Alma WA

It’s a bit cloudy today so we don’t rush to get up and active.  Over a couple of cups of tea we decide the plan for the next few days.  

Leaving Bay Centre WA- little fishing village!

Today we will go about half way to Seattle and luck is with us, we get a spot at the Elma RV Park.  What a welcome, two little packs of home made cookies!  Now I feel bad that we used our Passport America and got the night for half price – $18.50. It's a lovely camp and it's pretty full so lots of people think so!

Great to have power, water and sewer again, so washing goes on, the big stuff goes down to the laundry.  Kim does a subtle wash of the battery compartments etc, fixes my map light, fixes the fridge door so it won’t open further than half way, fixes the insect screen on the door etc…  I vacuum, clean and wash the linen etc.  Then the sun comes out so it’s time for a relax in the sun. Life is good!

Lots of TV channels here too, Kim is channel surfing.  White rabbits for tomorrow  : )

Bay Centre, WA

Cool night, lots of stars, no racoons and woke to sunshine – yay!  We spend an hour or so planning the next few days and booking accommodation on the Puget Sound so we can ferry across to Seattle.  Also working on how and when we do the Boeing tour in Everett.  Hopefully both all booked!

So now it’s around 11 am and way past time for breakfast – still working our way through the fresh blackberries – yum yum!

Kim embarks on a cleaning frenzy so I pass the hose through the bedroom window so he can hose out engine bay in the back – he’s been waiting for the perfect opportunity to do that and here we are on a grass site with water and hidden from most viewpoints, so a good job done.  That, plus cleaning the carpet around that area too – good result.

  

A coffee sitting in the sun on the picnic tables out in front, we don’t yet have full sun on the coach.  Can't sit around all day, so off for a bike ride.  We cycle around the little peninsula we are on, there are only four streets in each direction and then out on the main causeway where we saw the oyster selling place.  Dammit - it is closed at the weekends, how did this get to be Saturday already!  But here's a photo of Kim beside all the shells, some of them are enormous!

Oyster shells!

  

A nice relaxing afternoon, in our recliners, in the sun, with our books. What a perfect day!  Tonight we think we might go down to the local restaurant -  Dock of the Bay.  We passed it on our bike ride and on Saturday they advertise a $20 seafood bucket - that could be a go!

We take our bikes back down there, drink and ride - hah!  There is a steepish hill coming back and we couldn’t ride up it this morning -  maybe we can tonight!  Nah, we can’t!

Dinner was an experience!  There were some locals who may or may not have been there all day!   Our dinner went something like this, an agee jar of beer and a glass of wine, followed by oyster shooters – gigantic oysters and good tasting.  That followed by a seriously thick seafood chowder and finally we decide to share the seafood bucket!  Well, that was a surprise!  First the waitress laid down a sheet of white newsprint, then the bucket arrived and was ceremoniously emptied onto the paper!  A separate platter of crisp bread, melted butter and spicy tomato sauce and we dive in!  Kim was in charge of crunching the crab shells to get the meat out.  We also had clams, oysters, mussels, prawns, some kind of tasty sausage, corn on the cob, boiled red potatoes - a feeding frenzy.  Not quite what we expected, but it was an experience.

!

Oyster shooters, look at the size of that bad boy!

Fishermans Bucket strewn over the table!

Wobbled our way back home safely...  

I accidentally left my apple core outside on the ground today, so did Kim, so when we get back check to see if raccoons like apple cores.  Nope, they don’t, or at least they weren’t hungry, or roaming near us tonight.  Not even in the morning either!

Washington

Wake to the sound of waves crashing onto the sand.  It’s a bit foggy this morning and just 15.5C.  We go beach combing for an hour or so.  Sand is warm on the feet. Half a dozen small salmon fishing boats troll the beach just past the breakers!  

There have obviously been some pretty big storms in this neck of the woods, huge piles of driftwood have washed right up the beach, only the gnarly old pine trees have stopped them getting right into the park.  Perhaps that’s why these beach sites don’t have power or water hookup. No excuse for no cell coverage though!  People have made driftwood structures all along the beach complete with seating inside!

Lighthouse on the bluff in the fog!

Driftwood shelter and piled up driftwood in the background

Sun starts to filter through the fog and it turns into a nice warm day.  We leave at check out time 1 pm and drive to the office to see if we can have another site for tonight but they are full up.  So we head north alongside the coast on SH101 again, narrowly missing a black tail deer prancing across the road in front of us, until we come to Bush Pioneer County Park Campground in Bay Centre, WA.  This is a quant little fishing village and we pass a road side store selling oysters, scallops and crabs etc.  We couldn’t easily pull off the road to shop but will definitely do so when we leave here to get a supply of fresh seafood.

We pick a nice site in the sun but it's close to the office sign and two people have already come over wanting to pay us their camping fee.  Maybe we should just take their money : )

We are dry camping again tonight, no hookup here but no worries we are pretty good at this now.  We’ve just had dinner - Spag Bol and Kim has gone off blackberry gathering.  I’m going to sit outside for a while, watch the sun go down and see if I can spot a raccoon.

Tillamook OR to Washington

Fog again first thing this morning but sun comes out.  Just ten minutes drive away we arrive at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and there is heaps of parking for RV’s, we are early so take our pick.  The self guided tour is interesting, you can see from the mezzanine floor right down into the factory, huge blocks of yummy cheese being processed, cut, wrapped and packed in front of your very eyes.

The cheese tasting was two lines of people funneled along each side of the tasting tables, five or six different samples but apart from the jalapeno one they were pretty much the run of the mill flavours - Cheddar, Colby, Sharp White, Smoked etc.  Yesterday they had the Colby Jack I was after, but I bought some anyway (it is good) and Kim choose the Four Year Aged Sharp and a standard White Sharp.  The gift shop was pretty cool, lots of stuff which would go with cheese, including local wine!

Me and my new BFF Tilly from Tillamook

Kim driving theTillamook Combi

Then the ice cream counter!  I lucked out big time, the 'salted butterscotch' is too soft for the single waffle cone I order (not being overly greedy you understand) so I end up with the waffle basket filled to the top with the most delicious ice cream – yum!  Just about broke me - but I did manage with a little of Kim's help! Nobody bought the huge $38 bowl of all 30 flavours while we were there, but I would say that would be impossible without an army to help you eat it.

With nice round tummies we get back on the road and head north on US 101 along the coast.  We drive through Seaside and past the motel we stayed in on our bike trip, got some photos.  It’s a pretty town.

Further north just through Astoria is the very long bridge/causeway into Washington, we remember this well from the bike trip too, it is pretty amazing.  There are road works on the bridge so we sit for a few minutes feeling the structure shake – a lot! 

GPS position showing us about 1/4 way across bridge, the high bit!

A small portion of the bridge to WA

We have started climbing the bridge

Over the top and down the other side

We try our luck at a couple of State Parks but the first has only one site but too many trees for us to get into it cleanly, the second has two large church groups taking up all 508 sites, and we finally get into Cape Disappointment SP, just over the Washington state line. We choose a beach site and the beach which is long and sandy, is just behind the coach.  The fog rolls in and we go to sleep to the sound of the waves thundering onto the sand.

Netarts Bay OR

Fog blankets the area this morning, thick over the water. lesson the hills, but it soon clears.  We potter around and read for a while in the sun, then take the bikes off to explore.  There is a bit more sand along the road further but it is still not a beach you would spend a summer’s day at.  

There is a restaurant two minutes up the road too and it is rather full, a good sign of food quality.  However, we are not eating out for a few days, we need to get through the supplies we've already bought.

Kim riding along beside Netarts Bay 

We didn't bring them here, honest!

It's nice to famous for something but it's a pity we are famous for the NZ Mudsnail invasion. We have seen these signs on a few beaches now.

We lose the sun behind the trees on our site around 3 pm so we sit at an unused picnic table over the back for a while before coming in to start dinner.  A quiet night, just the waves breaking on the shore to lull us into the land of nod!

Tillamook OR

It wasn’t so hot last night and we must have gotten used to the traffic noise here at Peterson Cat, we had a pretty good sleep.  However we are woken early again - more dawn water blasting, but this time it was a fork lift on nice quiet tyres so no noisy metal tracks on concrete screeching in the dawn. 

It’s nearly 10am and we are still waiting for Cat to make up the bill so we can pay and get out of here.  Looking forward to getting back on the road and have decided to head back out to the coast and  go north on US101.

Finally get on the road around 11am and head north on the I5 to get some miles under our belt before hanging a left at Salem to work towards the coast.  It feels good to be moving again.  We try to book in at Cape Lookout State Park, but they have no available sites so next choice is Netarts Bay Garden RV Resort which also is right on the beach.  It is cooler on the coast and there is some wind but it supposed to get very hot inland this week so we might be glad of it. We are going to hang here for two nights.  Our campsite is right beside the bathroom/laundry block so it’s a bit like what Willis Street used to be on a Friday night! 

The beach isn't much to write home about (hah - that's exactly what I am doing).  It's rocky and tidal but there is a sandy stretch further along the road so tomorrow will get the bikes off and go check it out and take some pics.

We are very close to the Tillamook Cheese and Ice Cream Factory so we want to do the tour and maybe try a sample or two when we leave here on Thursday.  They have 30 flavours of ice cream and if you are super ambitious can order a bowl of all 30 flavours (to share with friends?).  Apparently if you order the bowl they sing to you – I will let you know how that goes….

It’s around 10.30 pm now but I need to stay up late tonight ‘cos my research has shown the US$ exchange rate goes up at night here and afternoon there and we need to transfer more money.  Where does it all go?  Oh yeah, I know where, we bought the 24 month extended warranty insurance for the coach.  I am sure that now we have it we won’t need to do any further repairs, Murphy is a bugger isn't he!

Springfield, OR

So we are sleeping overnight at Petersen Cat in order to get an early start.  But someone starts work there at the ungodly hour of 5.30 am water blasting a digger or some other noisy piece of equipment riding on tracks, not nice quiet tyres.  Therefore we haven’t had much sleep, so looking forward to some more tonight!

It was hot last night and this morning is a little foggy but it clears before too long.  L&L swing by to collect us, we have a brekkie date at Ardi’s, a '50’s style diner but unfortunately when we get there find they are closed on Mondays.  All is not lost, a few blocks away is Pump Café and there are lots of cars parked outside so we reckon that’s good indication of the food quality.  Awesome hash browns again….

After re-fueling ourselves we have an interlude at Walmart (no matter how much time we spend here we still find more stuff to buy every time we visit), then next door to Jerry’s Hardware to buy a ceiling fan for the bedroom so we don’t have to use the AC which is a bit too noisy for night time use.  Then we check out Costco, a bulk food place a bit like Moore Wilsons but also with electronics and clothes etc. They had food tastings in just about every aisle, had to buy the sweet pickled beetroot.  Also a block of 40 x Duracell AA batteries for $14.99 - Kim could not believe it, he wants to import a container full.  I find some nice Egyptian cotton sheets, 400 thread count so they come home with us - our others are getting decidedly shabby.  Just as well I don't have to hang them outside in front of God and neighbours!  Thank you L&L for driving us around once again, but we seriously have to stop hanging out with you guys, we keep spending money! 

We get back to the coach with all our shopping around 2.30 pm and see the team have started work on it but they want to do the leveling jack hose on the night shift so it looks like we will be spending another night here, right beside the rampant I 5.

 

L&L feel sorry for us so are coming back for happy hour at 4 pm.  I promise I will have my alcohol free days from tomorrow…..  

Haven't got any interesting pics from our shopping today but these are from a couple of days back:

Boys (Tom, Larry and the handsome smiley one is Kim) enjoying happy hour!

Mexican Coke - tasted like the 'real' thing!

Caterpillar, Coburg OR

Well, we are parked in a truck service centre so I guess one could expect trucks!  But at 5 am, don’t these people have lives?  Anyway after the first couple of frights we get used to the engine noise and get back to snoozing.  Around 8 ish we rise and start our day by wandering along to Camping World for a nosy at all their new and used camper deals and finish up thinking we are very lucky and we quite like our motorhome!  They usually have coffee to offer but this morning also have cupcakes to celebrate their 50th birthday - thank you CW, that's morning tea taken care of.

Pretty soon L&L are back from visiting family and after a quick lunch and a chat realise it is nearly happy hour so we pile in L&L ‘s car and head back to Armitage (maybe 4 miles south) to meet up with Bobbi & Tom for a couple of quite ones.

Bobbi & Tom, Happy Hour at Armitage

Lois has her famous fried chicken cooking while we are out so once we get back it's all ready and we eat together.  Lovely dinner followed by fresh wild blackberries and icecream again before we finally take our leave and drive down to CAT for the night, it’s only about 5 miles.  This too is right beside the I5 so I guess we can expect a noisy night but we have power and as a bonus Kim is out collecting more wild blackberries!!

Did I mention it was sunny and 30C again today?  Niiiiiice!

Cummins, Coburg OR

Saturday 23 July

Another beautiful day in Paradise, but sadly we have to leave this camp today, they haven’t had any cancellations and there is no room for us.  We say goodbye to our new friends and drive just a few miles north to Cummins where L&L are parked up waiting for their service work on Monday.  There is a space beside them with power so there we park.  A quick coffee and then L&L take us shopping - again!  First stop is Best Buys to get an USB cable so the new printer can scan to the computer!!  Thought it would be able to do that already?  Anyway $35 later we hope it works!  Then the girls get dropped off at the mall for an hour or so while the buys go back for yet another stint at Northwest RV.  It’s now way past time for lunch so Larry finds us a micro-brewery with really good food - Plant Town at Springfield.  Kim decrees his Hobbits Habit Olde Ale superbly good and his Bacon Irish Cheddar Burger with horseradish sauce and pickled onion the best burger he has EVER tasted!  Happy chappy!

Well it’s now 4.30 pm so we have missed happy hour but swing by Walmart on the way back to the coaches for supplies – more wine and icecream to go with our blackberries for dessert tonight.  And very good it all is too!

Armitage Park, Coburg, OR

I don’t know what happens these mornings but we can’t get up and started much before 9 am.  I guess we are just enjoying laid back mode.  However it’s another beautiful day in Paradise again and the forecast is for even hotter over the weekend : )

After much discussion we have decided to buy the extended warranty for the coach and this afternoon Bob is coming to inspect the coach to make sure it is warranty worthy – we're very happy to say it passes with flying colours!  Bob was a cool guy - he would make an admirable Father Xmas with his flowing white beard and generous silhouette, another real genuine American bloke who was interested in what we have been doing and had lots of stories to tell.  He too lives in a motorhome, he’s a petrol head and the proud owner of one dog and four cats who think they are dogs.

After Bob left L&L come over from where their coach is having work done, just in time for happy hour at ours, together with Bobbi &Tom.   L&L stayed on for ‘build your own burgers’ and sweet corn and just one more glass of wine…..  They had bought lovely fresh free range eggs and wild blackberries, much sweeter than we have picked here.  

We are being so spoilt by our new friends, everyone has been so kind and generous and we have had the most amazing time with them all.  We will be sad to leave them tomorrow, unless we can wangle one more night here at this park - we are hoping for a cancellation tomorrow night (Saturday)!  If not, we will maybe dry camp overnight either at Camping World or go to where Larry and Lois are staying at the Cummins Service Centre.

Coburg, OR

What’s happening with the exchange rate – going down!!

L&L are coming by to take us ‘walkabout’ at 10 am.  Their coach is getting new carpet so they need to be out for the day.  They do an awesome job of taking us here, there and literally everywhere we want to go!  First to Camping World, then we do a tiki around the old factories where the Safari motorhomes were built in the 90's and early 2000’s .  

We stop for lunch at a recommended Mexican restaurant – El Patron.  The burritos were particularly good!

Then across the road to Dollar Tree, followed by the Scooter Shop on Ocean, which we find finally open.  The scooter Kim had googled was sold but they do have a couple of options – yellow and black!  Of course those scooters have other characteristics but the colours will do as descriptions for now!

 

L&L have been absolutely wonderful to us, taking us everywhere in their car, sharing their expertise, friends and even food with us!  We have had a ball!

We are late getting back to the camp for Happy Hour, the rest have started without us!

 

Tonight L&L have gone back to their coach to get it back into shape after their new carpet and we are eating bodacious sweet corn and left overs tonight, not much needed after our big lunch out : )

Coburg, OR

Another warm, sunny day - liking it here in Oregon.  Bobbi & Tom offer to take us to the local produce stores - Thistledown Farm and Lone Pine Farms, which are great!  We saw onions the size of rock melons, yellow beetroot, lots of different squash, marionberries (a kind of smooth blackberry which was developed in Oregon) and loads of jams, jellies, sauces and even wine in one of the shops.  We have to get the Bodacious corn on the cob, which comes highly recommended.  The stone fruit looks fabulous and the peaches and cherries, we can already confirm are absolutely delicious!

We were planning on a quite night at home eating our fresh produce and leftovers but B&T invite us over for dinner at their place with their son Mike, wife Pam and two late-teen grandchildren, Amelia and Nick. We have a great night with a lovely, real American family.  The food was amazing, BBQ spare ribs, home made potato salad, bodacious sweet corn.... The Root Beer Spiders which followed were pretty darn good also!  Stuffed to a standstill!

Coburg, OR

This morning we say goodbye for now, to L&L.  We will see them again in a few days, they are staying in the area while getting work done on their coach.  They want to come and get us for the day when our coach is having the service done at CAT.

The sun comes out for the afternoon so we take our books outside and check out our new chairs (had to return one yesterday, as it would not open correctly).  A lovely afternoon!

4 pm already, happy hour!  There is only a small family today, just the four of us at B&T’s - love the pepper flavoured pistachios!  A quiet night follows.

Coburg, OR

We have to change our campsite today, but before we vacate site 28 gather a bowl of ripe blackberries, yum.  Site 19 is much more open but really close to the laundry and showers etc.  Might as well take advantage of the close laundry to do the sheets and towels. 

I didn’t tell you about my disaster on Saturday – I was still too cross with myself to talk about it!  Anyway I used the vacuum cleaner to clean up the dust etc as I screwing in the new vents.  The cleaner is an upright and the hose is short so I sat the cleaner on the drivers seat.  Here’s the rub (pun intended) the cleaner has rotating brushes on the bottom and unfortunately these did an excellent job of rubbing and scuffing the seat material.  Every time I come in the coach the damage stares at me!!  Kim found a repair man though (one who had been to our coach trying to give us a chair he had repaired - it was the wrong site) and he came this afternoon and repaired the seat.  It’s nearly as good as new, but there is $120 less in the bucket!  Would have much rather spent that money on clothes or shoes or handbags!

Once again the day just goes and it is soon happy hour which again convenes at Bobbi &Tom’s (they are much closer now too) and we meet more of the RV group – Tom and Judy.  The sun comes out and we have a very pleasant time chatting away.  This is L&L last night at this camp so we have dinner together and end up watching some music DVD’s.  A late but very enjoyable night!

Coburg, OR

Up early, we have a breakfast date with L&L at GJ’s, a bustling American Diner, recommended by B&T.  They boast large portions but you would not believe the size of the plate of “oh so yummy” hash browns (Americans do these extremely well), eggs and bacon, plus toast, so I took a photo for you!  I tried my best but the breakfast won this round!

GJ's huge breakfast for $7.95!

We stop at another couple of places including the Scooter shop Kim wants to see - unfortunately it’s closed again, and Walmart, just for a top up you understand!  Actually we did need some coffee etc.

Back at the motorhome, L&L want to see some of our NZ photos.  B&T join us and we spend an hour or so showing them a little of what NZ is like.  It’s a bit cloudy today so no worries staying indoors watching photos.  Time for a quick nana-nap before happy hour  : )

Armtage Park, Coburg, OR

Kim can’t even remember this morning what he has on his to-do list so I suggest he looks in his many shopping bags to remind himself what he bought yesterday and therefore what he needs to fit, fix or fudge today.  Larry comes over to help with the bright new shiny exhaust extension and very nice it looks too.  I get a job on the end of a screw driver to fit the replacement vents on the dash.  The awning seals and glides get a conditioning treatment, the water bay gets a complete ‘birthday’ and K gets a new drink holder beside the driver’s seat.

It’s nice and sunny so I take myself off for a bike ride down along the river then finally I get to test out our new reclining chairs and can report them a success!

Come 4 pm it is happy hour again so we go over to Bobbi and Tom’s Safari Cheetah and sit around the back in the shade admiring the lovely mural on the back of their coach.  Happy hour turns into happy hours but eventually we all head back home for dinner.

Coburg OR

We have to check out of our campsite today, but friends of L&L had also booked a site here for a few days and sadly illness prevents them from coming so there is a spare site we can use in the meantime, a very happy solution for us as we need to stay around this area until Monday week.  And the new site gets the afternoon sun : )  We mosy on over there and make ourselves at home.

Pretty soon L&L swing by for coffee and muffins before we head off on our shopping expeditions.  We all go to Camping World and three times we go thru the checkout!  Then the girls get dropped off at the mall and the boys spend another couple of hours at NorthWest RV supply.  Kim won the shopping stakes today!  Lois a close second!  

We get back to camp once again just in time for happy hour!  Then we are off into town to Steelhead Brewery for dinner.  It was a really cool venue and the food very good.  

Dinner at Steelheads Brewery

On the way home the car turns into Dairy Queen and although everyone is very full we don’t let the moment be wasted and manage to squeeze down most of an ice cream blizzard each!  Now we are overfull, hope we don’t burst on the way home!

Coburg OR

Another beautiful day in Paradise, sunny and warm!   Today I saw my first snake, yup, a real live in the woods wriggly snake.  I was just standing on the grass looking in the bushes next to the coach to see if I could see the gopher who had made the new gopher holes, when I saw what I thought was fat long gecko tail, except it kept moving and it kept getting longer, so I reckon I saw at least 15 inches of the back end of a snake as it slithered into the greenery.  It wasn’t very thick and I couldn’t see the business end - the one with the fangs, so have no idea how long the whole thing was!  I am told it was PROBABLY a common and maybe harmless garden snake!

Kim started his day off with he and Larry reattaching the main curb side slide awning cover so we don’t end up with a puddle of water on the roof of the slide – that has a tendency to cascade into my lap as we move off, unless we remember to raise the jacks first so the water can drain off before we bring in the slide.  The little job turned into a bit of a mission and L&L are waiting to take us shopping!  We're ready.  First stop Cabela’s, a huge sports shop with guns for Africa and walls decorated with every sort of stuffed wild animal found in these parts, bears (black, brown and polar), deer, sheep with horns, lynx, racoons, badgers, foxes etc.  Here we finally get our reclining deck chairs which have been on Kim's want list for some time now : )

However, the shopping highlight of the day was NorthWest RV supply which had every kind of spare part, RV  thingy, doodad and more – in fact the boys need to go back tomorrow but that’s OK, the mall is not far and Lois and I will get dropped off there first.  

We get back to camp in time for happy hour and once again L&L stoke up the BBQ and we have the most delicious pork loin, I’m on roast potatoes and salad tonight.

Coburg OR

Another beautiful day in Paradise, sunny and warm!  We do a few chores in the morning (getting the bay lights working, laundry etc) and then Larry & Lois’ friends Jeanne and Bob arrive and we sit around outside chatting over coffee for a couple of hours.  Jeanne was talking about the cruise they are leaving on next week to Alaska, from Seattle.  Hmm… we are going to Seattle and I would love to see Alaska.  I spend a couple of hour googling the last minute cruise options and now just have to convince Kim : )  Watch this space!

The afternoon just goes by, more tidying and fixing and just hanging outside in the sun.

Happy hour comes around (so soon) and the six of us convene at L&L for drinks and we stay on for a yummy BBQ dinner.  Much later we only have to walk across the road and we are home!  Another lovely day spent with wonderful friends : )

Coburg OR

Monday July 11

Alarm set for 7am - yikes!  Didn’t need it though, awake at 6am so we were at Kaiser Brake & Alignment at 8am on the dot.  They took us straight away and did an amazing job, replaced the ball joint, test drove it, adjusted and then did a wheel alignment - Kim was convinced our brand new tyres were out of balance!  They weren’t, so no longer may he verbalise on every rough road we drive on!  The people here at Kaiser were amazing too, Kerry the owner, Mel the scheduler and the lady in the office, were all really friendly, helpful and so accommodating.  We were back on the road by 11.30 am.

Coach in hospital

Kim has found a scooter of interest so we go check it out.  It was not obviously meant to be, the shop is closed on Mondays!  Next is window shopping at an RV store followed by lunch at Hungry Jacks . Then on to Armitage County Campground.  It's a lovely, warm sunny afternoon, ideal for a bit of spit and polish and a relaxing laze in the sun.

Tuesday July 12

Warm last night, windows open all night, happy to be back in summer mode!  Arrived at Peterson CAT before 1pm and Jake and Jeff came out, hooks up the computer and instantly fix the engine fluffing when cold.  We book in for a transmission service!  We think it wise to keep up the regular servicing - peace of mind insurance against having to replace the whole engine any time soon.  These guys already have three dead coach engines, later models that ours, in their workshop and each looking at $30-40k to fix.

Left Petersen and back to camp, we have a pull thru site now, nice and big but it doesn’t get the afternoon sun : (

Pretty soon our friends Larry and Lois arrive back at their coach and after big hugs all round the boys decide they better have a beer over which to tell some lies and Lois and I find out we both have a tolerable liking for Chardonnay, so crack open a bottle to celebrate our reunion.

We are taken out to dinner down the road and Kim has a new fave “chicken fried steak”.  He likens it to a thick beef schnitzel with a coating similar to KFC, served with cheesy mashed potato and gravy….   It was more than a meal,  nobody had room for anything else.

Larry and Lois, full timers from California

Eugene OR

Was it only 49 years ago today that decimal currency was introduced into NZ?  I remember being so proud of being a Dollar Scholar, even got a certificate!

It rained gently during the night, peaceful except for the two distant trains I heard.  We had a late night so felt justified in having a sleep in.  We need to decamp by noon unless we stay for another night, but after our morning board meeting over a cup of tea, decide we will leave here and fill in the afternoon at a shopping centre or somewhere where we can stretch our legs and then for the night camp outside Kaiser, the place who is rebuilding our ball joint at 8am in the morning.  On Google Maps it looks to be a warehouse type arrangement with trucks outside so should hopefully work out OK and we will be there on time - even before on time on Monday morning.

So we drive by the service place and are a little put off, there seems to be a homeless person, although he did have a pushbike so was obviously a person of some means, sleeping under a bright yellow duvet and therefore quite visible,  So we ummed and ahhed for a few seconds and decided to go back to the Valley River Centre and plead ignorance of the'two night only' camping rule. After all we have been away for a night!

By now it’s about time to eat again so remembering how much we enjoyed our Cinnabons the other day, we head back into the mall for a repeat decadent delight.  This time we had the Caramel Pecan Cinnabons and OMG  think we are in heaven!  Considering the future and the possibility of needing a much larger motorhome, or at minimum a whole new wardrobe of stretch and gro’ clothing, we restrict ourselves to just one mini each but the next time I see a Cinnabon shop we WILL be stopping!  No photo sorry, we don't want all our excesses on record!

Kim went back home to read up on manuals for the coach and I did a tad more shopping – well it was going to rain soon and we are parked in a mall carpark and there is not much else to look at or do, so not that I need to justify myself at all, so I went shopping! For three hours!

Eugene, OR

Saturday July 9

Red Lobster was awesome, the Coastal Maine Lobster and Shrimp plate when it arrived looked exactly like the picture and the ad on TV and it was totally delicious.  We started with the complimentary biscuits, which taste like fluffy savoury scones so had one to try - just so I could report back you understand, then salad with champagne vinaigrette for me and Clam Chowder for K, followed by Fish & Chips for him and for me the Coastal platter – yum yum!!  No room for dessert!

Biscuit (scones) to start

This is exactly what the photo looks like, I'm delighted and yes I did eat it all!!

This morning the drizzle seems to have disappeared and the sun is trying to show it’s face.  We have to leave here, after a final power-shop, so mosy on to an RV park close by but everywhere is full, there is the Olympic Trials and the Oregon County Fair on here this weekend.  At least we now know what the special segregated part of the mall carpark is for, it is a 'park and ride' for the County Fair, you line up for either a seat on a bus, or standing on a bus or wheelchair access.  It must be a bit like the 7’s as we see all sorts of crazy dressed up punters!  

Anyway that doesn’t solve our issue of where to stay tonight, the first place recommends another place up the road but they are also full but in the meantime the first place phones to say they have someone leaving so we can have that space in an hour or two.  So we go to Walmart to fill in time, we need food anyway.  On arriving back at Shamrock Village RV set up camp beside the river and take care of the housekeeping duties, charge everything up and do copious loads of washing.  All good and we have excellent WIFI and TV here too!

Eugene OR

Friday, July 8

Slept in, it is pretty quiet in a shopping mall up until 10am when they open. It is overcast but warm 18C, a perfect day for shopping. 

First though we have a breakfast appointment with Cinnabon – my idea!  Lordy lordy!

Well - we did share one!

The next job for this morning though is to go see the Caterpillar man at Peterson CAT and we have booked in with Jake on Tuesday morning, hopefully he will have the answer to the engine fluffing if we don’t let it come up to temperature before starting off.  Kim thought this place had good shopping too!

It suits him, don't you think?

We found another shopping mall close by in Springfield.  I have my mojo back, came out with more than one parcel this time, yay!  Then we head back to Valley River for our second night.  We can stay here for a maximum of two nights.

Can't remember if I have posted these or not, electric animals to ride around the mall! 

It’s been drizzly on and off today, warm though, hovering around 19-20 C and it cleared while I was in our mall.  Came back with a parcel again, welcome back shopping Mojo - missed you!

TV has been tantalising me regularly with ads for the Red Lobster restaurant, showing succulent lobster, shrimp (prawns) and seafood (all on the one plate, yum) and there a Red Lobster here, just on the other side of the mall, so that is our plan for dinner tonight.  Will take a pic for you!!  

Eugene OR

Thursday, 7 July Eugene

17C when we wake up this am - much more to our liking, although the sun is ducking in and out from behind some thin cloud cover.  Maybe the forecast will turn out to be right and we can expect some rain over the next 2-3 days.

After breaking camp we head down to Junction City which is actually just a small town with four or five RV repair/service centres.  We buy diesel here at a good price.  Talking to the pump jockey we learn that in this state it is illegal to pump your own petrol but OK to pump your own diesel.  It’s a big farming community and farmers can do what they like with diesel but having the petrol rule creates employment.  We have found Oregon in general to be a state inhabited with honest, friendly likable residents.

We check out one of the repair places on our list, they can’t help us with our Caterpillar issue but recommend someone.  We spend half an hour or so looking through their used RV’s which are all displayed inside a huge building.  They all are in beautiful condition even those which are  7-8 years old.  Didn’t find one which we wanted to swap ours for : )

We then head towards the I5 for a Camping World where Kim ticks many things off his list, adds to his list and ticks those off too.  Before we know it we have spent an hour wandering the aisles.

There is a camp in a County Park very close by but it is full for tonight so we look for option number two.  I find one on the Allstays app called Valley River which is another 4 miles away and is free.  Would you believe it – it is a shopping mall carpark and there are already four other campers here.   Woohoo, I think I am in heaven!  We pick a flat space close to the other campers and a long way from the buildings.  I go over to see the office as we apparently need a pass from security.  Lady phones security man,  I phone Kim to let him know,  security man is already pulling up alongside coach.  Now I am at the furtherest end of the mall so take my time wandering back home, making mental notes about where I need to spend some serious time tomorrow. 

Managed to get the lid off the huckleberry jam and it is quite delicious!  Had it with cheese and it was a lovely match.

There is also a movie theatre here so now we have been to the American movies, Kim won the toss so we saw Tarzan!  We played the ‘old’ card and it was $6.60 each, the icecreams were just about the same price, no age discount for those!  But while we were waiting we found Candy Tyme, a whole shop full of sweeties.  You’ve heard the old saying ‘like a kid in a candy shop’ – well that was Kim to a T!

We had a few spits of rain going into the movies but it was clear when we came out.  Had a quiet night, it was bright from the street lights but our night time blinds kept most of that out.  There was a train in the distance but otherwise a pretty quite night, maybe just some voices and cars leaving the mall was all we heard.

Lebanon, Waterloo OR

Wednesday 6 July

Yay - we didn’t need the duvet on last night!!  It was still cool in the am but we don’t care ‘cos we are on a mission this morning.  We have an appt. at Ray Jackman Repairs so we get onto it early and are there by 10 am as planned.  What awesome people, Steven and Ray could not have done more for us.  They went over and above the call of duty and even sorted out for us where we could go to get the ball joint which needs fixing/replacing/re-machined to save us a couple of grand!  Ray also loaned Kim his pair of overalls while they were replacing the hydraulic bits and adjusting the brakes.  What an awesome company and fabulous helpful people!! 

Steve and Ray working hard!

We go back to the Waterloo Campground as it was a lovely setting, only 3 miles away and we don’t need to book.  The afternoon is about 28C – luvin’ summer again!  We go for a bike ride, walk down to the river where we see lots of kids, big kids too, in blow-up apparatus floating down the river through the rapids but bailing before the waterfall - we haven’t actually seen the waterfall yet but the signs promise it is looming!

We get back to camp have a cold drink around our picnic table, a read in the sun, dinner (delicious sweet corn again, yum) and another day is done and dusted with good results.

Our plan tomorrow is to drive down to Junction City which apparently is the RV repair capital of the world!  Want to buy some gas struts for the storage underneath, an exhaust extension etc.  We also need to make an appointment in to have the ball joint/drag link repaired next week when we are down in Eugene.

Coast to Inland Oregon

Tuesday 5 July

Cool night again, sunshine first thing, but disintegrates to cloud cover mid morning.  Bugger it, we are heading inland!   We stop first to take photos of the beach stretching left and right and the ‘Moaning Mini’ we heard all yesterday.

South Beach OR, miles and miles of it

The road inland was a lovely, curvy and tree lined for about 30 miles, the temperature rose from 17C to 22C and then we are in the town of Albany and find a shopping centre.  My mind is off the temperature, now I am in shopping mode but I only manage to come out with just the one parcel - I am losing my touch!

It’s quite refreshing in Oregon, there is no sales tax, so the price on the ticket is what you pay, you don’t get to the counter with the money in your hand and have to scrabble for some more when they ring up the item.

Then we need a Home Store and a Walmart which are close by, before finding the Waterloo Campground where we choose a lovely sunny site for the night.  It’s a beautiful, warm late afternoon so we enjoy our picnic table for a couple of hours before coming in to make some dinner.  I know we often complain that food in America seems to have too much sugar in it for us and is overly sweet but when it comes to sweetcorn, which we had tonight, sweet is very much OK, in fact this sweetcorn is the best I’ve ever tasted. 

We have TV tonight and the weather forecast is for shite at the end of the week, rain and cold front.  We’ll just wait and see if it happens.  Might need to spend more time in a shopping mall where it is dry and try and get my mojo back!

South Beach, near Newport OR

Monday, July 4 (independence Day ) 

Another sunny day!  We were in two minds whether to leave or stay today - it’s funny how you so easily get into relax mode where you feel quite at home and can’t be bothered moving on!  But after another cup of tea and a think about what we need to achieve in the next week or two we decide we should move on and at least get a little further north so we have an easy trip inland towards Eugene to get the jack hydraulics seen to and meet up with Larry and Lois. 

So after a ‘healthy’ and ‘nourishing’ brekkie of pancakes and maple syrup (note: the first we have made this trip) we get on the road. 

We say goodbye to our new BFF’s next door and are now the proud recipients of a jar of homemade Huckleberry jelly/jam, both red (tart) and black (sweet) in layers in the one jar.  Huckleberries, which we gather are similar to blueberries, are a local delicacy.  Looking forward to trying it, as soon as we can get the lid off the jar.  Might need to resort to tools!!

We have seen lots of road-side shops selling wooden products made from Myrtlewood which is a tree native to Oregon – they are only found on the west coast here, or in the Holy lands.  Gives you a frisson of spiritual awe, doesn’t it!

The coast road is a little more rugged the further north we drive but this is tempered by the vast sand dunes which extend three miles inland.  Reminds us of our four wheel driving days.  These dunes are enjoyed by herds of ATV’s and you can hire them for the day for some off-road fun of your own.

We drive across the Umpqua River, divert three miles inland in search of elk at the Dean Creek Elk viewing area - noon is obviously not the best time of day for elk to be out and about : ( so we head back to the US101 and drive through a few small seaside towns, Reedsport (with gorgeous bright pink flower baskets), Florance, Yachats (which I thought was another American spelling mistake).  Here there is a traffic jam worthy of a big city, due to the obviously much famed Farmers Market, people must come from everywhere to this, they can’t all live in this little seaside town. 

Pretty town of Reedsport, beautiful pink flowers!

Farmers Market traffic jam in Yachats

Yup, it is 4th of July! Nope, we are not in Walmart!

The wind along the coast is still strong, even by Wgtn standards and it’s only around 20C so we’re not feeling the summer we hoped for but we find us a nice sunny spot in the South Beach State Park close to Newport where we book in for tonight.  It’s a huge camp, 227 sites, with internet and some trails to the beach which we might still investigate.  The wind is less here but the temp only rises as far as 21C - still have a hankering for some real summer warmth and 21C does not cut it!  Tomorrow we go inland and I’m expecting (well insisting really) on an upward swing of the temperature ratings.

Had a good sleep except for the fog horn (nope, there was no fog – must be a land warning) which cycles every 12 seconds, I know ‘cos I counted along numerous times.   So up early and sitting here updating the blog and watching the crows demolish everything left on the picnic table next door.  Crows, or ravens maybe, they are hard to tell apart except ravens are bigger, anyway they are huge black birds, their wingspan can be up to 46 inches and they have a hideous, annoying raucous 'CAW'.  But the squirrels are also foraging for any left over human food and they are so cute!