Happy Trails to You!

As you've probably figured out by the lack of posts here, we've retired from accessible travel blogging. However, we will still maintain the list of Northern California wheelchair accessible trails (immediately above this post...just scroll up) and there's still a ton of content here...over 1300 posts!...that will stay as an archive. It's been fun and rewarding. We'll still be traveling but will no longer be posting about our travels. 

Happy Accessible Trails to you all!

We're More Than a Couple! - Top Five Accessible Hotel Rooms in Northern California for More Than Two

As you go along traveling in this world with a special need, you'll find the vast majority of lodgings will do the bare minimum that they can get away with under the ADA to accomodate their disabled customers. It might be a room with the worst view, maybe way in the back of the property, get shortchanged on maintenance and housekeeping or it's a room for one or two people at the most.

Exploring Northern California, this is our main roadblock...there are three of us and we don't want to have to pay for two rooms. It's rare but, luckily, we do come across some rooms that will accomodate all of us. The five listed below not only fit all of us but are really special rooms that go above and beyond to provide their special needs lodgers with a very special stay.

5. Half Moon Bay Lodge - Half Moon Bay. Just south of San Francisco, but a world away, this hotel sits on the edge of a golf course with the homes of the rich and famous just beyond. Unfortunately, those homes block your view of the ocean but it's still a nice view in this relaxing inn with a low-keyed luxury to it. The ADA room has a roll in shower and sliding patio doors allowing access to the back golf course view making it a wonderful place to have your morning coffee in the cool sea air.

4. Cottages at Point Reyes Seashore - Inverness. Another seashore-adjacent inn. The spread apart cabins of this hotel sit in a hollow separated from Tomales Bay by a small hill so no one here gets an ocean view but a short walk or drive can get you to the water. The accessible unit here has a spacious living room with a queen bed and recliner. This is also the only accessible bedroom. Another room towards the back has two twin beds and the accessible bathroom is a tub with bench combination.

The location is tranquil with lots of room to roam and explore the woods surrounding the property. 

3. View Crest Lodge - Trinidad. Another property that's more a collection of cabins rather that one big building. Here, you park in your dedicated accessible parking spot that is the driveway of your cabin. A ramp takes you to the back door, which is on a nice deck overlooking the park like grounds and, on non-foggy days, gives you a bit of a view of the Pacific across the street.

Two queen beds...one in the living room and one in a separate bedroom...provide plenty of space for sleeping. There is a full kitchen and a cozy, comfortable living area with a sofa. The large bathroom is tub/bench combination. The TV only has Tubi so your entertainment will be whatever you can find on that basic streaming service. There is wifi but it tends to slow down at night when everybody else in the resort is on it...perfect time to head out to the deck with a thick blanket and a hot drink to enjoy the great outdoors. 

2. Ada's Place - Quincy. A magical little cabin that, while only a block from downtown, feels like you far away in the woods. 

A queen size bed is adjacent to the accessible bathroom, which features a beautiful roll in shower, and a very cozy living room that faces a woodland scene outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. A full kitchen and laundry room are underneath a loft that features a king sized, fluffy mat on the floor. A small half bath is also upstairs.

Games, books, stereo, and TV fill the downstairs area for plenty of ways to keep entertained when you're not out exploring the beautiful town of Quincy and the surrounding area of the "hidden Sierra" of Plumas County.

1. Mercantile Hotel - McCloud. I had mistakenly thought we had this entire hotel to ourselves the first night we stayed here because it was so darn quiet. Nope. We were actually surrounded by other guests but the over century year old solid construction of this building completely silenced everything. 

Here, along the southern flanks of the massive Mount Shasta in the former company town of McCloud, the accessible room on the second floor has a perfectly framed view of the mountain. a king size bed sits in front of a fireplace with a table and a couple of chairs for relaxing. A cozy nook nearby has a twin bed. Next to that is the washroom with two sinks and a jetted tub. Just beyond that is the toilet room that features a large, roll-in shower.

It's an extremely comfortable and appropriate room for a wheelchair user family of three. The hotel also throws in a ten dollar credit for each person for breakfast in the diner downstairs. It's the best of the best of accessible rooms for three here in the northern half of the state.

There you have it, our top five accessible rooms for three (or four) in northern California. You may find a few others but, so far, none we've found in the four years we've been looking even come close to these.

Know that they are also located in spectacular locations and are not budget lodgings. The cheapest on this list, the Half Moon Bay Lodge, starts at over $150 a night and most go for over $200 but we've found they're worth every penny.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2023 - All Rights Reserved

The Cocktail Hour: Oktoberfest Brews

We love Oktoberfest, the celebration of King Ludwig's marriage, here at The World on Wheels. We make it a point to attend one of our local celebrations each year.

We also love the special brews breweries make for this occasion each year.

One of my favorite selections from the 72 taps of T. Phillips Alehouse is the very well balanced Spaten Oktoberfest. Smooth, a tiny hint of sweetness, with just a hint of caramelly hoppiness, a pint goes down so well any time of year but it's of limited availability.

Recently, we had a barbecue over at my mother-in-law's house and tasted a few others to compare.

Widmer Brothers Okto was nice but a bit blander than the Spaten offering. OK but not worth the extra two bucks our local store charges for a six-pack over the other Widmer offerings.

Next, it was on to the Sam Adams Octoberfest beer (notice the Americanized spelling). This is better. Pretty tasty and I can drink it easily all night but noticeably sweeter than the standard-bearing Spaten.

Last was the Leinenkugel Oktoberfest from Wisconsin. With their overly sweet summer shandies, I wasn't expecting too much from this but it blew me away with just a tinge of caramelly sweetness finely balanced by a decent hoppy bite.  I'd like to find some more of this before the season's over.

Cheers!

Darryl

In the Shadow of the Mountain: Water, Water Everywhere...Drought Be Damned!

McCloud is famous for it's very clean and pure drinking water. The town relies on three springs and pumps the water from it's reservoir to residents' taps with no treatment, only occasionally treating when tests reveal something that needs it.

This water comes from the mountain, Mt. Shasta, that looms over everything here. It gets a ton of snow each winter and the volcanic soil filters the meltwater that eventually comes out very pure in the area's springs.

Today, we're going to visit some of the features of this water in the area.

Just a few minutes out of town is the McCloud River. Our first stop is Lower McCloud Falls.

This is also a popular place as a well-known swimming hole for the town although no one was swimming the day we were there. It doesn't help that the Forest Service removed the steel ladder that the locals would use to climb back on top of the rock after jumping off the 20 foot or so cliffs surrounding the pool.

There were a few fishermen trying their luck.

It's an easy sight to see, only about 100 feet from the parking lot where wheelchairs can easily access the viewing areas above the falls.

If there's a lower falls, there must be an upper falls but, first, is the middle falls. About a mile away, it's a slightly longer but still flat and accessible hike to the viewing platform for the Middle Falls of the McCloud River.

These are a bit prettier, with a bit of a bridalviel effect, and a couple of swimmers. The viewing platform is a little farther away from the water than the first one but still offers great scenery of the cararact.

Finally, on this loop, we get to the Upper Falls of the McCloud river. 

These are the tallest of the three and the hardest to get to. The viewing platforms are about the same getting to from the parking lot as the middle falls are but the angle makes it a bit harder to see the falls.

Still, we find a spot where Tim can get a look. This is also the deepest canyon of the three so, if you wanted to hike down, it quite a ways, steep, and not wheelchair accessible.

Our final water spot for the day would take us over to Mt. Shasta. No, not the giant mountain looming over us at every moment of this trip but the town of the same name on the western slope of the mountain.

The Sacramento River is the largest river in California (the Colorado is bigger but is shared with other states and Mexico). One of the sources of that river is here in Mt. Shasta.

We drive through town to the City Park at the northern outskirts. As a reviewer on Tripadvisor said, it's "hippies as far as the eye can see." Many homemade campers house free spirits in this park.

We find handicapped parking at the visitor's center and follow a sign that says "Headwaters - 150ft."

At the end of the short trail is a jumble of rocks where thousands of gallons of water come rushing out of the ground. These are the headwaters (well one of them, anyway) of the Sacramento River.

Glacier melt on Mt. Shasta percolates through the porous volcanic rock. After an estimated journey of 50 years, the water emerges at this spring. It is exceptionally clear and pure water.

People come from all over the world to fill containers with this water the moment it emerges out of the rocks. We fill a few bottles ourselves and it is really good water.

Back in McCloud, we have some wings with one last dinner at the Axe and Rose Pub. We'll call it a night, relax in our nice suite at the McCloud Mercantile Hotel, and then head home in the morning.

Darryl Musick

Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved

In the Shadow of the Mountain: Burney Falls

Breakfast is a heap of pancakes with eggs and housemade sausage. We get a $30 credit ($10 for each person) at the White Mountain Cafe, which takes up the northeast corner of the building we're staying in.

It will help fortify us for the day ahead.

Hopefully, our spare tire will carry us through as we drive 40 miles east to today's destination, McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park. It should be fine as it's basically a new tire that's never been driven on before and it does seem to drive just fine.

After paying our $10 entry fee, we find a wide accessible parking spot right in front of the visitor's center front door. We go inside to get a map and talk to a ranger about the most accessible ways to see the falls.

It's a hard packed dirt path that leads to the viewing platform for the falls.

Unfortunately, this is as far as wheelchairs can go but the view is very good.

Letty and I take turns walking down the stairs...it's a third of a mile to the bottom and a steep hike back up...to get a closer look and take pictures.

The falls are spectacular, among the best in the state with maybe the falls of Yosemite giving them a run for the money.

In addition to the main two cataracts streaming over the cliff face, hundreds of cliffside springs also release their waters creating a very nice bridalveil effect. It's also noticably cooler here at the bottom.

It's National Banana Split Day and ice cream sounds good. We head back to McCloud to the Frosty stand we saw there.

They had soft serve ice cream, they made sundaes, but they did not make banana splits. Thinking on our feet, we quickly jumped over the the grocery store next door, bought a couple of bananas, some cherries, and nuts. Back over at the Frosty, we improvised and turned that sundae into a delicious split.

With that yummy dessert, we'll call it a day and do some more exploring tomorrow.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved

THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Tasting A Trio of New Motherlode Wineries

Now that we're pretty much settled into our new digs in Northern California's Amador County, it's time to visit a few new neighbors. Specifically, three wineries that we've never visited before...plus a quick stop at an old favorite for a fill-up.

First, it's a short seven minute drive to Tanis Vineyards, run by Andrew and Jill Tanis. Andrew is manning the tasting bar today and we taste some exceptional whites...Sauvignon Blanc and his nice, dry Muscat Canelli.

Watch the Video!

The reds are very good, too. We especially liked his Petite Syrah and the Dynamite Red blend.

We take a few bottles and thank our new neighbor for his hospitality and move on just as a limo full of tourists amble into the driveway.

Back up on the other side of highway 124, the closest wine neighbor to Tanis is Convergence Vineyards. The wine is not quite in the same league as the similarly priced winery across the way.

We did enjoy their Killer Syrah, their port, and petite syrah. I asked for a bottle each of the port and the Killer Syrah but the overwhelmed lady at the tasting bar put in the El Diablo red blend instead of the syrah. I noticed when we got home...I'll drive back up tomorrow and trade it in for the one that I really wanted.

Before our next new winery, we pop up to the nearby Shenandoah Valley to one of our long time favorites, Bray Vineyards. Bray always keeps a barrel of a red blend handy that has a tap on it to fill growlers. I bring in two of mine for a quick refill and then we're on our way.

Our final stop is Avio Vineyards, up on a ridge overlooking Sutter Creek and Jackson near the Amador County Airport on Ridge Road.

It's slightly crowded in the tasting room but we get our samples to taste. We are pleased with the wines, they're very good and the icing on the cake is the pricing is 1/2 to  2/3 the price of the last two wineries we visited.

We ended up taking their zinfandel, barbera, and estate grown pinot noir home.

These three new-to-us wineries are great additions to our collection of frequently visited Sierra Foothill vineyards but we still have a long way to go until we visit them all.

Cheers!

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

In the Shadow of the Mountain: McCloud, California

Courtesy of Google Maps

You know when your driving through the mountains and you see the sign, "Watch out for Falling Rocks," and wonder how many people actually get hit by one? Well, I did, and it finally happened to us.

We were driving through Bigfoot country, along highway 299 near Willow Creek, California when we heard a loud knock on the side of our van. I looked in the side mirror and saw a rock, about 8 inches in diameter, spinning on the road like a top.

When I got a chance to pull over and take a look, only a small chip off of the fiberglass running board was what looked like the total damage. We're lucky it didn't hit a window.

It's about four in the afternoon when we pull into McCloud, sitting on the southern slopes of California's second tallest mountain, 14,162 foot Mt. Shasta and try to check into our hotel room. 

I say try because I can't find a checkin counter. We explore the bottom floor of the McCloud Mercantile Building...the home of our hotel...but don't see anything. We find an elevator at the far end and take it up to the second floor.

Exiting into a ballroom, we cross to the other side and enter a kitchen and living area. The doors on either side have room names and numbers, so we've found where the hotel rooms start but still no checkin area.

Back downstairs, I'm about to enter a gift shop to ask when I see a small sign "hotel guest register inside store." OK, this must be it.

Once I go to the cash register, it goes smoothly. We're given our keys and told we'll get a $30 credit for breakfast at the diner nextdoor.

Now, it's back to the other end of the building, back up the elevator, and across the second floor to our room, the Charles Miller Suite at the McCloud Mercantile Hotel. It's always the moment of truth when we walk through the door not knowing if the room we'd booked will actually be appropriate for us.

No worries here, the suite is stunning. A wall of windows perfectly frames Mt. Shasta in the distance, veined with late season glaciers. 

A massive king size bed sits next to a small table between two antique chairs. 

Tim will call the twin bed sitting under a roof nook in the next room home for the next three nights. An antique armoir at the foot of his bed will hold our clothes.

The washroom has room to roam, a jetted tub, and two roll under sinks. The next room is a wet room with a large roll-in shower, folding bench, and toilet.

No, there will not be any problems with this room at all.

After settling in, we find our only options for dinner are taco night at the American Legion, the local gas station mini mart, or a pub up the block from the hotel. We chose the pub.

The Axe and Rose is next to the town's other big hotel. Back in the day, McCloud was an honest-to-god lumber company town. Where we're staying was the company store (and theater, restaurant, clothing store, etc), while this one...the McCloud Hotel...used to be the single men's dormitory.

I think the pub is missing some marketing options by not putting an "L" after the first part of the name and pulling in the Guns 'n Roses crowd by calling it the Axel and Rose.

Still, the food was very good and we'll probably come here again before we leave. But...the server comes over and says "are you staying at the hotel down the street?"

"Yes"

"They just called and said you have a flat tire. Would you like some help changing it?"

Oh, darn. Maybe that rock did more damage than just the running board. Or maybe it's just a coincidence. In any event, no, we didn't need help. I just put in a call to AAA and they dispatched someone to change the tire.

I'm hoping it won't cause a kink in the rest of this trip. Tonight, we'll rest up and start exploring the surrounding area, hoping the spare tire holds up until I can get the flat one repaired or replaced.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved