Month: April 2018

Today was another chill day. We stayed local in McMinnville. We took Maverick to the Vet to get his flu booster. California required the flu shot for Maverick and a booster 2-4 weeks later is required. We thought it best to get it done since he is exposed to many different regions and animals and we weren’t sure if Canada might require it. We stocked up at Wal Mart and had lunch at Golden Valley Brewery. Like before, Gold Valley had great food and service. It rained this afternoon and temps remain in the low 50’s. Tomorrow is a travel day so more adventures are on the way.

Today we simply planned on taking it easy and running a few chores.  We didn’t get a chance to take good pictures of the vintage trailer park earlier so today we stopped and walked the row of trailers to see them up close.    As mentioned before, the Vintages offers both normal RV park sites but also rents out vintage trailers by the night and was featured on the TV show Flippin RV’s.  It s really interesting to see.  Next we dropped Donna off for a massage. While Donna was there Maverick and I headed to Camping World to check on a few items. We didn’t find anything we needed. We also ran around Home Depot to buy a few small items. We picked up Donna from her massage and headed on into Portland to go to IKEA. Donna hoped to find something for the coach but in the end we bought $2 of merchandise.

On the way back we stopped at the Ancestor Brewery in Tuatalin. We had seen it several times and it had good Google reviews. We were disappointed in the food and service. We did fill up with gas which brings me to something I wanted to mention. It is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon !!!! Every gas station is full service and can be fined if they allow a customer to pump their own gas! I admit I have violated that law at least once in Oregon so far. After research I discovered Oregon and New Jersey both have similar self-fueling laws. Weird. Back at the coach we did a few chores before calling it quits for today.

Today we headed into downtown Portland. We arrived about lunch time and after exploring we ate at the Von Ebert Brewery. The food and service was really good. Across the street was a Cookie Dough/Ice Cream store and we treated ourselves to a sweet treat. After lunch and dessert we drove to the Saturday Market held in downtown. The market was really a craft market with art, t-shirts, and novelties. The market had a pretty good vibe and we enjoyed exploring for a while. Eventually Maverick grew tired of the crowds and noise so we called it quits.
It was still early so leaving downtown we headed for the Columbia River Gorge. There are a number of spectacular waterfalls along this route. We first stopped at Bridal Veil Falls that had a 2/3 mile trail to the bottom of the falls. It was a really nice hike in comfortable weather. Maverick got to go but had to stay on leash. The falls were moderately crowded so I can bet it would be really bad during the summer. Next we headed for Multnomah Falls. This waterfall is one of the most photographed falls. We were able to get a parking spot at the main visitor area, but the parking lot was full. They were running a shuttle bus from a park about 8 miles East of the visitor center. This waterfall is very accessible with a short paved walk probably a couple of hundred yards from the car. This waterfall also had a nice gift shop with ice cream, drinks, fudge, and the normal touristy stuff. Both Bridal Veil and Multnomah are very beautiful and worth the trip. The scenery up the Columbia River Gorge is really beautiful in its own right. Some of the scenic areas weren’t accessible because the scenic driving route separate from the main highway was mostly closed. We followed the main highway all the way up to the Columbia River locks and dam and crossed the Bridge of the Gods. The bridge is a older, picturesque bridge with a $2 toll to cross. Its the first time we actually made it to Washington on this trip.

Even though this park is further south than I wanted, it is close to some key sites. This morning we drove to Van’s Aircraft in nearby Aurora OR. Most of you know I have been building an airplane for a very long time. More than 20 years. The airplane is a kit manufactured by Vans Aircraft. Van’s gives tours and we arrived there at 9:30am. We enjoyed a lovely personal tour of the factory and got to see where all of my parts were created. It was really nice for me to get to see. On the way back to McMinnville we stopped to see the Vintage Trailer Park. This park is featured on the TV show Flippin RV’s where the show renovates old/classic RV’s. This park has several of Flyte Camps RV’s that are included in their vintage section. These vintage trailers are permanently located at the park and are rented by the night like hotel rooms or cabins. They are neat to see. We simply stumbled on the park on the way to Aurora. It rained on and off all day which seems normal for Oregon. The temperatures peaked at about 52F today. Not near as nice as yesterday.

On return to McMinnville we ate at the quirky Wildwood Cafe. Donna had French Toast, Eggs, and Bacon breakfast and I had the French Dip. It was all excellent and a good value. The restaurant is located right off of the cute old tree-lined downtown main street. We still had most of the day ahead so we chose to go ahead and see the next big local attraction. I didn’t mention it but the RV park is located immediately adjacent to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. Not just another local aircraft museum, this one houses the infamous Spruce Goose built by Hughes Aircraft. Wow, it is huge. Its similar in size to a Boeing 747 or Airbus A380 and is built entirely from wood. Overall the museum is one of the best non-government aircraft museums we have seen. After the museum our legs were worn out so we called it a day.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we really hate to leave Beverly Beach. The natural beauty here is both fantastic and varied. You have beautiful sand beaches, huge waves crashing on dramatic rock landscapes, old-growth forest, and mountain streams. It is a very peaceful and soothing place to be. That said, it is time to continue on to our next adventure. McMinnville was only 1 ½ hour drive up the coast and inland. The landscape changed to pastoral and agricultural. We arrived at the Old Stone Village RV park and found it a very clean, landscaped park. We have great connectivity here which is really nice. After set up we ran into town for lunch. We ate at the Golden Valley Brewery. I know we’ve gone to lot of breweries in Oregon but they represent some of the best dining around. GVB was no exception. A great burger on a patio in 70F sunny weather. We returned to the coach for normal chores after lunch. Back at the coach I disassembled the front arm of our main awning. I knew I had broken something in Bend when I extended it into what I thought was a very flexible small tree. Once apart I discovered a belt roller had come loose inside the arm and I was able to repair it. Im not totally sure it will last long term but at least it works for now. After chores we drove through McMinnville and ended up eating at Tequila Grill Mexican Restaurant. The food was really good and kind of like our beloved Tex-Mex. We both ate way too much!

After our morning nature trail walk we drove up the coast to Depoe Bay, Lincoln Beach, and other coastal communities. The drive was spectacular. We even stopped by the outlet stores to feed our Columbia clothing habit. Donna has now forbid me from entering another Columbia store. On the way back we stopped at several coastal viewing areas and every one was breathtaking. We again drove through Newport and this time stopped at the Made In Oregon store in the historical downtown area for touristy shopping. I dropped Donna and Mav back at the coach and headed back to Les Schwab tires. I had discovered a nail in the driver rear tire of the Jeep and thought it best to be repaired even though it wasn’t really leaking much (yet). The tire place was awesome and repaired the tire for free with no waiting. When I got back we all went to the beach again. I spent some time cleaning the bugs from the front of the coach and checking out the coach in preparation for tomorrows move day.

Today started with taking Maverick along the nature trail. The trail started just feet from the coach and wound though a forest of large old-growth trees. The trail followed a clear mountain stream flowing over a rock bed. After our walk we headed to Starbuck for some connectivity. The phones, ipads, and computer were all in need of updates I had put off waiting for real Internet that wasn’t our cellular data. I also needed to choose and reserve our next RV park for the south Portland area. After being rejected at 6 or 7 parks I finally reserved one in McMinnville called Old Stone Village. Its supposed to be nice but is much further from Portland than I had hoped. The good news is it is near several attractions we wanted to see.
After Starbucks we explored the coastline of Newport. In the process we found a promising and well rated restaurant called Georgies. Georgies sits right on the beach. We had a Chicken Parm that was delicious with a view right out at the beautiful shoreline. After lunch we drove by the Oregon Aquarium and through the historic bay downtown shops. We didn’t feel like the Aquarium and while very quaint, we didn’t see any shopping we needed downtown. We continued on down the coast to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The lighthouse is old and historic but the real beauty once again was the coastline. We enjoyed the view for quite some time and even saw some juvenile whales from a distance. We headed back to the coach and enjoyed some beach time. The Beverly Beach includes a fast moving creek/river that runs to the Ocean. Maverick loved playing the fast moving but shallow river water splitting the beach.

Today was a fairly easy drive of a few hours to Beverly Beach State Park. We were thrilled upon arrival to find a beautiful park with huge old-growth trees throughout, a short walk to a huge beautiful beach, and a dog-friendly nature trail along a river. Unfortunately, the location has no cell service and the trees prevent our satellite TV from having any reception. The wonderful setting makes up for the lack of connectivity. After setup we drove into Newport to have dinner. We chose Embarcadero based on Tripadvisor. There are few enticing selections on Tripadvisor but this sounded OK. It turns out Embarcadero is a hotel restaurant with a view of the marina. It turns out the main restaurant was closed and only the bar was open. The bar had a very limited menu and we chose Fish and Chips. The food was average and the view was ok. The bar was HOT. Don’t know why but we were not comfortable. Overall tolerable but not a great experience. After Embarcadero we explored a little of the town, expecially around the shoreline. Newport seems like a really quaint beach town. After limited exploration we headed back to the coach and enjoyed a nice beach walk with Maverick.

Today we hit the Redmond Lava Tube caves. This was the consolation prize since most of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument and its caves are still closed for the winter. The caves aren’t spectacular but they are interesting, close by, and very accessible. Again Maverick and us had the place to ourselves. The two biggest caves are easy to traverse and stand up in. The caves are a city park right by the Redmond airport. Next we went grocery shopping at Walmart and then hit the Redmond Wild Ride Brewery. After getting there we discovered the food was from the two food trucks on the parking lot and beer/drinks from the brewery proper. It is another beautiful day and we sat outside with Maverick and had a very good and ENORMOUS burger from the food truck. The place is very popular with 20-30 something demographic.

Donna discovered that Redmond was having a car show today. We got there about 10am and wow! What a big and well attended car show. It was probably packed in about 10 city blocks of downtown Redmond. It had just about anything you might imagine a car show to have. It was totally free and we found a good parking spot easily. The weather was great and we had a really good time.
After walking our legs off we hit the Three Creeks Brewery in Sisters. This is really close to where we are staying so we have been eyeing it all week. We had good food and Maverick sat with us outside in the great weather. A young man next to us took a great pic of Maverick and offered to send it to us. We were surprised to find out he is visiting from Dallas. Small world.