Not A Rookie anymore…I think

My wife and I are celebrating our first year of the RV lifestyle in a 5^th wheel. This last weekend on our way home from camping, we talked about all we have been through over the last year. I must admit, it was a daunting task to learn the lingo, perform the checks and be safe while still managing to enjoy ourselves. We have driven the Oregon coast and conquered the mountain passes of Oregon and Washington.

I still vividly remember leaving the lot of Tacoma RV never having towed a 5vr. The terror and chipped teeth from clenching as we rounded that first corner, to the look of terror when I saw stop and go traffic on the freeway. This soon gave way to cautious optimism as I learned how the trailer pulled. Then the dreaded driveway backing job. I was so nervous, I couldn’t even talk.

Soon we were getting pretty good at setup and take down. Times were getting better. I do remember thinking I had made an expensive mistake, going into a 5vr and why would people do this to themselves. Once set up though, life was good.

As time went on, minor problems arose. With the expert opinions of fellow MOC’ers (Montana Owners Club) I was able to work through the problems. It also helped a lot that our friends had a sob 5vr and had been there done that. My friend Loren was able to assist me in most situations.

I have learned a lot. My terror has given way to enjoyment. Obstacles in backing have given way to challenges. I now can get her in the driveway on one shot, and tight campsites do not cause me to break out in terror related sweats.

I now look forward to hooking up and hitting the road. I have no reservations on our route. I have learned that as long as big rigs go that way, I can go that way. I only need to plan a little more on the route. On our bike, we avoided gravel roads and that was about it. With the trailer, we have to watch for low bridges and narrow roads. I need to plan my stops a little more as in lunch and make sure we have a spot for the night.

We have learned a lot in our short time and feel we are now “sophmores’ at the RV scene. Thanks to the MOC for your insight and guidance when asking those ‘important’ questions. We look forward to many more adventures down the road. I just wanted to pass this on in case any rookies were feeling the same as they go through the wide range of emotions during that first yea

Catching up on past trips

We have been on the go for several weeks. I finally have a chance to catch up on our blog and get up to date.

Over Memorial day weekend, Lori and I went to Lincoln City for five days. We stayed atthe Premier Resort there. It is a beautiful and well kept park. It was a little difficult getting in our spot as it is a narrow street. Once in, set up went quickly and we settled in for a fun and relaxing weekend...sort of.

First thing Lori see's is a couple people in recliner lounge chairs. Now she is whining about how she has to have one. We had decided to take a drive and end up at the casino at Spirit Mountain. This translated into driving 90 miles to Wilsonville, only to see some real nice recliners on sale and soon we were off with two new chairs/ We stopped a the casino and had a good late lunch as well as played a little.

Back at camp, it was time to break out the new chairs and blend in with the other beautiful people. We kind of goofed off all weekend and nvere could get on the beach as there was so many people. Lori even found a new wine opener in the gift shop and had to down several bottles in order to practice with the new opener. Seemed to get harder as she got to bottle three and four!!!

It was a nice clear weekend, but windy and cool. It finally made it to 60 degrees as we left town. We made the trip back up 101 towards home. Not sure if it was just early or what but traffic is very light. A good time and we will definately stay here again.

Enjoying K M Resort at Ocean Mist

Right before vacation, Lori and I stopped by to learn more about K&M resorts. I had been looking at them for some Time and was interested as it gave us a RV park close to Cheney, WA. We can RV it and see Mark and Aunt Sandy and the kids from here.

As the RV bug has us in its grips, we decided to check out Ocean Mist RV park in Ocean City. It is only about 25 miles from home and will be a great weekend escape location, but close enough for work.

Lori wanted to invite her parents out for the weekend of relaxing, beach coming and goofing off. We all got to the park around 4:30 pm. I had driven through this park and was not overly impressed at first glance. I payed little attention to the layout. As we pulled in, I went to check in and the very nice lady in the office handed us our packet. She asked if we were going to set up the satellite dish and I told her we were. She then changed us from 140 to 110, advising some trees may get in the way. What a nice tip. When handed the map, the park now made sense. It was layed out as essentially two different parks. One on the road which is nice, but not very appealing. They then built a new section by the beach. This is where we got to stay. I was handed alot of flyers for the park and when asked for the .25 cents spiel about the place, was soon overloaded with activities and food choices. Didnt expect that.

We drove out to our site and quickly found it. It as all are back in sites, but very easy to get in. Soon we were set up and the hamburgers were grilling on the George Foreman. I finished setting up and set up the dish for tv. A shocking and disturbing feeling passed over me as I remembered the satellite box, but not the remote. I would be forced to endure the indignity of getting up out of my chair and manually changing channels on the box every time we wanted to watch something else! I took a deep breath as we are forced to watch standard definition TV while camping and now this...Is it time for a motel (with remote) or just pack up and go home! After several moments of reflection, I came up with a plan. Show Lori how to change the channels and "ask" her to change the channels. Ya that will work...in theory...after all. we are camping and sometimes a major hardship is a reality of "roughing it".

Grandpa and Grandma were enjoying themselves as usual. Onetime I caught Grandpa make a comment referring to the RV as "ours". He was quickly corrected and laughed at his phew paw. Saturday, we drove up to Seabrook for lunch. What a great view from the cafe. Then it was off to Aberdeen to watch "grandslam" Peyton in a must win T-ball game. It's always fun to watch the grandkids having fun. He is rather full of it when he puts on his game face!

Back to the RV and soon we finished making Spaghetti which had been simmering all day. I made a crock pot full of chicken wings and within minutes, we were picking our teeth and rubbing our stomachs. As in previous posts, food is not something we skimp on while roughing it in the RV.

Lori and I slept on the air bed in the couch. It is so comfortable, we sleep very well. Sunday, fathers day, we packed up and headed to the Quinault Casino for Sunday Brunch. Wow, was that some great grub. We were home by noon and withing an hour, the trailer was clean and ready for our next adventure. I think Grandma and Grandpa will eventually tone down the grin as they had while walking on the beach, playing with Walt and sharing great food with us. This RV life as bit us hard. It is so relaxing to find a little spot out of the way and just relax.

Oh, I forgot to mention, We pulled up and I was able to back the truck and trailer into the driveway on the first try. I was so impressed with myself. I looked around and only Walt saw me...he didnt seem impressed!!!

Vacation 2009

Greetings from somewhat sunny southern Oregon. Lori, Walt and I are having a great time so far. Things got off to a shaky start the other night (Thursday) when we found tornado like conditions just south of Longview. We missed the real bad weather, but found 30mph winds and heavy rain for over 30 miles. It was not a fun time, but the wind was on our tail so we got great gas mileage.

We finally made it to Woodburn RV park at about 10:30. I left the trailer hooked to the truck, dropped the front jacks and hooked up water and cable (Cant go without TV). Soon we were asleep and slept real well. I woke up once to steady rain, but the sounds seemed to make us sleep better. Friday morning, we had a great breakfast of french toast and soon were on the road again. It poured from Salem south quite a waqys, but we did fine. Around 1 pm, we decided to stop for lunch. This is no easy feat with a trailer. We stopped at a nice little cafe and was able to get and parked with minimal backing. I was pretty proud of myself as I continue to learn more and more about how the trailer handles.

We arrived in Canyonville about 3:30 and as we were checking in, a lady walked up and handed us our MOC rally ID tags, book and info packet, greeting us and welcoming us to the rally. We thought this was quite the feat until she told us we were one of two Mountaineers at the rally and the other one was already here! Oh well. What a beautiful park. I almost felt we should not be here as we were a little out of our trailer trash element!!!. Soon people were introducing themselves and making us feel at home. We have done a few activities, but are enjoying being on vacation more that being at a rally.

Saturday am, I woke up first and let Lori sleep. She had set out Cinnamon rolls the night before and I baked them filing the trailer with cinnamon smells. Soon she was awake and with a good cup of coffee, we were talking about how rough it is to be warm, dry, and have great food all at our fingertips.

We goofed off for awhile and later caught the shuttle to the casino. Very nice place and pretty big inside. We had some lunch and I hit the blackjack table only to die a slow death. Frustrated, I took the few dollars left and we walked around. There were only a couple people playing craps, but they seemed to be doing well. Soon I was playing and a seven was rarely seen. Lori got in on the action and when this one guy started rolling the dice things got interesting. He went on a 45 minute plus roll and some guys made over a thousand dollars in that short period of time. Lori and I made pretty good money (enough to pay for all our RV sites for the week)...life is good.

We came back to the RV park and bragged alot. I keep telling Lori I could double our money with one bet, but she wont budge...anyway, good times when your winning.

Today, we headed for Medford and area for a nice day trip. We were headed for Harry and Davids. This was supposed to be a place where you can tour the facility and see how stuff is made. We got there to find a store and nursery. I was not a happy camper driving 80 miles for a damn store. Lori twitched and took off running screaming like a little girl...it is getting close for the home!.

We left town and headed on back roads heading towards Grants pass. Just outside Medford, we came across Jackson, OR. A town locked in the 19th century, old shops, people dressed in period costumes and lots to see greeted us. What an unexpected nice find. On up the road, we saw some beautiful scenery and hit a couple vineyards for wine tasting. It was a fun day and to top it off, we had put chicken in the crock pot when we left and had dinner waiting. Are you catching on about what makes a great vacation for us...wine and food and then some more food.

Tomorrow, we head north for a day trip to west of Eugene for a couple more vineyards, then back and start to break camp. We are leaving a day early in order to have an extra day in Spokane with Mark and Sandy.

Tuesday, we head for the Madras area, Wednesday to Tri Cities and Thursday into Ponderosa Falls RV outside Cheney. More later from the road.

Hi, We are back. Tuesday was another first for us and our RV. We had never pulled a mountain pass and I was looking forward to conquering another demon. As we hooked up the trailer, several people stopped by to say goodbye. It was fun and profitable to be here at seven Feathers this time.

We headed north and stopped for coffee. Walt didnt have a problem going right to sleep on his bed and slept most of the way across the pass. We hit the McKenzie Hiway and headed east. Soon the scenery was great and the truck was performing flawlessly. We got to the intersection by the McKenzie bridge and found the road was still closed due to snow. We headed north toward Santium pass and soon were pulling a good incline with a passing lane on our side. I was able to maintain 50 to 60 mph with little effort. Nice truck. Once at the top, a quick brake check and we were headed down. I turned on the engine brake and only needed to use the brakes a couple times. It worked very well coming down. Soon we were in Sisters and while gauking at the town, I missed my turn. rosie told me to make a left and I kept going straight. The reroute took us a long way out of the way and added quite a bit of time. I found a wide spot in the road and was able to make a U-turn with no problem. We turned and were back on track. Soon Rosie had us on back roads and when all seemed lost, we popped out on hwy 97. Soon we were setting up at the KOA in Madras, OR. looking at some very scary clouds. A few minutes later, a worker informed us of svere storm warnings and we locked down for the night. Most of the weather missed us but it rained all night and only stopped after we got soaked hooking up!

On the road up 97 to the interstae and then over to Tri Cities for the night. As we slumbered along the interstae with a good headwind, I checked mileage and found we were down to 8 miles to the gallon. Thats a head wind. Lori fell asleep and I quietly cleared Rosie of our intended route. As we exited the freeway in Pendleton, OR at the Wildhorse Casino, she awoke and I blamed her for the mix up. We got a nice spot in the RV park and off to the casino we went. Again, luck was on my side and we left winners. I love this RV park and Casino. Very well kept up and friendly staff.

It was off to A cross country trek and eventually hit hwy 395 which took us directly to Ponderosa Falls RV park in rural Cheney, WA. The person who assurred us he had made a reservation for us, didnt and although somewhat full, found us a spot. The clerk asked if I was OK backing up? I told her I was and we were off to our site. I pulled up and said to Lori that there was no way we were going to get in that spot. After calculations, conversing with neighbors and a deep breath, I backed down, into a pull through, turned around and then backed up the hill and was able to get right in the spot. Acted like I knew what I was doing!

We got set up and headed out for dinner with relatives who had also converged on Spokane. Mark, the oldest was getting his masters degree on Saturday and we were having a barbecue at his place after the graduation. It was a fast paced three days and soon it was time to say good bye and start for home.

We hit I 90 and traveled west to Lake Easton RV park for the night. The park was clean, but both the pool and hot tub were shut down, office closed shortly after we got there and trees prevented a satellite hookup. We watched a DVD and fell asleep early.

Monday, we hit the road. Not much conversation as we were headed home today. Soon we were backing in the driveway and the trailer was again clean and ready for our next adventure.