Fast, reliable internet connections are not a given when you’re on the road. I posted about this before.

Our stay in Chinook Bend really brought this home. Although our Verizon Jetpack showed 2 bars of 3G most of the time, the capacity was limited. At times of high usage (when many people were trying to load data through that cell) our connection speed was worse than an old dial-up.

Monday morning I rode the scooter into Lincoln City in search of free, fast, reliable wifi. I ended up at McDonalds on the north side of town and uploaded my blog post there.

Later I returned to town with Donna. She shopped for groceries while I walked across the street to the Ace Hardware store. It was a good, old fashioned hardware store. I could’ve spent hours there just looking at all of the stuff. I bought three wood screws for a whopping 21 cents. I needed two but bought a spare, just in case. I used them to repair the runner on my clothes drawer in our bedroom.

Chinook Bend RV Resort

We took a walk along the river. A fishing boat came in to the dock. They had six pretty good sized king salmon.

Six Kings on the dock

Fishing from the Chinook Bend dock

Salmon names can be confusing. Stores (and some people) call these fish chinook salmon. When we fished for them in Alaska, they were always called king salmon and I still use that term. Coho salmon also have more than one name. In  the northwest and Alaska, coho salmon are often called silvers.

In preparation for Tuesday’s travel, I cleaned the windshield. Then I cleaned our new tires and treated the sidewalls with Aerospace 303 to protect them against UV. I loaded the trailer. I greased the ball on the trailer hitch. I was killing time in anticipation of the Chargers Monday Night Football game.

I watched the game in proper attire. I had a Chargers T-shirt under my number 14 Dan Fouts Chargers throwback jersey. It didn’t help. They got off to a fast start with an interception followed by a quick touchdown. However, in the second half, Houston overcame a 21-point deficit and kicked the game-winning field goal.

Yesterday we drove down the coast of Oregon. We stopped in Newport at the Walmart and picked up a few things. We also walked to the Chase Bank so Donna could deposit checks she received in the mail over the weekend.

The drive was one of the most scenic of our trip. It’s hard to rank the views; we’ve seen such beautiful country since we crossed the Missouri River. We laugh at Nally, our Rand-McNally RVND7720 GPS. She pronounces scenic as “sen-nick” when she tells us we’re on the Scenic Byway.

Nally rarely steers us wrong, but on this day, we had an issue. We were headed for the Cape Blanco State Park near the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. I wanted to meet up with two full-time RV couples that are working at the lighthouse – Chris and Cherie of Technomadia and Paul and Nina with Wheeling It. I’ve been following their blogs for a while and felt like I already knew them.

Back to the issue with Nally. She directed me to make a left turn onto a gravel road as we drove up toward the lighthouse. There was a sign for the Cape Blanco Horse Camp. I was uneasy as we drove down the gravel road. What if it’s a dead end? I had no way to turn around. After half a mile or so, there was a road leading to a small camp on the right. I stopped. Donna walked over to camp to see if we were on the right road. We were told to use the road looping around their camp to turn around. It was very tight between some trees and fence posts, but we got turned around and back out to the main road. We found the correct turn a quarter of a mile up the road.

The Cape Blanco State Park is a beautiful place. The sites are carved out of the forest with good separation. You can’t see your neighbor through the trees. It’s first come, first served. We arrived around 3pm and found most of the sites were taken. All of the sites are back-in.

We drove around the campground and saw a group of people near a wood shed. They turned out to be the camp hosts and gave Donna a map of the campground. This map detailed the sites, including dimensions. It took a couple of laps, but we finally found a site we could back into that was more than 50 feet long. Once again, I did not have to drop the trailer.

Before we set up, we walked down to the Lighthouse Hosts sites and met Chris, Cherie and Nina. Later, they joined us with Paul at our site for hors d’oeuvres and wine. We sat at the picnic table and talked for a couple of hours. It was really nice to meet the people whose lives I’ve been reading about for the past year.

Today we’ll hike to the beach. Later we’ll hike up to the lighthouse for the grand tour. Chris, Cherie, Paul and Nina will be the tour guides this afternoon and have promised us the VIP tour. Donna also wants to get some bicycling in. We may have to extend our stay here.

Accessing WordPress to update the blog has been a challenge this weekend. Our Verizon Jetpack  has a couple of bars of 3G at times. Other times there’s no connection.

Saturday’s weather was a big improvement. It was a little warmer and didn’t rain. We had periods of cloud cover, but it was a mostly sunny day.

We rode to town and shopped at the outlet mall again. We returned the Levi’s I bought the day before. We had lunch at the deli there. Excellent fare but I recommend sharing a plate. The portions are huge! Donna ordered a breakfast burrito made with two scrambled eggs, chorizo and potatoes. The plate actually comes with two burritos made with full-size flour tortillas. I had a french dip on a toasted hoagie. It was excellent. The au jus was almost like gravy.

After we ate, we went to the beach. We were on a quest to find glass art. There are glass blowers in Lincoln City. Many of the artists blow glass balls in the style of Japanese fishing floats. They participate in a community sponsored treasure hunt called Finders Keepers. Numbered glass floats and smaller objects are placed along a seven-mile stretch of sandy beach. If you find one, you can go to the community center and get a certificate of authencity and more information about the artist. They do this on designated days each month. Over the course of the year, approximately 3,000 glass balls are placed on the beach.

Driftwood on the beach at Lincoln City

We didn’t hit the beach until the afternoon. We walked about a mile up  the beach and searched the driftwood, sand and grass but didn’t find any. I guess you have to be there early.

Donna searching for glass art

We stopped for provisions at the IGA store in town. Donna bought fresh halibut for dinner, some Oregon shrimp and veggies. We had two bags of groceries. I put one under the seat of the scooter. The other bag was hung on the hook between my legs in front of the seat.

Siletz Bay

I dropped Donna off at home and made a beer run back to town. When I returned, I saw Donna walking back to our coach. She’d walked up to the office (The Barn) which is nearly half a mile from our site. They had mail for us. The mail was forwarded here from our mail service in South Dakota. How exciting – our first mail delivery since we left South Dakota!

I figured out how the unions on the PEX tubing under the kitchen sink were coming loose. The faucet over the sinks swivels from side to side to allow it to fill either sink. The faucet mount had loosened. When the faucet was moved from one side to the other, it was moving the mount and flexing the tubing underneath.

Discovering the root cause of the problem was one thing. Correcting it was harder than I imagined. It required a deep 5/8″ socket, universal joint, two six-inch extensions, a ratchet and me on my back with my head and arms in a small cabinet. After many attempts to get the socket between the sinks and behind the tubing to the mounting nut, I finally succeeded. Job done!

For dinner, Donna cooked Pan-Seared Halibut Salmoriglio (an Italian garlicky lemon sauce), while I grilled veggies. It was delicious.

Pan Seared Halibut Salmoriglio with grilled veggies

Sunday was very laid back. It was the first Sunday of the 2013 NFL season. Although it was a beautiful day outside, I was mostly a couch potato. I watched three complete football games.

For lunch Donna made a shrimp salad with the fresh Oregon shrimp and rolled it into tortilla wraps. Tasty!

Donna reorganized some cupboards and practiced piano (with headphones) while I was watching football. Then she went out for a walk and spotted a seal in the river. They swim upstream to feed on salmon in the river. I guess it’s easier for them to catch the salmon in the confines of the river than it is in the open ocean.

I grilled chicken kabobs for dinner during half-time of the last game.

Today I’ll work on a few maintenance items and pack the trailer in preparation for tomorrow’s travel day. Tonight I’ll be wearing my number 14 Dan Fouts Chargers throwback jersey while I watch the San Diego Chargers and the Houston Texans go at it.

It was raining when we woke up yesterday. By the time we were ready to hit the road, the rain stopped. We fueled up and headed down Highway 101 to Astoria. From Washington, there is a 4-mile-long bridge spanning the Columbia River to Astoria, Oregon. The bridge was built in 1966, connecting US 101 in Oregon to Washington. Prior to the bridge completion, ferries linked Astoria and Washington.

We saw freight ships anchored at the mouth of the river, presumably waiting to sail up to Portland. In order for freighters to sail up the Columbia River, a pilot needs to board the ship. These pilots are specifically trained and certified to navigate the Columbia.

Astoria is named after John Jacob Astor. John Jacob Astor was a German-born American businessman. He was America’s first multi-millionaire. He established trading posts in the Great Lakes region to supply fur trappers. He also exported fur to Europe.

He expanded his trading posts west as the fur trade grew. He built Fort Astoria on the Pacific Coast in 1811. When he died in 1848, he was the wealthiest man in America. His net worth at the time was estimated to be 20 million dollars. According to Wikipedia, that would equate to more than 1.2 billion dollars in today’s money.

His great-grandson, John Jacob (Jack) Astor IV, was also a successful businessman. He was the richest passenger aboard the Titanic and died when it sank on April 15, 1912.

Today, the site of Fort Astoria is the town of Astoria, Oregon. Astoria has a population of about 10,000 people. We passed through the town and continued south on US 101.

I anticipated an easy drive. We had a couple of stops planned before we reached Chinook Bend RV Resort near Lincoln City. Every time I expect an easy drive, there’s a curve in the road. In this case, there were many curves as the highway meanders along the Oregon Coast.

Our Rand-McNally GPS was constantly chattering, “Warning, sharp curve ahead” or “Warning, winding road ahead.” Many sections of the highway are narrow with no shoulder. So much for an easy cruise down the coast. Donna enjoyed the ocean views while I kept my eyes glued to the road ahead.

Outside of Tillamook, Donna pointed out the Tillamook Country Smoker. The parking lot indicated RV parking on the right. When I pulled in, I realized there wasn’t any designated RV parking. The lot wasn’t very full, however the cars parked there were spaced in such a way that made it difficult for me to park.

I shoehorned our rig into a space and we went into the retail store. They had two-foot-long smoked beef sticks for $1. We bought a few and returned to the RV. Donna thought the Tillamook Country Smoker was the stop I’d planned. I told her earlier that we would stop in Tillamook to buy cheese at the factory store.

The Tillamook Cheese Factory is a few miles farther down US 101. Tillamook cheese can be found in stores from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. The factory is run by the Tillamook County Creamery Association. There are more than 100 dairy farm families in the association.

Tillamook is mostly known for its cheddar cheese, but they also make other varieties. We sampled several cheeses and Donna bought five kinds, including a smoked gouda with cumin seeds.

We had lunch across the street from the factory at a small seafood cafe. Donna had an oyster burger and I had a crab melt. The crab melt was made with fresh crab claw meat on a toasted roll with melted cheddar. Yummy!

Before we hit the road, I phoned ahead to the Les Schwab Tire Center in Lincoln City. I wanted to confirm our arrival time. I’d made an appointment with them the day before.

The tires on our RV have plenty of tread and look to be in good shape. RVs rarely wear their tires out. The issue is tire age. Tires deteriorate with age due to UV exposure, ozone and general weathering. Tires have a date code on them. The Michelins on our coach are nearly eight years old.

Although they still looked good, I wasn’t comfortable with their age. Having a tire blow-out isn’t on my bucket list. I’d planned to replace them when we reached Oregon. I chose to replace them here for a couple of reasons. First, Les Schwab is a very reputable company with great service and reasonable prices. There are Les Schwab Tire Centers in other western states, but in Oregon there’s no sales tax, only Federal Excise Tax on tires. No sales tax is always a bonus!

It was raining hard with thunder and lightning when we reached Lincoln City. I wish I’d taken photos of the guys replacing our tires. Two guys did the work, all by hand. They don’t have a tire machine big enough for our wheels. They levered the old tires off the rim with large tire irons. Then they wrestled the new tires, each weighing about 90 pounds, onto the wheels.

Donna napped in the coach while the work was done. It took about two hours to change all six tires.

We checked in at the Chinook Bend RV Resort on the Siletz River around 5pm. It was still raining when I set up. We have a pullthrough site with full hook-ups and 50 amp service. With our Passport America discount, it’s less than $25/night.

Donna made dinner. She calls it “pantry food” when she wings it with whatever she finds in the pantry. In this case she made Chicken Tikka Masala from Patak’s jarred sauce.

We’ll spend five nights here. Donna has some work to do. I have some relaxing to do. We’ll sightsee and maybe get a little fishing in.