Poor MickeySept.25

Drove from Eugene, Oregon to Kelso, Washington today.
We had to stop at every Target store on the way because Karen had seen this outfit on the way south and regretted not buying it for Mickey.We bought one in Grants Pass but it turned out to be too small , so the search was on, none of the targets had it till Kelso.
Now Mickey can be humiliated.[it's a fishing vest]
Should reach Seattle tomorrow, Nanaimo the next.

Sept 23 Crescent City to Eugene

Left the Redwood forest and drove through the mountains to Grant's Pass, Oregon, the north to Eugene after taking 2 loops through Roseburg looking for somewhere to eat.Sunday, lots of places closed. Ended up having lunch up the road at some little place.

This picture of us is from last week in Seaside, Oregon. It's one of the ones that didn't load earlier.

We will spend 2 nights at Eugene Kamping World rv park and do some shopping . No sales tax and strong Can. dollar is tempting us.

Tuesday we will leave for as far as we get.

Gold Beach Sept.21

This posting is out of order because the original didn't show the pictures again.
This is an old whaling boat lying at the mouth of the Rogue River





The Mail Boat is one of the jet boats you can take up the river. I don't know why they are called Mail Boats.
Drove to Crescent City, California . did some grocery shopping then headed N.E.into the Redwood National Forest to a nice RV park. Will spend 2 nights here and explore Crescent City and the redwoods

Sept.22 Redwoods

Spent the morning touring the forest and Crescent City. The redwoods are amazing, I thought Cathedral Grove was something but these trees are immense .

We just had to stop at the Trees of Mystery and get our picture taken with Babe the blue ox and Paul Bunyon.
Came back to the trailer , cleaned out the beach sand and enjoyed the sunshine ,it's about 75 here and feels like summer.
Tomorrow we will head back north into the mountains to Grants Pass and slowly make our way home.

South from Coos Bay

We left Coos Bay in the fog this morning but emerged into sunlight away from the water.
Drove for 2 hrs. ,with several photo and Mickey pee breaks, to Gold Beach .
Every turn seems to bring more impressive scenery but the rock pictures are starting to blur together

Sea Lions

Sept.20
Drove to Coos Bay this morning, easy 1 hour trip. Staying at an RV park on the ocean, called ,coincidently, Oceanside Rv Park. Just up the road is a state park where we could see all of these sea lions and seals. Spent a couple of hours in the sun on the beach. Mickey got lots of beach time in as well. He is actually bringing the ball back fairly regularly!

We are 140 miles from Crescent City,California. May do the whole drive tomorrow, depends how tired we get and if we see something we want to stop for.
Lots of RV's on the road, I'm beginning to think almost everyone in America drives a huge class A motorhome, towing their Lexus behind them, they are everywhere!

Cheers for today.

Sept.19 Newport Oregon
Spent the night at the Newport Marina RV Park overlooking the marina.Rained really hard at night but the morning dawned nice and sunny. Had another Griswold episode leaving the park. I had forgotten to raise one of the trailer stabilizer jacks,much scraping and a bent jack. Couldn't loosen it so backed up slightly, the jack straightened, I was able to retract it and off we went, my dignity slightly tarnished.

We stopped at the Oregon Aquarium just outside the campground. Very nice and well done, seal, otter, puffin and many local fish displayed.

Stopped for sandwiches at a State park on the ocean and let Mickey have a good run.

Had an easy scenic drive to Florence, Checked into an RV park 5 mi. south, on the edge of the Dunes Recrational area.

Took Mickey for a hike into the dunes but the blowing sand bothered him.

Tomorrow we will drive to the Coos Bay area.

Sandy Dog

Florence, Oregon in the Dunes Recreation Area.

(i had to.)

Haystack Rock

Sept. 17
Cannon Beach Hatstack Rock in the background.
Puffins nest here but we didn't see any. Nice sunny day though.

No Griswold episodes today. Drove to Seaside this morning to an outlet center , no good deals so didn't buy anything.
Got the trailer batteries tested, they didn't seem to be holding a charge but they tested good so I don't know what the problem is.
Seaside full of little shops and restaurants.

Cannon Beach is more scenic and less touristy. It's called "the Carmel of Oregon", lots of galleries and gift shops.

Cannon Beach

Sept. 17

Us in front of the Lewis and Clark statue at Cannon Beach

Nanaimo to Long Beach Washington

The trip started well after our departure from Duke Point with a minor incident after leaving the ferry, we pulled over to turn on the fridge and water Mickey, 5 min later we were waved over by a passing car, our trailer door was open, flapping in the breeze.

Waited 45 min at customs,got waved over for an inspection, got a trainee inspector so his teacher had him do the full routine, Mickey's rabie's cert., trailer inspection, beef ban still in effect, lost our steaks , canned soup, sausages, and all of Mickey's dog food and treats.

First stop after customs, grocery store to replace lost dinners.

Border to north of Seattle went fine except fo very bumpy pavement, much bucking and bouncing with the trailer.

Lynwood to almost Tacoma very heavy traffic. Stressful pulling a trailer at 60mph alternating with 2mph in 4 lanes of traffic.
Found a state park to stay at, no power, but we were tired and didn't care.

Next day [Fri.Sept14] . Stopped and did a little shopping before continuing to Castle Rock, Wash.

Traffic much better, road still bumpy. Stayed overnight at Mt. St.Helens RV park. Full hookup,TV, Yay!

Sat.Sept 15, Left early for 1.5 hr drive to the coast. Nice 2 lane road, no traffic and nice scenery along the Columbia River.

Arrived at Long Beach Wash. around 1pm, lucky to get one of the last spots at Cape Dissapointment State Park at the mouth of the Columbia.[Full hookups but no TV] Nice site very near the ocean, big sandy beach, about the size of Big Beach, Maui. Lots of waves, nice to hear at night.

Long Beach is interesting but nothing special after seeing our own Long Beach. Would be fun in summer, lots of touristy shops, reminder me of Lahaina.

Chickened out on driving on the beach, saw others out there but was afraid of getting stuck. The beach has the same rules as the highway,20mph speed limit, pedestrians beware!

Sunday Sept.16, left about 10 am for Astoria,Oregon. Drove over the longest[4 miles] bridge in N. America. Stopped at Costco,only one on the coast, and got some groceries.

Drove 30 miles to Cannon Beach Rv park. Nice place, TV, wifi, pool, laundry. Will stay 2 nights, clean up and see the sites.