Monthly Archives: August 2019

Pacific Coast to Pacific Crest

We’ve had very shaky Internet for the past several days, so I need to catch up a bit. Last Friday, the 23rd, we were still at Winchester Bay on the Oregon coast. We went for a drive in Midget-San in the morning. I drove us out Salmon Harbor Drive along the shoreline where we found more off-road vehicle staging areas and huge sand dunes.

To give a sense of scale to the photo above, many of the pine trees on the dunes are over 100 feet tall. In the photo below, you can see fifth-wheel toy hauler trailers on the edge of the grassy area.

Donna climbed a short trail up the razor-back dune on the beach side of the road and actually saw people on the beach! We haven’t seen many people on the sandy beaches of Oregon.

On the way out, we turned up the Umpqua Lighthouse Road which took us to – wait for it – the Umpqua Lighthouse! The lighthouse on the bluff by the Umpqua River at Winchester Bay was the first on the Oregon coast. The original lighthouse was undercut and destroyed by a flood in 1864. The rebuild of the lighthouse wasn’t completed until 1894.

As you can imagine, most of the people staying in the RV parks at Winchester Bay are here for the fishing or they have toys for the sand dunes. Salmon Harbor Marina where we stayed was split between the two, I think the off-roaders probably were in the majority though. It was amazing to see the number of toys some people had at their sites.

We walked to the wharf across the marina Friday evening and went to La Herradura Mexican restaurant for dinner. This turned out to be a great choice. Authentic Mexican cuisine – the chile verde I ordered was about as good as it gets. The green tomatillo based sauce was perfect. Donna went for the seafood mixtas fajitas – made with fish and shrimp. She was just as impressed as I was. We both took home leftovers.

Saturday we drove up to Reedsport to check out the farmers’ market there. After some confusion over the directions, we finally found ourselves at the intersection the webpage said the market was at. But, there was no sign of a farmers’ market. We never figured out what happened to it.

While we were in Reedsport, I stopped at the liquor store. I had a hankering to make a Manhattan cocktail. A Manhattan is easy – there are only four ingredients, plus ice. After looking at a few recipes online, there were only minor variations. I needed to buy some bourbon, sweet vermouth and maraschino cherries. We already had angostura bitters. I had a Manhattan back in June when we celebrated my granddaughter, Lainey’s, birthday. It was probably the first one I’ve had in 40 years and now I wanted to try another.

The liquor store didn’t sell sweet vermouth. The girl at the counter told us wine and beer were sold at the grocery store and we would find it there. We tried Safeway, then McKay’s, then the small markets by the marina without any luck. At the last stop, the clerk told Donna she should try the liquor store in Lakeside. This was five miles south of us. I was on a mission and made the drive.

The clerk there told me they have it sometimes, but he didn’t think they had any sweet vermouth at the moment. I scanned the shelf and found it. Mission accomplished. Later in the evening, I enjoyed a Manhattan cocktail.

Around 4pm, we drove across the marina to the car show. There was a good turn out. We parked on the wharf by BJ’s Ice Cream Parlor and walked through the car show. Once again, I wasn’t as enthralled by the 60s muscle cars as I once was – there’s only so many variations on the theme. It was mostly the unusual, the rare oddballs that caught my eye.

A few small cars caught my eye – a customized little British car, a Japanese compact entering the US market and an old American compact economy car – I remember one of these in the neighborhood when I was a kid.

1972 Honda Z600 Coupe – two cylinders, 36 horsepower – it was the start of something big

This 1966 427 Cobra was exhibited as the real deal. I have my doubts, but I’m not enough of an expert to say if it was a cleverly built counterfeit or the real thing. The real deal is very rare – many replicas are out there.

For dinner Saturday evening, Donna made pan-seared salmon with ginger and scallion topping. Delicious.

Sunday morning we pulled out of Winchester Bay and hit OR38 in Reedsport. As we passed the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area, we saw a herd of elk in the meadow. Most were bedded down but a few were standing or walking. We had driven over to the viewing area about the same time a few days prior, but didn’t see any elk.

For reasons unknown to me, Nally, our Rand McNally RV specific GPS routed us down OR138 where we hit I-5 at Sutherlin instead of staying on OR38 through Drain. We took I-5 north to OR58 and headed southeast. After weeks of being within a few hundred feet of sea level, we were climbing. The first 1000 feet of elevation gain was gradual, but it soon steepened. We gained elevation quickly over about six miles and crossed Willamette Pass at 5,128 feet above sea level.

Our destination was only a few miles from the summit. Crescent Junction RV Park told us they had a 77-foot pull-through site for us. What they didn’t tell us was the old park had very narrow lanes bordered by trees. Getting into our site was quite a chore, but we made it damage-free. The site also sloped badly with the rear of the coach low. I opted to drive the rear wheels onto boards to raise the rear rather than raise the rear tires off the ground with the leveling jacks. The parking brake works on the rear wheels only – if you lift the rear tires off the ground, the coach may slide on the jack pads. The camp host didn’t know this!

We spent five nights at the park and had issues with low voltage at the pedestal on Wednesday. Low voltage can damage some electrical components. Our Progressive Electrical Management System (EMS) will shut off the power supply to the coach whenever voltage drops below 103 volts. This happened several times on Wednesday. The camp hosts were nice people and the park was quiet, but between the tight lanes and uneven sites along with voltage issues, we won’t book here again.

On Monday, we drove down to Crescent Lake. There are a couple of campgrounds with cabins and RV sites and a resort with a bar and restaurant along with a small store on the northwest end of the lake. We talked to the woman at the store and she gave us a lot of tips about the area.

Crescent Lake from the dock at the store

Tuesday we got our bicycles out of the trailer and rode back to the lake. We tried the trail that goes around the south side of the lake to the east end, but it was bumpy with some steep climbs. It did’t take long for me to realize I hadn’t been bicycling in a while and the nearly mile-high elevation didn’t help. We cut the ride short after climbing a bluff over the lake.

View through the pines on the bluff overlooking Crescent Lake

Later, we drove out to the town of Crescent and found it to be sleepy without much to offer. On the way back, we took a side-trip to Davis Lake for a look around. The flat area around Davis Lake is mostly forested with lodgepole pine. The hills around us are mostly ponderosa pine

Wednesday we drove back over Willamette Pass – it was a much easier go in the Midget – and visited Salt Creek Falls. The Salt Creek Falls are the second highest waterfall in Oregon – Multnomah Falls on US30 in the Columbia Gorge are the highest.

From the paved parking area, it’s a short hike on paved trails to view the falls. More adventurous hikers can take the trail to Diamond Creek Falls.

On the way back, we made a detour to take a look at Odell Lake. Lakes abound around here! The Pacific Crest Trail crosses OR58 near this area. There are resorts with cafes on the west and east end of Odell Lake. At the west end, we walked down to the marina. A guy was at the fish cleaning station there cleaning a pile of fish. He told me he caught two-dozen Kokanee salmon in the lake.

All week, we had nothing but nice weather at Crescent Lake and the forecast called for more of the same, but the weather can turn in a heartbeat in the mountains. The skies suddenly darkened while we were at the lake.

A few raindrops started falling by the time we were walking back to the car. We decided to leave the top down – while cruising at speed, a few raindrops won’t enter the cabin because they’re deflected by the windshield. It stopped raining by the time we returned to the park. We covered Midget-San immediately, just in case. More rain came as we watched the US Open tennis early rounds.

Thursday brought more scattered showers and more US Open tennis on TV. It was an uneventful day, the highlight being the dinner Donna prepared. She made zoodles – noodles formed from zucchini and served garlic shrimp over them.

Friday we carefully pulled out of Crescent Junction RV Park without any mishaps. We headed east on OR58 to US97. I’ll have to detail the trip and weekend in another post. I’m still on a very slow connection and it’s taken me over two hours plus photo prep time to assemble this post.

I hope everyone is enjoying a great Labor Day weekend.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Offline

We’re at Crescent Lake in the central Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Internet connectivity is hit or miss. I won’t be able to update how we got here and what’s next until we move at the end of the week.

Double Trouble

Florence has a farmers’ market at the Veterans Memorial Park on Bay Street Tuesday afternoons. Donna and I drove to town around 3pm. Our first stop was at the post office where we had our mail forwarded to General Delivery. Donna retrieved our packet of mail sent there from Your Best Address in South Dakota. Then we proceeded to the farmers’ market.

We always enjoy local farmers’ markets and this one was small, but it was the real deal. Not a craft show or anything like that, but fresh produce, cheese and meats from local farms. On the way back we did a drive-through at the Fred Meyer fuel pumps. Getting diesel fuel in a big rig can be a challenge on the Oregon Coast. You don’t find any truck stops and most of the gas stations are small and too tight to maneuver our rig through. The location of the diesel pump at Fred Meyer wasn’t ideal, but it was probably our best option. We planned to get fuel on our way out of Florence on Thursday.

I loaded the Midget into the trailer when we returned. Rain was forecast and I didn’t want to leave it out and have to load it later when the meadow was likely to be muddy. The rain came on Wednesday morning as predicted. It rained off and on all day, so we had an uneventful day. Donna put the finishing touches on a post for her Unclutter blog.

On Thursday morning, Donna phoned Salmon Harbor Marina in Winchester Bay to see if they had any open sites. She was told five sites were available. We finished packing up and made the winding drive to the dump station. We pulled out of the Elk’s RV park around 10:15am.

The diesel pump at Fred Meyer had a couple of motorcycles in front of it, behind a gas powered motorhome. They cleared out just as we were pulling in. The diesel pump is located at the end of an island closest to the entry lane. This meant our trailer partially blocked the entry lane. We needed the fuel though. Our Onan 7.5kW Quiet Diesel generator is fueled by the same fuel tank that supplies our engine. The fuel pick-up for the generator is located about a quarter of the way up from the bottom of the tank. This is done by design – the thinking is, if we were boondocked in a remote location, the generator would stop running when we still had a quarter of a tank of fuel, allowing us to get on the road. Running the fuel tank dry with the generator in a remote area wouldn’t be good.

We took 73 gallons of fuel, so we were near the quarter tank level. The Fred Meyer pumps are standard nozzles – I’ve become jaded by the high-volume trucker nozzles at Pilot/Flying J where I can pump 50 gallons in five minutes or less. Getting 73 gallons at Fred Meyer took about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, a motorhome pulled into the Fred Meyer entrance and stopped at the fuel station entry, waiting for us to move. This led to another motorhome stopping behind him. A third motorhome showed up and stopped in the highway lane. By the time I was finished filling up, cars and RVs were backed up down the highway. Sorry about that.

The time it took at the dump station and Fred Meyer had us running a bit later than we hoped. We headed south on US101 where it’s only a 30-mile run to Winchester Bay. However, it’s a relatively slow run with hills and turns marked with 35-40 mph advisories. On the way, Donna called the marina again and asked about site availability. Now there were only three of the first-come, first-served sites open. The gal on the phone – who shall remain nameless – did us a huge favor by putting a cone in site E14, blocking anyone from taking the site. She told us to proceed to that site and set up, then come by the office to pay.

When we pulled into the marina, the camp host stopped us in his golf cart. He said the campground was full. I told him we were going to site E14 – it had a cone in it. I mentioned the name of the gal that blocked it for us, then realized I may have gotten her in trouble. He asked if it was done in the last 20 minutes or so and I said yes. He directed us in.

The Salmon Harbor Marina RV Park is really just a paved parking lot with marked sites, surrounded on the three sides by the marina on Winchester Bay. All of the sites are dry camping only, no hook-ups. Across the street, an RV park called Windy Cove is run by the county and it has full hook-ups. There’s also a privately run RV park called Winchester Bay RV Resort with full hook-ups on the west side of the marina. Lots of RV spaces, but if you don’t reserve well in advance, the first-come, first served dry camping is the only option. We’re still trying to figure out why the campground has “full” and “no vacancy” signs out when we can see a few open sites that are blocked by cones. Maybe we aren’t the only ones that had a site held for us.

Salmon Harbor Marina – Winchester Bay RV Resort on the far bank

The sites are very wide. We unloaded the Midget and dropped the trailer on the left side of the site, then I looped around and parked the coach on the right side. The site is surprisingly level although there’s a dip running across the center of it. Our wheels are equidistant from the dip and left us level!

We headed out in Midget-San to get provisions back in Reedsport at McKay’s Market. We’ll stock up now and also when we leave on Sunday as we expect to be away from easy shopping for at least a week. Reedsport is about five miles from the marina.

As we headed to Reedsport on US101, I noticed the water temperature gauge read unusually high. I thought the slow drive out of the marina plus a long wait at an intersection had raised the coolant temperature. But now we were cruising at 60mph and it should have dropped back to the normal range of around 7 o’clock on the gauge. Instead, it kept moving toward the hot danger zone. I pulled off on the shoulder and with the engine idling listened for the electric cooling fan. I didn’t hear it. I shut off the motor.

I got out and popped the hood – or bonnet as the British car maker calls it on the MG. Yikes! A coolant hose had loosened up and disconnected from the water pump. We were pumping coolant through the radiator and out onto the ground!

I was able to reconnect the hose and tighten the clamp with a bottle opener on my keychain. I told Donna we had to wait for the motor to cool. I retrieved two bottles of water from the trunk – er, boot – of Midget-San and waited. After a while, I removed the radiator cap and slowly added a bottle of water. I opened the second bottle and it only took half of that bottle to fill it. I squeezed the upper coolant hose a few times to work any air pockets out and topped it up. We were good to go.

I told Donna this is why I always scan my gauges periodically. In the motorhome, situational awareness is important when you’re piloting a rig 65 feet long weighing 18 tons. In Midget-San, this awareness is also paramount – we drive it like it’s a motorcycle, always defensively and assuming we’re not seen by other distracted drivers.

Before getting groceries, we stopped for lunch at Ocean Garden, a Cantonese Chinese restaurant. Wow, was it ever good. We both ordered spicy dishes off the luncheon special menu which included soup, fried rice, and crab rangoons. Service was great, too, and portions were very generous.

Back at the coach, I topped up Midget-San’s coolant reservoir with coolant and checked all of the hose clamps. After going for an exploratory walk, Donna was ready to make beef ragu for dinner, so she fired up the generator. It ran normally for about a minute, then suddenly shut off. I tried to restart it, but it cranked without starting. Oh no! We can’t dry camp for three nights without recharging the batteries with the generator. The diagnostic blink code on the switch flashed three times. This is the worst diagnostic code. One flash means “High Temp,” two flashes means “Low Oil Pressure” and three flashes means “Service Required.” So, basically three flashes only tells you it’s not high temperature or low oil pressure – it’s something else.

I opened the generator slide and checked it for leaks. Then I checked all of the electrical connections at the generator and battery bank. I turned off the circuit breaker at the generator to remove any electrical load and tried restarting it. It started and ran for a few seconds before it sputtered and died. I could hear the fuel pump run before it started, so I didn’t think that was the problem, although it acted like it was starved for fuel. I wondered if we had a plugged fuel filter.

I pushed the start switch a couple of times to run the fuel pump, then started it again. It started and ran. It faltered a couple of times, but regained a smooth idle speed. After a minute, I flipped the breaker to the on position and the rpms increased and it ran fine. I ran it for an hour without any problems. This morning, I’ve had it running for two hours without an issue.

After thinking it over, I have a theory. Remember how the fuel pick-up is at a quarter tank level. When we filled up we were at about a quarter tank. I think air got into the generator fuel line before I filled the tank. When the air bubbles reached the injection pump, it “ran out of fuel” and shut off. Once the air bubbles bled off, it’s fine.

The forecast here is for sunny days and high temperatures around 70 degrees. Yesterday was windy and it’s supposed to get gusty again this afternoon. The weekend should have calmer breezes though. Sunday we’ll head out east to the Cascade Mountains. We have reservations at Crescent Junction RV Park which is either in the Umpqua National Forest or the Deschutes National Forest – I’m not sure where the boundaries lie.

Oregon Dunes

After I wrote my previous post on Sunday, Donna and I went out to do some more exploring. We went south through town and crossed the Siuslaw River. The South Jetty area is part of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area in the Siuslaw National Forest. It’s a day-use fee area – you’re allowed to enter and drive through, but you need a $5 pass to park.

The paved road is about 5.5 miles long before it becomes a dirt road. In one section, where an off-road vehicle trail is by the road, there are tall, sharp speed bumps. They’re ridiculous actually. I had to use extreme care to get Midget-San over them without scraping the floor pan. I could see where they had used an asphalt grinder to lower and attempt to smooth the aggressive bumps.

South Jetty is the northernmost section of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. There are three other locations with this designation within the Siuslaw National Forest – Siltcoos, along the Siltcoos River and beach area, Oregon Dunes Overlook and Tahkanitch.

We drove to the end of the pavement and turned around. We saw a few trails going up the razorback dunes that separate the road from the beach and the Pacific Ocean. We stopped at one and climbed the trail. It was much harder than it looked. The trail was steep. The sand was soft and I sank nearly to my ankles at times. It was also much taller than it looked. I started out climbing the trail too fast and my heart rate immediately elevated. I had to slow down, catch my breath and plod up the trail.

On the beach side of the dune, the face stair-stepped down to the beach. It was much taller and steeper than it appears in the photo.

View from the dune looking back across the Siuslaw River and more sand dunes

Next we stopped at a parking area where people trailered in their off-road vehicles. There was a huge dune next to the parking area and dune buggies, ATVs and motorcycles were climbing up and down it.

It was a lot like the Imperial Dunes area in the California desert west of Yuma – but the sand is finer.

We headed back across the bridge to town. Donna wanted to stop at the Boardwalk Market again and see if there was anything new or interesting there.

The boardwalk in Florence is really a boardwalk – unlike San Diego

While Donna was perusing the market, I wandered away to check out the boats docked at the marina. There was a mix of boats – some fishing vessels, some pleasure craft and a few that looked like live-aboards.

During the day, access to the docks is open. This allows the public to access the fish market on the dock. At night, a key code is needed. I went down and checked out Novelli’s Crab and Seafood market. They had a large pen with live Dungeness crabs. They were mostly sold out of fish.

It doesn’t get any fresher than this – Novelli’s Crab and Seafood

The owners of Novelli’s are commercial fishermen. The fish is literally taken from the boat right at the market.

When Donna finished browsing the market, it was time for a late lunch. We walked a couple of blocks down Bay Street. As we passed our car parked on the side of Bay Street, we saw a girl posing by Midget-San while her friend snapped a photo.

We thought about getting lunch at ICM – a restaurant on the water with outdoor seating on a deck over the river – but their menu didn’t appeal to Donna. We walked to the Beachcomber Pub. I mentioned in my last post that this establishment was opened in the 1960s by the father of our friend, Scott Hicks.

Donna had a salad with shrimp and a bowl of chowder while I went for the fish tacos. The fish taco portions were large and very filling. I paired the fish with an amber ale while Donna enjoyed a chocolate porter. The food was good, but I think the fish and chowder at the South Beach Market in Newport was the best.

On our way out of town, we made a detour to check out the Three Rivers Casino. It’s a fall-back plan if we need to find a place to dry camp for a few nights before we leave. The parking situation there is good with large, marked RV stalls. They allow one night free parking, then you need to earn 50 points per day in the casino to stay for additional nights. I don’t know what earning 50 points entails, we might have to find out.

I needed to get back to our site. I had to set up the Traeger wood-pellet fired smoker grill. I planned to make the babyback ribs I bought at Fred Meyer. I had prepped them the night before – the ribs were well-trimmed already, so I only had to remove the membrane from the bone side and season them with my Memphis-style dry rub. By 6pm, we had yummy babyback ribs for dinner.

Yesterday was a laid back day. I mostly read while Donna did some work on her laptop. I made one trip to the grocery store and gassed up the Midget, otherwise I was a homebody. Donna has been diligent at practicing her clarinet daily. She’s hoping to get good enough to join the orchestra at Viewpoint Golf & RV Resort when we move to Mesa, Arizona at the end of the year.

Some of the trees around here have interesting shapes. The prevailing wind comes from the west, off the ocean. It shapes some of the trees into weird and unusual forms.

The weather has been consistent – warm and windy days with highs around 70 degrees – cooling to the mid-50s at night. Today the wind is supposed to be calm and rain is coming tomorrow. We’re hoping to get a boondocking site at Winchester Bay’s Salmon Harbor Marina on Thursday. We won’t know if one is available until Thursday morning. We hope to spend a few days there and then leave the coast and move east to the mountains.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Florence, Oregon

We settled in to our site at the Florence Elk’s RV park Thursday afternoon. I got Midget-San out of the trailer and covered it, then set up the Weber Q grill. Donna took a walk to reconnoiter the area and found a trail to Mercer Lake.

We have 50amp electrical service and fresh water at this site, but no sewer, so we’re being careful about the amount of gray water we put down the drain.

Donna manned the grill and cooked chicken thighs for dinner. She served it with sweet potato mash and roasted Brussel sprouts.

After dinner, I sat outside and puffed a cigar and caught a nice sunset through the trees.

Sunset through the trees on a clear night

I don’t take photos of breakfast plates usually, but Friday morning, Donna outdid herself. She cooked up a zucchini frittata with cherry tomatoes and served it with sausage patties and sliced avocado. A great start to the day.

After lunch, we drove south a couple of miles on US101 and turned off at Heceta Beach Road. We wandered west to a beach access, but didn’t stop there. We continued south on Rhododendron Drive through a beautiful neighborhood until we found public parking and beach access at the north jetty. This jetty marks the mouth of the Siuslaw (SIGH-you-slaw) River.

The Siuslaw River originates in the coastal mountain range east of Florence and passes south of town before it turns north and finally bends back west where it meets the Pacific Ocean.

Siuslaw River meets the Pacific – south jetty on the left, north jetty on the right

Looking upriver from North Jetty Park, the Siuslaw River bends south to Florence

The beaches in the area have fine, powdery sand held together in places with clumps of American Beach grass. The wind shapes dunes in the sand – some of them are quite large. We heard about sand boarding the dunes – it’s like snowboarding, but on sand dunes.

Sandy trail bordered by beach grass at the north jetty

The backside of some dunes – the windward side faces the ocean and has less beach grass

The population of Florence is about 10,000, but the town sprawls and feels larger. We drove to the Old Town district of Florence and cruised Bay Street, right on the water front. We parked at the public lot near the Boardwalk Market and got out to walk the market. The market is usually open on Saturdays and Sundays, but we were told that some stalls are open on Fridays in August. There’s also a marina on the river here and some nice restaurants. I’ll have to stop in the Beachcomber Pub next time – this pub was established in the 1960s by the father of our friend, Scott Hicks. Donna bought some yellow nectarines and cherry tomatoes sourced from northern California. The fruit was fresh and tasty.

Before we headed back, we made a stop at Fred Meyer – a northwest grocery store that also carries some household goods and clothing. Donna wanted to restock the pantry and we found some good deals. We bought T-bone steaks and I found a nice looking rack of babyback ribs for only $1.77/lb – deal! We had the steaks with baked potato and asparagus Friday evening.

On Friday afternoon, a guy with a travel trailer pulled into the meadow. He was looking at the site next to us and wanted to move the picnic table. I went out to help him. We discussed the best way to get his trailer where he wanted it. He told me wasn’t too good at reversing his trailer. I directed him into the site. He was right, he wasn’t too good at backing the trailer in. I instructed him by telling him which way to turn the steering wheel. The mistake he kept making – along with turning the wheel in the wrong direction – was turning the steering wheel too quickly. He would go from full lock one direction and then when I said to start straightening out, he would go to full lock in the other direction. After a few false attempts, we got him positioned.

Saturday we drove back north on US101 to sightsee. We went up around 15 miles to Ten Mile Creek and parked in a small lot at Stonefield Beach. There’s a short, sandy trail there to beach. The beach was nearly empty. One girl hiked in ahead of us with a beach chair and I could see a few people nearly a quarter of mile up the beach. It seems strange to me – I’m used to seeing crowds on the beach in southern California.

We made a few stops on the way back south. The first stop was at a scenic turnout just north of Sea Lion Caves. Looking to the north, the view included a small beach area bordered by cliffs at Devil’s Elbow and in the distance was Heceta Head with a lighthouse on the point.

Heceta Head lighthouse on the point on the left, Devil’s Elbow and beach

At the turnout, a young guy parked his old car by us. It was a 1952 Chevrolet DeLuxe painted pearl white. The pearlescent finish reminded me of the paint found on some Audi’s in the early ’90s. The guy said he liked old cars and Donna remarked to me that with his clothing and hair style, he looked like he just came from the ’50s.

Our next stop was at Sea Lion Caves. There’s a gift shop there and also you can buy tickets to ride an elevator down to the cave – billed as America’s largest sea cave. Tickets are $14 for an adult, $13 for seniors. Because the sea lions are out to sea, they were discounting tickets and offering a free return ticket for any time in the next 12 months. We opted not to go down.

View of beaches to the south of Sea Lion Caves

On Saturday evening, Donna made shrimp with peppers, tomatoes, basil and feta cheese. I had my dish over whole wheat spaghetti and Donna served hers over spaghetti squash.

The shrimp was another deal at Fred Meyer. Donna bought extra large wild Argentine red shrimp, peeled and de-veined for $9.99/lb. Have you noticed our new bowls? They were a gift from a member of the Buy Nothing group in Arlington – a set of 4 porcelain bowls still in the box.

The weather here has been more agreeable than Newport. It’s drier with warm, clear afternoons in the low 70s. The nights are cooler, dropping into the mid-50s. The afternoons have been windy though. Winds are supposed to continue with gusts up to 24mph today, then diminish tomorrow.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Yellow Submarine

Most of the fisherman in our section of the Newport Marina RV Park left for a few days this week. They went home in their trucks but left their fifth-wheel trailers, gear and boats here. Although they pay for six months of RV site and dockage, I guess they have to go home and take care of things from time to time. They’re a very friendly group of guys with a great sense of humor as evidenced by the trailer one of them has set up to vacuum seal and freeze fish filets.

I expect we’ll see the guys this afternoon. Donna made zucchini nut muffins for them yesterday morning.

Tuesday we drove a short distance to the Hatfield Marine Science Center. It’s a research center operated by Oregon State University and various fish and wildlife agencies. It’s an interactive museum of sorts with most of the interactive displays designed to be educational for children. Admittance is free – $5 donation suggested – and it was a worthwhile visit.

A yellow submarine is on display in front of the center. It’s a 4,000-pound, two-man submarine that can dive up to 350 feet and stay submerged for up to four hours. This electric-powered sub was used in 1985 to search for the steamship SS Governor which sunk near Port Townsend, Washington in 1921. It was able to locate it and provide video footage.

We left the Hatfield Marine Science Center and took a drive down Ferry Slip Road to the Wolf Tree Brewery Taproom. We looked for it once before and missed it. Donna found it on one of her walks and I needed to wet my whistle. It’s in a new building off the beaten path a bit at Wilder Corner. They had a nice amber ale that I enjoyed.

We took a side trip through Aquarium Village to have a look around and found it to be sleepy with a few small businesses and a cafe. I thought there would be more to it.

Wednesday morning we woke up to wet surroundings. It wasn’t really raining, but a heavy mist was in the air and moisture collected on the coach, the covered Midget and on the ground. By late morning, it had burned off and the sun came out, drying everything. We walked about three quarters of a mile south to the South Beach Fish Market right on the west side of US101. This is a small market and cafe – it was highly recommended for fresh seafood and great chowder by the guys in the RV park.

We’ve noticed the place looked busy every time we passed by. Tuesday was no exception. We got there a little past noon and there was a line waiting to get to the counter inside to order food.

The line to the counter runs all the way out the door

There was a cook shack outside where a guy was boiling crabs. Inside, behind the fresh fish case, they take orders at the counter. A guy was working a fryer non-stop trying to keep up with the volume of orders. We stood in line for about 15 minutes. I ordered the fish and chips – made with the catch of the day – ling cod – and a cup of chowder. Donna had the fish sandwich, also made with the catch of the day. All of the fish was very fresh.

We waited another 15 or 20 minutes before our order came up. They had tables inside as well as several outdoor picnic tables. We decided to dine al fresco at one of the roadside tables. The fish and the chowder were both excellent – far better than what we had in Depoe Bay. The ling cod was obviously fresh and lightly battered. Donna discarded the bread from her sandwich and had a tasty fish filet. It was worth the wait.

Last night we had another seafood dish. Our neighbor, Les, gave us filets of smoked salmon and smoked steelhead – a little over half a pound of each. Donna made a pasta salad with garbanzo bean rotini and grilled peppers, onions and zucchini, then added chunks of the smoked fish along with capers and a ginger white balsamic vinegar. Tasty!

Pasta salad with smoked salmon and steelhead

All of the rich seafood I’ve been eating is starting to get to me. I feel a little bloated and need to watch what I eat in the new few days.

Today looks like another partly cloudy day with the temperature reaching the upper 60s. We need to run a couple of errands and buy some groceries this afternoon. I’ll pack the grill and chairs and prep for travel. I’m hoping it’s not too misty tomorrow morning. I’ll hook up the trailer, load the Midget and we’ll continue south on US101. Tomorrow’s destination is another small coastal Oregon town – Florence – about 50 miles from here. We have a reservation at the Elk’s campground north of town – 50 amp service and fresh water but no sewer hook-up.

UPDATE – Wow, did I ever screw up. Right after I saved the draft of the post above, a few minutes before 11am, the camp host stopped by and asked Donna what time we were pulling out. Wait, what? Donna said we would be out Friday morning. He said his list shows us leaving today. I checked my receipt and calendar – sure enough, we were due to leave today, Thursday. Check out time is noon.

I called the office to see if we could extend a day – no go. The site was already booked. This is the first time I’d ever made a mistake on a check-out date. We quickly packed up and pulled out of the site at 11:55am. It took another 20 minutes to load and secure the Midget and we were on our way. Like most of US101 along the coast, the drive was scenic. The road gets twistier once we were south of Seal Rock. Many of the curves have 30mph speed advisories.

We arrived at the Florence Elks RV park about four miles north of town at 1:30pm. We were directed into a site in what they call their overflow meadow. It’s in a sandy clearing in a forest of cedar and other conifers. The sites are only roughly delineated and we have more than enough room for the coach without dropping the trailer and can park the Midget alongside. We also have 50amp electrical service and fresh water, no sewer hook up. Our Verizon signal is fairly good and the Dish satellite has good reception. We’re booked here for a week but we may be able to extend.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Depoe Bay and Verizon Wins

We pulled the car cover off of Midget-San around 11am Monday and headed out. I saw a guy checking the car out just before we left. As we drove out of the RV park, we passed him with a group of people and Donna heard him say, “It sounds just like mine.” We get a lot of comments on the MG Midget – even more than the Spyder drew.

We headed north on US101 – our destination was the little town of Depoe Bay (pronounced DE-poh). The population of the town is around 1,500 people. The story on the name of town had to do with a native American that was originally deeded the 1.8-square-mile plot of land – he was known as Depot Charlie or Charles Depot. Later, the family changed the name to DePoe.

The town claims to have the world’s smallest navigable harbor. We drove past the Coast Guard Station at the harbor and after a couple of loops of the parking lot, we found parking near the Dockside Charters. Midget-San drew a few more comments there – in fact a couple parked next to us wanted to take a picture and she told us her parents had a 1964 MG Midget. The boat charters out of Depoe Bay are both fishing charters and whale watching excursions. Whales abound on this stretch of the Oregon Coast.

We walked along the small marina and watched as a boat sailed out of the narrow harbor entrance. US101 passes over the harbor entrance.

Boat heading out of the narrow entrance under US101

Narrow passage to/from the harbor on the west side of US101

Donna and I drove away from the harbor and found public parking at the corner of Collins Street and SW Conway Avenue. We walked a couple of blocks and crossed US101 to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) Whale Watching Center. The center offers free admission and is staffed by knowledgeable people. It has several informational placards describing the area and the fish, birds, marine mammals and flora of the area. It also has several pair of of binoculars tethered to the window sills for spotting whales. We found a couple of gray whales offshore.

View to the north from the OPRD Whale Watching Center

We were getting hungry so we walked along US101 and took a look at some of the eateries. We settled on The Chowder Bowl. I think we could have done better. Donna ordered steamed clams and salad and was disappointed to find the clams in a garlic broth that was extremely salty. I ordered the halibut fish and chips and thought the breading was too heavy. The cup of chowder that came with it was good though.

After lunch, we drove back south on US101 and took the Otter Crest Loop cut-off a couple of miles out of town. This is a scenic loop that twists and turns along bluffs over the beaches. A large part of it is one-way only – southbound. We stopped at the Lookout and Observatory at the Otter Crest State Scenic Viewpoint. The observatory section was a small room with windows facing the ocean. They also had binoculars available and we saw a whale a few hundred yards out.

We walked out to the lookout point and saw the whale again and had great view of the coastline south to Yaquina Head.

Yaquina Head in the distance extending to the far right of the photo

We continued driving the loop until it rejoined US101. We went south past Beverly Beach and turned off at Yaquina Head Lighthouse Drive near Agate Beach. The lighthouse is located on state park land and there’s a seven-dollar entrance fee. We decided to pass on that and came back home to the RV park at the Port of Newport.

On another subject, I posted a while ago about the mysterious rate of data usage lately on our Verizon data plan. We have a 30GB allowance of high speed data per month giving us great internet access. For the last few years, 30GB has been enough for our usage. We hadn’t changed any habits, but suddenly, our rate of data usage started going up resulting in overage charges in the last couple of months. I can’t figure out how that happened. Meanwhile, Verizon has been bombarding me offers to change my data plan.

Last week, on Friday, we were on the last two days of our data cycle and only had about 1GB left before we faced another overage charge. We weren’t likely to get by on 1GB. A week ago Monday, Verizon rolled out new data plans. I don’t think they’re actually new – it seems like they just streamlined the number of plans and changed some of the plan names. But the thing that caught my attention was the lack of contracts. That’s right. The new data plans do not require long-term contracts. You can change your data plan at any time you wish without penalty.

Contacts were one reason I’ve been hesitant to change. The other concern is throttling of “unlimited” plans. I don’t know how much slower the connection gets. I looked the plans over and decided Verizon wins – I was making a change to their new plan. As I went through the process, there was one warning though. It told me once I changed, our old plan would not be available again and we could not change back – the only changes allowed would be to one of the current offerings at the time.

I made the change Friday evening. The funny thing is, I’m continuing to monitor our usage and since the new plan started, we are using data at about the rate we used to use – just under 1GB per day. Hmmm…like I said, Verizon wins. I still can’t explain how our rate of data usage suddenly increased while Verizon was encouraging me to migrate to their new plan.

The forecast for the rest of the week looks good with mostly sunny days and highs in the upper 60s. This afternoon Donna has a dentist appointment. A crown came off one of her molars last week. She attempted to reinstall it with an over-the-counter cement, but it wouldn’t stay put. So she’ll have it checked and re-secured by a dentist here in town.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Newport – Seafood City

We pulled out of Tillamook around 11am Friday and continued our journey south on US101 along the Oregon coast. It’s such a scenic drive. We drove past the Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge and went through Lincoln City. Back in the early ’90s, we used to hold annual Volkswagen dealer meetings there at the Salishan Lodge – a great full-service resort with a golf course. The route is quite hilly with several short, steep grades and steep downgrades. Most of it is heavily forested on the east side and rocky on the coastline. There are some stunning views from the tops of bluffs.

South of Depoe Bay there’s a steep climb followed by a long descent into Newport. Before we left Tillamook I asked Donna for the address of the RV park. I programmed it into Nally, our Rand McNally RVND7720 GPS. It was a simple route – South on US101 to Newport, but having the GPS is helpful with speed limit warnings and also it will advise us if we are overweight for weight-limited bridges or too tall for overhead clearance.

As we drove into Newport and headed toward Yaquina Bay, the GPS display zoomed in to our destination. I glanced at it and thought it didn’t seem right. I was sure we had to cross the bridge to the south side of the bay, but the route was taking me to the north side. I wondered what Nally knew that I didn’t know.

We went past the Elks Lodge down a steep hill and entered a busy street with apartment complexes. I saw the RV park on the left ahead, but it didn’t seem right. I pulled into the RV drive and had a sinking feeling when I read a sign that said “Dead End – No Turn Around.” What? Who would make an RV park with no way to turn a big rig around.

I figured out what had happened. When we were looking for a park to reserve in Newport, Donna called several places. As we were leaving Tillamook, she looked up the address for the park name she had written down, not realizing that it was not where we made our reservation.

Now I was in trouble. I had to back the trailer into a busy, relatively narrow street and get it turned 90 degrees so I could make a two-point exit. Donna got out and directed traffic. It was more like a six-point turn, but we got it done and headed back to US101. I put the correct destination into Nally and we drove across the Yaquina Bay Bridge and found the Port of Newport RV Park and Marina.

The port has two RV park locations. One is right at the marina and is paved with 50-amp full hook ups. It also has some paved dry camping sites. The other location is a couple of blocks away. It’s an older dirt and gravel park that was once privately owned, but the Port of Newport owns and operates it now. It has 30-amp full hook-up sites and that’s where we managed to reserve a site for a week.

I thought I had enough room to back the trailer in and drop it at our site. I pulled Midget-San out of the trailer and started to back the trailer in. It wasn’t going well – it was a lot tighter than I initially thought and I didn’t have much room to maneuver. A guy came over to help direct me, so I wouldn’t hit a boat trailer across from our site. Then he offered to get his truck and hook up to our trailer so he could position it in our site. I took him up on it and he got it done. Getting back out when we leave on Friday shouldn’t be a problem.

Newport is all about the fishing and almost everyone in our section of the RV park is here for the fishing. All of the guys occupying the five sites in the row across from us have fishing boats at the marina. The bring their boats and RVs here in April and leave them here until October.

The guy that helped me with the trailer is named Vern. He invited me to to come over for a cold one and meet his fishing buddies. They told me they had caught 24 albacore tuna that morning. They have been catching albacore, salmon and halibut.

On Saturday, Donna and I took a ride in the Midget. We drove across the bridge and cruised SW Bay Boulevard on the north side of Yaquina Bay. This is the old harbor district and the narrow street is lined with historic buildings housing seafood markets and many restaurants. From there, we drove to the farmers’ market near the courthouse. Donna bought fresh produce there.

Our next stop was another historic site called Nye Beach. This was a cool, old neighborhood that reminded me of Ocean Beach in San Diego.

View to the north at Nye Beach – that spit of land is Yaquina Head and there’s a lighthouse at the tip

We stopped at a small park with beach access at Nye Beach. To the north at Yaquiona Head, we could see a lighthouse that I would soon learn about.

We drove through the beach side neighborhood south to the Yaquina Bay Recreation Site. This is a public park and it also has an old lighthouse.

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was only operational for three years – 1871 to 1874. I wondered why that was . We toured the lighthouse and I found out why. It turned out that the lighthouse could be seen from more than eight miles out to sea – unless you approached from the north. The ridge at Yaquina Head obscured the lighthouse and confused sailors.

In 1874, a new lighthouse was completed at Yaquina Head – the one we could see from Nye Beach – so the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was shut down.

Looking south from the lighthouse – the jetty is the entrance to Yaquina Bay

We reconnoitered more of the marina area by car before we came back home. Later, Donna went out for a walk and found a market nearby that has fresh fish and is also a small cafe. She also found the Wolf Tree Brewery Taproom we were looking for earlier in the day. Apparently, we drove right by it!

On Sunday morning, I watched the Moto GP races from Spielberg, Austria. All three races were superb with lots of action and close racing. In the afternoon, we walked to the lot across from the RV park where the Rogue Brewers on the Bay brewery and taproom is located. It’s a large warehouse type steel building right on the bay. Rogue has been making ale in Newport since 1988.

Donna had a sampler flight of four stouts – she liked all of them but ended up ordering a glass of double chocolate stout. I went for the Dead Guy ale – it was one of my favorites about ten years ago. Rogue also has a distillery here at the marina in another building.

The weather has been very agreeable. The clouds burn off in the late morning or early afternoon and the temperature has been reaching the upper 60s. Nights are cool with temps in the mid 50s. Today we plan to cruise north in Midget-San to Depoe Bay and have a look around. It seemed like a cool town when we rolled through it on our way here. On the way back, we’ll take the Otter Creek Loop – a scenic drive with a small state park. The forecast calls for a high of 71 today – of course we’ll cruise with the convertible top down!

The Goonies

On Tuesday afternoon, we rode our bikes through town. I couldn’t believe how crowded it was – this is the height of the Oregon Coast tourist season. The sidewalks were crowded like a Disneyland street. Bicycles were probably the best way to get through town.

We went north across Ecola Creek on Fir Street then found Ecola State Park Road. The park is on a bluff and the road climbs steeply. About half a mile up the road – maybe halfway to the park – it became steeper with sharp curves. I dismounted and asked Donna to remind why we were doing this. We decided to turn around and go to the beach access at the end of 5th Street.

Another view of Haystack Rock and the beach at Ecola Creek

Although it was cloudy and the temperature was only in the low 60s, there were people on the beach. Not this San Diego boy! We rode back into town and stopped at the bike shop – I wanted to buy a tube patch kit. The store owner was the only guy working there and he had his hands full. One large family was renting bikes while another family was returning rental bikes. When I mentioned the steep entrance to Ecola State Park, he told me that not only was it steep, but it’s dangerous. He said cars whip through the curves on the narrow road. I was glad we bailed on it.

We made another stop at the Tuesday farmers’ market in town. It was smaller than we expected, but Donna bought some produce there. Donna had posted some pictures from her walk earlier on Facebook and a few people mentioned the movie The Goonies when they saw where she was. On Tuesday night, we watched that old movie. Although it’s supposed to be set in Astoria, Bird Rocks and Haystack Rock are prominent in some of the scenes. We thought the movie was a bust.

On Wednesday, Donna took another bike ride, this time to the south toward Tolovana Park. She shot another photo of Haystack Rock.

Haystack Rock on the right, Needles on the left

In the afternoon, we rode our bicycles to Pelican Brewing for a couple of cold ones. Pelican has been brewing since 1996 and they have some great beers. They have three brew pubs on the coast in Pacific City, Cannon Beach and Tillamook.

Speaking of Tillamook, we loaded up Thursday morning and pulled out of Cannon Beach RV Resort. We headed south on US101 – it’s very scenic. We went about 50 miles to the Blue Heron French Cheese Company. This is a country store featuring a deli, wines, cheeses and assorted gifts. It located right on US101, a couple of miles south of the Tillamook Creamery. The property is an old farmstead and they offer free overnight dry camping.

We found a level spot to claim and went inside to check in. They gave us a parking pass and a list of rules. They allow up to two nights of dry camping – no tents. They have farm animals and lots of fowl – chickens, turkeys and peafowl along with goats and sheep. It’s a popular lunch stop for families and lots of kids enjoy the animals. We had a very good lunch at a table inside. The deli service is a little slow, but the food was great.

In the late afternoon, the cloudy skies finally cleared and we had the first sunset we’ve been able to see in days. Today we’ll continue south on US101 to an RV park right at the marina in Newport. We’ll be there for the next week.

Across the Columbia

Sunday was our last full day in South Bend. We rode our bikes across town at mid-day and found Linda’s Fish and Chips on the east end of town. It’s a popular spot and has a large parking area that can accommodate RVs. It’s just a food trailer, but the food is good and the property is nice with a large lawn area and several picnic tables with umbrellas. The view downriver from the lot is nice. We stopped for lunch and ate at one of the tables.

From there we rode across the lot to the bike path to Raymond. The bike path is mostly paved, but there are several short unpaved sections. Donna is loving her Trek Dual Sport 2 – it handles the dirt sections almost as well as my mountain bike. Her bike is faster than mine on the pavement though.

About halfway between South Bend and Raymond, we found a small RV park right on the river. It had about a dozen sites and was next door to a boat shop specializing in catamarans. They had two very large catamarans on the lot – I wonder how they launch these behemoths. They looked like you could easily live aboard and cruise the ocean. I could get used to that!

We stopped at the grocery store in Raymond and Donna bought cereal and bananas before we rode back. We were within a quarter-mile of our coach when my front tire went flat. I must have picked up a blackberry thorn. This close to the trailer I didn’t mess with it on the side of the road, I just walked it back.

Sunday evening, I watched the Moto GP race – it turned out to be one of the least exciting races of the season. I had most of our things packed in the trailer – I only left Donna’s bike and our camp chairs out to pack in the morning. Donna wanted to ride her bike to the market in the morning. Our new set-up in the trailer is working well, but I have a few items I’d like to find a better place to store. This photo illustrates why I wanted such a small car. Midget-San is small enough for me to open the driver’s door and exit without any trouble once it’s inside the trailer. I keep a car cover on it in case anything gets loose in the trailer.

We were on the road again by 10:30am Monday morning. As we headed toward Bruceport on US101, I was behind a few cars that were traveling about 50mph. I kept a distance of about 100 – 150 feet behind the car in front of me and matched their speed. Behind us was a tractor trailer rig. Apparently the truck driver couldn’t see the traffic in front of me and decided he needed to get past me. When I noticed him swinging out to the oncoming lane to pass, I was shocked. There was a downhill curve ahead and he wasn’t going to get past me before we hit it. I braked to 40mph so he could overtake us and get back into our lane. For the next 20 miles he was about 150 feet ahead of us. His dangerous maneuver netted him a two-second advantage.

We cut south on WA4 and WA401 to the mouth of the Columbia River where we rejoined US101 and crossed the bridge to Astoria, Oregon. We had planned a stop there to pick up beer at the Safeway store – I had scoped out the parking situation on Google. We also wanted to walk on the Astoria Riverwalk.

Our timing was impeccable. They were repainting traffic lines on Highway 30 through Astoria and traffic crawled through town. We could have walked the three miles to the store faster than driving there, but that wasn’t an option.

We parked behind the Safeway store by an abandoned building. A travel trailer was directly in front of the building, so we were partially blocking a driveway. The driveway had a cable locked to posts in front blocking access, so I didn’t worry about it.

The Astoria Riverwalk is a paved multi-use trail along the Columbia River. On the south side of the trail, there are a number of office buildings interspersed among townhomes and condos. It’s gentrified and appears upscale.

I think this was a cannery – abandoned now

There were eight cargo ships we could see moored in the Columbia. Most of the cargo ships entering and exiting the river are bringing cargo to Portland from other West Coast ports or the Far East.

With few exceptions, ships entering the Columbia River are required to have a licensed pilot guide it through the treacherous Columbia River Bar. Pilots from Astoria take control of the ships and navigate past the bar. Then a licensed Columbia River pilot takes over for the remainder of the cruise to Portland.

When we got back to the coach, someone had unlocked the cable and managed to drive around us. I felt bad about us blocking it. Donna talked to the guy and he was alright with it though.

From Astoria, we continued south on US101 – it’s a scenic drive down the Oregon Coast. We checked in at Cannon Beach RV Resort around 1:30pm. They have a bit of a branding issue here – in some cases, the RV park is called Cannon Beach RV Resort, other times it’s called the RV Resort at Cannon Beach. In fact, their campsite map and information flyer has both names on it!

We dropped the trailer near the entrance. We decided to leave Midget-San in the trailer. We can ride our bikes to anywhere in town or up to the state park if we want. We have a full hook-up, 42-foot back-in site. It’s paved with a nice lawn area and the park is surrounded by mature trees.

I set up and immediately dumped and flushed our black tank. Over the last two months, I only got to dump it twice and both times, I couldn’t use the flushing system. With that done, Donna told me she was going to try the Dish satellite network. I thought “Good luck with that” as I eyed the trees. Five minutes later, she had satellite reception! The park wifi was also very good – at least at first it was. Verizon signal is not good here.

In the evening, when more users were on the park wifi, it totally bogged down. It was even worse first thing this morning. I’m typing this post on Word Pad, then hopefully I can successfully transfer it to WordPress for publication. I probably won’t try to post again until we move on to a better signal.

We’ll explore on our bikes today – I fixed my flat tire this morning. We’ll have another full day tomorrow before we continue south. This park is a little pricier than we usually like to pay, but that’s the coast in season. When we left Arlington, our first night at Cabela’s was free. Then we had three nights at South Bend for $10/night. So we averaged $7.50/night for the first four nights. Three nights here came to $165 with tax, bringing our total to $195 for a week. That’s an average of $27.85/night. Mixing it up like this keeps costs low. Thursday night we’ll boondock before we hit Newport and another pricey place.

The weather here is much cooler with highs in the 60s. The mornings are cloudy with a marine layer that’s expected to burn off in the afternoons.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Monthly Archives: August 2019

Pacific Coast to Pacific Crest

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Double Trouble

Oregon Dunes

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Florence, Oregon

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Yellow Submarine

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Depoe Bay and Verizon Wins

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Newport – Seafood City

The Goonies

Across the Columbia

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*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

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*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

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*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

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*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

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