Colorado-New Mexico

We visited with Suzanne, Chris, Izzy and Oliver from Sept 2nd through the 9th.
Both Izzy and Oliver play soccer. We had a chance to attend each of their games. Carol and Suzanne had lots of time together going to lunch, shopping and just enjoying each others company.

On the 10th, we headed south to Buena Vista then on to Salida.

In Salida we stayed at a free BLM camping area just east of town. It's right on the Arkansas River. Not much rafting this time of the year, but other times we've been here the river gets quite busy.

On Thursday the 13th, we went to church in Salida, dumped the  tanks and topped off with water at the town Visitor Center then had lunch at the Fritz restaurant Suzanne has recommended.  The lunch was excellent.

We have some interesting neighbors. Six kids; four guys, two young women, ranging in age from about 20 to 25. They are a six person crew working for the Conservation Corps.

Conservation Corps

They work nine days on and five off mostly doing trail maintenance, picking up trash, and repairing this and that depending on individual skills. Right now they are on their five day off time. They get paid a small sum but not nearly enough to live in a motel or eat at restaurants during their off time. While they are working, they live in their own tents so while off, they just bring their camping stuff with them and look for free places to camp. Earlier today, they all took baths in the very cold river.  I've spoken to all of them and they are having the most wonderful adventure.  No pieced tongues, pants falling off, obscene saying on T-shirts,  broken beer bottles, jam boxes on max. volume; just six really nice kids. How refreshing.

On Sunday the 16th, John and Linda joined us. On Monday, we all had lunch at Amicas Pizza and beer joint; a place recommended by Jim and Gayle. An excellent recommendation.

On Monday we all headed south on Hwy 285 towards New Mexico. We spend the night at the Rio Grande State Wildlife Area just east of Monte Vista. We had the place all to ourselves that night.

On Tuesday we continued south to the COE Riana campground on the Abiquiu Reservoir. Around lunch time we were in the very small town of Tierra Amarilla. John asked a deputy about a place for lunch and he directed us to the Margarita Cafe next to the Mustang gas station. The lunch was very good.

Thursday: Jerry, Andrea and  Ken  pulled in. Jerry installed the fans in the refrigerator "chimney" on our camper. The goal is to increase air circulation and lower the ref. temp.

Friday: This morning some went kayaking and some went swimming.

This afternoon we got a nice surprise. Two friends from Florida pulled in. Mike and Elizabeth Coachmen.  They are touring the area after visiting friends in ABQ.

Right now there are six Lazy Dazes here. That calls for a party. Tonight at 5.

The plan is to stay here until Tuesday morning then meet up at the Elks Lodge in Santa Fe then drift south staying at casinos until the Balloon Fiesta.

Colorado

Tuesday:
Our first stop in CO was at the Cowdrey Lake State Wildlife Area. (40.83850  -106.31193) off CO 125 about 10 miles north of Walden.  It's a free camping area where you just pull next to the lake wherever you want.  We rely on Ted Houghtons GPS database to lead us to such places. Almost always, it's very accurate.
Campground database

It's a beautiful, cool, breezy day. The kids are back to school in both WY and CO so the pressure is off the camping areas; upcoming  Labor Day excepted. Tonight we have the entire lake to ourselves.
Identified two new ducks today. A Lesser Sculp and a Canvasback.

Wednesday:
We drove into Walden dumped the tanks, topped off the water and continued on CO 14 through the Poudre Canyon. We stopped at the Dutch George USFS campground which is right on the bank of the Poudre River. (40.69555  -105.44662). The High Park (Fort Collins) wildfire passed through this area this past June. There were a few burnt trees in sight but the most obvious sign of the fire was the six to ten inch layer of black mud that coated the river bank in places. The campground host, who was here during the fire, said there is a stream just upriver of the campground. During the first rain after the fire was put out, the water from the stream had the consistency and color of oil.

A layer of black mud mixed with burned wood

 The sand here is typically white.

A few burnt trees can be seen in the background.


Sunday:
We headed into Longmont today, not wanting to be on the roads on Labor Day. CO 14 along the river is a narrow, winding road. I can only imagine the traffic jam on Labor Day when hundreds of campers are heading home at the same time.
We'll be here visiting with the grandchildren, and their parents, until we meet up with a group of LD friends drifting slowly to the Balloon Fiesta.


Carol commented the other day, that traveling like we do is the most fun she's ever had.  That makes it unanimous. We're exploring the idea of selling the house in FL and moving to CO. That way, we'll be closer to Suzanne and family, and all of the places we enjoy the most.  We'll see.

Encampment,WY

On Sunday, three young people from Oregon pulled in for the night. They are folk singers working their way around the country singing at clubs, events, or wherever anyone will pay them to sing. Right now they are between gigs.

 In the evening, company from the nearby ranch stopped by.

Tuesday
We drove into Saratoga stopping at the city campground on Saratoga Lake just to take a look. We had stayed there during our 2005 trip through the Snowy Range area of Wyoming. It's a  nice place to camp. $10/night for a site with electricity or $7 without.
Continued on to the Riverside/Encampment area. Tonight we're at the Encampment city campground.  (41.21090 -106.79255) Water, electric and a dump station. Payment is by donation. We decided $10/night was fair based on the Saratoga city campground.  This is the first electrical hookup site we've had for quite some time. Ran the A/C and used the microwave today.
Wednesday-Monday
There is a BLM campground (Odd Fellows) not far from Encampment. It's right on the Encampment River. We stayed there for two days. (41.18317  -106.79648)

Our campsite

The Encampment River was right behind our site

On Friday, we went back to Saratoga to do laundry, grocery shopping, and such. I'm overdue for a haircut so asked at the visitor center for a barber shop. There isn't one in Saratoga. There is the Red Sage Spa, where for $22 you can get a haircut.  $68 will get you something called an Apricot Seed Body Polish or a Raynor Technique will set you back $123. My hair's not that long; I'll get a haircut in Longmont.
While I was doing the laundry, I saw a sign that a roving barber visited Saratoga on Tuesday afternoon. Sets up shop near the civic center. I guess all the guys line in the parking lot on Tuesday.

The next few days we're camped on the shore of the Saratoga Lake.(41.46471 -106.78421)

Cooling off on a hot day

Our $7 campsite on Saratoga Lake

There is a dirt road that winds its way all around the lake. Would make a nice 4x4 drive.
 Monday:
There is a small, but very nice, Farmers Market in Saratoga on Monday afternoon.  We've both been on a diet for the last three weeks trying to get our weight back to where we want it to be. We're both doing OK so decided to treat ourselves to some goodies. Bought a wonderful apple crisp and some chocolate chip cookies.  Earlier in the day we came across a roadside vendor selling wonderful Palisades Peaches. I bought six peaches and he threw two vine ripe tomatoes in the bag as well.  For dinner tonight, we had the tomatoes, a can of tuna fish and the remains of a bag of spinach that seen better days.  Followed by a big bowl of apple crisp topped with Moose Tracks frozen yogurt. On the average, we figured we did OK.
Tonight we're back at the Encampment City Campground. In the morning we dump the tanks, fill up with water and head south towards Walden, CO, then follow the Poudre River to Fort Collins then south to Suzannes home in Longmont for one more visit with the Grands.

We're just having the best time.

Saratoga, WY area.

Thursday, August 16:
We left  Gros Ventre campground about 9:30 taking US 26/89 south. There are faster and shorter ways to CO but we had never been this way.  Whenever possible, we opt for roads we've never traveled. We stayed in the USFS East Table campground which is just off US 89. It's primarily a campground for people rafting the Snake River but makes for a very convenient overnight stop. There are several large pull-through sites.
The smoke from the dozen, or so, ID wildfires is still thick. We had planned on spending more time in this part of WY but the smell of the smoke was just too much.

Friday:
The plan was to spend the night at the Cokeville City Park. (42.08499  -110.95979). Turns out the park is just a few feet from a very active BNSF RR line. Can't imagine we would have gotten much sleep.

 Cokeville is much like dozens of other very small towns we've passed through. Seen better days.  Lots of stores boarded up, no restaurants that we saw except for the Flying J. A group of young mothers were having a picnic at the city park. Some baby's being held, some young ones playing in the park.  Mostly teenager Moms we guessed. I suspect the people who were born and raised in Cokeville know just about everyone, and their business as well and don't have a lot of social, educational or employment options.

We're back on parts of the Oregon Trail. Specifically the Lander Cutoff.

The smoke is still everywhere so we continued to Kemmerer. It was still smokey so we decided to just call it a driving day and head to I-80. Tonight we're "camped" at the Little America truck stop/restaurant/motel. This is probably the best overnight option along this stretch of I-80.  The RV parking area is well away from the truck area and is next to a nice, grassy walking area. There is a free dump station and potable water fill, as well as a restaurant, snack bar, gas station and propane fill.

Saturday:
We drove to the Foote Fishing Access Area (free camping) which is just north of Saratoga  off  WY 130. (41.50791 -106.83832).  We're camped on the bank of the North Fork of the Platt River.  Once again, it's just the three of us. This site has everything we look for in a camping area so we're just going to stay put for the rest of the week, or until we run out of water.  Fortunately, I dumped the tanks and topped off the water at Little America and restocked the larder in Rock Springs.
On the occasion a fisherman stops by or someone rafting down the river.  Late in the day, five Harleys pulled in. It was a group of guys from Denver that were on a motorcycle/fishing trip. The fisherman here, and at Gros Ventre, said the water is so warm, the fish are scarce. They go wherever it is fish go when it gets hot. Of course, fisherman are like bowlers, golfers, and such, in that they seem to have an unlimited number of reasons why things aren't going their way.

 Picture of our campsite taken from the river.

 The North Fork of the Platt River.

Staying cool in the shade of the Cottonwood trees.

The weather forecast for the upcoming week is about perfect. High's in the mid-70's, low's in the mid-40's.

Grand Teton National Park

We met up with our camping friends John and Linda, Jerry and Ann, Ron and Jane, and Ken at the Gros Ventre campground.
Grand Teton NP is mostly about hiking which we don't do anymore but we did enjoy side trips to Lower Slide Lake and the Saturday Farmers Market in Jackson. The smoke from the many forest fires in Idaho is really obscuring the view. Hikers are staying out of the valleys because of the dense smoke. We were going to take the scenic drive to Jenny Lake but were advised we wouldn't see much.

Each morning three moose wandered through the campground.

 There were two females.

 And this guy strolling next to our campsite. Jerry took this picture.

 The mountains on one of the clearer days.

This RV is made in Switzerland based on a German made chassis. The Swiss couple shipped it from Switzerland to Halifax this past April. They're heading home in October.   It holds 200 gallons of diesel and gets 6-7 mpg. The tires came up to my chest.  The cost? We're guessing that if you need to ask how much, you can't afford it. Wonder what it costs to ship this to/from Switzerland?

It's become so smokey we changed our plan about visiting Yellowstone. In the morning we head south to the mountains of northern Colorado.

Catching up

Monday, August 6
Some unexpected medical issues caused us to change our plans. We spent the last several days at Suzannes house in Colorado getting acquainted with some new doctors. All is well and we're back on the road.
We had an opportunity to spend lots of time with Izzy and Oliver. This is their last week of summer before school starts. Izzy is going into 6th grade and Oliver starts kindergarten. We remember Izzy's birth very well; Suzanne came close to dying shortly after delivery. Chris called us at night saying things were looking very poorly and Suzanne might not make it. We took the next flight from Orlando to Denver.  Fortunately, a very observant doctor had noticed what was horribly wrong early enough and saved Suzanne's life.
Today is our 46th wedding anniversary. We're at a beautiful city campground in Ladner, WY. It's part of a large city park with a ball field, tennis courts, the biggest children's play area we've seen, horse shoe pits, on and on. It's free for up to three nights. (42.82139 -108.73684) Plus tonight at 7pm there is a free concert. We're close enough to the band so we'll be able to hear very well. We had a very nice dinner and now a concert.   What a great way to spend our anniversary.
46 years ago we were married in Gales Ferry, CT. I was a young Ensign in submarine school and Carol was a medical technologist at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. After the reception at Carols parents house, we zipped away in my bright red Triumph TR-4A.  That's been a while ago. Enough. All I'm missing is Barbara Streisand singing Memories.
Tomorrow we continue to the Gros Ventre campground in the Grand Teton NP. We're meeting up with a group of our Lazy Daze friends for a few weeks.

Life is Good.

Back to the mountains-a very special camping area

Friday/Saturday:
We've spent quite a bit of time on the coast so decided to head back into the Cascades. We drove the "old" McKenzie Highway (SR 242) which runs from the McKenzie Bridge area east to Sisters. There is a restriction of 35' total vehicle length to drive this road and it seems to be enforced and for good reason. I've driven a lot of narrow, twisty, turney roads over the years, but this just might take the prize. If your driving from the west entry, the McKenzie Bridge side, you're on the inside of the road. That way, if it get really tight, it's the other guy that falls off the cliff and not you.
 Mostly we drove it so we could return to one of our major camping discoveries of our 2008 trip.  It's a disbursed site right on  beautiful, spring fed, Craig Lake. The last time it was just the three of us. This time we shared the spot with a couple tent camping. (44.24950  -121.83721)

The lake from our campsite

Right across the street is this meadow and then miles of lava field.

This goes down as one of our all time favorites.

Florence, Reedsport & Winchester Bay

Sunday;
We headed south about 9:30. Spent some time around the beautiful Cape Perpetua area then continued to Florence. Drove through the USFS Baker Beach Recreation Area. (44.08746 -124.11787)  It was nice but nothing special enough to make us want to stay the night.  There is a very nice State day-use park called North Jetty. We spent most of the day there, then went grocery shopping then to the Three Rivers Casino parking lot for the night. It's us and perhaps thirty more RV's.  This is an upscale parking lot. Two almost new Foretravels pulled in. There is well over a million dollars there.  Years ago on I-95 near Miami, I saw a Prevost towing a Class C motorhome with the same paint scheme. If we win the Lotto, a 24' Lazy Daze would make a very nice towed vehicle.

Monday and Tuesday
Continued south through the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area (ODNRA) driving through some of the USFS campgrounds just to take a look. Most of the campgrounds appeal to the ORV crowd because of the access to the dune riding areas. We wound up at the USFS Carter Lake campground (43.85716  -124.14590). It's Monday morning so we had a choice of any site. There are a few sites directly on the lake but they are strictly for tents. We have a site, #6,  next to the boat ramp that affords us a very nice, but limited, view of the water. Like most FS campgrounds, 80% of the sites are reservable. The best of the reservable sites are 6 and 7.

Carter Lake

 
  Gopher finally got rinse off the salt by swimming  in some fresh water.

 Of course, is you roll in the dirt while wet, the swim doesn't accomplish a whole lot.

The sites, and interior roads, are paved so Carol has been getting more exercise by walking around. She's determined to lose that five pounds.

Carter Lake formed in what's called the Deflation Plain of the dune system. The Foredune is a low hill parallel to the ocean. It exists because the European beachgrass slows the wind, causing sand to drop and pile up. Behind the foredune, the wind scours out the deflation plain all the way down to the water table and provides a place for plants to thrive and for lakes to form.

I climbed to the top of a dune that's just west of the campground to take this picture. The ocean is perhaps two miles to the west.

Wednesday:

We drove to the Reedsport and Winchester Area. There are several camping choices in the Winchester Bay area ranging from resorts to the pier at the Salmon River Marina. That's where we are. It's similar to the setup at the Newport Marina. $11/night for a patch of asphalt overlooking the marina.  Nothing special but a decent place for a night. We prefer that to $45/night overlooking your neighbor. We spent the day driving around exploring this and that and treated ourselves to lunch.

The view

The "campground"

Thursday:
We visited the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area. It's home to a large herd of Roosevelt Elk. They were cooperating this morning and roamed around close to the parking area so Carol got a good look.

We continued on looking at the FS campgrounds south of Winchester Bay.  The next two days we're staying at the USFS Horsfall Beach  campground which is just north of North Bend. (43.45395  -124.27624)  This is one of the many campgrounds that are a part of the Oregon Dunes NRA. With one exception, we're surrounded by ORV campers. We have a nice site right next to the dune and the ORV dune access road. There is an accessible walkway to a very nice beach overlook that is adjacent to our site. Very nice for Carol. On the other hand, if you're looking for peace and quiet, don't stay here. :-)  The ORV's get fired up right after sunrise. The Bluebill campground, which is nearby, is a better choice for quiet. We're enjoying all the activity and beach overlook. The ATV riders range in age from about six years old to well over 70.

The eternally happy camper

Our view

Tillicum Beach, Waldport

Sunday:
We headed out early with a stop at Fred Myers, then south to the USFS Tillicum Beach campground just south of Waldport.  We've stayed here before; it's one of our favorites. Talk about lucky. We pulled in just as site 31, which is probably the best site in the campground ,became available. (44.36522 -124.09264) We have a huge grassed area with an unobstructed view of the ocean. The sites and interior streets are paved so it works well with Carols scooter. It's so  nice, we decided to stay for the week. There is a very nice Green Market in Waldport on Wednesday plus a church with an 8am mass. The church we went to in Newport had a noontime mass; much better then 8am.
To the north of the  campground perhaps a 1/2 mile or so, is a small fresh water creek that dumps into the ocean. Each day, Gopher and I make that walk a couple of times.

Our view

The wind off the ocean never stops (Sitka Spruce)

The creek that flows into the ocean and one wet dog.

Monday-Saturday

Wednesday:
Went to church in the morning then to the Farmers Market. Carol remembered the almond cookies from the last time so we stocked up.


Identified a bird today. The White-crowned Sparrow.  Per iBird "The White-crowned sparrow is one of the best-studied songbirds in North America. Much of our knowledge of bird song and development is based on studies of this species"
If you saw a bunch of sparrows you would call them a "crew", "flutter", "quarrel", or perhaps a "ubiquity" of sparrows.

Friday/Saturday:
The campground if full, as expected, and mostly with families. The usual mix of two or three kids and a dog, or so, per campsite.  It's worth your life walking on the streets between the bikes, skateboards, scooters and such.  We enjoy it. Looking at license plates, this campground is popular with folks from Oregon, of course, but also Washington, Idaho,California, Alberta and B.C. Canada. We're here from Florida, there is a car from Illinois and another from Michigan.

It was a very enjoyable week.  Tomorrow we continue our trek south. No particular destination in mind; we'll just stop when we get there.



A 1/2 ounce per day adds up.

Over the last few months, we've both been gaining about a pound a month; a half ounce per day, more or less.  Now we both need to loose five pounds. One pound of body fat equals about 3,500 calories. If we want to lose a 1/2 ounce per day, we simply need to expend 120+- more calories then we consume on that day. Weight loss is no more complex then that. No "magic" diets required. Eat less and move more, that's all there is to it. At lunch time we frequently had some chips of some sort. 18 chips, 140 calories. One tablespoon of peanut butter, one of me weaknesses, about a hundred calories.  Back to our routine of having one cookie for desert but splitting it three ways. We started this morning on our very modest goal of losing a 1/2 ounce per day. By the time we get back home, we'll be where we want to be. Of course if it's bakery day......

Lincoln City to Newport

Tuesday:
We drove by the Woods County Campground which is located on the south side of Pacific City. It's  not much so we continued on. We did come across one nice overnight site for future use, but it was too early in the day to stop.
 We wound up at this Ocean Shore State Recreation Area  just north of Lincoln City.

 Gopher was in charge of feeling the ground shake. :-) Plus there is a Tsunami warning siren about 20' away. Even without my hearing aides I'm sure I'd hear the siren.


 We were there early enough so we got a nice parking spot on the ocean. (45.00884 -124.00818) Carol has a great view. Gopher and I enjoyed several nice walks on the beach. This is a very popular kiteboarding site. At one time there were at least a dozen zipping through the waves.  It's so nice, we decided to stay the night.

Our campsite

Our view

The beach along here is beautiful, squeaky white sand like we have in the Florida Panhandle area.

This is a very popular spot. All day long, and well into the evening, people stopped by to swim, look for stuff among the rocks, go kiteboarding, or to simply walk the beach.

Wednesday:
I was up about 6am, looked out the window to see a deer munching on the grass right next to us.

   We went exploring some of the other nearby beach access areas but none were nearly this nice so we're back for another day.

Our early morning walk

The beer drinking, cigarette smoking crowd had a beach party last night. Suppose they are waiting on their Mom to clean up their mess?


The wind is just incessant. Per the weather station, a steady 20mph with gusts in excess of 30. It's not much fun walking the beach with the stinging sands so late in the afternoon, we went to the Chinook Winds Casino RV parking area. There must be 30 RV's here. From the looks of it, a few are here for the season.
We ate a late lunch/early dinner at the casino. It was OK but we wouldn't go back.

Tonights campsite. We even have an ocean view!!

Thursday:

We drove to the D River State Recreation Area. It's right where the D River dumps into the ocean. Gopher and I waded all the way across the river.  Then we went to noon time mass at St. Augustine Church, then got caught up on the laundry. Tonight we're back at the casino. In the morning we continue our trek south along the coast.

Friday:
We drove to Newport stopping at most of the scenic areas. After grocery shopping, we went to the South Beach Fish Market. Carol just had to have another bowl of the worlds best clam chowder. I had a wonderful dungeness crab burger. We had thought about going back to the South Beach State Park campground but on a weekend that place is a madhouse. Instead we went to the Port of Newport RV Park. There are four camping choices. Deluxe at $43.49/night. One notch down at $41.28.  The Annex at $32.44 and dry camping at $17.68.
Deluxe, one-notch-down and Annex gets you electricity (we have electricity), water (we have water) ans a sewer connection (we have empty tanks and access to the free dump station). It also gets you a real close view of your neighbors RV.

Deluxe

The Annex

The cheap seats

For the next two days we have an unobstructed view of the marina and bridge.
Turns out this is a good location for Carol. There is a fairly new paved walking path that winds throughout the port property and under the bridge. Tomorrow when it's warmer, we'll go walking.

Saturday:
We started the day at the Farmers Market. We were well stocked with fruit and veggies so mostly we just poked around. Then we went to the South Jetty then back to the Marina. Took a nice walk around the Marina area. There is a long pier that is used for some fishing, but mostly for crabbing.
Tomorrow we continued south. I checked the weather for the mountains in Idaho and Montana but it's still in the 90's. We like the coast, but like the mountains more but we don't care to deal with the hot weather.

Tillamook and Pacific City

Thursday:
On our way to Tillamook, we drove the scenic part of "old" Hwy 30 that goes by Multnomah Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, etc. The road is *very* narrow in places and the parking areas are best for cars, not RV's.  We stopped when we could, but not as often as we would have liked.  Once we got through the madhouse in Portland, the drive to the coast on SR 6 was very nice.
Not having any specific plans in mind for today, we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Overpriced Tourist Trap. It was about 3:00 and the place was a zoo. Carol wanted an ice cream cone.  I walked in, saw the ice cream cone line, turned around and left.  They have good ice cream, but not *that* good.
We're really hoping the mobs are because of the 4th, and not typical of all of July. Time will tell. 
The Chamber of Commerce is nearby and they had a wealth of good information.

We were looking for a place to have dinner. I have the Yelp* app. on my iPhone. According to Yelp*, La Providensia Taqueria is a 4.5 star restaurant. The only other 4.5 star restaurant in Tillamook was the Fat Dog Pizza Joint.  We didn't feel like a pizza so off we went looking forward to some great Mexican food.
Our dinners, $17 for both of us, were as good as any Mexican food we've had anywhere. A very good choice.

 This is no ordinary dive. They have a formal dining area!!

After dinner we went in search of a place to camp for the night. The Tillamook Airport has an RV park of sorts.  (45.41830  -123.81963) For $10/night, you get a  nice patch of grass, a fire ring, a bathroom and trash cans.  It's us and eight other RV's. We have an unobstructed view of the runway. So far, I watched a helicopter land and a seaplane take off.

 The airport campground

Our view

The Air Museum building was built during WW-II to house blimps that were used to search for submarines.  The building is one of the largest wooden structures in the world.

Identified a Sitka Spruce today.

A wonderfully, warm, sunny day.

Friday:
Today went driving along parts of the Three Capes Scenic Way. We explored the same area in 2008.  Stopped at the Cape Meares Lighthouse and the Whiskey Creek Fish Hatchery then headed back to Tillamook.

Saturday:
Tillamook has a very nice Green Market on Saturday morning. We bought raspberries, blueberries, two types of cherries and some really fresh green beans.  Of course there is always a bakery. This was a first for us. We bought two oblong shaped donuts with chocolate icing in top. On top of the icing, was a piece of very crispy bacon. Wow, was that ever tasty. We tried to remember the last time we have eaten bacon but it's been so many years, we couldn't.

Tillamook Green Market

After the Green Market, we decided to continue south along the coast. We figured our chance of finding a decent campsite on Saturday afternoon, of the 4th of July week, was close to zero.  There are three county owned campgrounds between Tillamook and Pacific City so the plan was to stop at them in order.

Our first stop was the Whalen Island Tillamook County Campground. The "campground full" sign was up but I asked anyway. Turns out someone had reserved a site for two days but left a day early. We got a nice level grassy site with a little view of the water. (45.272960  -123.948846). $20/night.
The campground is on a peninsula that is surrounded by Sand Lake. At low tide there is an expanse of sand that is probably  a mile across. On the other side of Sand Lake are three USFS campgrounds designed  for the the ORV crowd.  Gopher and I took some nice walks. The campground is very popular with families. It's always fun just watching the children have a great time camping with their parents and grandparents.
Identified a new tree today: Port-Orford-cedar.

Our campsite

Sand Lake. At low tide you can walk to the tall dune on the far side.

Sand Lake

Sand Lake. The tides coming in.

Sunday.

About noon time we drove to the  Webb County Campground in Pacific City, all of a ten minute drive from where we were. As expected, the weekend and 4th of July campers were packing up to leave so we had our choice of spots. This campground isn't much. Basically a patch of dirt. We chose it because there are paved paths that lead down to the ocean and to some restaurants, and such, so Carol can go walking around.  (45.21737  -123.96831) $20/night.  There are some RV sites with water/electric hookups for $25/night if a person needed such things.

Webb County Campground.

First time I've seen one of these. Every camping rig has some sort of advantage over others but this one escapes me. It seems all the jeep does is provide a raised platform for a tent. Before he can go anywhere, it's necessary to disassemble the entire thing.  I looked on line out of curiosity, and something like this can run close to $2,000. Why not just spend $200 on a decent tent, then leave it pitched as you go jeeping?

 And then I saw this rig parked in the beach parking lot.  Hand built by a real craftsman.

Pacific City

 Pacific City, or PC as locally known, is the only place in OR where fisherman launch their Dory boats from the beach into the surf. I watched them retrieve a boat from the surf and load it onto the trailer. You are allowed to drive on the beach in PC. I've done that with the camper both in Texas and Florida so I took a look but just didn't like what I saw. The beach was too soft and not wide enough to make an easy turnaround.

The sun came out about 2pm so the three of us went walking.  The Pelican Pub is a locally famous microbrewery and restaurant. We found a nice spot on the patio where Carol could see the ocean, dunes and Haystack Rock.  As expected, the beach area is packed today. It reminds us of hundreds of other summer resort towns in Cape Cod, Maine, California, etc.  Jammed on the weekend.  

Sunday on the beach

The kids were climbing up the very tall sand dune in the background, then coming down on their sand boards.

Monday:

Gopher and I took our early morning walk to the beach. I saw the perfect parking spot so went back and got Carol conscious. By 8am, we were parked in the beach parking lot. Carol has an unobstructed view of the ocean, Haystack Rock, Cape Kiwanda, and the beach where the dory boats launch. A perfect place to spend the day. By noon time, the sun came out for a couple of hours.

 Monday on the beach.

Gopher and I climbed to the top of the sand dune.  The trucks on the beach are for the dory's. We're parked right on the edge of the beach.

A very old tow truck, driven by an even older guy, pulled onto the beach today. He was waiting for business. In the space of about 30 minutes,  he had three tows. One was the same car twice (The VW Jetta in the picture). The poor guy got stuck driving onto the beach and again driving off. I don't know what the guy gets for pulling someone out of the sand, but a $100 wouldn't surprise me.

I just read the blog of Ann and Jerry Marcus; the two of the most adventuresome Lazy Daze travelers we know. It's fascinating. Tessa Hill is another one. We met Tessa at the BF in 2008 just as she and her three children were getting ready for their amazing RV trips through Europe, Central America and the Canadian Maritime Provinces.

 Ann and Jerry


In the morning we continue the trek south. No particular destination in mind, but not further south then the Chinook Winds Casino parking lot north of Lincoln City.