Our campsite from the access road

We spoke to the folks in the one site fairly close to us (on the right) and they were nonsmokers but also locals who decided they would rather come back when it wasn’t the middle of a heat wave.  So we ended up with no neighbors.

View from blackberries next to the field, back to our site

Experiences turn on a dime…had our neighbors been heavy smokers or pesticide users, my stay there would have been hell, like it was the night before at Indian Mary.  For whatever reason though, the campers at Champoeg (inexplicably pronounced sham-poo-ey) were quiet and fairly fume-free (not counting bbq and wood smoke, which fortunately doesn’t bother me, and is pretty impossible to avoid in a campground).

View to the right of our site

First order of business was getting our tent up.  Which took half the time it had the night before.  We didn’t bother with the rain flap this time, since it was still quite hot.  The night breezes were cooler than at Indian Mary though, and we were able to sleep.  Our second night, the heat wave finally broke with a thunderstorm.  Michael and I woke up in the middle of the night, put up the rain flap and got our belongings into the car, and made it back inside the tent just as the first raindrops started to fall.  It’s an excellent tent and not a drop made it inside.

Miriam helps stake the tent

We planned to spend all day Saturday in Portland so Friday night, the night we arrived, we decided to have a campfire.  Michael bought some wood but neglected to get kindling.  All we had was matches, logs, dried grass, a couple twigs from the ground, and 2 pieces of newspaper.

Getting a fire started

Fortunately, all my old Girl Scout training came back to me.  I rearranged the logs Michael had laid side by side and, in very little time, we had a fire.

A blazing fire

The food we cooked (in a cast iron pan) was pupusas that I’d made before our trip, and Amy’s gluten-free, vegan pizza. Both were frozen when we left Petaluma but defrosted in our cooler.  The pupusas didn’t quite work out.  They were very dry.  I’m not sure if that was because they were frozen first.  On the way back, I had some fresh pupusas I made in Vancouver (didn’t freeze them and didn’t put them in the cooler) and they were very dry eaten at room temperature but fabulous when heated well in a toaster oven (even though those were chilled first).  No amount of cooking saved the ones we had at Champoeg though.  They were edible, but needed moist sides.

Cyndi & Miriam cooking on a (semi) open fire

The pizza though, was another story.  Who knew? pizza heated in cast iron over flames is delicious.

Michael & Miriam preparing fire roasted pizza

It was Shabbus, so we lit beeswax candles and put them in a fire-safe place near the picnic table.

Shabbus candles

We ended the meal with the top item that Miriam had deemed essential for camping (getting all her camping knowledge from watching Curious George): marshmallows.  I found kosher ones (egg, dairy, and gluten-free) at Trader Joe’s.

Michael & Miriam roasting marshmallows

Champoeg has a visitor’s center and museums with tours and kids programs, disc (Frisbee) golf, and huge day-use areas, none of which we were able to see.  The Willamette River was way back behind the cabins and Miriam and I didn’t manage to see it either (although Michael wandered past what appeared to be a wading section during a late-night stroll).  With 615 acres, there is a lot we just didn’t have time for.

History, overview of programs, maps.
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/champoeg_history.pdf

Full park brochure and map
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/champoeg_full.pdf

Campground map
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/champoeg_map.pdf

We were in Campsite B9.  The B loop had sites that were much further apart than the A loop.  So better for single campers or small groups.  If you look on the map, above us and to the right is a large circle labeled club camping.  This is the place for groups because there is a shared grassy area in the middle.  When we were there, an extended family was having their annual reunion.

We were warned to bring bug spray and, indeed, there were bugs that came out at dusk.  They were smaller than mosquitoes and seemed to bite a little, but didn’t give us typical mosquito welts.

The park doesn’t use pesticides or herbicides and the bathrooms have no air freshener and are cleaned with “environmentally safe” cleaners (don’t know what, but they had no smell).  Each shower had its own full-enclosed changing room, which was nice.  Bathrooms had flush toilets.  The park host has wood for sale and a cooler with bags of ice.

Champoeg was an easy commute to Portland, and very livable.  If I were in the area, I wouldn’t hesitate to go there again for group camping, single camping, their programs, or a picnic.

©2010 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Indian Mary Park
Uninc Josephine County, Oregon
7100 Merlin Galice Rd, Merlin OR 97532
(541) 474-5285
Connected to the Oregon State Park system but run separately, through the county.
http://www.co.josephine.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=491

Directions: Take I-5 North or South to Exit 61. Go under the freeway and turn left on Merlin Galice Road, which turns into Merlin Road, for about 3.5 miles. Merlin Road turns slightly left and becomes Galice Road.  Continue another 7 miles to the Park entrance on the right.

A friend of ours goes there every year with a large organization that reserves a block of spots near the Rouge River and provides all the meals.  And for that sort of trip, this place would be awesome.  The river is gorgeous and the park has a communal feel because all the sites are very close together.

Miriam at the Indian Mary boat launch

Unfortunately, we weren’t with a group and the closeness of the campsites was overwhelming.

Our tent in the middle of several campsites

That’s us in the middle with an RV to the far left, an empty site to the immediate left, three sites behind us, and one RV to the right.

Between the stifling heat (98 degrees in early evening) and being surrounded by cigarette smokers, I ended up with a fall down asthma attack in the center grassy area at the front of the picture (beyond it is the bathrooms) while trying to escape the smoke.  I had my oxygen tank but not my inhaler and Michael was off with Miriam at the playground.

Fortunately, I was able to call for help and, after several tries, some folks (including a paramedic) heard me and got my inhaler and my family.  Miriam cared less about the fact that mommy was sick than about the fun of getting to ride in the park’s golf cart.  The smokers near to us were very kind and all said they wouldn’t smoke near us anymore.  And they didn’t.  But the damage was done.  I was fragile over the next couple of days and had trouble walking any distance.

Before the attack, we managed to get our borrowed tent up (first time since the dry run at home).  This was my first time dealing with a tent, or camping at all, in over 20 years.  Michael had never done real camping.  It was Miriam’s first time.  Not the greatest (re)introduction.

It only took us half an hour to get this baby up

The night went more smoothly.  I had chosen an RV site vs a plain tent site because the former had electrical hookups and water and we had an electric cooler.  The tent sites weren’t very different or less crowded.

Our campsite

We ate from the cooler, went to bed, roasted, took off the rain flap, roasted slightly less, tried to block out the partying around us, and fell asleep mostly hating the place.

Then it was morning.

Morning at Indian Mary is magical.  Everyone else was asleep, the air was cool, and Miriam wanted to see the river.

Rouge River in early morning

Once we were away from the campsites, the air at the park was very clean and fresh.  They don’t use pesticide at the park and they only use herbicide once in a while at the boat launch (most recently 3 or so months earlier).  I walked slowly because my legs were still unsteady and my lungs not at full capacity.  We made our way to the top of the riverbank, where Miriam, naturally, had to stop for some blackberries.

Miriam picking blackberries along the Rouge River

Then to the boat launch where she expressed her deep down desire to go fishing (one she has repeated dozens of times since…some day little one).

Miriam for a morning walk and yoga pose in her jammies

Then of course we had to make our way to the playground, where her visit the day before had been cut short.  We couldn’t stay long because the other campers were waking up and the cigarette smoke began to waft over.

Children's playground at Indian Mary Park

Unless I came with a very large, smoke and bug-spray-free, group, I can’t see myself returning.  As solo campers who wanted to sleep early and weren’t interested in socializing (drinking beer around the campfire with strangers), this was completely the wrong spot.  For someone with asthma and MCS, it was a nightmare.

Nominally, the park is pretty safe.  No pesticides, almost no herbicide, no air freshener in the bathrooms (they told me they use strong smelling cleaning products but we must have been there between cleanings because it wasn’t a problem).

The bathrooms have flush toilets and small shower stalls with tiny changing areas.

There is the playground for the kids plus lots of flat grassy areas, a Frisbee (disc) golf course, volleyball, horseshoes, and a place to boat and fish.  We were there on a Thursday night in mid-August so there were plenty of free spaces, though it was mostly full.  The better sites were of course taken.

Take a look on the map.  We were in site 74.  If I went again with a child, I’d want site 46 (preferably the entire surrounding chunk).  The map is somewhat misleading because those distances are actually quite close (it’s also not entirely to scale).  Many other park maps look similar on paper but they fit half as many campsites in the same space.  From us in 74 to the smokers/partiers in 85 was about 20 feet.  You can see their white car behind and to the left of us in the two site pictures above.

We packed up and got on the road by mid-morning.  On to another two nights of camping.

©2010 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Williamette River at the south end of Riverfront Park

This huge and beautiful park is worth the couple mile detour for anyone travelling along I-5 in Oregon.  Our first stop was the picnic area.  They have a large covered section of tables, which was taken when we were there so we ate at a table in the sun (during a heat wave unfortunately).

Covered picnic area at Riverfront Park

The building in the background houses a gift shop and an old-time carousel.  With fairly safe bathrooms and air conditioning.  $1.50 per ride for both adults and children.  Children must be 42″ to go alone.  They would not allow me to ride on the same horse as Miriam or to ride on a horse next to her.  I had to stand.  But Miriam chose the sleigh instead.

Miriam & Cyndi on the Riverfront Park Carousel

Next we walked down to the far south end of the park to see the handmade tiled Eco Globe.

Eco Earth Globe Eastern Hemisphere

Eco Earth Globe Western Hemisphere

This 23 acre park has plenty of room to spread out.

Grassy expanse at Riverfront Park

We walked back past the playground but, despite asking for it, Miriam was too hot to play.

A very hot and tired Miriam & Michael heading away from the Riverfront Park playground

The Williamette River runs along the entire west side of the park.

Miriam reading the river map

Williamette River at the north end of Riverfront Park

After our long walk, we were ready to get indoors.  Our next stop: the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village down the block.

Disability access: Nice flat sidewalks making a loop around the park.  Plenty of places to sit down and rest.  The bathrooms inside the carousel building were decent (no strong scents) and the building itself seemed okay.  I didn’t test the bathrooms by the playground.  I don’t know what their pest and weed control is there but I didn’t notice any chemicals.

Riverfront Park
116 Marion St. NE, Salem, OR
http://www.cityofsalem.net/departments/parks/river_front.htm

©2010 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Several years ago, I started taking 101 instead of 5 when heading to San Diego to clean out my mom’s apartment over the course of several months. If you start from the South Bay, it’s only an extra half hour or so, because it’s an extra shlep to get over to 5. From the North Bay, where I am now, it’s more like an extra hour.

Google Maps: Petaluma to Los Angeles

Via 5: 6:20, 413 miles.
Via 101: 7:42, 468 miles.
My experience, via 101: 7 hours each way, not counting stops.

A friend of mine who also has multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) likes to drive 5 for the quickness factor, but does it at night, when they aren’t out working the fields or dropping pesticides by plane (don’t be fooled though…the crop irrigation sprinklers are on 24/7, and they put out chemicals too). This year though, even she said it was time to switch to 101. I like 101 better anyway. It’s far prettier, with gorgeous views of the ocean, and there are real places to stop, not just highway food and gas stations. Now that I’m doing my travelling with a child, I appreciate the nicer stops too.

I have four stops along the way that are kid-friendly and good for adults too. All are reasonably MCS-safe and good places to picnic, with nontoxic bathrooms. There are plenty more possible stops, but I haven’t checked them out.

MCS Notes: From just north of Salinas to a bit south of King City (around an hour’s drive), the area is solid agriculture. Big corporate (Dole, etc) farms with huge flat fields that get massive amounts of pesticides. There are some scattered farms north and south of this area as well. I manage more or less by keeping windows shut, A/C or whatever to recirculate, oxygen on via nasal canula , and no talking (breathing air through my mouth). The pesticides/herbicides are so strong they will come into the car (Miriam got fairly ill from them) but these measures will help a lot. Be sure to plan your trip very carefully so that you will not need gas or bathrooms for that hour. Before and after you can find oasis’s of clean air.

Stop #1 (A) – Toro Regional Park

Toro Park – 501 Monterey-Salinas Highway 68, Salinas, CA 93908
Hours and contact info: http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/parks/toro.html

Detailed descriptions & photos: http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=CAMOTO&CU_ID=1

Photos & map: http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-parks/parks-cnty/toro.html

From the north: Take 101 S to Salinas, then get on to 68 S towards Monterey, and go about 6 miles.

From the south: Take 101 N to Chualar River Road a few miles south of Salinas. The road will curve around to the right and become River Road. Take to highway 68 and turn left, towards Monterey. The park is less than 2 miles down.

Picnic areas, playgrounds, and bathrooms are not far from the entrance. We didn’t check out the hiking trails but the park has 4,756 acres to roam around in and 20 miles of trails. We stopped here a year ago and it was a great place for a picnic and to let Miriam play. Since it was a weekday in March, it was practically deserted.

The air quality is not perfect, as it does get some air flow from nearby agriculture. There is nothing directly there but you should keep your windows closed as you approach, especially along River Road. The bathrooms were fine and the playground nearest the entrance (pictured below), with the animals to ride on, was okay. The grass and roads also seemed okay. But some of the other playgrounds had a terrible chemical smell that I couldn’t be near. I think it was the bark.

Stop #2 (B) – Camp Roberts Rest Stop

This is actually two stops, one northbound and one southbound. They are a short distance apart and aren’t connected. The Camp Roberts area is a semi-wilderness oasis, just south of the pesticide/agriculture nastiness. A few farms are south of it, but they are spotty. So the air in Camp Roberts is pretty decent, though it is close to the freeway. I especially like this stop though because it is halfway between Petaluma and LA.

8.5 miles North of San Miguel. Monterey County. South of King City.

Both rest stops have large grassy areas with picnic tables. There is water and the bathrooms are moderately safe, with some residual cleaning chemical smell. No air fresheners. We stopped at the northbound area in March 2007, and the southbound both in 2007 and March 2008.

Northbound:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/ra/ra32.htm

Southbound:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/ra/ra33.htm

Stop #3 (C) – Mitchell Park, San Luis Obispo

Mitchell Park
1400 Osos St
(corner of Pismo & Santa Rosa)
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

From the north: exit 101 S at Monterey Street. Turn left at Toro Street. Turn right at Pismo Street. To continue south: head northwest on Osos Street. Turn left at Higuera Street. Turn right on Marsh Street. Take 101 S.

From the south: exit 101 S at Marsh Street (202A). Turn right at Osos Street. To continue north: head northwest on Osos Street. Take 101 N.

Looking on the map, there are tons of parks, with and without playgrounds, in SLO. Here is a great list of them, geared for parents, with photos: http://www.centralcoastkids.com/parks/san-luis-obispo.cfm.

We drove into SLO because I heard there was a good picnic area on the main downtown street (not sure which street they meant). We didn’t find that but we stopped to ask someone to guide us to a playground and she sent us to Mitchell Park, which turned out to be perfect.

There was a nice picnic area, lots of grass to run around on, a large big-kids play structure, a smaller toddler structure, and bathrooms that had no smell of any kind. The overall air quality is pretty decent.

Stop #4 (D) – Shell Beach, Pismo Beach

This is very close to San Luis Obispo, so use one for northbound and the other for southbound. It’s fairly easy to find going south, as you pass it and then can take the next exit and double back. But we missed it on the way north. By the time we saw the beach, the exit was right there and the next one was many miles up.

Dinosaur Caves Park
Shell Beach Rd at Cliff Ave
Pismo Beach, CA

From the north: 101 S to Shell Beach Road exit on north end of Pismo Beach. Go about 1.5 miles until you see a playground on a cliff to your right. To continue south: take the on ramp to 101 S that is right at the park (on Price Street).

From the south: 101 N to Shell Beach Road exit. Turn left on CA-1/Mattie Road. Turn right at Price Street.

There are many beaches and parks in Pismo Beach but Shell Beach is right off the freeway and completely gorgeous. Here is a list of parks: http://www.centralcoastkids.com/parks/pismo-beach.cfm

Air quality in this town is stellar. There is nothing bad directly around it and you get clean ocean breezes. The bathrooms at the park were fine, with a slight cleaning product smell, but I didn’t need my mask.

Other resources:

Central Coast Kids has lists of parks and beaches by city, with pictures and descriptions.

©2010 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.