2008 Vacation to Oregon

2008 Vacation to Oregon

We left Phoenix a lot later than we wanted, 12:30. We learned quickly that with the weight involved the best speed we would be getting would be about 60 - 63 miles per hour. So instantly all our driving times were no longer valid.

We arrived in L.A. and went to the KOA in Pomona. We have stayed there before so know the area and where to buy what at good prices. I still don't have a high opinion, the spaces are small and the rates rather high. Next morning we went to Knotts Berry Farm. We stopped off at a PetsMart and enrolled Ginger into Doggy Day Care. We had a free coupon. The delays in getting to Knotts caused a parking problem, but we kept driving and found a close lot that had just opened up. We did the Bigfoot Rapids first, took over an hour in line. The lines were long and we didn't get to do as many rides as we would like. Sierra did get a lot of Roller Coaster action in. This time she could go on most of them by herself, and she did. Driving back to the campsite was an ordeal. I'm use to well marked freeway signs giving you time to change lanes and drivers who usually let you. We took quite a few unplanned side trips. Did get Ginger before PetsMart closed. Pulled out the laptop and quickly identified gas stations with good prices on our route. This would also be a regular routine for most of the trip.

Continuing a trend that would haunt us the entire tirp we got a late start to Oroville. The many summits and climbs to get out of L.A. really ate up the time, we could not get up any speed to climb those passes. Then we had the drive up to Sacramento. Some farms but mostly deadly boring beige hills. We prepared dinner in the cook box and plugged it into the power socket. We eventually got into Oroville and the Feather River Falls Casino (The KOA is next door). Very nice KOA, level concrete slabs and everything. We took out our cook box and ate a good hot meal.

Next day was advertised as a short drive day of about four hours to Gold Hills KOA in Oregon. We did laundry and finally got on the road about noon. Pretty country, but with really bad climbs. The climb up to Grants Pass was VERY long at 25 miles per hour. Gold Hills was a more primative site but with wonderful Blackberry bushes everywhere, as we would soon learn, most of Western Oregon has wild Blackberries everywhere.

Tuesday Aug. 5 and we were on the last leg to Waldport. We stopped at the Oregon Vortex. I had been fascinated with this place since I was 9 years old, and finally got to visit it. There was some weird things happen, some could be construed as tricks of the eye and perspective, but some couldn't. Off on the road again. Again we ran into some steep climbs but the easy drive from I-5 to the Coast was nice. Waldport is almost halfway up the state on the coast. It was cloudy and really cold. The roads were as I expected from previous coastal highways, lots of slow traffic and curves. We got into Waldport and set up camp at the KOA. A very nice place with the worse WiFi on the whole trip. We set up the awning and the screen room for the first time. Good thing, every night a thick fog would roll in and condense on anything not covered. Ginger had been enjoying the green grass and cool climate. The tight quarters inside the camper and the car she didn't like.

Wednesday we did chores, went to the laundry and then took the 2 hour trip into Eugene. Used the laundry there since we were spending a small fortune on drying clothes at the KOA and they just never seemed to get dry. Met up with our friends Paul, Christine and their son Jon. Ate at a Chinese Restaurant then the kids got to play in the park for awhile. We stopped at Walmart on our way out of town. It quickly grew dark and the curvy roads really made me drive slow. It was a hard trip back. When we hit the coast the Fog had rolled in. Sue took over driving the last hour. It was longer than an hour and we were fairly frazzled when we got back to camp. Granted the locals know their roads and how to drive in the nightly fog, but we saw some very impatient drivers doing insane things.

Thursday, what? Laundry AGAIN! Finally got everything handled and dried. WiFi at the laundramat was better than in the KOA. We went into Newport and had very good Clam Chowder at the Whales Tale across the street from the harbor. We visited one of the historic lighthouses and spent time on the beach on the way back to Waldport.

Friday, got a fairly early start (for us) at 8:30 am. This we knew was going to be a VERY long day. We changed our route and decided to take the coastal highway instead of all those passes. We knew it was longer, but a lot easier on our nerves. We stopped at the Safeway in Florence for gas one last time (best price in the area) Getting some fruit for the trip I noticed packages of Blackberries, I had to ask the produce clerk, "Do you really sell these since you can seemingly pick them anywhere?" She laughed and said yes, they do but she wondered the same thing. We really enjoyed the drive. Stopped to see some Redwoods and a family that was at the Waldport KOA stopped behind us to also see the Redwoods. We traveled on to Eureka to stay in their KOA. It was late but we had employed the cook box to have our hot dinner ready. The same family wound up two sites away from us. Sierra was delighted to play with someone she knew!

Saturday, another hell drive. We got out at a good time. The new route took us through more redwoods and we spent some good time in one. In Hopland we did another stop that I have wanted to do for a long time. We visited the Solar Living Center by Real Goods. Some day I want to go back and really spend some time there. Sue bought a real nice inside compost transfer bucket with a filter. She has been eyeing this for a while and it was actually cheaper than in the Real Goods catalog! Our new route took us through Oakland. That was one VERY scary section. As we passed the building that I had a chance to work in, I again thanked my decision to not take that job. The cook box was called in to action. We got into Bakersfield around 10:00.

Sunday, the last hell drive. First let me say I'm not impressed with the Bakersfield Travel Park. It was next to a truck stop. I didn't remember a truck stop the last time we were there, but that was 12 years ago too. We took some time and got a late start. We finally stopped at a produce stand, well, farm store. We bought some very good fruit, and one bunch of sour grapes in a box otherwise full of very good grapes. We made cheese and beef burritos and used the cook box to get them warm to eat for lunch. We finally broke down in Blight, ah, Blythe and ate in Dennys for dinner. We only ate out for two dinners and two lunches the whole trip! A semi truck had become a big flaming mess in the middle of the Mohave Desert, causing quite the delay. Finally, more dead than alive we got into town and home at midnight. Sierra had slept most of the evening so she was ready for first day in fifth grade.

Final Stats:

Total Miles covered: 3002

Average Miles Per Gal. 15

Thursday, August 21, 2008