Author: sandcastle

Heading Inland

I started my day by trading paperback books in the library at the B & E Wayside RV Park in Florence, Oregon. I was down to one unread book so I wanted to stock up before we sit for a few days while our solar system is installed.

Then we checked out of the park and drove to the laundromat–which turned out to be just across the side street. If we’d known that we probably would have walked over yesterday. Oh, well. It is nice to be able to do all four loads at the same time.

Then we headed inland on Highway 126 towards Eugene, Oregon. This is another of those roller coaster roads that has railroad tracks on one side and a river on the other. It also has lots of asphalt patches making for a stomach challenging but beautiful ride.

In Eugene we went first to Arby’s for lunch. We bought extra sandwiches to have for lunch tomorrow while our RV is in the shop.

Then we went to REI to buy me a camp chair. We don’t do much sitting outside normally but we think we are going to the Escapees Class of ’08 graduation near Quartzsite, Arizona, next month and they are planning potlucks around the campfire so I’ll need a place to sit. Most camp chairs are too tall for me so they cut off the circulation in the backs of my legs. We found one that won’t do that as long as I sit up without slouching. We we also bought a camp stool I can use as a foot rest when I want to slouch. I can remember being taught that ladies sit with their knees together and their feet on the floor crossed at the ankles but I no longer find that comfortable and I’m now at the age where comfort trumps nearly everything else.

Then we went to WalMart to stock up on food since we’ll be sitting without transport at AM Solar for at least two nights.

We pulled into AM Solar’s facility about 4:30 p.m. Since we got there before they went home for the day, we got a quick tour of the hookups and amenities. It was nice to get connected before dark.

TTYL,

Linda

Parked

Today was a day to just be. We spent hours catching up on computer stuff and reading those sites you always say you will read sometime when you have time. We mounted and tried out the various seats on my Segway and decided to keep the air seat. We ordered our mail to be delivered to Springfield, Oregon, where we will have our solar system installed. I finished reading another book. Just the kind of stuff you do on days where you don’t have to be anywhere special.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 3 Pacific Coast

We left camp about 10:45 a.m. The sun was out but so was the fog. Weird weather for this Midwesterner.

We didn’t have far to travel today so we didn’t need to take lots of breaks but I thought you might like to see this one. This is called the Devil’s Churn. The waves come into this cut and turn every which way in their attempt to get back out again. If the water is flowing just right, it shoots way high up into the air. Trying to catch one of those big ones on film gave me a better appreciation for surfers trying to catch their big one.

  

I didn’t take a lot of written notes today because I was thinking about what it would be like to have a recorder with voice recognition software that could turn dictation into a computer document. It would be quite a challenge to do but it might be fun to make a record of everything along the coast relating to travel: all the parks, gas stations, restaurants, motels, etc. with the mile markers interspersed to help you find things. If I published that I think I would call it “Oregon Coast: Inch by Inch”. I’m not sure I could talk fast enough to get it all, though. There’s a lot out here.

We stopped for the night at the B & E Wayside RV Park in Florence, Oregon. That name didn’t make me happy since I read enough detective novels to associate the letters B & E with breaking and entering. It was an interesting park but I don’t think B & E is going to be a problem here.

The park is 95% asphalt. The RV spots are two wide so you can park your car/truck next to your RV. Every spot has a small storage shed in case you need to unload your car/truck before you can use it. Every spot has full hookups. There’s a large recreation building with lots of rooms for things like playing pool or working puzzles or watching TV or reading or having a party. I think the building must have been a house they added on to because the party room has a full kitchen and the bath back there has a tub. There are also restrooms in the front of the building and throughout the park.  In the one by us there’s a washer and dryer–one each in the men’s side and one each in the women’s side. We intended to do laundry here but we’ve gotten spoiled; doing it one load at a time no longer appeals to us. So I think we’ll wait another day.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 2 Pacific Coast

Sunsets over the ocean can be lovely. Here’s one at Nehalem Bay State Park on Oregon’s Pacific Coast.

  

This park has more people camping in it than I expected at this time of year so we dumped and filled before we left just in case we can’t get hookups further south on the coast.

We planned to stop early at Cape Lookout but there’s no ocean view there and it’s getting ready to rain again so we decided to go on to Beachside State Park where we should have a good view of the ocean.

Part of the road was away from the beach but we drove between a couple of sand dunes anyway. Dave commented on it being “beach away from the shore.”

We saw what looked like giant marshmallows. I’m sure they are some type of grain that was wrapped when it was harvested but the marshmallow look reminded me of the year my Christmas package from Mom included a little bag of marshmallows with a note that said, “You’ve been bad so here’s the scoop. All you’re getting is snowman poop.” She worried I would take it wrong but I thought it was hilarious.

Apparently fishing is a big day after Thanksgiving Day activity here. There are lots of boats out on every type of water. Most of them seem to have 3-5 people in them. Many have whole families.  

We stopped at a view area for a rest stop and photo op. See the house way down there? I wonder how often they get flooded? I wonder if they think it’s worth that to have that view?

A pickup passed us carrying more fishing poles than it had people. If you fish with more than one pole, what do you do if both get strikes at the same time?

The sun finally broke through! Happy, happy, happy.

Then we came to Cape Foulweather which lived up to its name.

In Newport we stopped at WalMart to pick up Dave’s prescription and a few supplies. This one didn’t have a grocery store so we didn’t get everything on our list.

We finally reached Beachside State Park only to see a sign saying they are closed for the winter! Man! We drove all this way to park on the beach! What to do; what to do?

Fortunately, Tillium Beach Campground in the Suislaw National Forest was not too much further down the road and we managed to find a campsite where we could see the beach from our driver/passenger seats. I stayed in my seat until it got dark enough I could no longer see the ocean.

We have no hookups here (they were all taken by people who got here earlier than we did) so we need to conserve power but I’m frustrated with Dave’s responses to that need. I asked him to play cards but he said no. So, I asked him to plug in my computer to the 12 volt system but he told me to run off the computer’s battery. I couldn’t get a decent wifi signal so I asked him to plug in the booster but, again, he said no. So I played a computer game until my battery got down to 3% where it threatened to loose its memory if I didn’t plug it in NOW.

In the meantime, Dave powered up his computer (using his battery, I admit) but he plugged in the booster so he could get a better signal. So I made him plug in my computer until the battery got up to 11% then he complained I had used up half the night’s electricity. So I gave up and went to bed at 9 p.m.

The next morning I checked the battery and the gauge says it’s full and the meter says 12.4 volts. Dave says we shouldn’t let it go below 12.2 volts or we risk damaging the batteries so we used about 2/3 of what we could have. It turns out his concern was that we would run out of power during the night so the furnace fan wouldn’t work and it would get VERY cold in here. I finally understood his worry. Then he spoiled it by saying we plan to replace these batteries in a couple of days anyway, so maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if they dropped below 12.2. Men!

TTYL,

Linda