A Fall Getaway

It is late Thursday night and the weather promises to be good. What to do and where to go. I pulled out the Campground book and scanned for something that would catch my eye. Then at the last minute, there it was, the Portland-Fairview RV park. Rated top 100 campgrounds in the US with over 350 sites. It was close to Camping World and Outlet malls. Just what we could deal with.

A quick load job and stock the fridge and we were ready to go. I had been called in early Friday morning to work, so with some luck, I could be out of there at around 1:30 pm.

We got home, hooked up and were off for a new adventure. Lori had been left out and had not had a weekend to ourselves for some time. We were looking forward to just hanging out. We loaded the address into the gps and were there in no time. Hooked up the cable and settled in for a good movie on HBO...ahhh the life! It is a beautiful and well maintained park. Easy to see why it is rated top 100.

Things went smoothly and Saturday, Lori shopped and shopped and shopped. I finally got to Camping world and Lori shopped some more. When we returned to the trailer, it seemed cold inside and there was alight odor of propane inside. I went to the furnace and saw the thermostat was set right, but no heat. After some checking, I found we had run out of propane. Lori, the 'camper' was upset we had no stove now and had to use the coffee maker instead of perking some coffee. What a rough life. The electric still warmed the water for a nice shower and the cinnamon rolls she baked the day before served well with that coffee.

Sunday morning, we awoke to high winds. It was blowing 30 to 40 mph out of the east. No problem except crossing the Columbia River bridge in Portland. It was a white knuckle run as we crossed the river. Never experienced the winds with our fifth wheel and the bucking was disturbing. I had emptied all tanks to prepare to winterize, so we were a little light. As soon as we got to the WA side and as the winds decreased, so did the blood pressure. It was a nice trip despite the whining from a wife with no propane. It was so cruel...she almost had to dry camp again! I promised as soon as we got home, the tanks would be filled and we would be ready to go.

Finally a weekend of peace and quiet

Several weeks ago, Lori and I reserved a site at Ocean City State Park. We were going to camp for the weekend while attending the wine festival at the casino. Then she found out about a convention in Seattle she was required to attend and all of the sudden it would be me and Walt. Not really though, our friends Gwen and Loren had the site right next to us, so I at least had adult conversation.

Friday Walt and I loaded up and after hooking up to the Mountaineer, we were off for our "trip". We had almost a 35 minute drive to our destination. A half mile out, bang, thump. What the...I looked and saw some white plastic debris in the road on the shoulder behind me. I thought, what fell off and what a great start to the weekend. I immediately pulled off. Luckily there was a wide spot in the road with plenty of room. As soon as I got out, I noticed my 5 gallon bucket was now missing from the back of the truck. It had ridden in the spot against the front bed forever with no problem. I checked and there appeared to be no damage to the truck or trailer. I could see down the road was this bucket on the shoulder. We continued. I was tired and stressed from a long, difficult week at work. This made it no better. The rest of the trip was uneventfull until we got to the state park. Walt was nervous as he was not sure why Lori was not with us. As I drove through the endless speed bumps, I made a wrong turn and found ourselves at the day site. Luckily there was enough room to turn around. We found our spot and with Lorens help, we were set up in no time. Only item of interest was during setup, I hear some loud noise coming from Gwen and Lorens trailer. I look up to see one of their motorcycles falling off the back rack on the trailer. All an embarrassed Loren would say was a strap came loose. Its always interesting with Loren around.

It was clear and getting cold as the sun set. Once set up, it was time for the experiment. I retrieved the satellite dish and set it up. turned on the receiver and tv and had signal in no time with Loren adjusting outside. I thought to my self, this is the life, roughing it in the RV and now with over 300 channels of satellite tv. Life is good.

As I was watching all the channels Lori wont let me watch (get your mind out the gutter, I'm talking Discovery/History/military type channels). I turned on survivor man. I thought, wow, what a coincidence, he is trying to survive in some desolate canyon and here I am in an RV with just SD (standard) channels and no HD. I watch further as he talks about the great temperature swings and I think, no remote for the furnace. I'll have to get up to turn it up a notch! Then he has to catch rats in a makeshift trap in order t survive. I had to put on my light jacket to 'grill' my steak on the outside barbecue. Later he talks about the lack of water and what he finds is not much better. I nod in concurrence as I had forgot to bring ice for my drink!. Ya, I think I could do an episode or two. Roughing it in our Mountaineer is a challenge, but I'm up for it.

Ok, back to reality. Walt and I went to bed and all I heard throughout the night was little whimpers from Walt. About3 am he bugs me thinking he needed out, but actually it was a move on his part to free the bed up. As we come back in, he bolts and is up on the bed and curled up on my pillow. After much coaxing, he relents and moves. I get in and he lays right up against me. I had the heat on for the low 60's and woke often to the poor thing shivering! Finally I placed a blanket over him and he slept good the remainder of the morning.

Saturday brought a cold, crisp morning. The TV said it was about 26 degrees out. I fired up the stove, made coffee and cooked an omelet for breakfast. Again roughing it, I only added mushrooms as I had no meat. We goofed off and later went to the wine festival. It was fun and I sampled some wine. We had steak and Chicken Fettechini for dinner and watched a movie. It was alot warmer tonight and was very pleasant.

Sunday we loaded up and were on the road about noon. When I got home, the dreaded backing job awaited me. I had no spotter as Lori was gone. I only hoped a neighbor would be around, but it was not to be. I knew if I hugged the left corner, I had plenty of room to swing into the driveway without hitting anything. I started backing and all the sudden I was in the driveway without straightening out or anything. I had done it. I finally was able to back in on the first shot. Wow, what a rush! I backed down the driveway, lined up on the plank I have to park on and backed right on. I have two orange cones to show me where to stop. I was in, dropped the jacks and unhitched. I was done and just in time to watch the Seahawks lose again. Another enjoyable adventure.

Dry Camping at Sand Lakes, OR

Now that we are becoming 'grizzled veterens' camping in our RV, it was time to try dry camping or boondocking. Every year, Shawn goes to Sand Lakes for his birthday. Most years entailed rough camping conditions with little food and primitive sleeping setups.

This year would be different. We now have the trailer, so Shawn being the schemer he is, talked me into taking the 5'r while he hauled the quads with his truck. His son Payton who is four, was going for the first time and was...lets say...wired! Shawn and Were set to go down Thursday night and get set up. We left town and made it to Sand Lakes just after dark. It was one of the most frightening drives I have made as it was raining, foggy and bad roads. US 101 on the northern Oregon coast is not in that great of shape right now. There were times, we were at 20 mph as we could not see in front of us. We made it finally and went to find our reserved campsite. As we neared the entrance to the campground, we found a large motorhome parked and shut off blocking the entrance. We had to turn in at the exit, which made for a tight fit for me. A couple tries and I was in the campgound. Again, so dark, you could not tell what was ahead. As we rounded the park, it was so narrow, I brushed up against a wood fence and had to stop, back up and hug the other shoulder. We found our spot and found it was very small, just big enough for the trailer. We left it there for a couple and went to the main parking lot which allows camping. We found a great spot and retrieved the truck and trailer. Soon we were set up and ready for bed. Shawn was immediately spoiled as I blew up the air bed on the couch and he slpt like a baby. I forgot to turn up the heat and it got very cold that night. We rose early to sun and warming temps. Soon the camp coffee was ready and after some really tasty omlettes, it was time to ride. It was great, get on and go about 150 feet and you are on the sand. We rode hard most of the day and had most of the place to ourselves. Lori, Jennifer and the fids arrived late in the early evening, just in time for Payton to go for a quick ride. Off they went to eat dust and sand. We cooked dinner and as we were finishing up around 9:30, we started to see one, now thre, patrol cars with lights and sirens go on the beach. Soon several units from the fire Dept followed. Jennifer and Shawns friend Neal decided to check out the 'action'. They returned a short time later with sullen faces to report the sad news that two sand rails had collided on the sand and two people were killed. Several others were hurt. About this time a helicopter flew over and landed a few hundred yards from us. A sobering moment and the mood around the lot was quiet and subdued.

Saturday morning was agin sunny and warm. Payton was out waiting to ride. I spent several trips with him and observed a steady improvement in his riding. It was very obvious towards late afternoon, he was running out of steam and I made him park the quad for awhile.

I had trained the crew on dry camping as best I could. Conserve water, use the lot restroom when possible and use minimal water for dishes. All went well. I took a GI shower in the am and it went well. Lori waited till Monday for a shower (phew). Somehow during her orientation on how to take a shower, she forgot to take a brief shower. Invigorated and clean after a 'normal' shower she comes out and finishes breakfast as payton and I went for a morning ride. I returned to find dishes in the sink (had not used paper plates) and Jennifer now in the showe. Shawn remarked about how nice his shower was. I ran to the display to find a full galley tank, grey water tank and no water in the fresh water tank. The shower was sputtering as Jennifer finished up. Glad we were leaving today, some people...

We hit the road for a much more visible and enjoyable ride home. A quick detour to the Elma rest area and my tanks were clean and empty. Back home and soon I'll be ready for our next adventure. It was a great weekend and I look forward to 'dry' camping again soon.