This is a long one. We’ve had a random collection of mishaps the last few days, so this will give you a good idea of what happens when you’re on the road long-term…or at least what happens to us!
When I last wrote, we were enjoying dinner and ocean views at a public beach outside of Lincoln City, OR. We lingered that evening before heading to the casino parking lot where we planned to stay. There’s not much to do when you’re surrounded by that much asphalt, so we soaked up every bit of the view first. Upon reaching the casino, we were told that you only get the paperwork to stay after running $40 through their machines – darn! This was to be our third casino stay, and we hadn’t run into required gambling yet. Our nightly average can’t afford $40. We were fortunate to find a reasonable campsite at a nearby county park. We were stuck paying $21, but we were at least happy about real showers and a full water tank. Having arrived so late, though, we couldn’t get the shower code from the host. People must wander through this county park frequently enough to require codes on the shower doors – bummer. Our little shower does the job, but I can say with absolute certainty that we will never again take showers for granted.
We started the next day with a clean slate and eyes wide open to see more of Oregon’s coastal beauty. In tiny Pacific City, we strolled on the beach just south of Cape Kiwanda. We felt like we were in Michigan when we had the chance to do some dune climbing. Homer zoomed up and down the dune faster than you’d think those little legs could run, ears flapping in the ocean breeze. We drove on to Cape Lookout next and hiked a stunning five miles with huge ocean views. We didn’t see any whales, but the turquoise view into eternity was well worth the effort of the miles and muddy paw cleaning afterward.
We stayed that night at one of our more unique campsites in a grassy field behind French Heron Blue Cheese Company. The small cheese factory lets RVs park out back – so nice! We had the barnyard/petting zoo to ourselves that evening, and the dogs were thoroughly riled up and entertained by the peacocks, chickens, roosters, goats, and a flock of some other kind of birds that looked like very fat chickens with very tiny heads. Just his size and speed, Homer particularly enjoyed chasing those chicken-like birds!
Northern coastal Oregon land produces some very delicious grass that makes for happy cows (not high cows), and dairy farms abound. We stopped at the famous and fabulous Tillamook Cheese Factory. What would you do first thing in the morning aside from sample a bunch of cheese and get a whopping Mocha Almond Fudge and Blueberry chocolate-dipped waffle cone for second breakfast? Tillamook is known for producing tons of good cheese and very tasty ice cream, and we couldn’t resist.
Second breakfast at Tillamook Cheese Factory
We spent our last afternoon on the coast hiking through a lush forest to charming Short Sand Beach (very popular with surfers). On our way through Cannon Beach, we stopped one last time for fish and chips. Healthy eating was obviously a huge concern of ours that day.
We knew we would hit heavy traffic heading into Portland right at the start of Memorial Day weekend. Our route took us through downtown Portland, too narrow and populated to comfortably drive the RV but interesting to see nonetheless. We left Portland’s Subaru-infested traffic and headed east into the scenic Columbia River Gorge. I had found a number of options for camping in the area, but we still anticipated having some trouble with no reservations on Memorial Day weekend. Sure enough, we struck out three times – twice because of full campgrounds and once because the gravel road to a free spot looked nearly vertical and quite terrifying. We drove into some nearby national forest land and were dismayed to find miles of even the least desirable of pull-offs to be packed with other campers. We finally found a spot wide enough and level enough for us and settled in after a long day of driving. And nothing beats free.
Worn out from our search for campsites, we decided to stay two nights in the forest. We hiked to nearby Panther Creek Falls, took Luna for a run, did yoga outside (woods without bugs – amazing!), explored on dirt bike, and spent some much-needed time reading about Alaska and planning our route north.
Our holiday weekend camping woes continued on Sunday when we again struck out three times in the vicinity of Kennewick, WA. Few things are quite as annoying as people staring at you as you drive through a full campground. A very intense heat compounded our frustrations. The four of us start to wilt at 80 degrees, so 92 was an oven. And of course our engine joined in the drama, threatening to overheat. We really wanted to take that reading break on the side of the highway in the heat while the engine cooled, but it could’ve waited for another day. We continued our campsite search alternating between open windows and our wimpiest AC setting, trying everything to coax the RV into good behavior. She just doesn’t like the heat either. We finally found a free and empty spot at Ringold Public Boat Launch, right along the Columbia River. We were disappointed to see we couldn’t swim in the river due to an invasive species of snails – yuck! How were we going to stay cool without swimming? The mosquitoes swarmed at dusk, but the temps also dropped mercifully, accompanied by a surprisingly cool breeze.
Our challenge yesterday was to stay cool in long, sunny hours of 92 degrees. Morning greeted us at least briefly with moderate temps. We sat in the breeze outside and reviewed the border crossing rules for later this week. We have lots to read about regarding transit of food, dogs, and firearms. After some careful research and a few phone calls to different branches of the Canadian government, I think we’re all set for Canada.
Our reptilian visitor at the boat launch – ick!
We have finally started using our awning, and it helps keep at least one side of the RV shady. We opened and shut windows and shades, adjusting every few hours to combat the sun the best we could. The dogs had a very hot and sleepy day, but we felt like they were just uncomfortable, not in any danger. We sprayed the dogs down a bit from time to time to help them cool down. Once the sun passed overhead, Nic used a small slice of shade to work on our generator. We thought our issues were fixed, but that thing just doesn’t want to run reliably for us. Cleaning the carburetor didn’t do the trick, so he’s going to replace the fuel pump next. The afternoon hours crawled by as the sweat beaded and ran. I began to want to fast-forward through the rest of the day. Thinking I could take up a good chunk of time (and feel some air movement), I set off on my bicycle to explore the farmland surrounding us. I have been pretty fortunate with flat tires in my fifteen years of bicycling, but I got a doozy of a flat 6.6 miles from the RV. It was a long, hot walk back, but at least I passed a huge chunk of time in my efforts! Once again, temps cooled as the sun set. We were at least able to sleep in the cooler weather.
We’re in the Spokane area for a few days to take care of some important errands. We accomplished an amazing number of things today: sewage dump and water fill, drop-off of Nic’s dirt bike, propane tank fill, gas and ice, groceries, a bank stop, Starbucks, and two auto parts stores for that generator fuel pump. We have a few more items to take care of in the next few days. We plan on crossing the border into Canada on Friday. We are especially excited about meeting my little sister Hannah in Banff. She’s crazy enough to spend a week with us in our RV, and together we’ll explore Banff, Jasper, and all the jaw-dropping beauty in between!
Are you having fun with me today? 