Saturday, June 16 - TT South Jetty, Florence OR 97439

Cloudy this morning, so we snooze and sleep in.  I get the slow cooker cranked up so dinner is sorted for tonight.  We are late getting started, late showers, late brekkie, late coffee but by the time we have done all that the clouds have skedaddled, the sun is out and it has warmed up.  Kim has started pottering with the coach outside so I take myself off for a walk around the camp to fulfill my promise of yesterday to not be so lazy today.

Our campsite looking back into the trees

We bike down to the pool area for a laze on their sun loungers and soak up some rays. TT South Jetty is hosting a BBQ for the guests at 2pm at the Activities Centre next to the pool and the aroma of smoky meat tantalises but we didn’t bring a side as suggested, so don’t feel we can partake of the food.  The BBQ is in celebration of Father’s Day tomorrow but I guess they need to celebrate today when the camp is full, by tomorrow (Sunday) the camp will probably empty out.

At this stage we almost have the pool to ourselves, only lasts an hour before the hordes arrive.

We enjoy a couple of hours at the pool but after the BBQ finishes it is swamped with kids running and jumping, squealing and yelling and although it is nice to hear them having so much fun, we don’t last too much longer there.

There is quite a lot movement with campers coming and going and by the time we get back from our pool time find we are in time to watch new neighbours moving into the empty side to the right of us.  Hmm - not a very proficient reverser says the resident expert.

All day today we have heard the not too distant clamour of ATV’s doing what they do, same yesterday, might go for a bike ride that way tomorrow and see what is going on.  It seems just down the main road a little, opposite to the main road. I think there are big steep sand dunes that way.

Oops, the new neighbours obviously didn’t like the site, they have bailed, it wasn’t us I promise! Another lot are giving it a try, park must be full.  I think it is a difficult site because the power pedestal is too far towards the front of the site not at the back where it should be for trailers etc backing in.

I’ve finished off the last of the crosswords in the book we inherited when we bought the coach! They were nice easy ones, big print, but if you did get stuck the answers were in the back of the book.  Used only as last resort I assure you!

Another sunny, cruisy day in Paradise, it probably got to 18C but the breeze was still noticeable.

Friday, June 15 - TT South Jetty, Florence OR 97439

Another nice sunny morning!  While waiting for it to warm up outside attacked our tax returns, again and this time we have success, as least we get through to the end and send it off to them.

 

Got outside for the afternoon, although the breeze is cool, the sun stays out.  Kim touches up some paintwork before he goes off on his bike for a while ‘site seeing’ but I’ve just got to a good bit in my book so stay put.  He’s back before too long.

There is a couple two sites down who have Harleys, they were out all yesterday afternoon on a lovely ride inland from here.  They are staying put today but off tomorrow and again the next day.  Another new camper arrives and asks us about Satellite reception, we get chatting and he asks as we are NZers ‘what do you think about President Trump?’  He agrees with us but agrees he is a minority over here.

OMG where has the day gone?  I know I spent quite a lot of time over in the shower block this morning  (it is a good shower) but seriously this is ridiculous, it’s already 4.30pm and I haven’t done hardly anything today, except for a couple of Tai Chi foundation exercises (trying to close a couple of circles on my watch).  I will make up for it tomorrow, promise!

Oh, I’ve also done some research about what we can and can’t take into Canada if we decide to take the motorhome up there.  Meat needs to be identifiable, ie in its packaging and can be fresh or frozen.  USA produced fresh fruit and veg, should be OK in small quantities.  Potatoes are separated out from veg – “one bag up to 4 kilograms of US number 1 potatoes per person and the bag must be commercially packaged”.  Alcohol is a maximum of 1.5L of wine OR 24 beers OR 1.14L of hard liquor, if you have more I guess you just pay duty on the excess.  They wouldn't confiscate it would they? Hmm, but that wouldn’t be until early August so we should have time to reduce our stockpile before then!

Pulled pork with coleslaw and potato salad is our dinner tonight – yum!

Thursday, June 14 - TT South Jetty, Florence OR 97439

This morning we are saying a sad goodbye to Lois and Larry, they have an eight hour drive ahead of them to get back home to Northern California as Larry’s dear 95 year old Mum broke her hip and she is not doing so well in hospital.  But first they take us with them into town so we can get fresh supplies to last us here for the next five days, saving us from having to take the coach out for groceries.  We’re gonna miss you guys and HH will not be as much fun without you!

 

The sun is out and our site is a sunny one – a good choice.  I get a lot of reading done outside in the fresh air finishing one book and starting another and Kim potters outside then attacks the water pump which sometimes leaks into the fresh water holding tank overfilling it.  When he reinstalls the pump after the repairs, it still isn’t right so we get on our bikes and ride up to the corner of the main road where very conveniently Country Roads Recreation (an RV repair and parts place) is situated and they have a new pump in stock which will do the job.  How lucky is that?  The new pump works perfectly and is so quiet!

Around 3.30pm high cloud dilutes the sun and it gets a tad breezy to stay outside so we migrate indoors where Kim has a well deserved nana-nap and I have a go at our tax returns!!  Dumb IR website won’t save my drafts - I will l try again later.  Feeling virtuous though.

Wednesday, June 13 - TT South Jetty, Florence OR 97439

It rained overnight, dang it we will have to use the jacks to slope the coach enough that the water drains off the slides before we being them in.

A travel day today so we are organised early, as usually happens, even though we only have about one hours drive south from Newport to Florence OR.

Almost as soon as we leave Newport we come across Seal Rocks – didn’t see any seals today but I guess you could if you pulled off the road and walked down to the beach.

Seal Rocks

Then we drive through the little seaside towns of Waldport where the majority of houses seem to be jammed together on the sand spit.

Everybody wants to live on this spit of land, it must be good

Yachats, which still seems like a spelling mistake to me, is another tiny seaside town we drive through.  We stayed somewhere here last time but I can’t see where it was.

It's a very scenic drive as head south today, most of it right beside the sea.  The road is narrow so Kim didn’t get to see much but I took lots of photos for him.  There were a couple of good switchbacks and some steep fall offs down to the ocean – all on my side!

We drive through old town Florence before we arrive at Thousand Trails South Jetty.  We have quite a few sites to choose from today, I guess Wednesday is a good day to arrive although there are still a lot of annual sites (leased by individuals) which are chained off.  These seem to be mostly the sites with FHU.  Not many others have sewer and none that we can get into so we make do with 50 amp power and water and try and get close to the bathrooms.  L&L rock up while we are still deliberating if we should move to site 104, but they can get satellite TV  here next to us so we unanimously decide to stay where we are, site 134 will be our home for the next 6 days.  Nice to have our lovely neighbours close by again.

Immediately after setting up Kim is out giving the motorhome a wash/clean, we did get rather grubby getting in here today!  But the camp chairs are out, the coach is cleanish and it’s another whole day tomorrow.

At 3.30pm we are collected, again right at our door - it’s like our very own special limo service - L&L are taking us to the Elks Club tonight.  HH starts at 4pm and dinner tonight is their Wednesday special of St Louis Ribs - OMG the ribs are soooo good!  Sticky fingers for each of us!  The food is so good we are contemplating coming back here on Friday night for the Prime Rib night - and there will be live music.

It was quite an early start this afternoon, so it is also an early finish and even though we didn’t have a big driving day today, it is nice to lax back, watch a little TV and soak up the ambiance.  The blue sky is back, the sun is dappled through our trees and life is good!

A little bit later the Highwaymen are on TV so it ends up a latish night for us.

Tuesday, June 12 - TT Whalers Rest, South Beach, OR 97366

Had a practice birthday yesterday as it was the 12th in NZ but here today is the 12^th so I’m doing it all over again starting with coffee and birthday cake, complete with candles, over with L&L. They spoil me with a lovely card and gift too, I am so lucky!

And they sung Happy Birthday to me too!

We have a lovely cruisey day enjoying the sun and pottering and even go for a walk around the camp.

Tonight L&L are taking us to dinner at the Chalet Pie House in Newport and it is great, such a range to choose from. My grilled halibut (reommended) came with a salad, baked potato, corn bread etc, a lot of food!  The boys loved their chicken fried steak and Lois has crumbed shrimp, I tasted one just to help her out you understand and it was good. This restaurant has the most amazing selection of home baked dessert pies and we can see them all displayed in the glass cases.  At the beginning of the meal we were all going to have a piece but after eating our main, not one of us had room for one thing more!  It was a lovely birthday treat, thank you so much guys : )

Monday, June 11 - TT Whalers Rest, South Beach, OR 97366

Yay, wake to sunshine today! This is more like it and it should get to a high of 18C.

We are ready at 10am when we are collected at our door and taken on another day out.  First stop is the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse - the earliest aid to navigation and the site of the first recorded landfall by Captain James Cook on March 7, 1778.  Unfortunately the lighthouse doesn’t open until noon so we make do with photos of the outside.  It is also a nice spot to get good photos of the Yaquina Bridge, the link from Newport south.

Yaquina Bridge

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

The Oregon Oyster Farm is also on the list of sight seeing ventures we are enjoying today.  Kim does the tasting for us, and he gets to try four types, from huge Pacific Oysters, smaller ones, then the Kumomoto’s (all from the river) and then the tiny 4 year old natural (unfarmed) ones from the sea.  I think I have that all in the right order.  However, the connoisseur still proclaims Bluff as the best in the world, could he be a tad biased perhaps?

Go on, slip it down!!

Then we get a carpark right in the middle of the old Port town which we drove thru yesterday but today we get a chance to walk around the little village.  Kim is drawn in to the 2 Kids Candy Store where he buys a pound of assorted saltwater taffy, just to try it you know, but I am agog at the 2lb Giant Gummy Bears, how would one go about eating one of those?

2lb Gummy Bears for $29.95 in any flavour you like! That would stick your teeth together!

Near the Under Sea Gardens, male California Sea Lions have commandeered the docks to soak up the rays (sun not sting), others are swimming around in the calm sea.  They were easy to find, just follow the barking!  The sheila Sea Lions wisely stay south in California year round where it is warmer and the shopping is better. The males visit them during the summer months, who knows for what purpose!!

A fishing boat has come in to the pier and they are filleting the fresh fish ready for the buyers who are patiently queuing.  It's impressive, I wish my filleting knife was as sharp as that - they whisk those fillets off the bone like butter and the skin departs just as fast.

After another lovely day out seeing the sights and this time in the sun which makes it even more of a day to be treasured, we are dropped off at home with a plan to meet up back at L&L for HH and dinner.  So in the meantime we wander down to see what the beach looks like up close and personal.  It is expansive, goes for miles and miles and in the distance the wind is whipping up the sea spray, misting the horizon.  There is a couple of hardy souls who have barricaded themselves behind  a temporary driftwood shelter sunbathing, but man that wind is cold, it feels like it is coming straight from the North Pole.

This would be a perfect BloKarting beach!  Note the blue sky : )

It’s my birthday in NZ today even though I have to wait until tomorrow here, but that is no reason we can’t celebrate now.  Lois has made us her famous hamburger soup, she made it for us last year too and it is every bit as good as we remember.  Thank you, you guys are a delight!

Sunday, June 10 - TT Whalers Rest, South Beach, OR 97366

Some heavy rain showers overnight but between them we could hear the surf crashing on the beach.

A bit of a dismal, grey start to the day but L&L are picking us up at 10am to take us sightseeing – bless them!  First we check out the South Beach State Park where we are booked in to stay for 3 nights later in June, we find our site and deem it probably the best in the park!  Then we drive  on to Newport, less than 10 minutes away to check out the Port of Newport Marina & RV Park where L&L might stay next time.  We would stay here too, its not expensive with GS discount, has views of the marina, the big bridge and the sea and the Rogue Ales Brewery and Restaurant is right there on the premises, well within easy walking distance.

Close by is the old Port area, predominantly quaint/rustic seafood restaurants and a lot of the walls are painted with seafaring murals, whaling boats, whales, the sea etc.  We spy a Dollar Tree, rock in there and buy 22 items for $22 and there’s no sales tax – I love Dollar Tree!  Wish we had it home.  Then a quick stop at Rite Aid - a pharmacy/department store which also sells beer and wine.  Now that’s a pharmacy - I wonder if their alcohol is just for medicinal purposes?

We are now getting a bit peckish ‘cos Larry keeps talking about the famous clam chowder served at the ‘Chowder Bowl’ at Nye Beach.  Have to say he is right, it’s the best clam chowder I have ever tasted but I was a tad over ambitious ordering a bowl - a cup would have fit my tummy better!

Ready to go check out the chowder!

Look at those bowls brimming with the yummiiest clam chowder!

 A quick stop at Walmart to pick up a few supplies and we are delivered safely back home.  We have time for a nannie nap before we need to get ready for HH and dinner in a couple of hours.

The rain doesn’t let up, its quite nice at night time when you are tucked up cosy inside listening to the raindrops on the roof.  The Newport area has not had rain since April so it is very welcome for the locals to fill their tanks.

Saturday, June 9 - to TT Whalers Rest, South Beach, OR 97366

The sun is shining as we prepare to leave Richardson Park but the forecast says snow at Willamette Pass today!  Just as well we don’t need to go that way - we are heading west to the ocean.

Leaving the wider Eugene area we drive by lots of vineyards, Christmas trees and all sorts of agriculture, even some sheep, gently rolling hills and it's very green.

The highways aren’t wide, just two opposing lanes and not much of a shoulder, wish the oncoming traffic would pay as much attention as us, especially you 'Mr Big Dirt Moving Truck' on highway 200.  Once we join Hwy 20 at Corvallis (a pretty town and we drive over both the bridges to get onto the westbound 20) the road curls and climbs gently, we don’t get above 400 feet at each of the four I think summits - these are snow zones shrouded in wet cloud at the moment.

Heading west on Hwy 20 towards those hills in the distance

We are only on the road a couple of hours and we see our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.

Yep, that's the Pacific on the horizon, driving into the lovely little town of Newport

An even bigger glimpse of our ocean as we drive south along the Oregon Coast Highway!

We decided to go straight toThousand Trails Whalers Rest as Larry & Lois have already arrived there and say the park is pretty full.  By the time we arrive there are only a couple of sites free so we choose 37 which is the exact opposite corner of where L&L are, looks like we will get some exercise visiting.

There are 174 sites here, in two halves separated by a road and we are only 150 yards from the ocean although that too is over the main road.  Doesn’t matter - we can hear the waves crashing. Its raining on and off so don’t get to explore much, just a walk to the office to tell them which site we are in and to check out the cable TV which is a pay for option, but just $3 a day.  However we can’t get it at our site but I'm sure I can find something else to do with the $12 we’ve saved!  And we also save the beach combing expedition for tomorrow, as long as the weather clears.  I’m going to watch for whales and I expect to see some too!

We have FHU, the site is level and we are treed in on three sides.  Not much outside room but so far we haven’t had an opportunity to be outside.  The ocean is behind us.

Photo obviously taken between the rain showers!

LL drive over for HH, it’s so nice to have fun company for HH again!  Not that we need any encouraging : )

Friday, 8 June - Richardson Park on Fern Ridge Reservoir, OR 97448

Looks like we have sunshine again this morning but it’s not on our site yet so I take myself off for a walk to the Marina, finding a shortcut, we didn’t need to bike so far the other day.  I walk all the way to the dam and back taking photos along the way - so I get to close some circles on my new apple watch! The water in the reservoir is glassy smooth this morning. Takes me back to our water-skiing days, this is the perfect water, no wind and nobody around making wakes!  And it’s luke warm.

Glossy smooth water in the marina today!

The marina is quite new, just constructed in 2012 and provides 212 berths on five fingers.  There is an on-site marina host to assist with moorings etc.  For a 34’ berth (maximum size) for the whole season $592 seems pretty cheap - no wonder it looks pretty full up. You can stay overnight for $17, for a week for $52 and a month is $172 but if you just have a 10’ runabout, its just $11 a night. Take note Seaview Marina.

After breakfast and coffee Kim decides he wants to go for a walk too so we stroll off to see if we can find the home of the match sailing yachts lined up in the distance which we can see from our marina. 

Match Racers at the Eugene Yacht Club

A few minutes later we come across the Eugene Yacht Club (200 active members) where we are greeted at the gate and shown around the facilities.  The Club is hosting a regatta this weekend so there are people around and is probably why our RV Park is so busy tomorrow.  A big motorhome towing a trailer with two sail boats pulls in as we watch - maybe we can do that?

Their stable of yachts is different to what we are familiar with - Thistles, Santana 20’s and Lido 14’s.  They are happy to sail in 4-6 knots although we are assured it does get windier, as long as the wind comes from the west.  The lake depth is only around 20’ so you have to know where you can go.  The rule of thumb is ‘if you can see weed above the water level it’s a good choice to not go there’. 

Although predominantly a sailing club, many members have sailboards, canoes, kayaks, rowing skulls, power boats and pontoon boats.  There is also a mini campground for life members (or those who have been members a long time) to park their RV here over the summer season.

One of two cranes to get the boats into the water

Like our club/marina, not all the boats are in superb seaworthy ship-shape condition, I think you could buy a cheap Wind Rider Trimaran if you had a mind to.

Make an offer!

Also parked in the compound is a floating dunny – the Leakin-Leena.  I assume this is necessary for partaking party-goers who don’t have a black tank on board, but I suspect most of them do as there is a pump out facility on the dock at the marina.

The Leakin-Leena

Around 3pm it starts to drizzle gently as forecast, so we are now inside and I am watching back to back CSI programmes while Kim finishes his David Baldacci book (new fave).

Thursday, 7 June - Richardson Park on Fern Ridge Reservoir, OR 97448

My gosh it was dark last night, the mega tall trees do a great job of masking the stars and moon and we can’t see the bathroom blocks from here so there is no overflowing light.

Woke to slightly overcast morning but it promises to get better.  It’s pretty quiet, the only activity this morning is the Monaco Ambassador Coach over the way has packed up and left. Took them a while to load up, hook up the tow car and move out.

Richardson Park, one of the Lane County Parks, has a total of 88 campsites, a mix of 50 and 30amp.  The level, blacktop sites are interwoven amongst the trees and are of a good size, ours is huge! There is amphitheatre where they show movies on Friday nights, might go check it out as we will still be here tomorrow.

And we've only got neighbours on one side!

It’s 12.20 and as promised the sun is peeking through the remaining clouds.  Got a coffee on, it must be time to go sit outside.

It is very pleasant, no wind, about 22C and the sun stays out all afternoon.  We get a lot of reading done today.

We are not hooked up to sewer here so to save filling out tanks go check out the showers – I pick a good one, the needle point shower just about shot me out the door!

I’ve got the slow cooker on again today so Kim will be happy with his meat, potato, veg and gravy.

Wednesday, 6 June - Richardson Park on Fern Ridge Lake, Junction City OR 97448

We spend the first hour or so talking with the supplier about delivery of our new Humminbird 10“ depth sounder /chart plotter which Kim ordered on line yesterday.  However before they can deliver they need to verify some details.  To give you the short version, because the value was over $1,000 they need to verify the billing address versus the delivery address and after many frustrating minutes on the phone and on hold it didn’t happen so we cancel the order and hope the credit comes as promptly as the payment was taken!  Maybe it was not meant to be this time round!

We are back on the road again today, it feels good to be riding high, looking over all the other traffic.  I need a haircut so we take the Beltline south to Walmart where Kim gets to spend some time browsing the RV and Automotive section while waiting for me.  We get back in the coach to travel another 8 or so miles to Richardson Park – not using much diesel today.  Site #36 which we were allocated when we made the booking is lovely, large with many tall trees but unfortunately not possible for us to get into, due to the overhanging limbs.  We scout around and find another more suitable site but on checking back at the office find it is not available for the 3 nights we have booked.  We walk around the park, both A section and B section and don’t find any sites that are free for the three days – the weekend is booked out.  So the camp host staff obligingly organise a couple of golf carts, a couple of guys and a lopper and they go about making the site fit our needs.  That’s great service but shhhh we can’t let the ranger know!  Plus the lovely ladies at the office offered us samples of fresh locally grown strawberries too.

By the time we are set up it’s about 2.30ish and we finish getting sorted, have a bite of lunch and then take the bikes on an investigatory hike to find the marina etc. 

Now this vista makes us feel at home!

There is a swim beach and some are swimming but at 24C is it definitely not necessary for us to get in the water just yet.  The day use/beach area is well supported today, young people everywhere in all their teenage glory with not a lot of clothes on.  As we bike past we get to sample each groups music of choice, each picnic table has its own but it is not overly loud and contained pretty much to each site.  However the launch tied to the jetty is trying to attract everyone and God’s attention by blaring their crap music out to the world.  Why do they think that is cool?

Life Jacket Loan - a great idea and we see it a lot of places by the water

We find a short cut back to camp and as we arrive back at #36 Camp Leader drives past on her golf cart towing a trailer of firewood, so we shell out the $5 to grab and bundle.

That;s how you make money by firewood sales - deliver!

So we are cooking outside on the fire tonight.  We start the fire early which doubles as a mosquito repellent and eventually sit down to steak, mushrooms and asparagus.

The WIFI here is very hit and miss, I only have one bar of cell coverage and Kim has none to some, so you might not get this post until we leave here.  Trying anyway!

Tuesday, 5 June, Armitage Park, Coburg OR 97408

Awake early - it’s light well before 5am, the bright ¾ moon wanders across the sky.  Snooze for half an hour more but then figure might as well start the day.  The heat pump takes the chill off.  WOW - three big deer just wander past in front of the motorhome, glad I am up early enough to see them!  I wondered if there were any deer here as this is the first time I’ve seen them.  My phone is right here but I can’t get it turned on and turned to camera in time to get a photo!

L&L will be leaving us early today, they are getting some work done on their coach just a few miles up the road and they need to be there by 9am.  But, they are coming by at 11am to pick us up to take us to lunch at Guaranty RV, who host a weekly complimentary lunch every Tuesday for any of their past, current and potential customers – we must fit into one of those categories I'm sure. We enjoyed lovely pulled pork on fresh buns, baked beans (but not as we know them) potato salad and watermelon, followed by a specialty icecream – it was real nice but dang it, I can’t remember the brand!

Lunch was great, the few speeches were brief.  Our table was super lucky - Larry won a prize in one of the trivia quizzes and the raffle was won by Judy!  Plus we got to wander around their sales lot without any interference from over-zealous sales people (Chad, our new BFF excepted) and the sun is shining!  We didn’t see any coaches we would have rather than ours, but there were some really nice features on some of them.

We stop off first at Safeway, we need milk and then at a produce market on the way home.  The asparagus looked really fresh and we also picked up some other fruit and veg too.

Back to ours for an early HH then L&L head back home to check how the repairs etc. are going!

Tomorrow we will be moving on to Richardson Park, another Lane County park on a lake only about 15 miles away but we hear there may be no WIFI and cell coverage may be suspect so don’t worry if there are no daily blogs for the next three days.  Catchya!

Monday, 4 June, Armitage Park, Coburg, OR 97408

Happy Queens Birthday everyone at home – hope you are making the most of the long weekend!

Today we have plans to go to North West RV Supply, Larry needs to pick up the hinges he ordered and we want to get a couple of replacement fridge door shelves which Kim saw there the other day, plus some rubber tubing to put around the slide out generator door and a new drink holder to replace the old black one which is a little wonky.  Good shopping!  We also pop into Lowes for more screws and to say Hi to Kathy, T&J’s daughter.  We are back in time for lunch - although I am still full from last night!!  The sun is out and it's warm (20C) so enjoy a little relax in our recliners reading, at least while the eyes are open.  Kim fits all of his new stuff.

 Armitage Park is very green!

HH is at ours tonight and T&J drive over to join us.  We were supposed to be at the neighbours, who L&L know but they only arrive back at their motorhome after a day out, just as we are finishing up.  Next time maybe.