Day 17 May 30 Portland

We went to the market this morning, found it easily, surprisingly enough!
Lots of stalls and food, We had lunch there but not at the ones with the sewage plant behind them.[It is closed now, thankfully.]
Later we explored the city, not easy to navigate , it's divided by rivers and connected by many bridges, the overpasses look like something from the Jetsons.
The transit trains share some streets with cars, you need to be careful that you don't turn up a street that is transit only! No, I didn't do it.

On the way back we took Mickey for a run at a dog park, good for him to run off some energy.
We drove east past our rv park along the Columbia river, very busy with boat traffic, barges, ski boats and sailboats everywhere.

We came back and got ready to go out for my birthday dinner. We went to a Mexican place the rv park manager recommended.
Food was just ok, place was a bit of a dive, people playing video lottery in the corner.

Tomorrow we leave for home. It's a 5 or 6 hr drive, we may make it back in a day, if we don't get tired of driving.

We've met some interesting people down here,a few have said that they would never go to Canada because they couldn't take their guns but they have heard it's a nice place with free healthcare.

We'll be glad to get something decent on the radio. In Oregon it's Christian or country or if your lucky, 60's hard rock.
Today we heard the dj say that the song being played had gone gold in Canada, but since the population was so small compared to the US that it only took 10 Eskimos listening to get a gold record. Heartwarming!

Day16 May 29 Detroit to Portland

After the restless night with Mickey,the next day had it's ups and downs,
First off we discovered that Mickey had barfed up a big black mess next to his bed, I think he ate some garbage he found near the campsite.

We cleaned up and packed up and left Detroit. Near Salem we took a scenic drive through Silverton and Mt. Angel to Woodburn on the I 5 .Beautifull drive,lots of farms and nurseries. There were fields of this red plant, some type of clover, I think, and the white one which we have no idea what it is.

Stopped at Camping World in Wilsonville but didn't end up buying anything. Prices were high and their stock was low. Had lunch in their parking lot then headed for Portland, 1/2 hr north.

This is where things started to unwind. We knew the address of the RV park we were going to stay at but Karen couldn't get the GPS to accept it so she entered the street name only. I made the mistake of following the GPS[named Gladys,by Karen] instead of common sense and ended up off the wrong exit and driving through narrow residential streets in neighborhoods that I'm sure were not used to having middle aged white Canadian couples pulling a trailer venture into.

After asking some cops having coffee at a sidewalk cafe for directions, we were put back on track. We were only about 4 miles south of where we needed to be.

Once again, started listening to Gladys, we were nearly there when she said " take a slight right , followed by a diagonal, right , followed by a slight right then a left turn." Well, I missed one of the slight rights and the left and ended up heading back the way I had come. When Gladys announced that I should take the next available uturn, I admit I lost it and came close to throwing the entire unit out the window.
Karen remained calm but was close to tears when we eventually got turned around and found the RV park.
While I setup the trailer she made us both a Black Russian and soon all was well again.
The park is not great, no shade and it's 32 out. $5 for internet but at least it's near the city and the days driving is done. Tomorrow we will drive into Portland and visit the Saturday Market and explore a bit. Tonight we will finish the Dexter's and see if he survives.

Day 15 May28 Detroit

Our campsite is by those docks in the distance, beyond the many boats at the Detroit marina.

There are wild rhododendrens growing throughtout the park, we saw them on the coast but didn't expect them up here in the mountains.

We explored a bit of the surrounding area this morning then layed about for the rest of the day. Watched some of our Dexter dvds before bed. Had to turn on the airconditioning, it was so warm.

Mickey kept us awake most of the night, he hears the chipmunks running around outside and it drives him crazy. They scamper everywhere during the day. Cute at that time, at 2 am.,not so much!

By the way, for anyone that isn't aware, if you double click on a picture, you can see it full size.

Day 14 May 27

We left Bend about 10am for the drive west. It is a much nicer drive than the one from Crater Lake to Bend, that was 60 miles of dead staight highway wiht 20 ft. scrub pine on either side. Very little to see.

The road from Bend to the Cascades goes through large pine forests with little undergrowth, very different from our dense forests.

We stopped at a viewpoint for Mt. Washington, alot steeper than our Mt. Washington.

There are old lava flows that the highway runs through and for the last 150 miles they have used these red cinders on the road shoulders.

We finally arrived at our destination, Detroit Lake State Park.
Nice park, right on the lake. $20 for full hookup. Our Provincial Parks seem so over priced for what you get compared to Oregon and Washington. Last time we were at Rathtrevor it was $23 plus reservation fee for a site with no power or water.
This park is about 60 miles from Salem, OR. and gets crazy with boat traffic on the weekends.

They have quite large sites with enough privacy
It was nice to be somewhere quiet away from civilazation for awhile.

Day 13 May 26 Bend, Oregon

We had a good nights sleep then after breakfast headed out to explore the city. Bend is about the size of Nanaimo.
We had to leave Mickey in the trailer because it is just too hot [27]to leave him in the truck for any length of time.

There is a very nice downtown area, treed streets with lots of old brick buildings and tons of restaurants and outdoors stores.

We drove to the top of Pilot Butte, a viewpoint on an old volcanic cinder cone on the edge of the city. Fantastic views Mt. Bachelor and the Olympic range, the pictures don't do it justice.

The whole area has lots of evidence of the volcanic activity that took place here. Allthough we didn't see it, there is a site with a lava tube you can walk through and other sites with old lava flows.

Tomorrow we will start the way west. Not sure whether to head northwest towards Portland or west to Salem. We'll study the map and decide tonight.

We would like to find a nice park on a lake or river to take it easy after our 2 nights in the big city.

Day 12 May 25

We left 7 Feathers around 11am and headed south to Grants Pass. Had lunch there then headed towards Crater Lake. We didn't go as far south as Medford because it was the holiday Monday and most stores would be closed.

It is a nice drive to Crater Lake, about 2 hours from Grants Pass. We drove up and saw the lake which is impressive. We had hoped to stay there but the campground is still closed due to snow.

We decided to drive to Fort Klamath, another hour east but still couldn't find a campground so we bit the bullet and decided to drive north all the way to Bend. We stopped in LaPine for dinner and arrived in Bend around 7:30 pm. It was more driving than we wanted to do but there wasn't much traffic and at least we are here. May stay 2 nights then work our way west towards Portland.

Day 10 and 11 May 23,24

Had to get the truck washed after over a week on the road so when we saw these kids holding a carwash we jumped at the chance. They were raising money to go build houses in Mexico.

I had to get a shot of this Class a motorhome and trailer[ we couldn't afford the trailer], inside is a sandrail, kind of a dune buggy dragster, and a shop. Some people have too much money!

Next is the view of 1/2 of the rv park, we are 2nd from left in the bottom picture.

Today we did the laundry because tomorrow we leave, then we went and lost a few more dollars in the casino[sorry Stephen, there goes the inheritance].

In the morning we will drive to Medford, Oregon. We have decided not to go to California, we have spent longer than expected in Oregon. We were looking forward to seeing nephews Scott and Jason and families, but every week driving south is another week coming back and those long days of driving seem to be behind us. After a max of 4 or 5 hrs. on the road we've had enough, specially pulling the trailer on the I5.



Instead we will head east and work our way home via Crater Lake and Bend, then spend a couple of days in Portland. We've never been in the city, only through it, and it's supposed to be a great place to see.

Don't know when we will get wifi again,will update then.

More May 22

I had to add some more pictures from the Safari park, I only seem to be able to include 4 pictures per post
These lions reminded us of our cats, basking in the sun.
The brown bear and some buddies were having a great time wrestling and swimming.

There were lots of bison, all looking shaggy because of shedding.
Then there was this deerlike animal called a Nilgai, that needed to relieve itself!

We really enjoyed the park, over 600 acres and 500 animals.

Day 9 May 22

Today we went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston. The rv resort offers discounted tickets, $10 each rather than the regular $17.
It's about a 20 mile drive north. he park is really nice, you stay in your car and drive over a 4 mile road through acres of treed, grassy hills. All of the animals except the big cats and the bears wander freely.

There are no dogs allowed so mickey had to stay in a kennel provided.

This ostrich greeted us at the entrance and I had to back up and drive around it because it wasn't moving!

There were several giraffes, rhinos, zebras and lots of different linds of antelope as well as ostriches and rheas everywhere. The lions, tigers, cheetahs and bears are all kept in seperate enclosures which isn't as nice for them as the rest of the animals.

On our way out we stopped at the visitors center and I met Vincent, a 7 month old camel. He seemed to like the taste of my neck! Mickey really gave me the once over when he saw me later.

When we came back to the trailer went for a swim in the resort pool then spent some time sitting and enjoying the sunshine, temp. about 20c.

The resort has a free shuttle that picks you up at your rv site and takes you to the casino so we went and had the seafood buffet, only $12 each with our"seniors " discount for anyone over 55. We played the slots for awhile, Karen lost $25 and I won $5 so we were only down $20 altogether.

Day 5,6,7,8 to May21

We spent another day in Beachside, a fogy morning turned into a nice after noon. We lef the next morning for Winchester Bay Rv park, justsouth of Reedsport.
Nice new park right on the river . We did the laundry and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon .
The next day we drove down to North Bend and did a little shopping and on the way back stopped at a dune buggy rental place to check out the prices.
Karen didn't want to go so I drove her back to the trailer then went back for a dune buggy tour.
It was great, I'm glad I went with the tour guy because I never would have attempted driving up and back down near vertical 50ft dunes on my own.
We stayed our last night at Winchester Bay and decided to head inland .
The wind was so strong and cool that we couldn't sit outside plus we didn't realize that this weekend is Memorial Day, a huge holiday down here and most rv parks are fully booked .
We headed for the interior and have ended up at the 7 Feathers RV Park. Its across the I 5 from the casino but is a fully contained brand new park. 190 sites, full hookups, wifi, and a pool and spa.
We steamed some fresh clams we bought in Winchester for an a appy this afternoon

We will probably stay here until Monday to avoid the holiday traffic and maybe take in the seafood buffet at the casino tomorrow.

Day 5 May 17 Beachside and Newport

This morning we drove up to

Newport , visited the old city area. We

heard seals barking so went for a look.

There were all of these sea lions

under a wharf, Mickey took one look

and was terrified, trying to scramble

off the dock. I had to pick him up and

get him out of there before he had a

breakdown! On our way back we saw a small sign advertising a festival of some sort so we

followed the directions and ended up at the Rogue Ale brewery. It turns out

that the owner lost his beloved dog some time ago and started an annual beer

fest- fund raiser of animal shelters and SPCA. For $10 each we each got beer

mug and 4 tickets to sample beers from micro-breweries from all over Oregon . They had booths from dog food companies and stands

selling human food, barbecue and pizza and grilled tuna on a skewer. There were a lot of dogs and they all had a good time, much butt

sniffing done.

After lunch there we headed back to the campground, the fog had moved in and it got cold and damp so we spent the rest of the day in

the trailer after giving Mickey another run on the beach.

Day 4 May 16 Beachside State Park

We had a good drive to Beachside State Park, south of Newport.
We reserved for 2 nights but the weather is good and our site is available for another day so we will stay here 3 nights.

It's one of the few State Parks right next to the water and is booked for the rest of the summer. It has power and water but no sewer hookup so you have to watch your tanks.

Weather is great, sunny about 70 f.