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The month started with a leisurely drive north to Silver Falls State Park with its ten spectacular waterfalls all within a seven mile circular walk, two over 170 feet and three over 100 feet. As our walk progressed the damp weather turned to heavy rain, so the relaxed walk ended with a jog to the finishing line. The coffee shop welcomed us with the glow of a big log fire. Before our departure we were asked to pin our home location onto their world atlas on the wall, when a voice with a slight American accent told us that she also wanted to pin that spot. She was from Cairneyhill and had been living in Eugene for six months since her husband's transfer with the Dunfermline Hyundai closure. By the time we finished chatting she was home sick and back to a broad Fife accent.
Our last few days of planning started with the purchase of a computer, printer and scanner. Then excitedly we go to see our new truck. Shock horror, here was a short wheel base truck WITHOUT a rear bumper, when we had expected a long wheel base with a bumper, it looked awful. Can you believe that the bumpers are an option here, we couldn't. Luckily they had one in stock which they would fit, a phone call to the RV Dealer about the wheel base length was also resolved. They would fit a special type of hitch which would sort the problem. All was well - thank goodness.
We picked up the truck with rear bumper fitted, returned the hired car to Eugene Airport with well over 2,000 miles on the clock, and decided that if we needed to hire a car in the future we would certainly choose the Lumina. To enable us to clock up the required 500 miles before picking up our RV, we took a very hot and scenic Cascade Mountain highway to Bend, booked into a downtown Motel for four nights, where finally we got connected to the Internet with the help of AT&T and just minutes before we were due to check out which meant we were unable to try it out.
Arrived at Larry's for the fitting of the hitch and airbags as agreed when we bought the RV. This modification would take four hours so they kindly offered to lend us a 1965 Chevie Truck which was so heavy to drive, completely different to what we were used to, we couldn't get to the nearest shopping mall car park quick enough and wait for the phone call to return before any damage could be done to us or the truck.
With only two days before RETIREMENT & TRAVEL begins we decided that all the RV parks we stayed at in the early days must be easily accessible for us. With that in mind and the use of Woodall's and Trailer Life Campground Directories we paid visits to a couple of RV parks nearby which specify they have pull through's, (that means NO REVERSING). The first one just three miles down the road could not guarantee what we wanted. Next one - Hidden Pines - forty miles south of Bend was just what we needed for our first trip. All turns were right turns, (the easy one), they reserved us a great pitch and gave us a lot of useful information. We left happy - a trip well worth while.
Monday 10th May we arrive at Larry's for familiarization training on the Fifth Wheel - an intense three hours then off for towing training where we were driven to a large parking area, given practice at reversing this 34' trailer. We made quite a good job for first timers, our instructor was confident enough to let us drive the return trip. With all the paperwork signed and sealed we are ready for the off. All the pre-planning is finally over - THANK GOODNESS.
We arrived at Hidden Pines RV Park without any problems, welcomed by the owners and helped into our pitch, the rest was left up to us. Team effort to un-hitch, then Wullie doing the outside chores of connecting all the hookups etc., me sorting the easy things inside, everything went very smoothly until we discovered we had no hot water. After checking every switch and connection possible but to no avail we phoned Larry's who sent someone straight out to sort it. He arrived late afternoon and knew exactly what was wrong - all was well. The one thing that marred our new home was the absence of our possessions from Scotland which still had not arrived. We ate our first home cooked meal of fillet steak with all the trimmings, a good bottle of red wine went down very well, even if it was eaten and drunk from plastic, (we did have real cutlery).
The next three days were spent learning, buying and relaxing. With night temperatures well below freezing we were advised to take precautions with the water supply to ensure pipes did not freeze. With the furnace set we hardly realised how cold it was outside as we were snug and warm inside.
To enable us to get accustomed to pulling and setting up the RV we decided that we would limit our stay to a few days on each site so we could get use to towing and setting up. Our next stop Waterwheel RV Park, Chiloquin on the banks of the Williamson river, had nice views of snow capped mountains, otters playing in the river, birds, ducks and geese with their young on the river bank. Our first Internet access was made by using a phone line in the office, although we were still not setup properly we did manage to receive our first messages from home. Our first mail was delivered from Ship & Check our mail forwarder in Eugene. Things we had planned were working well. The temperature had not improved at nights, the days were bright but cold and with occasional snow flurry's, and the fact that we both had a cold kept us from venturing too far over the next four days, we didn't mind at all.
By way of Highway 66 - fifty six miles of winding mountainous and a somewhat exciting road, (enjoyable to drive or be a passenger!!) took us over Hayden summit - 4,686 feet, and Parker summit - 4,362 feet, which would not have been too bad if we could have stayed at the first height instead of coming all the way down, with the downward journey by far the most exciting!, we arrived atCave Junction which was our next stop for three nights. This enabled us to visit Oregon Caves National Monument, and historic Jacksonville - the 1860's Gold Rush town.. Another memorable point to our stay was the helpfulness of the local Realty Office where they allowed us send an urgent fax and did not require payment.
We continued to the Oregon Coast by way of Highway 199 which has a check point at the Californian border where you must declare all fruit and vegetables, but when the same road returns to Oregon a few miles further on there is no check point, this we found very strange. The road continued through tunnels cut into the rock, took sharp curves around the rock face, looked into deep canyons with the white waters of the Smith River, before arriving at the junction of Highway 101 which we were to travel on for the next few weeks.
Brookings/Harbor was the place we chose to start our travels. It is the most southerly town on the Oregon Coast which seemed an obvious choice.
Portside RV Park, Harbor is in an area that is being developed for the Marina set. The site was quite small and rather crammed. Although we had advised them of the length of our rig when we pre-booked, they were not organised and when we arrived offered us a pitch far too small. Only one pitch was available which was rather close to our neighbors and had a lovely view of a waste disposal. Needless to say we will not return here. Our four day stay took in some varied weather temperatures with the lowest at 38 degrees through the night and highest at 98 degrees at 4.30 p.m. one day
Between Brookings/Harbor and Gold Beach four State Parks and two Ocean Waysides provide plenty of access to the Pacific Ocean. The Siskiyou Mountains over 5,000 feet are within easy reach of the coast but due to last winters record snow fall our hill walking was curtailed.
We did get one walk started if not completed. We drove 13 miles of Forest Road before hitting the snow line just before the start of the Trailhead, parked and walked the short way to the start of the trail. This was our first experience of the mountain paths which we had read so much about, it was breath taking with panoramic views for miles. We walked in the sunshine for a couple of miles before once again coming to snow. A bear print in the snow persuaded us to return to a safer place, have a sandwich and juice while taking in the views before returning home. After that we decided to leave the mountains to the bears and elk. We did manage to explore some forest roads/mountain walks for future reference. On reflection, it would have been more central to stay further north in the Gold Beach area.
With Memorial weekend approaching we decided to stay eight days at our next port of call at Bandon by the Sea. We had spent a couple of hours there in April on our way to California and enjoyed what we saw. The RV site was in town which made everything very accessible. On arrival, after siting the RV we strolled down to the harbour for a fish 'n' chip "cairry oot". While chasing away seagull's we watched harbour seals playing. We visited the Tourist Information Centre and were provided with lots of useful information. The lady who helped us was married to a Scot from Ayrshire who worked in the oil industry. We met him at the weekend while attending the Annual Seafood, Wine and Beer Tasting Festival and exchanged guid Scottish Greetings.
The Siskiyou Mountains were still covered in snow so we did a lot of beach walking at Bullards Beach State Park and Bandon State Park. Visited Golden and Silver Falls State Park which are twenty four miles north east of Coos Bay. A really good day out as both falls have access from below and above - good for taking photos. Picnic tables and BBQ's available for all to use. Just remember to take the fire wood or charcoal.
Spent a day on the Charleston/Cape Arago scenic route. On parking at Cape Arego State Park we heard lots of dogs? barking. On arriving at the view point over the Pacific we realised that the barking belonged to seals and sea lions. Some were swimming, scores more were basking on the rocks in the sun. All in all, a truly wonderful sight - the binoculars were well used that day. Visited Shore Acres Botanical Gardens and Sunset Bay State Park. We were to early for the sunset and too hungry to wait so finished off the day with fish and chips at Charleston Harbour.
We have still not received confirmed information about our shipment from Scotland. It is in San Francisco that is all we have been told - maybe next week will bring good news!!
Miles travelled this month: 2,032
End of Month Conclusion
Love our RV. It's very comfortable, spacious shower, big living area which is required if you are full timers, plenty of storage space, (until our goods from Scotland arrive). Easy to tow - handles the road very well.
We have driven a few Forest roads already, some with less pot holes than others. Most are gravel and dusty but the views we have seen have been very rewarding. Hopefully next month will see less snow and more walking.
Bandon was our favorite RV stop. Although a windy coast at times we spent many hours wondering along the beaches watching the waves hitting off the rocks.
Not enough hours in the day, who said retirement would be boring!!!!!
Hyper Links that may be of interest:
Oregon Caves