Around Washington and Down to Oregon

Another catchup post brings us to South Beach Olympic National Park Campground. This campground serves as a sort of overflow campground to nearby Kalaloch campground. We think it is better as all sites overlook the ocean. We first tried to park at one of the sites immediately overlooking the beach but it was not level at all. We decided to park at one in the next row up but as Joe drove around to get to the spot I noticed he had stopped at the other end. I at first thought something was wrong but found out he was parked in our new perfect spot that someone had just left. What good luck. We are right overlooking the beach with a nice short path that goes to the sand below.

 

 

 

As this campground is first come first serve we are set up for Labor Day weekend or so we thought. More on that development later. Before we left Lake Quinault, we drove 45 minutes south to Aberdeen to do some grocery shopping. A lot of the small towns on the Washington Coast don't have much in the way of grocery stores, mostly just small food marts you see at gas stations. So we are set for the week. The beach is a great one for walking with all the drift wood over the beach, including some large trees. Savannah was so happy to be off leash and started running around with a happy look on her face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This looks like someone made a little shelter out of some of the driftwood.

 

But Wait!! Take a look at this "cabin" created by some ambitious builders.

 

Check out the window and bench in front of the cabin. Even the inside was decorated. A drink anyone?

 

While we were busy checking this out, Savannah decided to continue her walk by herself. I had to chase her down as she would look back at me and continue on. She is becoming like Terra, wandering off on her own. Well i finally got close enough to tell her to sit and she did. Back on the leash for now.

 

 

On the way back, we saw some fishermen and they were actually catching some fish.

 

 

We had two great days then our good luck ran out. First we were having a problem with our refrigerator that would just stop running. It looked like we were going to have to take the motorhome in to a repair place. It did start working again but we had another problem. After a couple of nice, cool but nice days, the rains came. And came, including inside our motorhome. We had a problem with a leak on the driver's side near the front before but thought it had been fixed. It was worse than ever. We had towels and plastic over the steering wheel and front area as it was leaking in several spots. As rain was forecasted for the next few days, we sadly decided to leave our beautiful site. We stopped at a repair place where Joe got some caulking material for the roof. The refrig is working okay now and the repairperson gave us some info on what was wrong and what to do if it stops working again. We spent one night at a Casino and called an Escapees Park that is in the Port Townsend area and found out they have some boondocking spots available for the weekend. That was a relief. It is only $5 a night so a good deal. It is a nice park, all on one level but surround by trees. Very pretty. This park, unlike Jojoba has a lot of park model units, not just motorhomes and fifth wheels. Some are very nice.

 

 

 

We met one gentleman who has a place in Jojoba. In fact, he is one of the original Jojobans who helped built the park. He is also the main chef in charge of the different events in the park that involve food. And Escapees are famous for their love of food I am told. We left on the Tuesday after Labor Day and headed south back into Oregon, trying to get away from the rain. We spent a few days at Clackamette RV Park, in Oregon City, near Portland. It is a nice city park right on the Willamette River.

 

 

 

 

Savannah found a nice spot to sit and watch people and boats go by.

 

We went into Portland to do some shopping including a Trader Joe fix. We haven't been doing anything real exciting lately, just enjoying the great views. We spent a few days at Lake Emigrant in Ashland. This is another campground we have been to before and is one we could have stayed at longer. Last time we were here it was really cold. In fact, we woke up one morning to snow on the hills. This time it is very warm, in the 90's. However our spot has two trees and so with shade and a slight wind, it was very pleasant to sit outside reading and enjoying the view of the lake.

 

 

The water is down here as you can see by one of the piers in the picture below.

 

We were shocked when we left and drove through the Lake Shasta area. The water level was way way down. Anyway, we are now back in California headed to one of our favorite spots, Avila Beach.

 

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Back in So Cal

Yikes, I can't believe it has been almost a month since I blogged. That seems to happen whenever we are back in So Cal. So this blog is a catch up of what we have been doing and a new adventure. First a few more pictures of the beautiful Grand Canyon where we spent our last day on a hike on the Rim Trail with Savannah. We have had a great time in both the South and North Rim.

 

 

 

We said goodbye to the Grand Canyon with plans to stop at a campground near Williams. It is a national forest campground called Kaibob Lake, where we had a nice spot with a view of the lake. It turned out to be a very short stay, overnight only.

 

 

The reason for the short stay and another big change in plans was a phone call we got on our way to Williams. We got a phone call from Joboba Hills RV Resort that another site was available. We thought about it and as we were planning on being in So Cal anyway in the next little while, it seemed to be a good time to go ahead and "buy" into the Escapees membership at the Park. Here is some info on it from their website.

Jojoba Hills SKP Resort is a fifty-five and older, membership community just 17 miles Southeast of Temecula, CA. on Highway 79 South nestled into the hills of this beautiful and historic area.

Two hundred eighty three sites, terraced into the hillsides on 140 acres of land, enjoy spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Just thirty miles from the ocean, our members and visitors alike enjoy the mild climate of California's coastal desert. Our little oasis is truly great place to visit.

 

Common areas landscaped to include ponds connected by stream beds descending the natural desert slope are a tranquil delight. All Sites have a concrete pad and a wooden storage shed. Many members landscape their Sites, personalizing them to fit their individual lifestyle. Our spacious clubhouse complex offers facilities for a wide variety of hobbies and activities.

This is one of the nicest of the Escapee Parks and being So Cal, the most expensive. However, once you decide you no longer want to be part of the park, you get your money back. So the only money you really pay is the monthly fee of around $250.00 Where else in Southern California can you live so inexpensively and in such a beautiful place. Once we got to the Park, we found out there were actually 4 or 5 spots available and we checked them all out and decided on one that seem to have the best views of those available. The best ones are of course the ones that sit right on the cliff edges with no obstructions of the lovely views of the hills and valley below. Those are hard to get. You can put 5 sites on a wish list and can then move to a different site if it becomes available.

Our New Home

View to our right

View to our Left

Note the golf cart in the picture above. One of these will be in our future as that is the way everyone gets around in this hilly area. We are really enjoying this place and looking forward to spending some of the fall and winters here. The people are very friendly and we have already been to a few parties in our "neighborhood". Our street, Quail'sRun has a reputation as the party street. We have had fun meeting some great people. We also spend some time with our friends, Nancy and Terry, attending a Park dinner and then spending time in their beautiful fifth wheel just talking away. The Park always has something going on, dinners, free ice cream a couple of times a week, happy hour on Fridays. Lots of things to do. Also this is a a volunteer park. The park was actually built by volunteers and just about everyone volunteers for something, You can join committees, such as financial, which Joe is thinking of joining, planning events, landscape committee, working in the library, passing out ice cream, etc etc. A great way to meet people as well as giving you a feeling of accomplishment and really feeling you are part of this community. We love it. We have spent a lot of time this few weeks here trying to get some things done before we take off for the summer. We rented a uhaul van to get most of our stuff moved from the storage in Irvine to our storage shed in Jojoba. We did have a few other trips into the OC as we had to get our mail at Norstan, and a few other days as Joe had a doctor and dentist appointment. We got more stuff from the storage on those days. We also visited my Dad and took care of going to Verizon for a new phone for him as his was not working. Kristi and Brock came over one weekend and we went out to dinner with them in Temecula. We also stopped at Kori and Nick's one day to see them and also get our hard shell kayaks that they were keeping in their backyard. Oh, and good news. We didn't see Heather and Ryan this trip but found out they are pregnant!! Congrats to them. We even saw one of the ultrasound pictures of the little baby. Exciting news!!

As well as the treks(1 1/2 one way to OC) we have been into town a number of times, checking out patio furniture which we will buy when we return in the fall and other shopping trips. As it is about a 15 or 20 minute drive into Temecula just to get to the first areas of shopping we have really put a lot of miles on the Jeep. Our last trip to the storage was to get the shelving. Oh man, wouldn't you know there would be a hiccup. We pulled things out of our new storage area to put in the shelving and found out it was an inch too high as the storage shed had a finished ceiling with a light installed in it. Luckily they have a large wood and metal shop with all kinds of tools for everyone to use. We took a part the shelving and cut then down a few inches and were able to get them installed in the shed. Of course this was a different day after putting everything back and then taking in back out when we got the shelving done. Anyway, it is now looking pretty good. We had gotten rid of a few things we didn't really need and took them down to the Park's sheds that are for the big garage sale they have in October. Items people don't need are collected and a hugh sale is done every fall with the profits going to the park that goes towards paying for the fun events that take place here. Well, that is it for now. We have a few more plans for the weekend and then we are headed for Fontana and J and L's, for some repairs that need to be done. That was another trip we took as we took the motorhome there to go over what we needed to have done. After a few days there, we will head up 395 as we head north.

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