September 11-13: Humbug Mountain State Park, Port Orford, Oregon

Like Bullards Beach, we’ve passed Humbug Mountain State Park numerous times over the years. It’s tucked into a little glen in a pass through the steep terrain along the coast, right on US-101.

We also had another easy drive. We left Bandon at a leisurely time just after Noon, stopped in Port Orford for fuel, and were parked before 1:30. This time, I had done a better job of using Google Earth to select a site where we could get TV reception, but, horror of horrors, we had no cell service (therefore no Internet access). We have definitely proven that Internet access is more important than TV as we travel.

We did another major deployment, enjoying the outside while we could. This park had a lot of gnats flying around in the evenings, so we had to improvise protection for the wine glasses!

One of the interesting features of Humbug Mountain State Park is its namesake. While we were parked at sea level, just a few hundred yards from the beach, Humbug Mountain rises 1,756 feet above sea level right next door. Since there was information about the hiking trail available when we checked in, I decided to do the hike.

I learned a few things. First, a 3-mile hike isn’t 3 miles if you forget that you have to get back, and if you don’t account for the half-mile walk to get to the trailhead. Second, 1,756 feet of elevation change in 3 miles is an 11% grade. That’s 7 miles of hiking with 3,512 feet of elevation change. Third, while I may be proud of my ability to do sub-17-minute walks on the flat, I’m not really in good shape for hills.

But, I’m not a quitter. I started, so I made sure I finished. It took me 3½ hours, I thought my pulse was out of control on the way up, and I thought my knees were ruined on the way down, but I made it. The trail wasn’t very scenic, just a narrow path of switchbacks through the woods. I stopped to rest at the one place that offered a glimpse of a view. My reward for reaching the top: a nice picture of the 1937 Survey Marker. I’m glad I did it, even if it reminded me to increase my exercise regimen.

3 miles of 11% grade with no let up makes for a challenging hike.

Halfway up Humbug Mountain, looking north toward Port Orford on US-101.

The reward at the top...

We also spent an afternoon in Port Orford, a nice little seaside town. Our Friends Wayne & Eva were on a drive along the coast from where they were staying in Gold Beach (more on that in a future post), and we met up with them for a pretty good lunch at a place called “Redfish”, overlooking the natural harbor.

After lunch, we headed down hill to the municipal marina and were treated to an hour watching a rather large whale play (well, probably feed) right in the lagoon. Whale pictures are best made by shooting video and then capturing stills, but we managed to get a few shots with phones and cameras. There were some locals fishing off the rocks, so they got the best show even though they didn’t seem to care.

No trip along the Pacific Coast would be complete without some sunset pictures, so we drove back out toward town in the evening. The added bonus was that we quickly picked up a 4G Verizon signal! So, while we were waiting for the sun to set, we had a chance to hack away at our iPads catching up on Facebook and email. Geeks!

We did get a few nice shots of the sunset, although there wasn’t enough cloud action to make things dramatic. We moved around a bit to get some rock formations in the foreground, and were able to get pictures with both iPhones and my Nikon gear. I’m still not sure I need both…

September 7-10: Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

A State Park? Isn’t your RV too large to fit in a State Park? Well, generally, the answer is “yes”, but if you do some research it’s sometimes possible.

For a change of pace and scenery, I decided to book us into a couple of the Oregon State Parks along the coast this year. We’ve passed Bullards Beach State Park before and I always though it might be an interesting place to stop. We weren’t disappointed, even though we were so deep in the woods that we couldn’t get a satellite signal for TV. It being summer rerun season, there wasn’t much to be missed.

It was an easy drive, since Bandon is only a short distance from Florence. Pull out onto US-101, drive south 66 miles, and pull in to Bullards Beach. Pretty simple...

In spite of our short, 4-night stay, we did a “full deployment” of our outdoor gear: grill, oven, EZ-Up, dog pens, lights, etc. We didn’t have very many bugs, and were able to enjoy the “great outdoors” most days into the evening. Of course, as we’re getting into fall, the days are getting shorter and the evenings cooler! A campfire helped, but we also found ourselves retiring early.

I-10 in Phoenix during Monsoon

All things are relative, of course, and we used our Internet access to monitor the effects of this year’s Monsoon Season back in the Phoenix area. Another round of “Glad we’re not there” comments were exchanged!

We did get out some, exploring the little town of Bandon and doing a little bit of hiking along the bluffs overlooking the Pacific on the south end of town. We made a note to return for sunset pictures, but that will have to wait for our next visit.

We made the obligatory stop at the Cranberry Sweets shop in the “touristy” section of town, picking up several items to stash away for future enjoyment (we like sweets but in small doses). It happened to be late afternoon, so I suggested that we grab an early dinner at the Italian place next door, but they were informing people that their credit card machine was out of order. “It should be fixed next week some time” didn’t seem to bode well for their approach to their business, so we decided to pass.

We were glad we did, because right around the corner was Alloro Wine Bar & Restaurant, which our friends Wayne and Eva had recommended. Since they are experts in all things on the Oregon Coast, we decided to give it a try. We ended up having a great dinner of Deep-Fried Zucchini Blossoms, Orecchiette with Sausage, Pistachio-Crusted Halibut, and Braised Rabbit. I don’t know when we’ll be back, but we’ll definitely be trying to recreate some of these dishes at home!

We’ll likely stop here again if we are in the area, as long as I remember to plan more in advance and select a site with fewer trees!

September 3-6: Back on the Coast in Florence, Oregon

Ah, the Oregon Coast. It’s a wonderful place to be during the late summer. We had an easy and familiar drive, leaving Keizer after fueling up, heading south on I-5 to Eugene. No need to stop for repairs in Coburg/Harrisburg this time! Looping west around Eugene on the “Beltway”, we picked up OR-126 out to the coast in Florence.

Within minutes, we were parked at the local Elks Lodge. The antler-topped totem in their parking area always intrigues me.

Breaking from our travel plan for this summer, this was the first of several 3-4 day stops as we begin our trek south into autumn. We didn’t have a lot planned and we met our own expectations. A little Fred Meyer shopping, some nice walks around the block with the pups, and maybe a nap or two were the highlights. All in all, this was another nice, familiar, and relaxing stop.

August 20-September 2: Salem-Keizer, Oregon

We had a nice extended stay at the Elks Lodge in Keizer, Oregon. Initially, we’d planned for five nights but ended up staying two weeks!

The drive over (as in “over the mountains”) from Redmond to the Salem area was one that we have done before. Local roads got us back to OR-126 heading west over the Cascades, and then we picked up OR-22 down into Salem. After a quick few exits north on I-5, we exited at Salem Parkway and backtracked southwest a bit before making the turn toward the Keizer Elks Lodge.

Keizer is a suburb of Salem to the north, although everything tends to run together and you wouldn’t really know if you missed the “Welcome to” signs. During a previous trip, we stayed at the Salem Elks Lodge, which is on the south side near the airport. Several people had suggested this Lodge as an alternative, since it has more spaces and full hook-ups. We were pleased to see that they have recently upgraded their electrical system so that all 47 sites (which is fairly large for a Lodge park) now have 50 Amp service. Our “big rig” is much happier with 50 Amps.

We didn’t have much of a plan for our initial stay, so we were happily surprised when Geri’s great-nephew, Michael, suggested that they make a day trip down from Washington. He packed his boys, Brenden and Cameron, and his friend Erynn with her three girls in a minivan and hit the road. We popped a Tri-Tip on the grill and had a spread of beef and sides before heading to the local stadium for a minor league baseball game. The weather was perfect and it’s always fun to see family while we’re on the road.

The reason we had originally planned for a five-night stay was that I’d made an appointment in Harrisburg, about 55 miles south, to have a slide out adjustment done. This area was the west coast center of RV manufacturing before the Great Recession nearly wiped the industry out. A lot of the people who used to build motorhomes, ours included, have opened up small shops doing repairs and upgrades, making this a good place to have things fixed. We have one slide that was slightly off, just rubbing on the seal when retracting and extending. Messing up the seals is, as you can imagine, a bad thing if you like to keep the weather outside. Eric at Elite RV Repair and Renovation knew exactly what to do and we were in and out of his shop in a little over an hour.

Before we made the short trip down to Harrisburg, we talked things over and decided to extend our stay. I paid for the extra days and we left the Rover and “stuff” behind while we were away for the short time.

I had a couple of things in mind for “day trips” while we were in the Salem area. First, we’ve never stopped in Tillamook along the coast for cheese and ice cream and, second, The Willamette Valley is home to most of Oregon’s wineries. Cheese and wine means this place has our name written all over it! So, in between bouts of extreme relaxation, we made two day trips.

The drive out to Tillamook took quite a bit longer than I had intended but we took the “scenic route”. We had lunch at one cheese company (Blue Heron) and dessert – ice cream – at the other (Tillamook). Blue Heron specializes in Brie and has a small sandwich operation inside their gift shop. Tillamook is big in Cheddar and ice creams, and is much larger in scale. Put a check mark on the to-do list.

We didn’t get to as many wineries as I would have liked, but our budget thanked me for that (I’m a sucker for buying wine after tasting). We did two wineries one afternoon, Eola Hills and Chateau Bianca. We made a few purchases, so the “wine drawer” isn’t as empty. We’ll just have to come back on our next trip through the Northwest!

We kept ourselves busy for the rest of our stay with some shopping and grooming. This is our last “metropolis” with a Costco and all the retail brands for a while and Oregon has no sales tax (!), so we did some stocking up on things we’d buy anyway like paper goods and pet food/treats. It’s nice to save almost 10% simply by avoiding the sales taxes we pay back in Arizona. We took the pups to Petsmart for grooming and Geri found a decent place to get her hair done (it’s actually easier now that she doesn’t color it).

We also took advantage of the extra time to get out the atlas and start planning our return trip to Arizona. When we left in June, we had a broad plan and a couple of set dates to work with. I intentionally left the return open so we could decide later on a route and stops. Well, “later” kind of snuck up on us!

So, we now have a basic plan in place. We’ll head back to the coast and work our way south to Petaluma, just north of San Francisco, along US-101. We hope to catch up with our friends Wayne & Eva a couple of times along the way as they are following a similar route with different stops. We’re planning to try to get into Flour + Water, one of our favorite restaurants, but that’s up in the air since reservations are impossible and we’ll have to do the “get you name on the list” thing.

From there, we’ll continue south to San Luis Obispo (Thursday Night Market) and Santa Maria (steak at Jocko’s in Nipomo) before turning east toward Las Vegas (dinner at Mario Batali’s CarneVino). From there, week-long visits at the Grand Canyon and Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, AZ, (side trips to more AZ wineries near Jerome) will fill out our travel itinerary. Is anyone surprised that our route is defined by food and wine? I hope not…