Monthly Archives: September 2013

South to Sonoma

I didn’t post yesterday. It was a travel day and we packed up early. Before I get ahead of myself, I must share Sunday night’s dinner.

Donna really outdid herself by preparing Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops! I gave them 5 minutes on the grill and then Donna plated them with steamed spinach and lemon vinaigrette. This was a gourmet treat!

Hot off the grill

Hot off the grill

Served with steamed spinach

Served with steamed spinach

Overall, Sunday was a great day. I hung around the TV and watched the San Diego Chargers play. It was a brilliant display of offense by both teams. In the the end, San Diego kicked the game-winning field goal. I don’t understand why Philadelphia called timeouts in the waning seconds of the game. It seemed to be an advantage for San Diego to do so.

We had tentative travel plans for Monday. We were thinking about moving about 250 miles south and dry camping at a casino. Donna had researched free overnight camping spots and this looked like it would work.

Before we left, I spent more time than usual flushing the black tank. The level sensors haven’t worked right since we first started using it. This is a common issue. Gunk builds up inside the tank and holds moisture on the sensors. When that happens, the sensors give false readings. We’ve never had a problem with the tank filling. We’ve gone up to five days without dumping. Having the sensors work right would be reassuring though.

The drive down US101 south from Crescent City was spectacular. We drove through redwood forests. At times the road was very narrow with giant redwoods lining the edge of the highway. The road surface was poor in  some places, smooth in others.

We stopped in Eureka and ate lunch at the Lost Coast Brewery. I would’ve liked to sample some of the beer, but we still had a long drive ahead.

Back on the road, we made travel plans on the fly. Donna was working her smart phone and found an RV park at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. This RV park was a Passport America affiliate. With our membership, we could have a full hookup, 50 amp site for $17.50. I was thinking, “Yes, Monday Night Football!”

It turned out to be a long day of driving. We covered 309 miles and arrived a little after 5pm. To my dismay, the full hookup didn’t include cable TV. I tried to use our antenna for over-the-air broadcast, but I couldn’t get the game.

We took advantage of Donna’s T-Mobile unlimited data plan and used her Samsung Galaxy as a hotspot. I downloaded the last Moto GP race and watched that instead.

When we set up last night, the temperature was 84 degrees. This morning the numbers are inverted – it’s 48 degrees out as I type this. The skies are clear and blue. I think the day will warm up quickly.

Today we’ll move about 120 miles south to Morgan Hill. We’ll meet up with Donna’s friend Kathy Palmer. She’s a full time RVer. I’m not looking forward to the trip across San Francisco, but the short mileage today should make it easier to take.

Crescent City

Yesterday was overcast and a bit blustery. The wind carried a stray raindrop here and there.

Donna was busy working on her book. I rode the scooter into Crescent City and toured the area. There’s a large park on the south end of town on the bay. The coastal road going north from there is a mix of private residences and public beach access.

West of the park, at the foot of A street is the Battery Point Lighthouse. This is an active lighthouse, first commissioned in 1856. It’s also an active residence with a lighthouse keeper. They offer tours and there were many people there. The parking lot was full. I didn’t take the tour. I wonder how the lighthouse keeper can go about daily life with people touring the place.

Battery Point Lighthouse

Battery Point Lighthouse

The lighthouse can only be accessed by foot during low tide. Wave action can cover the 200 foot path to the lighthouse at any time! The lighthouse is open for tours April through September, Wednesday through Sunday from 10am to 4pm (tides permitting).

Moving north on the coastal road, I turned out at a beach access point. I found a sign there describing the St. George Lighthouse. The sign had an  arrow pointing to a rock on the horizon where the lighthouse is located. It’s six miles out to sea on Dragon Rocks. It marks the western edge of St. George reef.

Arrow points to devils Rocks and St George Lighthouse six miles offshore

Arrow points to Dragon Rocks and St George Lighthouse six miles offshore

Construction began in 1882 and it took 10 years to complete. It was the least desirable assignment of all the lighthouses on the west coast. The lighthouse keepers would be out on the rock for a three-month stint followed by two months off with their families in Crescent City. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1975.

I stopped at several access points as I rode northward. The rocky beach became sandy. Near St. George Point there were surfers riding the shore break. I imagine it must have been cold, even with wetsuits.

CrscCtybch1

CrscCtybch2

After I returned, Donna and I hiked the woods around the campground. At the east end of the property, we heard a band practicing in a small house on the edge of the woods. I didn’t recognize the songs. They were jamming in what I would call Seattle grunge style.

We decided to extend our stay here until tomorrow. I’ll watch the NFL action on TV and hang out today.

Redwoods

Thursday morning we decided to move on. Cape Blanco is a beautiful place, but we felt like we should continue our exploration.

The drive south on US101 rewarded us with spectacular views. It was a fairly easy drive, a few hills and a few twisty bits, but overall not too taxing. The biggest challenge for me were the bicyclists. This is obviously a popular bicycle touring route. The road is narrow in many places. Although I haven’t ridden much since we moved to Michigan, I’ve been a bicyclist most of my adult life. I try to give bicycle riders a fair share of the road with a minimum of three feet of separation from my vehicle.

On areas of US101 with little or no shoulder, the three feet of separation wasn’t possible. At one point I followed a bicycle at 25 mph on a twisty downhill with cars lining up behind me. There wasn’t an opportunity to safely pass, so I just followed. Eventually I pulled into a turnout and watched other drivers make dangerous moves to get past the bicycle rider.

Bike101

Before we crossed the California border, I topped up our gas tank in Brookings. I knew gas would be more expensive in California. It’s about  30 cents per gallon higher!

It was a short day on the road. We arrived at the KOA a few miles north of Crescent City, California a little after 2pm. It’s a nice campground, surrounded by redwood forest. We have full hookups with 50 amp service and cable TV. We took advantage of the KOA promotion offering a free Saturday night if you stay on Friday the 13th. So, we’re here for three nights. I’m tempted to extend a day so I can catch the NFL games on Sunday though.

Yesterday the campground owner, Kevin, advised us of the best tour of the giant redwoods in the area. We rode the scooter through Crescent City, stopping at the post office along the way to mail a few items. From the south side of town, we followed Howland Hill Road and entered the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park.

The gravel road through the park winds its way uphill into the forest. The road is narrow and you have to be alert for oncoming traffic. At some points, the road passes between giant redwood trees where it’s barely wide enough for a car to get through. As we were heading out of the park, we saw a Cruise America rental RV coming in. I wonder how they made out.

Giant tree on the roadside

Giant tree on the roadside

Deadfall on the roadside

Deadfall on the roadside

The rest of the deadfall on the other side of the road

The rest of the deadfall on the other side of the road

We hiked the Nickerson Ranch – Mill Creek Loop. This trail took us into an old growth redwood forest. We crossed a bridge over the creek and stopped to eat our lunch. Donna made chicken salad wraps and we had fresh plums for dessert.

rdwdlnch

Some of the trees were astounding. The hike had a kind of eerie feel to it. I was reminded of the “Ents” from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We kept stopping and posing for pictures at the base of the larger trees. Eventually the novelty wore off. There were so many ancient giants.

rdwdmke1

 

rdwddonna3

 

We passed a few other hikers on the trail, but we were alone most of time. At one point I spotted a banana slug crossing the trail. It was a bright yellow specimen. Sometimes they’re spotted or even brown in color. They can move at speeds of up to six inches per minute! The banana slug is the mascot of the University of California, Santa Cruz. John Travolta wore a UC Santa Cruz banana slug T-shirt in the movie Pulp Fiction.

Banana slug crossing the trail

Banana slug crossing the trail

The vast forest of giants becomes mind numbing. Everything is on a different scale. The hike took us back along the creek, past a swimming hole and out to the road about a half mile down from where we parked. The total distance was just over two miles.

We continued on the scooter through the park. The dirt road is about seven miles long. We exited the park and followed the Smith River to Highway 199. I drove across this highway with my daughter, Shauna, about ten years ago. It’s a twisty road that goes from US101 on the California coast to Grants Pass, Oregon. When we came through here that time, we saw elk on the roadside.

After we returned, Donna crossed a few things off her to-do list. She also researched our travel plans. We’ll continue south on US101, eventually landing in San Diego. We plan to stay there for a few months.

When we visited Jimbo and Cindy in Idaho, they gifted us with elk steaks. The steaks were cut from the backstrap, the best cut. A butcher would call this cut filet mignon! I grilled them for dinner with sauteed onions, sweet potato and white corn on the cob. Top shelf!

Elk steak dinner

Elk steak dinner

Donna will be working on her book today. She has a deadline looming. I have no plans at all. We’ll see what the day brings.

Cape Blanco

Yesterday we hiked around the Cape Blanco State Park. The park is located about seven miles north of Port Orford, Oregon. The park is quiet and secluded and the paved sites are laid out in such a way that allow for privacy.

A short walk behind our site into the forest is the Oregon Coast Trail. This trail runs from the Columbia River all the way to the California border. We hiked south down the trail and followed it to the beach access. The park is on a bluff over 200 feet above sea level. The hike down a paved road to beach wasn’t excessively steep. The pitch steepened somewhat over the last 50 yards though.

Beach south of the lighthouse

Beach south of the lighthouse

The sandy beach is long and littered with driftwood near the cliffs. It was windy and a bit chilly.

Donna checking out the driftwood

Donna checking out the driftwood

Donna claiming the secluded south beach as her own.

Donna claiming the secluded south beach as her own

After we hiked back and ate lunch, we followed the trail to the north. Our destination was the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. The trail comes out of the forest onto a brushy bluff. While we walked along the trail cut through the dense bushes, I saw a red fox. He appeared to be hunting mice. Foxes have keen hearing and can pinpoint the location of a mouse by the sound of it rustling through the grass. They will jump high and come down on  the mouse, pinning it with  their front paws. This is what I saw the fox do. He disappeared in the brush but emerged a few seconds later. He climbed up on a rock and looked back at us. Then he disappeared again.

CpBlghsesgn

We continued our hike and made our way to the lighthouse. You can take a guided tour, which includes climbing the 64 steps up the tower to the light for two dollars per person. We took the tour. The spiral steps are steep. The last section of steps is like climbing a ladder. The lighthouse was completed in 1870. Three years earlier, the decision was made to build it due to the hazardous reefs and rocky islands that are in the area.

View south from the lighthouse entrance.

View south from the lighthouse entrance

The bricks the tower was built from were made onsite. It was cheaper to hire a brickmaker and source materials locally than it was to have them shipped from San Francisco. Twenty thousand bricks were needed.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

The focal height of the light is 257 feet above sea level. It can be seen more than 20 miles out to sea. The current fresnel lens was installed in 1936, replacing the original. I tried to take photos of the lens, but without a wide-angle camera lens, I  couldn’t capture all of it.

1,000 watt bulb inside the fresnel lens

1,000-watt bulb inside the fresnel lens

CpBfrsnl

The weather here changes constantly. Yesterday we had fog and light mist in the morning. The day was overcast most of the time, but the sun would break through for short periods. When we were out on the point near the lighthouse, we could see blue sky to the north and east while we had low, dense clouds directly above.

View to the north from the lighthouse entrance.

View to the north from the lighthouse entrance

When we hiked through the forest, we were quite warm. As soon as we stepped out onto the open bluff or beach, the wind chilled us quickly. This place is hard to describe or imagine. You simply must come here.

Today, I think we’ll pull out at lunch time and head down to the giant redwoods across the California border.

 

Scenic Byway

Fast, reliable internet connections are not a given when you’re on the road. I posted about this before.

Our stay in Chinook Bend really brought this home. Although our Verizon Jetpack showed 2 bars of 3G most of the time, the capacity was limited. At times of high usage (when many people were trying to load data through that cell) our connection speed was worse than an old dial-up.

Monday morning I rode the scooter into Lincoln City in search of free, fast, reliable wifi. I ended up at McDonalds on the north side of town and uploaded my blog post there.

Later I returned to town with Donna. She shopped for groceries while I walked across the street to the Ace Hardware store. It was a good, old fashioned hardware store. I could’ve spent hours there just looking at all of the stuff. I bought three wood screws for a whopping 21 cents. I needed two but bought a spare, just in case. I used them to repair the runner on my clothes drawer in our bedroom.

Chinook Bend RV Resort

Chinook Bend RV Resort

We took a walk along the river. A fishing boat came in to the dock. They had six pretty good sized king salmon.

Six Kings on the dock

Six Kings on the dock

Fishing from the Chinook Bend dock

Fishing from the Chinook Bend dock

Salmon names can be confusing. Stores (and some people) call these fish chinook salmon. When we fished for them in Alaska, they were always called king salmon and I still use that term. Coho salmon also have more than one name. In  the northwest and Alaska, coho salmon are often called silvers.

In preparation for Tuesday’s travel, I cleaned the windshield. Then I cleaned our new tires and treated the sidewalls with Aerospace 303 to protect them against UV. I loaded the trailer. I greased the ball on the trailer hitch. I was killing time in anticipation of the Chargers Monday Night Football game.

I watched the game in proper attire. I had a Chargers T-shirt under my number 14 Dan Fouts Chargers throwback jersey. It didn’t help. They got off to a fast start with an interception followed by a quick touchdown. However, in the second half, Houston overcame a 21-point deficit and kicked the game-winning field goal.

Yesterday we drove down the coast of Oregon. We stopped in Newport at the Walmart and picked up a few things. We also walked to the Chase Bank so Donna could deposit checks she received in the mail over the weekend.

The drive was one of the most scenic of our trip. It’s hard to rank the views; we’ve seen such beautiful country since we crossed the Missouri River. We laugh at Nally, our Rand-McNally RVND7720 GPS. She pronounces scenic as “sen-nick” when she tells us we’re on the Scenic Byway.

Nally rarely steers us wrong, but on this day, we had an issue. We were headed for the Cape Blanco State Park near the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. I wanted to meet up with two full-time RV couples that are working at the lighthouse – Chris and Cherie of Technomadia and Paul and Nina with Wheeling It. I’ve been following their blogs for a while and felt like I already knew them.

Back to the issue with Nally. She directed me to make a left turn onto a gravel road as we drove up toward the lighthouse. There was a sign for the Cape Blanco Horse Camp. I was uneasy as we drove down the gravel road. What if it’s a dead end? I had no way to turn around. After half a mile or so, there was a road leading to a small camp on the right. I stopped. Donna walked over to camp to see if we were on the right road. We were told to use the road looping around their camp to turn around. It was very tight between some trees and fence posts, but we got turned around and back out to the main road. We found the correct turn a quarter of a mile up the road.

The Cape Blanco State Park is a beautiful place. The sites are carved out of the forest with good separation. You can’t see your neighbor through the trees. It’s first come, first served. We arrived around 3pm and found most of the sites were taken. All of the sites are back-in.

We drove around the campground and saw a group of people near a wood shed. They turned out to be the camp hosts and gave Donna a map of the campground. This map detailed the sites, including dimensions. It took a couple of laps, but we finally found a site we could back into that was more than 50 feet long. Once again, I did not have to drop the trailer.

Before we set up, we walked down to the Lighthouse Hosts sites and met Chris, Cherie and Nina. Later, they joined us with Paul at our site for hors d’oeuvres and wine. We sat at the picnic table and talked for a couple of hours. It was really nice to meet the people whose lives I’ve been reading about for the past year.

LHCC

Today we’ll hike to the beach. Later we’ll hike up to the lighthouse for the grand tour. Chris, Cherie, Paul and Nina will be the tour guides this afternoon and have promised us the VIP tour. Donna also wants to get some bicycling in. We may have to extend our stay here.

LHPN

Looking for Glass

Accessing WordPress to update the blog has been a challenge this weekend. Our Verizon Jetpack  has a couple of bars of 3G at times. Other times there’s no connection.

Saturday’s weather was a big improvement. It was a little warmer and didn’t rain. We had periods of cloud cover, but it was a mostly sunny day.

We rode to town and shopped at the outlet mall again. We returned the Levi’s I bought the day before. We had lunch at the deli there. Excellent fare but I recommend sharing a plate. The portions are huge! Donna ordered a breakfast burrito made with two scrambled eggs, chorizo and potatoes. The plate actually comes with two burritos made with full-size flour tortillas. I had a french dip on a toasted hoagie. It was excellent. The au jus was almost like gravy.

After we ate, we went to the beach. We were on a quest to find glass art. There are glass blowers in Lincoln City. Many of the artists blow glass balls in the style of Japanese fishing floats. They participate in a community sponsored treasure hunt called Finders Keepers. Numbered glass floats and smaller objects are placed along a seven-mile stretch of sandy beach. If you find one, you can go to the community center and get a certificate of authencity and more information about the artist. They do this on designated days each month. Over the course of the year, approximately 3,000 glass balls are placed on the beach.

Driftwood on the beach at Lincoln City

Driftwood on the beach at Lincoln City

We didn’t hit the beach until the afternoon. We walked about a mile up  the beach and searched the driftwood, sand and grass but didn’t find any. I guess you have to be there early.

Donna searching for glass art

Donna searching for glass art

We stopped for provisions at the IGA store in town. Donna bought fresh halibut for dinner, some Oregon shrimp and veggies. We had two bags of groceries. I put one under the seat of the scooter. The other bag was hung on the hook between my legs in front of the seat.

Siletz Bay

Siletz Bay

I dropped Donna off at home and made a beer run back to town. When I returned, I saw Donna walking back to our coach. She’d walked up to the office (The Barn) which is nearly half a mile from our site. They had mail for us. The mail was forwarded here from our mail service in South Dakota. How exciting – our first mail delivery since we left South Dakota!

I figured out how the unions on the PEX tubing under the kitchen sink were coming loose. The faucet over the sinks swivels from side to side to allow it to fill either sink. The faucet mount had loosened. When the faucet was moved from one side to the other, it was moving the mount and flexing the tubing underneath.

Discovering the root cause of the problem was one thing. Correcting it was harder than I imagined. It required a deep 5/8″ socket, universal joint, two six-inch extensions, a ratchet and me on my back with my head and arms in a small cabinet. After many attempts to get the socket between the sinks and behind the tubing to the mounting nut, I finally succeeded. Job done!

For dinner, Donna cooked Pan-Seared Halibut Salmoriglio (an Italian garlicky lemon sauce), while I grilled veggies. It was delicious.

Pan Seared Halibut Salmoriglio with grilled veggies

Pan Seared Halibut Salmoriglio with grilled veggies

Sunday was very laid back. It was the first Sunday of the 2013 NFL season. Although it was a beautiful day outside, I was mostly a couch potato. I watched three complete football games.

For lunch Donna made a shrimp salad with the fresh Oregon shrimp and rolled it into tortilla wraps. Tasty!

Donna reorganized some cupboards and practiced piano (with headphones) while I was watching football. Then she went out for a walk and spotted a seal in the river. They swim upstream to feed on salmon in the river. I guess it’s easier for them to catch the salmon in the confines of the river than it is in the open ocean.

I grilled chicken kabobs for dinner during half-time of the last game.

Today I’ll work on a few maintenance items and pack the trailer in preparation for tomorrow’s travel day. Tonight I’ll be wearing my number 14 Dan Fouts Chargers throwback jersey while I watch the San Diego Chargers and the Houston Texans go at it.

Riding in the Rain

Yesterday was a typical September day in the Pacific Northwest. The cloud cover provided a low ceiling and rain drizzled down off and on. The air was so full of moisture, it made cell service and internet connectivity nearly impossible at times. I finally managed to get yesterday’s post uploaded.

Donna became frustrated with the connectivity issues. She stopped working around 10:30am and went for a walk. She has a couple of projects she’s trying to complete and needs to be online for them. When she returned, an hour later, the internet connection was a little more stable.

Low ceiling. This was as good as it got all day

Low ceiling – this was as good as it got all day.

I unloaded the scooter from the trailer and set up Donna’s digital keyboard in the bedroom. Several rigs pulled into the park and set up for the weekend. This is a popular fishing destination. Chinook Bend is aptly named. King (Chinook) salmon are running up the river. The river bends upstream from our site and there are many fishing boats working the river there.

Around 3pm, Donna was done working for the day. It wasn’t raining, but it was dark and damp out. We decided to ride into Lincoln City to the Tanger Outlet Mall. It’s the largest outlet mall in Oregon. I needed new jeans. I’ve lost weight and my pants barely hang on me. On the ride to town, it started raining again.

We went to the Levi store at Tanger. I have to vent a little. Why do old-fashioned Levi 501 jeans cost so much? Back in the day, these were working man’s clothes. The plain, old-fashioned 501 jeans were “discount” priced at $60! Most of the other Levi’s have a strange cut. They call them “below the waist cut.” I found a pair I could live with for $30.

When we left the mall, the rain was falling harder. Visibility was poor as I rode down Highway 101. Back at Chinook Bend, the rainfall was a light drizzle. I wanted to change clothes. My over-sized jeans were wet. While I was changing, Donna went through my closet. She found three pair of jeans I’d packed away. They were 34″ waistband size, just like the jeans I’d bought at the outlet store. I’d forgotten about these pants. Doh!

I set up our awning and we moved the picnic table under the awning. For dinner I grilled a small piece of pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes and onions.

Hot off the grill

Hot off the grill

Pork loin with apple sauce, sweet potato and onion

Pork loin with applesauce, sweet potato and onion

The weekend forecast calls for sunshine and warmer weather. It appears as though the weather guessers may have it right this morning. Today we’ll go to the beach at Lincoln City and search for glass fishing floats. We’ll also return the Levi’s I bought yesterday.

The view of the hill across the river looks more promising today

The view of the hill across the river looks more promising today.

 

New Shoes for the RV

It was raining when we woke up yesterday. By the time we were ready to hit the road, the rain stopped. We fueled up and headed down Highway 101 to Astoria. From Washington, there is a 4-mile-long bridge spanning the Columbia River to Astoria, Oregon. The bridge was built in 1966, connecting US 101 in Oregon to Washington. Prior to the bridge completion, ferries linked Astoria and Washington.

We saw freight ships anchored at the mouth of the river, presumably waiting to sail up to Portland. In order for freighters to sail up the Columbia River, a pilot needs to board the ship. These pilots are specifically trained and certified to navigate the Columbia.

Astoria is named after John Jacob Astor. John Jacob Astor was a German-born American businessman. He was America’s first multi-millionaire. He established trading posts in the Great Lakes region to supply fur trappers. He also exported fur to Europe.

He expanded his trading posts west as the fur trade grew. He built Fort Astoria on the Pacific Coast in 1811. When he died in 1848, he was the wealthiest man in America. His net worth at the time was estimated to be 20 million dollars. According to Wikipedia, that would equate to more than 1.2 billion dollars in today’s money.

His great-grandson, John Jacob (Jack) Astor IV, was also a successful businessman. He was the richest passenger aboard the Titanic and died when it sank on April 15, 1912.

Today, the site of Fort Astoria is the town of Astoria, Oregon. Astoria has a population of about 10,000 people. We passed through the town and continued south on US 101.

I anticipated an easy drive. We had a couple of stops planned before we reached Chinook Bend RV Resort near Lincoln City. Every time I expect an easy drive, there’s a curve in the road. In this case, there were many curves as the highway meanders along the Oregon Coast.

Our Rand-McNally GPS was constantly chattering, “Warning, sharp curve ahead” or “Warning, winding road ahead.” Many sections of the highway are narrow with no shoulder. So much for an easy cruise down the coast. Donna enjoyed the ocean views while I kept my eyes glued to the road ahead.

Outside of Tillamook, Donna pointed out the Tillamook Country Smoker. The parking lot indicated RV parking on the right. When I pulled in, I realized there wasn’t any designated RV parking. The lot wasn’t very full, however the cars parked there were spaced in such a way that made it difficult for me to park.

I shoehorned our rig into a space and we went into the retail store. They had two-foot-long smoked beef sticks for $1. We bought a few and returned to the RV. Donna thought the Tillamook Country Smoker was the stop I’d planned. I told her earlier that we would stop in Tillamook to buy cheese at the factory store.

The Tillamook Cheese Factory is a few miles farther down US 101. Tillamook cheese can be found in stores from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. The factory is run by the Tillamook County Creamery Association. There are more than 100 dairy farm families in the association.

cheese

Tillamook is mostly known for its cheddar cheese, but they also make other varieties. We sampled several cheeses and Donna bought five kinds, including a smoked gouda with cumin seeds.

We had lunch across the street from the factory at a small seafood cafe. Donna had an oyster burger and I had a crab melt. The crab melt was made with fresh crab claw meat on a toasted roll with melted cheddar. Yummy!

Before we hit the road, I phoned ahead to the Les Schwab Tire Center in Lincoln City. I wanted to confirm our arrival time. I’d made an appointment with them the day before.

The tires on our RV have plenty of tread and look to be in good shape. RVs rarely wear their tires out. The issue is tire age. Tires deteriorate with age due to UV exposure, ozone and general weathering. Tires have a date code on them. The Michelins on our coach are nearly eight years old.

Although they still looked good, I wasn’t comfortable with their age. Having a tire blow-out isn’t on my bucket list. I’d planned to replace them when we reached Oregon. I chose to replace them here for a couple of reasons. First, Les Schwab is a very reputable company with great service and reasonable prices. There are Les Schwab Tire Centers in other western states, but in Oregon there’s no sales tax, only Federal Excise Tax on tires. No sales tax is always a bonus!

It was raining hard with thunder and lightning when we reached Lincoln City. I wish I’d taken photos of the guys replacing our tires. Two guys did the work, all by hand. They don’t have a tire machine big enough for our wheels. They levered the old tires off the rim with large tire irons. Then they wrestled the new tires, each weighing about 90 pounds, onto the wheels.

Donna napped in the coach while the work was done. It took about two hours to change all six tires.

We checked in at the Chinook Bend RV Resort on the Siletz River around 5pm. It was still raining when I set up. We have a pullthrough site with full hook-ups and 50 amp service. With our Passport America discount, it’s less than $25/night.

Donna made dinner. She calls it “pantry food” when she wings it with whatever she finds in the pantry. In this case she made Chicken Tikka Masala from Patak’s jarred sauce.

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We’ll spend five nights here. Donna has some work to do. I have some relaxing to do. We’ll sightsee and maybe get a little fishing in.

Long Beach, WA

The weather here in Long Beach, Washington changes quickly. Yesterday started out dreary, with fog and heavy overcast. The fog was enough to interfere with our online connectivity. The campground wifi and our Verizon Jetpack were intermittent.

I unloaded the scooter from the trailer while Donna tried to get some work done. I cleaned the windshield and mirrors on the motorhome and just puttered around all morning.  While I was cleanin,g I noticed the center cap was missing from the left front wheel. What happened here? I have no idea how the cap came off.

Center cap gone!

Center cap gone!

Around noon we went for a ride. We stopped in the downtown area and had lunch at a fish market/cafe. It was still cloudy but the fog lifted and the sun was trying to break through.

Donna ordered a pound of Willapa Bay steamer clams. I vacillated back and forth over the rockfish tacos or rockfish and chips, I finally decided on the fish and chips. The tacos would have been healthier, but the lunch was delicious.

We rode down to the marina in Ilwaco. This is near the mouth of the Columbia River. Ilwaco is a hub of fishing activity. There are commercial fleets and sportfishing boats for hire moored there. There are also markets selling the freshest fish you’ll ever find.

Marina at Ilwaco

Marina at Ilwaco

We parked and walked along the marina. We made our way to Jessie’s retail store. Jessie’s is a wholesale fish processing plant but they also have a small retail market selling seafood that just came off of the boat. Donna bought a filet of King (Chinook) salmon and 8 large scallops.

Jessie's retail storefront

Jessie’s retail storefront

We rode back to the RV park and put the food away. Now it was mostly sunny out. We continued our ride up the peninsula to check the area out. Unfortunately, most of the beachfront is private with only occasional areas of public access. In the public access areas, you are allowed to drive vehicles on the beach! There are signs advising to stay on the upper hard packed areas. We decided against riding the scooter on the sand.

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We rode about 10 miles up through the town of Surfside. There are numerous RV parks to be found along the way. Most of them are just narrow lots with RVs parked side by side. We stopped and looked at one that had good ratings in our guide. Anderson RV Park has a great location, right on the beach and only a few miles from town. However, the sites are all back-in sites and very tight. I’m not so sure if this area will be a destination for us again.

By now the day was sunny with temperatures in the 70s. By evening it clouded up, then cleared again.

After we returned, Donna had a writing project to complete. While she worked, I loaded the scooter and repacked the trailer. I opened the awning to allow it to dry in the sun. When we left Burlington yesterday, I had to roll up the awning in the rain. While I was working, I had a cedar plank soaking to cook the salmon on. We had cedar planked salmon with lemon and Herbes de Provence seasoning with roasted corn on the cob for dinner.

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After dinner we walked to the beach. As we were walking, I realized we were missing what was sure to be a fantastic sunset. There were a few high clouds tinged with red. We couldn’t see the sun. We had to walk past the hotel and down a path to get to the beach.

I was walking quickly and started to jog in order to see the sunset. I wanted to capture an image of it. We were a few minutes too late.

Sunset missed on beach trail

Sunset missed on beach trail

I rolled the awning up when we returned. It would be wet by morning with rain or dew. When I entered the coach I felt a wet spot under foot on the carpet. Oh no! I looked under the kitchen sink and saw water dripping from the lines to the faucet. I ran outside and shut off the water supply. I relieved the system pressure by opening the outdoor shower valve. I found the unions over the PEX compression fittings were loose. I tightened them and turned the water back on. How do plastic fittings on PEX plumbing lines work loose? I checked the other fittings for tightness. We had a space heater and fan blowing into the cabinet under the sink and over the carpet all night.

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain drops on the roof. I’m glad I did most of the packing yesterday, I only have to dump the tanks and disconnect this morning. Today we are heading down to Lincoln City, Oregon. I’ve made an appointment at the Les Schwab tire dealer there to replace our tires. Maybe they’ll have a replacement center cap for the left front wheel. We also have a reservation at the Chinook Bend RV Resort on the Siletz River, just outside of Lincoln City. We’ve booked five nights there.  We should have an easy 125 miles ahead of us.

 

Deception Pass

I didn’t post to the blog yesterday. We broke camp in the morning and had a long day planned. Before I get ahead of myself, I’ll tell you about our Labor Day.

Our grandchildren, Lainey and Gabi, stayed overnight with us Sunday night. Monday morning I was up around 7:20am.  I tried to wake the kids up. They need to get in the habit of getting out of bed early since they start school this week. They didn’t get out of bed, but they were semi-awake.

We took our time and cooked up a big breakfast. Donna made huckleberry pancakes and eggs while I cooked bacon on the grill. It was another sunny day. We really lucked out on the weather.

Most of the other campers in the RV park were pulling out. I guess their long weekend was coming to a close and it was time to get home and back to work. As the park quieted down, we took advantage of the indoor heated pool and hot tubi.

The hot tub was the deepest I’ve ever been in. It had to be at least four feet deep! It was also very hot. I got out of it after about five minutes and felt a little dizzy. I think the temperature was too high. I swam with the kids for about 20 minutes and that was it for me.

My daughter, Alana, joined us before we went to the pool. After the girls were done swimming, they took Donna shopping. They found a western wear shop in Mt. Vernon called “The Bony Pony.” While they shopped, I re-organized the trailer and loaded the scooter.

When they returned, Donna had a new pair of cowboy boots. They’re quite fashionable and the price was within reason, especially when taken in context of the prices at the boutique in Kalispell, Montana.

After shopping, the girls all played a round of miniature golf. Donna was the clear winner. She even made a hole-in-one!

 

Lainey and Gabi miniature golfing

Lainey and Gabi playing miniature golf.

Alana’s mother, LuAnn (my former wife), invited us to join her and her husband,  Jerry, for dinner. We left a little after 5pm and arrived at their house in Arlington about half an hour later.

We enjoyed a cocktail and hor d’oeuvres at a picnic table in the backyard. LuAnn and Jerry love gardening. In addition to the nice landscape, they also grow herbs and vegetables. Our snack and dinner included many garden fresh veggies.

Later we all sat together at the dinner table. The food was excellent and we talked for a couple of hours. The conversation was great and it was a very enjoyable evening.

Alana took us on a tour of Arlington before she drove us back to the campground. I lived here from 2001 to 2005. The old downtown doesn’t look too much different, but the development on the south and west parts of town is surprising.

After we returned to our motorhome, Alana sat and talked with us for about an hour. We’ll come back this way again, but we’re not exactly sure when that will happen.

Yesterday I woke to the sound of rain falling on the roof top. I wished I’d put up the awning the night before, but I didn’t. The rain was intermittent showers, but it came down hard at times. I really don’t like breaking camp in the rain, but I didn’t have any choice.

We drove away at 10am. We exited I-5 at Highway 20 and headed west to Fidalgo Island. We crossed Deception Pass which brought us to Whidbey Island. The Deception Pass bridge is narrow and the road bends to the right when driving on to the island. My timing was all wrong. Just as we entered the curve, a big semi tractor trailer rig came around in the oncoming lane. He crowded us as his trailer crossed over the center line. I braked and moved over to right as far as I dared. I heard a light scraping sound just as I cleared his trailer.

We continued on down the island through Oak Harbor and Coupeville to the Keystone – Port Townsend ferry. There were signs advising reservations for the ferry. I’ve been on this ferry many times and never heard of making reservations for it.

There are 22 ferries on Puget Sound operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The ferries serve walk-on passengers and vehicle traffic. This provides a way to cross the sound to the Olympic Peninsula without driving all the way around. They also travel to and from many islands, including the San Juan Islands. It’s the largest ferry fleet in the USA and third largest in the world.

We made it to the ferry at 11:40 and there was very little traffic. I paid $68.10 for our 50-foot rig with two people on board. Before the ferry sailed form the dock at 12:30, I inspected the coach. I found a light scrape in the paint at the bottom of the front basement compartment. I think I can rub it out. Halfway across the sound, the ferry slowed. This was unusual. The captain announced why were we slowing. There was a big freighter crossing the channel in the fog right in front of us. It was a large ship, but difficult to make out in the fog.

 

You just make out the superstructure of a large freighter in the fog

You can just make out the superstructure of a large freighter in the fog.

We each had a cup of clam chowder from the ship’s galley. A few minutes before we docked at Port Townsend, we returned to our coach. I was surprised to see our Rand McNally GPS indicating our position on the ferry. It showed our speed at 14mph.

Our Rand McNall RVND 7720 GPS knows we're on the ferry in Puget Sound!

Our Rand McNally RVND 7720 GPS knows we’re on the ferry in Puget Sound!

We left Port Townsend and followed Highway 20 to Shelton. From there, we made our way west until we found Highway 101. This brought us to our present position on the Long Beach Peninsula. They claim it’s the longest beach in the world. We’ll explore the area on the scooter today.