We left South Bend, Washington yesterday. Our place by the river was really nice, but we had reservations at the Portland Fairview RV Park in Portland, Oregon.

Selfie by the river

It was very quiet overnight, but it seemed like everyone was heading out of town to work at 6am. The road noise was constant and I couldn’t sleep.

The clouds formed a low ceiling over the river. It was almost a fog bank, but it was more than a hundred feet above the river. We were a little out of sync, but we made our goal of departing by 9:30am.

Low clouds over the river

Our route took us west on US101 to Willapa Bay where the road turned south. We turned east on WA4 and followed the two-lane highway to Longview, where we hit I-5 south. Highway 4 is a narrow two-lane road with a surface that dips and undulates constantly. It seemed like the roadbed wasn’t properly prepared and the road sank in areas. This made it an uncomfortable ride. The narrow shoulder and lack of rest areas gave me no choice but to press on.

By the time I found a rest area on I-5, I had been driving for two and half hours. This is not my usual habit. I like to take a comfort break after an hour and a half or so and stretch my legs.

Traffic volumes were building as we approached Vancouver, Washington. There was road construction and signs warning of a lane closure ahead. People ignored the signs and zoomed along in the left lane, trying to gain some kind of advantage until they came to the barrier blocking the lane. Then they would come to stop and slice their way between cars in the open lane on the right, bringing everyone’s progress to a halt. It’s idiotic, but typical. A tractor-trailer rig about 100 yards behind us straddled the line, blocking the left lane. This forced the left-lane drivers to merge behind him. This quickly cleared the jam ahead of us and we were on our way again.

We crossed the Columbia River on I-205, then headed east on I-84 and found the Fairview RV Park on Sandy Boulevard. Check-in was very efficient and we moved into site 99 in a matter of minutes after our arrival.

Fairview RV Park – site 99

This RV park is large, clean and very well-maintained. Amenities include a swimming pool and exercise facility.

The Alpine Coach Association has a rally scheduled here beginning August 7th. We decided to attend the rally and registered for it in March. Then we decided to arrive a week early to see Portland and visit friends in the area. So I made a reservation for our early arrival here at the same time.

After I set up and dumped our holding tanks, I noticed the placard they gave us at the office showed a departure date of August 7th. I walked back to the office and told them we were staying for the rally through the 11th. They looked up my reservation and said it was two different bookings. I would be in a different site for the rally. I showed them an e-mail on my smart phone where I asked to stay in one site for the duration and their reply to my e-mail assuring me that would not be a problem.

It didn’t make any difference. At the end of next week, we’ll have to pack everything up and move a few hundred feet to a different site. This is very annoying. To move a few hundred feet is no different than moving few hundred miles. Everything has to be secured and slides brought in. Then we have to set everything up all over again.

Our set-up

I took the scooter out in the afternoon to reconnoiter the area. There’s plenty of shopping nearby in Troutdale. Donna and I also looked at maps of bicycle paths. They consist of roads with bike lanes interspersed with dedicated paved bike trails. We could ride all the way to downtown Portland from here.

Last night I grilled salmon with miso rub on a cedar plank. Donna served it over sauteed spinach with fresh white corn on the cob and garlic-smashed red potatoes.

Cedar planked salmon with miso rub

The salmon looks undercooked in the photo, but it was actually grilled perfectly.

Delicious dinner

Today I think we’ll look for a farmers’ market and kick around the area.