Category Archives: Trailer

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!

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!

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.

Blackberries and Deer

We pulled out of Alana’s driveway as planned on Thursday. On Wednesday afternoon, we finished most of the trailer details, moving everything into the first third of the box. This left the rear two-thirds open for loading Midget-San. I parked the coach and trailer around the corner from Alana’s place Thursday morning after putting the last items away and loaded the Midget without any drama.

We drove out of Arlington through Smokey Point and entered I-5 north so we could stop at the rest area at mile post 207. We had a short wait for the dump station there. By the time I was finished, there it was nearly 12:30pm. Our plan was to go south through Seattle to Lacey and spend the night at Cabela’s there. The short drive was a good plan as traffic was a nightmare. The 90-mile run down the interstate took three hours!

We’ve stayed at this Cabela’s overnight many times. We stopped at our usual spot which is level and found several tractor-trailer rigs in the lot as well as a few other RVs. I think the truckers decided to get off the road for several hours until the northbound traffic opened up. Knowing this place as we do, Donna knew precisely where to go to find blackberry bushes full of fruit. She picked a bowl full.

It rained overnight and a few showers lingered in the morning. We hit the road around 10:30am and hit US101 in Olympia and had a few rain showers in the first hour. It was a pretty drive west through Montesano then south through Raymond and on to South Bend. We last visited South Bend five years ago. We pulled into the Ron Craig boat ramp area on the west end of town. Overnight RV parking is allowed for a $10 fee. I paid at the kiosk and we set up.

I retrieved our bicycles from the trailer and we rode into town. We had lunch at Chester Tavern and took a look around. South Bend is located on the Willapa River. As the river flows west from Raymond to Willapa Bay, it hooks south then turns north making a horseshoe bend. South Bend marks the southernmost point in the bend.

From the marina in town looking east where the river comes down from the north

Looking west from the same point – the river turns back north before continuing west to Willapa Bay

The skies cleared by late afternoon. There were a few other RVs here for night. Several boat trailers behind trucks were in the lot when we arrived, but they were gone by early evening. Donna took a walk back to town to pick up a couple of things at the store and also took a look at the county courthouse which is a beautiful property – I documented it in this post five years ago.

On Saturday morning, Donna rode her bike to the store in town and bought a plate of biscuits and gravy for me. It was a hearty serving and I finished it for breakfast. It was very tasty, but later I wasn’t so sure that it was a good idea. It ended up being a lazy day for me.

We got the Sea Eagle inflatable kayak out of the trailer and Donna paddled up river to town, then looped back past the boat ramp before coming back in. I paid for another night at the kiosk.

I recorded the Moto GP race from Czech Republic and the Formula One race from Hungary overnight. Usually I’ll add recording time to each race to ensure I get the end of the race, but with the schedules being back-to-back, I couldn’t extend the Moto GP race. Our set-up only allows me to record one channel at a time via the satellite. The Moto GP race had a rain delay, so I didn’t get the whole race. No worries – there’s a replay at 7pm – I’ll get the rest of the race then.

We had visitors this morning – a doe and her twin fawns came up to the coach to feed on the blackberries and shrubs next to us.

Doe and twins in front of our windshield

The weather has been terrific – highs in the upper 70s with clear skies. We expect more of the same today. As soon as I post this, we’ll ride our bikes on the trail to Raymond and get lunch out. We’ve paid for another night here. Tomorrow, we’ll pull out and head down to the coast. We’ll cross into Oregon at Astoria and we have a few nights booked at Cannon Beach.

*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!

Heading for the Coast

The great weather here in Arlington continues. Saturday was mostly cloudy and a little cooler with the high in the lower 70s, but it didn’t rain. My daughter, Alana’s, best friend since childhood, Angie Meece, is visiting her parents in Darrington. She reached out to Donna and invited us to stop by on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday was a bright, sunny day, so we put the top down and drove Midget-San up to Darrington – it’s about 30 miles east of Arlington up highway 530. The Meeces’ house is on a beautiful property next to the 6,841-ft. peak of Whitehorse Mountain. When we pulled up to the entrance to their property, we were surprised to find it lined with a number of cars. Obviously something was up.

We pulled to the end of the driveway and parked and found a party! It was a surprise party with two purposes – first was a celebration of the retirement from the Darrington School District of Angie’s mother, Diane. Secondly it was a celebration of Angie’s sister’s graduation from university. Unbeknownst to us, both of Angie’s sisters, Michelle and Lisa, were also visiting.

They wanted to keep the surprise party secret, so they just invited a number of people to stop by for a visit without letting the real deal out. Too bad for us – we ate lunch before driving up only to find a feast was spread. They had a ton of hors d’oeuvres and fresh seafood. Angie’s dad, Mark, also had a keg of beer on tap. We had a good time mingling and I got to visit with many people I haven’t seen in nearly 20 years. I was so caught up in various conversations that I neglected to take any photos!

On Monday, Donna got busy in the trailer taking on one of my tasks. She started re-organizing and getting rid of useless things that I keep hauling around. She’s better at that sort of thing than I am. Alana and Gabi returned from their Hawaii vacation late Monday night.

I spent the morning on Tuesday looking at route options and thinking about where we wanted to be in August. Originally we thought we would head east to Coeur d’Alene, then south through Idaho. After thinking about it for a bit, I thought maybe going west to the Washington coast and making our way south on the Oregon coast may be the way to go. August is the best month weather-wise to travel the coastal northwest and going east would mean high temperatures.

August is also the busiest season for tourism along the coast, so we had to plan ahead and see if we would be able to find RV parks that can accommodate us. We managed to make a couple of reservations and also found boondocking sites that should work along the way. Our plan is to pull out of our extended mooch-docking site here in Alana’s driveway tomorrow.

The first stop will have to be at the dump station – I haven’t dumped our tanks since we arrived here in mid-June. Our course we’ve been using Alana’s bathroom and have been careful about how much waste water we’ve generated. I’m anticipating a somewhat late start as we have to load Midget-San in the trailer for the first time and I’m sure we’ll have to take our time securing the car. We may only go as far as Lacey and spend the night at Cabela’s before we move on to South Bend. We’ll spend a few days there before we head south to Oregon.

Meanwhile, I still have the Verizon data usage mystery. We’ve been consistent in our data usage for several years. We use about 30GB/month and rarely have we gone over our data limit. For the last two months, our data usage – as metered by Verizon – has shot up. Meanwhile, I’m getting e-mails and instant messages from Verizon advising me to switch to one of their new data plans.

I don’t know, but this seems fishy to me. The new plans require me to enter a new contract with Verizon. What accelerated our current data usage? We’ve checked for anything running in the background on our laptops and haven’t found anything.

Today’s high temperature should reach 80 degrees and tomorrow is expected to be even warmer. I think heading for the coast is the right idea. I have much preparation to do today but we’ll get it done. I’m ready for the road again.

Vintage Trailers and Cars

We’re still here in Alana’s driveway in Arlington, Washington. There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel though – Lifestyles Recreational Products expects to have the parts to complete the repair of the Spyder this week. Then I have to sell it.

We’ve been thinking about ways to increase available space in the trailer. I’ll need room to load Midget-San in there with enough clear space to avoid any damage to the car. After bicycling on Thursday, Donna came up with an idea. We were storing four bicycles in the trailer – her road bike, her beater bike, my road bike and my mountain bike.

I haven’t ridden my Orbea road bike in over a year. Donna isn’t planning to do any more long distance events like RAGBRAI with her road bike. She thought she should get rid of her bikes and replace them with one hybrid road/trail bike. I could get rid of my Orbea since I haven’t been riding it. That would take two bicycles out of the trailer but we would still have bikes to ride.

On Friday, we rode our bikes – Donna on her Trek Madone road bike, me on my Orbea – to Arlington Velo Sport bike shop. We did a little horse trading and ended up leaving both bikes there on trade and placing an order for a Trek Dual Sport 2 hybrid bike for Donna. The bike should be here by the end of the week.

The rest of this post is picture heavy. The weather has improved since my last post. Friday we had a high of about 70 degrees and enjoyed the two-mile walk back to Alana’s place from the bike shop. Saturday was another clear, sunny day with a high in the upper 70s. Donna and I drove Midget-San to Stanwood for a vintage RV (trailer) show. They had over a dozen restored RVs from the ’50s and ’60s on display. Some of the old rigs were very small, but usable for weekend camping.

Beautiful truck and trailer from the ’50s

You could find something like this in every suburban neighborhood in the ’60s

Spartan Aircraft Company Royal Spartanette

This 1951 Royal Spartanette was built by the Spartan Aircraft Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. These were very expensive travel trailers and were considered “The Cadillac of trailers.” The floor plan on this one was laid out in such a way that it seemed roomier than our coach with the slides out! I wonder what they used to tow this rig?

We had lunch at the Chinese restaurant behind the Spartanette trailer at the Phoenix Pavilion. The food was great. After lunch, we took a drive over the bridge to Camano Island. Donna found free public access to the water on the island. We drove to English Boom Preserve and parked there.

The name comes from the 1920s-1930s when the English Lumber Company logged trees in the area and floated log booms into Skagit Bay here. We were there at low tide and the bay is basically a tidal flat here. This tidal flat is an important habitat for salmon. Smolts swim out of the rivers they were spawned in – mainly the Snohomish, Stillaguamish and Skagit Rivers – and the eel grass along this flat provides cover for them as they grow and enter the sea.

Tidal flat at English Boom – snow covered Mount Baker in the center background

We made a stop at Ale Spike Brewery on the island. Donna liked her porter but I wasn’t impressed with my choice there. I should have known better when the Firechicken Ale I chose was described as red ale – amber. Okay, which is it – a red ale or an amber? It didn’t taste like either one – it was bitter with a yeasty aftertaste. Although the bar maid said it was their most popular brew, I didn’t care for it at all.

After we came home, I went out to the Burger King parking lot nearby. When I lived here in the early 2000s, I had a couple of old Corvettes in the garage. On Saturday evenings, the local hot rodders would gather in the Burger King lot to swap lies and admire each other’s cars. I hadn’t been there in over 15 years, but I wanted to see if they still came out. They did.

A guy I knew named Jan Boyd once owned this car in Darrington – big supercharger

The rear license plate folds up to show off the chrome

The guys there told me there was a big car show the following day – Sunday – up in Bellingham. They said they expected around 400 cars there.

On Sunday morning, Alana’s boyfriend, Kevin, and his sons picked up Alana, Gabi and Gabi’s friend, Kennedy around 6:30am. They were off to the airport for a flight to Hawaii. They’re spending the week on the big island and are looking forward to time on the beach and the golf course.

I made the 50-mile drive up to Bellingham in Midget-San while Donna used Alana’s car to go play pickleball in Marysville. I’m still resting the groin pull – it’s been a bother for months now.

The car show in Bellingham was a fundraiser for veterans. I used to do car shows with my Corvettes – I had a 1965 big block roadster and a 1972 LT-1 T- top. I got tired of the car show scene after a few years though.

At the show in Bellingham, I found myself drawn more to the vintage and unusual cars instead of ogling all of the muscle cars – the Camaros, Corvettes and Mustangs.

Remember the mid-engined truck at Burger King? This is what it was originally like

Fully restored 1950s MGA – it even has the original tool kit and oilers

MGB with a supercharged 215ci aluminum block Buick V8

The 215 cubic inch Buick aluminum block V8 was developed by General Motors and brought to market in 1960. This engine was way ahead of its time. It was lightweight and durable and produced great power. But it didn’t catch on with the American consumer – bigger was always thought to be better. Eventually GM sold all of the tooling and rights to Rover in England and they used versions of this engine into the 1990s.

I talked to the owner of the blue MGA. He had pictures of the car as he found it sitting in a pasture – rusty, missing a rear quarter panel, no hood or grill. He and his son restored it to this condition and he bought the trailer so he and his wife could drive the car from Washington to Reno, Nevada for a week at the Hot August Nights car show.

It turned out his son was the guy with the supercharged Buick V8 MGB in the previous picture. Talented car guy – he can handle all the mechanical aspects, design and fabricate, weld and paint.

This Morris Minor was designed for the narrow roads of England. I think this coupe is smaller than Midget-San.

This Ford built in England is much smaller than its American counterparts. Small ruled the road in England while bigger was better here.

There was a downside to the car show. While Midget-San was parked there, someone decided they needed the MG emblem on the rear deck lid and removed it from the car. I can hardly believe someone would steal the emblem from the car, but there it is. I ordered a replacement and should have it in a few days. Sheesh!

The week ahead calls for rain Tuesday night. Otherwise, we should be in for warm, sunny days with highs around 80 degrees. Donna’s new bike should arrive on Thursday.

Birthday Girls

We didn’t do anything exciting on Sunday. I watched a couple of races on TV and other than a trip to the grocery store, I had a lazy day. The day was cool – the high temperature was only 65 degrees – but it ended with a spectacular sunset.

Sunset at Rolling Hills RV park Sunday evening

Monday was Memorial Day. This is a day where we honor those who’ve given all in service to our country. Last year we went to a memorial service in Kentucky at the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This year we went to a service at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Corning. The service was hosted by the Tehama County Veterans and the local American Legion. Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops participated along with the Corning High School band. I was impressed by the band – they were quite good!

Huge flag flying from a firetruck ladder

Memorial Day is much more than beer and barbeque. Donna and I try to respect the meaning of the holiday.

Monday was also birthday girl day. It was Donna’s birthday and also my youngest daughter, Shauna’s, birthday. We celebrated with dinner at Timbers – the steakhouse in the Rolling Hills Casino. It’s probably the best restaurant in the area. Donna enjoyed a braised lamb shank while I went for the 14-ounce prime rib cut. We shared a nice bottle of sangiovese with dinner.

We were hanging out after dinner when Donna met a woman walking her dogs by our site. Her name was Carol and they hit it off. They had a glass of wine together and talked while I puffed a cigar. Carol has property she’s developing into a resort in Canby, Oregon. She invited us to stay at the property – we might take her up on it as we’re heading into Oregon soon.

Today I need to pick up some packages at the post office. I also need to organize the trailer. We’ll be pulling out of here tomorrow and plan to head up to Lake Shastina for a few days of boondocking on the lake.

We’ve had a few late afternoon showers along with a passing overnight shower or two. Today is forecast to be much warmer – mid-80s. The warmer temperatures should hold up for the rest of the week. Lake Shastina should be a few degrees cooler. We’re at an elevation of only around 250 feet above sea level here – Lake Shastina is close to 3,000 feet above sea level.

Oh Hail!

The Rolling Hills RV Park is only a few miles from downtown Corning. The city has a population of about 7,500 people and the town itself is quite compact. We rode the Spyder into town on Thursday and our first stop was the Olive Pit. This is a familiar place for us – I usually make a stop there any time we pass through this area. The Olive Pit, as you can imagine, specializes in olives. They have every type of olive including some unusual combinations. I sampled the blue cheese-jalapeno stuffed olives this time and they were great! They also have a good selection of wines and craft beers.

Donna bought some lime gose beer. Gose is an unusual beer that has gained popularity lately. It’s slightly sour and salty and very refreshing on a warm afternoon. It’s usually brewed to a relatively low strength with the ABV under 5%. I chose a couple of sour beers as well – a nectarine saison and a sour IPA.

We made a stop at the post office where Donna had a general delivery package sent by her sister, Linda. It was an assortment of olive oils and balsamic vinegars from Tarpon Springs, Florida – a birthday present for Donna. On the way out of town, we made a quick stop for a photo op at the giant olive on the city limit at the intersection of South Avenue and Hall Road.

Back at the RV park, Donna prepared a dish called saucy chicken. She sliced chicken breasts lengthwise – she uses the Spyderco Sentoku chef’s knife I bought for her to do this. It works like a charm on slicing chores like this. She marinated the chicken in a garlic-soy marinade and browned it in a pan, then a sauce with white wine, chicken broth, lemon juice, mustard and thyme. It was a bit of a complicated dish. It was tasty and she served it with sweet potato mash made with Greek yogurt.

Saucy chicken, sweet potato mash and asparagus

On Friday morning, we rode the Spyder through Corning and went northeast through the small town of Tehama where we crossed the Sacramento River. We followed CA99 north until we found Bianchi Orchards. We were there to learn something about walnuts and of course purchase some of them.

This walnut tree outside the Bianchi barn/store is over 100 years old

A barn on the property has been converted into a store/gift shop. We learned that more than a dozen English walnut varieties are grown in the area. California has more than 40 varieties in total but the most popular are Chandler, Hartley and Howard.

Chandler walnuts were developed by the University of California – Davis in 1978. The Chandler variety is the most popular and produces a large, well-sealed nut. The meat is a golden honey color. They are very uniform in color with a thin skin on the meat. Some people say they are on the bland side, but I found them to be creamy without any of the bitterness sometimes found in darker walnut meats.

California produces 98% of the walnuts consumed in the USA – 40% of the world’s consumption! The area from Tehama to Red Bluff is mostly walnut orchards, although we did see some pistachio groves as well.

Inside the Bianchi store, they have an interesting countertop/bar. It’s made from a flat-sawn walnut tree trunk. The finish on it is beautiful and somehow they managed to preserve the bark.

Walnut countertop at the back of the bar includes a walnut backsplash

We bought a three-pound bag of shelled Chandler walnuts for $15 – a deal!

Back at the park, I was sitting outside after dinner reading a book and puffing a cigar. I felt the wind pick up and when I looked up, I saw large, dark clouds approaching. No rain was in the forecast but it felt like rain was imminent. I looked at the Radar Express app on my phone. We were being straddled by two storm cells!

I quickly covered the Spyder, moved the chairs and table into the trailer and stayed in the trailer to finish my cigar. Within minutes, I heard sharp strikes on the roof of the trailer. We had hail! It was the size of large blueberries with some of the hail more like cherry size.

This wasn’t in the forecast, but I was glad I checked the radar app and got things put away.

Saturday morning we rode the Spyder back to Chico for the farmers’ market. In the past, we found some of the best produce and unbelievably low prices at this farmers’ market. Donna found the best looking baby bok choy we’ve ever seen and a large bundle was only $2.00!

Saturday evening, Donna lightly coated the fresh bok choy with sesame oil, then salted and peppered it and put it on the grill. Likewise, she prepared some baby bella mushrooms from the farmers’ market by lightly coating them with olive oil. After cooking the mushrooms she added a light dash of salt and pepper. By the way, I find the name baby bella confusing. These small mushrooms are called portabella – but they’re known as portobello when they’re full sized. They’re also known as cremini when small. They are full of nutrients and all I know for sure is these were delicious! Donna served leftover pork tenderloin kabobs over brown basmati rice with the fresh take from the market.

Rain showers developed again after dark Saturday night. We had showers off and on throughout the night and into this morning. We stayed indoors all morning – I watched the Formula One race from Monaco. I have the Indy 500 on the tube now.

The skies are supposed to clear this afternoon although it’ll remain cool – around 70 degrees. Tomorrow should be warmer for Memorial Day. We’ll pay our respects to those that sacrificed all while serving our country. Tomorrow is also Donna’s birthday – which coincides with my youngest daughter, Shauna’s birthday. We have dinner reservations at Timbers to celebrate tomorrow night.

Taking a Pass

We started the week with pickleball at the Evelyn Mount Community Center Monday morning. There were a few unfamiliar faces there and the level of play was very high. The way they rotate players on the courts is a little different – sometimes it results in the same pair playing together for multiple games. Also, some of the players on Monday wanted to play against specific people, so they were re-arranging the order of paddles waiting to play. No one did this to gain a wait time advantage – if they wanted a particular group to play together, they went to the back of the queue.

It was warm on Monday and I worked up a pretty good sweat before we were done at 11:45am. On the ride home, we made a stop at Winco Foods – one of my favorite grocery stores. We only needed a few things and I found an IPA from one of my favorite breweries – 10 Barrel Brewing from Bend, Oregon.

They also had fresh sushi made onsite – something I hadn’t seen at any other Winco store we’ve shopped at. We picked up some for lunch and it was excellent.

On Monday night, Donna prepared fish for dinner. She made walnut-crusted tilapia which she served with coconut-cauliflower risotto and green beans. You might recall a meal I described last week that was similar but it was tortilla-crusted tilapia.

Tuesday was basically a repeat of Monday. We played pickleball all morning and returned to Sparks Marina RV Park. We really like this park – it’s level, very clean and well-maintained and it’s quiet – it also has the best wifi of any park we’ve stayed at. It’s a little on the pricey side though – more than we usually want to pay. I should mention the pickleball at Evelyn Mount Community Center costs one dollar per person each day. The weird rotation on Tuesday had me paired up with the same guy for four games in a row – we played well together and won all four games, so I shouldn’t complain. Donna was partnered with the same guy for three games.

Tuesday evening Donna prepared another favorite meal. It was pizza chicken – that’s not a typo, I don’t mean chicken pizza. Pizza chicken is a dish that uses flat, thin slices of chicken breast in place of pizza dough. She tops it with the marinara sauce, pepperoni slices, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. When it comes out of the oven, she tops it with kalamata olives, chopped red onion and pepperoncini.

It’s a tasty dish and avoids using dough – Donna keeps flour and sugar out of her meals. She served the pizza chicken on top of roasted spaghetti squash.

I packed a few things in the trailer in advance of our departure on Thursday. Tuesday night we had a change in he weather. We woke to rain drops Wednesday morning – I had covered the Spyder the night before and had the Weber Q grill, Donna’s bike and folding chairs packed away. The rain put the kabosh on going to play pickleball. We would’ve been soaked on the Spyder.

The rain cleared away by noon but the wind really picked up. It was so gusty that I retracted the window awnings! Then I had a special weather advisory appear on my Radar Express phone app. It warned of a series of storms from the Pacific crossing California and into Nevada. Snow was expected on the mountain passes along with strong gusty winds. Travel advisories warned against crossing the Sierra Nevada range in high profile vehicles – high profile is defined as anything over nine feet tall. We’re over 12 feet tall.

I looked at the Donner Pass webcam provided by Caltrans and NDOT. The road was dry and clear Wednesday afternoon, but I took the advisory seriously. We didn’t need to be anywhere, so I went to the office and extended our stay until Saturday. The forecast called for snow and high winds by Thursday morning with the gusty winds continuing through Friday. Saturday promises a break in the weather before another storm comes through Saturday night and Sunday. The new plan is to make a dash over the pass and into California on Saturday morning.

Wednesday evening Donna made another favorite dish – flank steak stir fry with broccoli, mushrooms and scallions over rice. Simple and yummy!

This morning I took another look at the live Caltrans-NDOT web cam on Donner Pass. We made the right call. The road was covered with snow and I watched in real time as a minivan slid out of its lane and came to a stop on the shoulder. We don’t need to drive in that slop. I didn’t see any big rigs crossing the pass. The forecast calls for a wintry mix with gusty wind over the pass today.

The temperature here in Sparks is only supposed to reach the upper 50s today and tomorrow. I’m hoping the expected break in the weather on Saturday holds true.

Mono Lake, Hot Springs and Sparks

June Lake was gorgeous and we wouldn’t have minded spending a couple more days there. But, with snow in the forecast we packed up and got away Wednesday morning. We left Oh! Ridge Campground around 10:30am. We took the scenic route completing the CA158 loop through town and past Grant Lake. This section of the road is typically closed in winter. It was a beautiful drive.

We headed north once again on US395 and made a stop north of Lee Vining at the Mono Lake Visitor Center. This is a nice center – it’s practically a museum. I think it’s the nicest one we’ve seen since we stopped at the Missouri River Visitor Center on I-90.

Mono Lake is unique in that it’s fed by at least six mountain streams, but has no outflow. The 45,000-acre lake is about 13 miles long and nine miles wide. Lake water levels are kept in check by evaporation in the dry desert climate. Minerals concentrate in the water which is highly alkaline.

In 1941, the city of Los Angeles struck again. They diverted water from four of the streams feeding the lake. This caused the lake level to drop by 50 vertical feet and further concentrated the minerals in the lake, doubling the salinity. This affected the ecosystem. Brine shrimp are found in the lake and are an important food source for two million migratory birds.

In 1978, the Mono Lake Committee was formed to save the lake. They eventually won a legal battle before the California Supreme Court in 1983 and the City of Los Angeles was ordered to replenish the water it had taken from the watershed.

Mono Lake view from the visitor center – Paoha Island on the right

The alkaline water has high levels of calcium. Fresh water enters the lake from subterranean sources. When the fresh water from these springs mixes with the calcium rich lake water, it forms columns of limestone called tufa. These towers take centuries to form and once the lake level was lowered, many of them became visible above the surface.

We saw signs advising that Tioga Pass from the eastern Sierra to Yosemite was closed due to snow. The alternate route was a loop north by Lake Tahoe – a six-plus-hour detour!

This vehicle in the parking lot would get over the pass

After we left the visitor center, we climbed another pass on US395 and topped 8,130 feet above sea level at the Conway Summit. Our travel day was short – we drove about 50 miles to Bridgeport and checked in at the Bridgeport Reservoir Marina and Campground. Our site had us right on the reservoir.

After lunch, I unloaded the Spyder and we took a ride out to Travertine Hot Springs. These natural hot springs were only a few miles away but it entailed a slow ride up a bumpy dirt road. We found one bathtub sized pool with very hot water where the road ended. We hiked down a well-used trail and eventually found a place where there were a few interconnected larger pools.

On the way back, we climbed a razor back ridge that had a large crack running down the center and I shot a couple of photos.

View of town from Travertine Hot Springs

Bridgeport has a population of about 600 people and sits at an elevation of nearly 6,500 feet above sea level. Although the town is small, it has a brewery. We stopped at Big Meadow Brewing on Main Street for a cold one. Although they’re small with only a 7.5-barrel system, they had excellent beers on tap.

Donna prepared tortilla crusted tilapia for dinner with sauteed corn, spinach and onion.

Our original plan was to spend one night at the reservoir, replenish our fresh water and dump the tanks in preparation for more dry camping in Carson City. Donna found a casino there that allowed five nights of dry camping in their lot. Then we discovered that the information was outdated. The city had passed a no camping ordinance and the casino no longer allowed it. A similar ordinance was passed in Reno. However, the casino operators there argued that RVers were an important source of business for them. In typical hypocritical government policy, the city agreed not to enforce the ordinance at casinos. This apparently isn’t the case in Carson City though.

Glassy water at the marina in the morning – the fishermen were loving it

We changed our plan – flexibility is our motto on the road. We decided to head to Sparks and go to the Sparks Marina RV Park. We’ve stayed here twice before – both times Donna had flights out of Reno so she really hasn’t spent much time here. It’s a nice park with pull-through sites that they advertise as 65 feet long. In reality they’re no more than 60 feet and we overhang a bit at both ends, but it works without having to drop the trailer.

While I was dumping the tanks at Bridgeport, I found a problem. Our Rhinoflex sewer hose had sprung a leak. I cut the bad portion of hose off and re-installed the fittings. I could see that the hose was becoming brittle. A few years of desert sun will do that. On the way to Sparks, we made a stop in Gardnerville at Walmart and I bought a new hose.

Donna found pickleball at the Evelyn Mount Community Center about eight miles away from the RV park. We played there Friday morning from 9:45am to 11:45am. The level of play was advanced and we had a good time – we’ll go back again.

Last night, Donna cleared some leftovers from the refrigerator. She sauteed cabbage and added the leftover pork tenderloin with apples and onions, rosemary garlic roasted potatoes along with asparagus. She finished it off with a balsamic reduction and it was tasty!

The weather forecast here in Sparks is favorable with daily highs around 80 degrees and overnight lows of about 50. There’s no rain expected in the next several days. We’ll hang out here until Thursday – I took advantage of the weekly rate. We haven’t figured out what our next move will be yet.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Trailer

Yellow Submarine

*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

Across the Columbia

Blackberries and Deer

*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!

Heading for the Coast

Vintage Trailers and Cars

Birthday Girls

Oh Hail!

Taking a Pass

Mono Lake, Hot Springs and Sparks

*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!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

*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!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: