Cool on the Coast

 

We are saying goodbye to the marina and are heading south on 101 by noon.  The dry camping area is becoming empty as the lucky  fishermen are carrying their bounty home to their freezers.

Our mission is to see the rest of the Oregon coast as we head to California to visit with hubby’s son.

Cape Perpetua is right down the road.  Devil’s Churn greets us, throwing the sea up into the sky.

The fog hangs over the ocean…..the sun shows up in the afternoon.  I decide this area’s need for caffeine is related to the constant overcast skies! 

The road closely follows the shore as we wind down the coast.  Every turn is a treat for the eyes…..I struggle to decide where to stop and take pictures.

There are national forest campgrounds here and we are looking for the perfect campground for the night.  At Eel River, right above Coos Bay, we find the right one.

This area is known for the great sand dunes….no, the ocean is not on the other side, it’s 3 miles west.  After climbing the dune we discover dune after dune…as far as the eye can see.

Bullard’s Beach State Park is a few miles north of Bandon, OR.  We have missed the egg rally in July but I want to see the park. 

Adjacent to the park, Nina and Paul are working at the Coquille Bay light house.  We stop by to say “hi” and get an excellent description of the light house’s history.

The setting sun lights up the logs between the lighthouse and the river.

Bandon by the Sea is a delightful little tourist town….. we head downtown to view art made from beach trash. 

After a pleasantly cool night at the state park we head south toward Cape Blanco.  There’s another light house…unfortunately it is closed on Tuesdays.  The scenery around the old light is magnificent but it’s real foggy.  Would love to see it without the mist.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

The whole area was so foggy…could barely see the ocean.

Thought this unusual rock looked like a woman holding a child!

 

Saying goodbye to Oregon……we are entering CA! 

Want to bring everyone up to present but just realized the California pictures are still on the camera!  Pictures will need to come later…..

We saw elk grazing by the ocean and many huge sequoias.  After a long drive we are at a COE park on Lake Mendocino.  Tomorrow we will be starting a family visit in Saratoga, CA and expect to be very busy for four days!

This is the first day in a week that we are not on the road….and more tired than if we had driven 200 miles! 

Posted from Star Bucks in Ukiah, CA!

Marina Camping in Newport

Hubby’s picture of the harbor

Our time in the Columbia River Gorge is spent at Ainsworth State Park where it is just $20 for full hook-ups.  Numerous waterfalls are just down the ancient Highway 30, a few miles from the camp.  Hiking trails are running everywhere.  We are back in the mountains and everything is green!

Columbia River Gorge

The Multnomah Falls, a 620 f00t waterfall, is our first destination.  Getting a good picture is way beyond my ability….this is only the top  of the falls.

 

 

Ponytail Falls

It’s foggy and feels like rain and there’s a Camping World in the gorge!  We need to replace our broken hitch lock and converter latch, both destroyed on the horrible roads.

One hundred or so dollars later we are leaving as happy campers. The two items are accompanied by a new rug and new placemat (both on sale) and two new LED’s for the side table.

It’s time to head to the Oregon coast!  It’s not far but it’s late.  The All Stays ONP app indicates a Wal Mart in McMinnville, OR  and there’s a brand new car wash next door!  (The truck and camper were washed in lower BC but only the top layer of mud was removed.)

It’s busy street next to the store…..not accustomed to so much traffic!  Our motor home neighbors are grilling steak in the parking lot!

We are warned that the Oregon coast is very crowded on the weekend.  The state park people suggest we try the Newport Marina and RV Park.

They are full on the regular sites but have space available in the dry camping lot…$18 a night.

Suddenly we are in the midst of another world! Our back window faces the harbor and from the side we are watching the fish cleaning table loaded with pounds of halibut and tuna.  A short walk away is the fishing pier where everyone is crabbing!

Crab nets

The young child holding this starfish says it’s for his Chinese grandmother who will make starfish soup!

Halibut

Red Rock Crabs

The beach is also nearby…….

There’s so much to do…not sure where to start.  Deciding to get some exercise, we walk to the beach.  On the way we see signs not seen back in the southeast!

I am feeling rested and enjoying the time with my husband.  We are taking lots of pictures.

 

Switching subjects…..

This is a foldup 7.5 watt solar panel designed to charge cell phones.  This one came from Canadian Tire in Whitehorse….had to wait until we were back in the states and had sunshine before it could be tested.

It works great!  (But much slower than an electric charge.)Sunforce  22007 Coleman 7.5 watt portable solar panel.

It’s at Amazon…sorry, could not get the link to work. 

Back in the USA!

 

This is our lovely home after 7 days traveling through Canada….I think this is the “before wash” picture but the after wash still leaves a very dirty trailer. 

We are traveling through the Fraser River canyon on our last leg through BC.  After days surrounded by forests and green fields, we suddenly find ourselves in a high desert, all brown and rocky.

We are in this amazing gorge…..traveling for hours and hours along the mighty Fraser River.  After googling the river I learn it is the longest in British Columbia, 854 miles.  It is running faster than any river I’ve seen.

We are heading for Chilliwack, BC and a visit to the Escape factory.  Our planned overnight stop, a provincial park, is surprisingly full and we land at Telte Yet Campsite at Hope, BC. 

I can see the Fraser from our campsite and it’s more awesome up close!

It’s less than 30 miles from Hope to Chilliwack and two items are on our agenda before crossing back to the States. We want to see how the famous Escapes are made and I am in pursuit of a 80 watt portable solar panel that is sold at Fraserway RV in nearby Abbotsford. 

We have some very special friends who own Escapes…..it seems natural to learn more while we are here.

(Hi! Jenny and Ian..Vermont friends!  And Ranger Duke, Beverly, Vicki and Marv… Texas friends!) 

Dave from the factory gives us an excellent tour…even though we explain that we are not buyers.  We look for Tom’s (from our Egg Camping club) trailer but it’s not completely hatched yet.

The new solar panel is found and purchased and we are heading back through the border.  After a 30 minute wait, we are heading south on 9 and I am turning the cell phone back on. 

It’s hot, the road is narrow and winding and we head for the first Wal-Mart we can find.  Dinner is at Panda Express, a short walk from the super-store.

The next morning we are getting on I-5, what a traffic nightmare!  But managed to get through Seattle without a collision.

At days end we check into American Heritage Campground just below Olympia, WA.  The plan is to rest one or two nights.  I’m exhausted and did not really know it until we quit traveling!

Resting place for the past three days!

Sailboat race on Puget Sound..Olympia harbor.

I am almost back to normal.  Writing this morning seems to help get me grounded again.

Looking at the trip back through Canada, we endured many stressors but the road conditions were the worst problem.  The stretch from the Alaskan border to Haines Junction is real bad.  This is where the engine light came on both going and coming back.  One must constantly be on look out for the huge dips in the road.

Another problem is all mine….I get very anxious when my husband drives.  The twelve years between our ages has not caused much difficulty, but it does cause me to not relax when he is behind the wheel.  So I drive and drive until I’m ready to collapse; then he drives when I no longer care if we die!  I hate admitting this…. he prides himself on his excellent driving.

Problem number 3 is the amount of rain we encountered.  The roads are bad, visibility is poor and the huge tractor trailer trucks are still running wide open!

Mosquitoes come way down the problem scale.  Most of the time we could keep them out of the trailer.  It was really just a few nights that the constant whine in the ear affected our sleeping.  I got really good at catching and killing them!

Problems with the engine light stressed me.  But we were so fortunate not to have a flat tire or a rock thrown through the windshield as both frequently occur on the Alcan.

I was an emotional wreck, in need of personal space, by the end of Canada.  We had been frequently angry with each other, often yelling to relieve the strain.  One time while David was driving, I asked him to just pull over.  Got out of the car and just screamed at the trees…..it was better than screaming at him!

I’m feeling better after a rest.  We are heading south today toward the Columbia River gorge.   Hope it’s a easy drive and we find some magical place to camp!

8 weeks and 8,662 miles

 

We said good bye to Fairbanks 10 days ago….and started the long journey back through Canada.  After two days of resting in Tok, Alaska, we thought we were ready for the rough roads and internet deprivation.  Did not realize what was in store for us!

Our first night back in the Yukon was spent on the lovely Kluane Lake…..we learned later that it was illegal to camp there.

All the rest areas had “no overnight stay allowed” signs but this one area was not marked.  And it was getting late!  Fortunately we did not experience any problems……this was our first night to sleep without other RVs close and I was a bit anxious.

Our next night was at the Wal-Mart in Whitehorse, Yukon.  A very short travel day due to spousal misunderstandings.  Will not elaborate!

We are back in the boonies of the Cassiar Hwy, for night 3. Unfortunately we chose a primitive spot on a mosquito infested lake.  Several persistent bugs would not be caught resulting in a very poor night of sleep.

Already feeling tired, now sleep deprived, and the topo map showed one lake after another on the Cassiar Hwy…..which meant lots of mosquitos.   We decided to abandon the route and go back the Alcan…….This was not an easy decision 

We had already voted to not take the ferry trip between Haines and Skagway.  It would have been a short ferry ride connecting the two towns and costing us around $172.  We were already experiencing difficulties with the engine light and losing running light covers on the trailer. 

It was the right decision.  I could feel relief knowing that we would be returning through a somewhat familiar road.  Wondered if there would be regrets later for not seeing Steward and Hyder, towns accessible on the Cassiar? 

It’s now day 6 of the return through Canada and we are at the Quesnel Wally World.  Last night was in Fort St John’s W.M. and the night before was on a frontage road in the middle of Fort Nelson. 

We are not playing tourist!  We are just wanting to get back to the States before the stress levels zoom any higher.

Rereading my words, I realize that I have not given an accurate description of our challenges.  Imagine driving all day over roads that disappear into gravel or dirt, traveling 15 to 25 miles per hour often in the pouring rain.  During the Yukon section of the northern rockies, we were the last car in a caravan following a lead truck through miles of construction.  Not sure of the altitude but we were socked in with fog and could not see anything in front of us.  Drove for miles and finally came out in the middle of more road work!

As we have worked our way down toward the border, the roads are much better and the sun has returned today bringing big puffy clouds to dot the sky.  The two long days of constant rain are a distant memory.  Now it’s hot for the first time in weeks!

Momma mallard and her babies….seen at a rest stop.

Teslin River bridge

The above was the original post…..slightly revised.

The heading milage reflects what is on the trip odometer today, 7/26/13, almost to the US border.

Compiling 27 fill-ups…not using any of the Canadian litres fill ups…. we are averaging 15.9 miles to the gallon.  Remember that we are in a 16’ trailer that weighs less than the usual 17 ft., pulling with a 6 cyl  Tacoma.

June 1-9

Miles through the USA to Canada…….2505 miles.

Expense:  $592 for gas……..$20 for camp fees.

June 9-16

Miles through Canada …..1847 miles

Expense: $718.75 for gas……..$72 camp fees.

June 16 – July 19.

Miles in Alaska…2452 miles

Expense: $632.24 for gas…….$431 for camp fees.

Some of the figures may be slightly off….the Canada mileage looks low….will compare with the return trip when finished.

We camp for free when we can.  Our Alaska camping fees were for over a month…$111 of the $431 was for the time we spent in Anchorage while David was sick.

This morning we are in Hope, BC on the mighty Frasier River.  We are very close to Chilliwack, home of the Escape trailers, and the US border.

Thanks to everyone for their support during this challenging, but wonderful trip!