Oregon Here We Come!

After our last camping adventure at Heyburn State Park, Linda and I reprovisioned the camper. I got everything geared up to travel southwest to Oregon where we would visit Linda's sister and her family.  Linda had planned for us to stay in Eugene for three nights visiting the family, then drive to the coast and meet up with our friends Caroline and Don Samuelson. 

Putting everything in order, we left Post Falls and drove to Arlington on the first day. The only interruption along the way was an hour-long shopping stop at the Kennewick REI. Neither of us bought anything, but it was a fun break from driving. 

Hydrofoil kiteboarder having fun in the wind.

We drove on and spent the night at our $10 boondock spot at the Port of Arlington. We had a great dinner and watched several wind boarders and a couple of kiteboarders working the wind and waves.  The wind had been blowing hard all day and when we neared the Port, I was ready to stop for the day. Wind makes for tense driving, but great sailing. We enjoyed watching the boarders perform.

The next morning we were up and on the road by 9 AM. I drove and Linda navigated. We followed Highway 84 west to Portland where we merged onto I-5 south. The drive was uneventful and we arrived in Eugene at around 2 PM. We parked the camper in the driveway and got our chairs out and started relaxing. Throughout the afternoon the Sollingers returned home from their various commitments and we greeted each with a hug as they arrived.

Mt. Hood was spectacular

Our 3-night visit with the Solenger family was very fun and filled with food, conversation, and exploration.  On Friday, we drove to several parks in the Eugene area and even spent part of the day looking for license plates in the city and around the U of O. 

Our travels took us up a hill to Hendrick's Park where we took a wrong turn and ran right into Pre's Rock. This is a monument memorializing the rock where Steve Prefontaine, a famous Oregon runner, crashed his sports car and died. 

That evening we ate like kings and played Skip-Bo. It was fun catching up, but mostly it was fun teasing Diane!

On Saturday we spent the day at the Wildlife Safari located in Winston, OR. Trip Advisor says, "

Monument to Steve Prefontaine

Wildlife Safari is a non-profit AZA-accredited zoological park dedicated to conservation, education, and research since its inception in 1972. Wildlife Safari is a fun-filled family destination where you can view over 500 animals in their natural habitat roaming freely much as they do in the wild! Visitors to the park drive through a 4.5-mile trek to see animals from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. This unique setting offers many opportunities to get up close and personal with animals large and small."

We drove the loop through the park and then walked the area around the petting zoo. Linda tried to hide one of the baby goats in her handbag, but we caught her, and she had to give it back. I don't know how she thought she could hide that little critter. You could not see it, but its bleats could be heard a mile away.

That night, the last night in Eugene, we celebrated Kenyon's 21st birthday. Specialty pizza was ordered and picked up and we had a feast before our final Skip-Bo game. We said our goodbyes and went to bed. It was back on the road in the morning heading to the coast.

The drive to the coast was uneventful. We checked into our campsite at Jessie Honeyman State Park where we were greeted by Don and Caroline. It was good to see them and we all sat around and chatted.

It was windy, but later on, Caroline and I took advantage of the Oregon Free Fishing Day and tossed some power bait into Lilly Lake. We fished for a bit and talked to a few folks about the lake. Lilly Lake is stocked with hatchery fish so everyone fishes with garlic-scented power baits. The fish feed on them because they are most like the fish food they have been given at the hatchery. They tend to be on a schedule and will bite better just before sunset. With all this info, we still could not catch anything, so we blamed it on the wind and quit.

Dinner time rolled around and Caroline prepared a wonderful hot dinner of clam chowder, crab and cheese sandwiches, and fruit salad. The wind was blowing hard and it was too cool to sit outside, so we ate in our little houses separately. We slept well with the wind cooling our camper making it very comfortable.

Monday all four of us took a walk over to Woahink Lake, where we explored the shore and took photos. The park has an excellent trail system that is paved so Don had no trouble riding his recumbent trike with us as we walked.

 

We stayed two nights at Honeyman State Park and then both rigs were packed up and we moved north to South Beach State Park for our final two nights.

You can make your own caption here.

When we were on the road to South Beach, Linda and I took the opportunity to drive about 20 miles farther north to Lincoln City and we did some shopping at the Outlet Mall which is located on the south end of the city. We both found some great deals while we were there. It turned out to be a great extension of our little vacation.

We arrived at our campsite in the late afternoon, got set up, ready to enjoy our dinner,

I walked across the campground loop road to have snacks with Caroline and Don. As we sat there talking, I looked over at our camper and noticed something hanging down under the front of the truck. I took a closer look and found that our brand-new steering rod assembly ($1200.00) had come apart.  The shock portion of the system had disconnected from the rest of the unit and was just hanging there. A large nut was missing. There was no way to tell if this had been detached for our entire trip, or if it had come apart recently. 

We took a few photos of the problem and called Les Schwab in Newport right before they closed for the day. They said that if it wasn't dragging, bring it in and they would check it out. The next morning we packed up and drove into town. It took them about 20 minutes to replace the nut. Nothing had been damaged during the time things were detached. We were very lucky and old Les was able to make the repair at no additional cost.

We drove back to the campground and set up for the second time. 

During our stay, we walked the paved trails out to the beach and enjoyed short walks in the sea breeze. The beach is one of Linda's happy places and she can walk and search for shells for hours. I love to watch her explore. Her smile is always amazing.

Fishing Lilly Lake in the wind!

After two nights at South Beach, it was time to split up and both groups head home. It is always so fun to see Caroline and Don.  We said our goodbyes and reminded each of us that we will be traveling together again at the end of June. We can't wait for that next adventure!

The next morning we drove through Newport, found Highway 20, and headed east. We intersected I-5 and drove north. When we neared the Portland area we exited I-5 and took 205 around the jam of traffic in Portland. We intersected I-84 and followed it up the Gorge and back to our spot at the Port of Arlington. We had dinner, played Skip-Bo, and went to bed.  Our final night on the road had the perfect backdrop. Cool winds, train whistles, and the sounds of the waves on the shore of the Columbia River. Brings tears to your eyes, doesn't it?

Siuslaw Bridge entering Florence.

We retraced our route down, with the exception of the REI stop. Our big white box was back in its parking spot by 1:00 PM and we were unpacked by 2:30 PM. It was good to be home. Little did we know that the next week would bring a huge bittersweet change into our lives.  I will explain all that later.

No nut! That's not right!

Two beach eagles and a dead fish.

Photos from the Wildlife Safari:

"Can I see your park pass, please?

This one is way tired.

Yes, this little guy would fit in my bag nicely!

Red Wolf pretending to be dead. 
Yes, it is sleeping.