Motor Home Upgrades and We head down the Coast back into California

Davis Cabinets did a great job on the work we had them do. We had all new wood valances put in, replacements for our existing ones and new ones that cover the rollers on our MCD shades in the front area. They also changed our sliding glass doors, which I hate trying to keep clean and finger print free, to beautiful wood ones.They also made a hew headboard in the bedroom. I plan to get a new bed cover as we now have more choices in colors we can use and aren't stuck matching the former valances and head board colors.. We also had a few other small things done and a few fixes and we are so pleased with their work.

We had pulled in to their place the day after Labor Day and left on Friday, back to the coast. We stopped again at Winchester Bay for the weekend. We went back over to a Seafood Market we went to on our previous time here/ We loved the smoked albacore which was marinated in pineapple juice. So good. Unfortunately they only had a small amount left. We bought up what they had and got some other smoked albacore that was also very good. On Saturday we drove over to some of the Oregon Dunes area which is just around the corner from the Harbor.

There were some ATVers there though I didn't get any pictures of them.
Our next stop was to Huntley Park, which is inland about 10 miles from the Coast at Gold Beach. We have stayed here in the past and really like this spot on the Rogue River.

Below are a few more pictures of the lovely Oregon Coast as we head into California on our way to the Jenner area.

Next blog will be our travels in northern and central Calif.

Relaxing on the Water in Oregon

We stayed a few days at Clackamette RV Park, a city park in Oregon City, near Portland. It is a small 35 site park right on the Willamette River, We got a spot right on the water. We have stayed here a few years ago. The RV Park is next to a good sized park and was a great place for us to walk with Savannah. There is a small parking area right on the bank of the river in front of the campsites and it seems to be a place for people to stop and look at the view or maybe take a break from work. Lots of coming and goings.

A rare Airstream Motorhome

Park next to the campground

We continued on to thugene area. We had plans to stop into AM Solar for a quote on some additional solar panels and other related things. While there we ran into Vicki, a woman we knew from Jojoba. It was fun to see her and talk about our adventures this summer. It turns out AM Solar is booked until December and so we are putting this project off for awhile. We also went to Davis Cabinets to talk to them about some work we want them to do. They are the ones who built our desk/table for us and do great work. We set up a time and will come back the day after Labor Day.  We then drove towards the coast on the road that ends in Florence. We spent one night at the 3 River Casino. Again no gambling but we did have dinner there. The next day we headed a few hours down the coast to a new spot for us. Boice-Cope, a nice county park on a bluff right above Floras Lake. It is in Langlois and is near Bandon. On the other side of the lake are sand dunes and there is a trail to the ocean. It gets quite windy and the day we got there, there were a number of wind surfers. It looks like a great place to learn and there looked to be a few on the water doing just that.

Savannah walking to the Lake

It was nice to just sit and watch the kite and wind surfers. Savannah had fun in the water and rolling around in the dirt.

Next we left our great new find where we hope to return to in the future. Our next stop is Winchester Bay which is just south of Reedsport. There is a lot of no hookup sites that are available on a first come first serve basis right in the Harbor. We have stayed here before. We were lucky to get the last of the slightly larger sites right on the water as someone had just left a few hours before.

Ship to the right of our site

Commercial Campground across the bay from our site

 We got some lovely sunsets which we haven't seen much of the last few months.

We continued to just take it easy and enjoy the views from our motorhome. The weather is still a little chilly. There are a number of lighthouses in the area but we had checked them out on past trips. We spent 8 days here including the Labor Day weekend  We met a nice couple who were next to us. They had a place in Ojai which they recently sold. They spent the summer here while he works on boats and will be heading towards San Diego for the winter. Fishing is big here including crabbing. We gets crabs all the time and gave us a couple. Joe got all the meat out of the legs and body and the next day I made some crab cakes with a tartar sauce and they were delish, After going crazy taking pictures in Alaska and Canada, I haven't taken very many in Oregon, especially as we have been here before and there are a lot in the blog from the summer of 2013. With good internet Joe has been catching up with work and we have been watching some  tv after no tv for most of the summer.
We left on Labor Day and made our way inland staying at the Valley River Mall. It is a great freebie site where you can camp upto two days. We got here late and are leaving early in the morning to get to Davis Cabinets first thing. However, we stayed here for a few days last time. The parking is in a large parking area in the back but right near the river and a bike path. There is a park right on the other side of the bridge and we biked through it last time. Pretty nice place for being in an urban setting and we even had a small view of the lake from the MH. We are now at Davis Cabinets and they are suppose to be done with the work we are having done tomorrow. I'll let you know what we had done and have some pictures of the work in the next post.

The Rest of 2013

Looking back, it is amazing how many great places we stayed in our beautiful western part of the US. May brought some of the more well known spots, such as Bryce Canyon and Zion where we have been before. Though this time we were able to get a campsite right in Zion for four days. That was neat as we could walk to the Shuttle that takes you around the park where we had a number of good hikes. First we had gone to the Bryce Canyon area, boondocking a few days near Red Canyon and about 15 minutes from Bryce and then sometime at the beautiful RED Canyon which is aptly named. We explored Bryce and were even able to hike the Rim with Savannah one day.

Winchester Bay

 

 

 

View from Red Canyon Campground

 

Watchman Campground, Zion

 

Zion Visitor Center

 

 

We stayed a few days at Sandy Hollow a little north of Zion and explored Kolob Canyon, which is in the northern part of Zion and a place we had not been before.

 

Some changes in when we would return to So Cal for doctor appts, etc gave us 3 weeks to fill and we decided on the Grand Canyon, which for some reason we had not gone to. We were very happy with our decision as we were amazed at how , well, grand it is. Pictures don't do it justice. You have to see it in person. First we went to the North Rim, which actually opened the day after we arrived at the campground at Jacob Lake, about 40 miles from the entrance to the National Park.

 

 

 

We stayed at another national forest camp near the South Rim, not far from the entrance for more WOW moments.

 

 

 

 

 

We went back to So Cal for a few weeks as I mentioned we would. We had gotten a phone call from Jojoba that a spot was available and decided it was a good time to get one as we were going to be in the area anyway. We went straight there, picked a spot and spent time transferring stuff from our storage unit in Irvine to the one on our lot. We also spent time with family and attended several block parties and happy hours in the short time in Jojoba. However, the road called and we answered heading up north by way of Hwy 395. We have traveled this hwy many, many times but only spending time in Mammoth and Lake Tahoe. This time we stayed at new spots. We did spent some time in Mammoth for the 4th of July but at a new FREE campground not too far from town. Alabama Hills near Lone Pine was a special trip checking out the placed where hundreds of movies were filmed. We spent a few days at a great little boondocking spot overlooking Mono Lake where we would like to stay longer another time. We got in some good paddling and hikes as well.

Alabama Hills

 

 

Tuttle Creek Campground

 

Mt Whitney in the background

 

Mammoth area

 

Lake George, Mammoth

 

 

Mammoth 4th Parade

 

Hiking at Lake George

 

View from Mono Lake boondocking spot

 

 

 

 

We hit a couple more new spots on 395, Washoe State Park, near Reno and Eagle Lake, where we had a nice private boon docking spot.

 

 

Eagle Lake

Oregon and Washington were our next stops for the rest of the summer. We spent some time on the Oregon Coast, at Brookings, a nice county park, Huntley, inland and warmer, near Gold Beach and back to the colder coast at Cape Blanco State Park. It was beautiful but cold and wind caused us to again head a little inland to Edson Creek Recreation Area on the Sixes River.

 

Brookings

 

Huntley

 

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

 

Near our Edson Creek campground

Day at Bandon

 

A few more days at Winchester Bay and then we headed inland to Eugene and then a return trip to Silver Falls State Park, east of Salem, OR for some hikes to some of the 7 waterfalls in the PArk.

 

 

View from our site at Winchester

 

Swimming Beach at Silver Falls

 

Silver Falls falls

 

 

.Our next stop was Elochoman Slough Marina, which is in Cathlament, Washington, on the Columbia River, Another site on the water. While there took a drive one day into Long Beach another to the Farmers Market in Astoria.

 

The Marina

 

Astoria Bridge

We continued north to the the rain forest area of Washington, Lake Quinault, one of our favorite spots, where we got the prime site with beautiful view.

 

Our view at Lake Quinault

 

Hiking in the Rain Forest

 

 

We found a great place to stay for the week before and during Labor Day. South Beach Campground, near Klaloch, was awesome. Unfortunately our week was shorten due to heavy rains and a lot of leaking inside our MH. We spent the long weekend at the Escapees Resort, near Port Townsend.

 

 

South Beach

 

 

After the weekend, we headed back south to Oregon stopping at a city park near Portland on the Willamette and a return stop to Ashland, this time staying at Lake Emigrant.

 

On the Willamette

 

Lake Emigrant

We headed back to California with a few stops, including 10 days at one of our very favor spots, Avila Beach, then back to Jojoba. We enjoyed the rest of the year at Jojoba. Christmas was spent at Kristi and Brock's. My nieces and their family had other family to visit, but my Dad and our kids, along with George and Flea were there for a nice dinner. The Saturday after XMAS, we went to Honda Center with Kristi and Brock to see our Ducks win yet another home game. We want the CUP, Stanley Cup, that is. They are playing so good. We really miss having season tickets.

 

Pier near Avila Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Day

 

 

Our tree

 

Waiting for Santa

We spent a quiet New Year's with lobster tails and champagne dreaming what 2014 will bring in new adventures. Stay tune to find out.

 

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