Pacific City Thousand Trails

For our second trip we chose to go to Pacific City Thousand Trails, to take a break from the heat and smoke.  We have a free year's membership, so we thought we'd try it. 

The park was a huge disappointment.  After trying to get into two sites and failing, we finally found one that was easier.  The park is huge, with roads rambling all over.  There were few signs to guide us through.  The roads were in really bad shape, as were the restrooms. 

After settling in, we took a walk around the park.  The weather was sunny, but only in the low 60s.  Just what we were hoping for.  We found the indoor pool, the Family Lodge, and the store, which was closed.  There was only one short walking trail.  There were several service roads, but walking on them was prohibited. 

The next day we drove to Cape Meares State Park.  First we walked up a trail to see the Octopus Tree, a 300-year-old Sitka spruce. 

Next we walked out to the lighthouse. 

Our timing was good.  It was sunny, but just as we were leaving the fog rolled in.

We had planned to walk down to the beach from our park, but it was so foggy we decided not to.


The best part of the park was the many bunnies who live there.  They were all colors.  This guy was next to our site.

The next morning we packed up and left after breakfast.  We had to dump at their dump station, as none of the sites had sewer hookups.  We were so turned off by the whole experience that we've decided not to visit any more Thousand Trails campgrounds, even if they're free.  We looked at reviews of several other ones, and they all look terrible.  But we still had a good time and enjoyed the getaway.

Maiden Voyage

Our first trip was to Champoeg State Park.  After a couple of shopping stops we arrived at the park just after 4:00.  Unfortunately, we had not been able to reserve a spot in Campground B, which has much larger spaces.  Our spot in A was extremely tight and hard to get into.  After David made a couple of unsuccessful tries, a nice gentleman next door offered to park it for us.  He made it look easy, and we watched and learned.  We also agreed that next time we'll hold out for a spot in B.

The campground is very nice, with about an even mix of tents, tent trailers, and RVs.  Being the summer season, there were lots of families.  One problem we've found is that when families camp, they always have a campfire.  The problem is that the fire is very close to the neighbor's spot.  We had to keep our windows closed on one side because of the smoke.  The weather has been hot, so that wasn't fun. 

In the evening we took a walk around Area B.  Our first night was comfortable, and all in all we're really happy with the new fifth wheel. 

The next morning we had breakfast and then went for a bike ride to the visitors center.  As usual, the pioneer kitchen garden was fun. 

We had paid for two nights at the park, but after lunch we decided that since it was predicted to be very hot, we would leave after lunch.  We arrived home around 2:00.

The trip was a great success.  We found a few things that we need to get.  The first one is a bike rack for the back of the fifth wheel.  We had put the bikes in the back of the truck, but several times they were nudged on corners.  On the way home we put the bikes inside the fifth wheel, but that isn't a great solution.  We also need a step stool to put at the bottom of the RVs pull-down steps.  The first one is kind of far off the ground. 

There is so much storage space inside, and we have some ideas to make it even more efficient.  We are really happy with our new setup and feel it was a good choice for us.

A New RV!

They say the fifth time's a charm.  Well, I think that's what they say.  In any case, here we are on our fifth incarnation of life on the road.  This time we're in a 2005 Fleetwood Prowler fifth wheel.  It seems made for us.  Just two chairs, big windows, and a nice kitchen.

We hope to take it out in the next couple of weeks for a short trip to make sure everything works and that we have everything we need.  Then we'll take a longer trip in the fall.  Stand by.