The Western US trip, Just the Facts Maam!

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Congrats to Cyndi! Take advantage of her new found freedom and go RVing!  I know it's hard to walk away from the money, but do what works for you.  Let us know how the trip goes. 
 
In route to Ashland, Oregon on 6/9/15 we needed to stop for fuel. We located a Pilot truck fueling station off of Interstate 5 in Weed, Ca.  The reason this station was significant is that it has RV fueling pumps set aside from the truck islands and the usual automotive islands.  The RV pumps are off to the left of the automotive pumps, and they have 3 lanes for fueling.  The only thing about these pumps is that they are marked for RV's or cars so there may be somebody filling their Toyota at the pumps when you pull up.  With the Frequent Fueler card we paid $3.00 per gallon for diesel fuel, and took about 61 gallons.  The last time we fueled on 5/22/15 was in Sacramento at a Pilot and paid $3.50 a gallon. And about 7 gallons of the fuel on this fill were used in the generator in Bodega Bay.  The shorter trips between stops and longer stays at the locations have made a huge difference in the monthly budget. 

Emigrant Lake County Park and ?The Point RV Park?  is only about 14 miles from the California/Oregon border off of Interstate 5. This is not a big RV park with only 32 RV sites, bit it is right on the water of Emigrant Lake.  There is another loop for tents and small trailers as well with no hookups.  We found some pluses and minuses with the park, all depending on your point of view.  Emigrant Lake is active for water sports of all kinds, plenty of picnic areas, fishing, 2 boat launch ramps, and lots of trees and green space. The campground is set up in two tiers, and the first 22 spots are on the lower tier.  We preferred a lower tier spot #11 because the way the spots are angled your patio side faces the lake.  On the upper tier the sites are the opposite direction which gives you the view of a dry grass hill, unless you sit at the back of your rig.  If you have a rig with the utilities in the very back, bring enough electrical cord and water hose as those two utilities are at the very front edge of the sites. Each site has a concrete picnic table and a fire ring.  There was also nice shade trees planted by each rig that supplied some needed shade in the warm afternoons.  We paid about $30 per night for FHU paved site.

On the negative points of the park was the long grass at all of the sites.  On our 4th day there the camp host came around with a push mower and started to mow some of the sites, but quit before he got to ours and never came back.  Walking around the park can also be challenging. The RV pads and roads are paved, but there are no sidewalks, or even road shoulders to walk on.  Any walking around the park will make you walk on the streets, with some pretty steep hills to navigate.  There is one dirt path you can get to at the end of the RV park across from site #25. It is about 1/3 mile long and runs next to the lake. 

There is no wifi or cable offered at the park, but the Verizon cell signal was strong, and our air card worked well. The restrooms and showers are in good shape and handicapped accessible. There are coin boxes in the showers, but there was a sticker on each one that said ?free?.  There is a handicapped designated camp spot, #18. A sign on it indicates that if the spot is not reserved and still empty at 7 PM, it is available for rent for the night. 

The first night in town Diane had not had a chance to shop for groceries yet, so we went out to dinner. Diane researched a highly rated place on Trip Advisor, Omar's Restaurant and Bar in Ashland.  The interior of the place is a little dated as far as style, but is in excellent condition.  The food however was amazing. I had a steak that was hands down the best steak I have had in years.  It was prepared and seasoned perfectly, and was served hot and timely.  For a really good meal, Omar's is highly recommended.
 
The town of Ashland is a little historic town with many older buildings and original houses. It's also the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that has been going on for 80 years.  Three designated theaters in town put on a series of plays starting in early February.  Diane and I went to a Shakespeare play, ?Much Ado About Nothing? at one of the theaters. The actors were top notch, and the theater itself was perfect.  The ticket prices are not cheap however. The cheap seats were $60 each, and ranged up to $120 each. Our cheap seats were great though, just higher up in the theater, which we prefer anyway.  I joked later on in a Facebook post that Diane had taken me to my first Shakespeare play, but had to get a stick and beat the redneck out of me first! The play was still Shakespeare's work, but it was acted with a modern twist which made the story much easier to follow.  After the play we walked down the street to a restaurant named ?Harveys Place? for a cocktail and a snack. It's a newer place but very good food and highly recommended.

Just like most things in life, some are good, and some are not. We went back to see a second play on Sunday afternoon named ?Long Days Journey Into Night?. While the acting was still great, the story line made me want to run out of the theater screaming.  Well, you win some, you lose some.  Diane just updated her blog with a much more detailed explanation of the events.

For any major shopping, the town of Medford is just down the freeway about 15 minutes, and you can find any kind of major store you need.

As an ending for the blog, I thought I would list the cool things, and not cool things we found at this RV stop.

Cool Stuff:
1) The family of deer we ran past a few times during our stay while out exercising.
2) The HUGE bald Eagle we saw perched in a tree while out on our run.
3) The RV park sites are elevated above the lake, making for some great afternoons viewing.
4) Omar's Restaurant, great food.
5) The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF).
6) Harvey's Place Bar and Grill.  Happy Hour starts at 3:30 and has good food and beer.

The not too cool stuff:
1) The uncut grass/weeds around the RV sites.
2) The lack of sidewalks to get around the park itself.
3) The parking at the OSF was horrible. Come early to  find any parking at all.

From here we head back to the coast to Brookings, OR.
 

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Me too!  And the sites look to be a decent size.

ArdraF
 
Most of them are Ardra. There are a few pull throughs in a crescent shape that are a little narrower but longer. That's one of the cool parts about the bottom tier sites, with your awning on the lake side you have a great size patio area.
 
We jumped back to the Oregon coast for this leg of the trip. As the matter of fact, we will be on the coast for the next two stops as well.  We looked forward to heading back to the beach, and love the ocean views. We picked the Beach Front RV park and Marina in Brookings. There are many RV parks in the area, but this was the only one that had direct beach access on the ocean. There are 98 sites here, but that includes several tenting sites.  The pull through sites in the front row are 30 amp, but the back in sites on the second row are 50 amp.  The water pressure can be pretty low, especially if the park fills up.  We were having problems with our tank-less water heater suddenly going cold, then warming up again.  It took me a while to figure out that the water pressure in the park would sporadically drop to under 20# pressure (as evidenced by monitoring my pressure gauge in the water bay).  That signals the water heater to stop heating the water.  I remedied the situation by supplementing the park water supply with the on board water pump. 

There is Wifi offered here at the park, but it's not too strong and gets crowded easily. However, the signal on our Verizon air card was strong.  The sites are dirt/gravel but there is a decent size cement patio at each site.  The sites are not much to look at, but kind of typical for beachfront RV sites. There is a small fence between the sites that lend an aura of a little privacy.  Each site also has a picnic table, but they are a bit weather worn. The staff will also bring you a ground fire ring to your site if requested. There is a cable hook up at the pedestal, but I am not sure how well it works as we used our satellite.

One of the down sides of the park is that it is built on a public boat marina. There is a row of parking spaces in front of the front row of RV spaces.  It is public access to the beach, and the public comes and goes all day. Sometimes the traffic in front of the rigs is constant as tourists and locals drive by to look at the ocean.  We were never bothered by anyone, but you do get a lot of looky-loo's at the RV's. 

There is handicapped access to the restrooms, but they too are open to the public and not just for use of the RV park. There is also a free standing laundry mat at the end of the park, also public.  The prices they charge here are also common for beachfront camping.  The front row of pull through sites rent for $51 a night, in season.  The second row of back in's are $7 less.  We stayed at the 7 day rate, which gave us one free night. That lowered the cost of the front row site to just under $44 a night. 

The weather here was typical for beachfront camping as well.  The average temps here were in the 60's and only twice did it hit low 70's.  The mornings were usually foggy, and some days it never did burn off.  The one constant though is one of the reasons we love the coast, is the constant back ground noise of the waves rolling in.  Puts me to sleep every night!

There is not a whole lot to do in the way of sight seeing here.  We did drive a little south on Highway 101 to visit Jedediah Smith Redwoods National Park one day.  What an awesome display of nature. If you haven't seen them yet, it is must stop on the bucket list. We used a lot of the time to exercise, run and enjoy the beach atmosphere.  Of course there is always something to do around the RV, and this time was no different.  I got to fix the toaster oven door that wouldn't open, the BBQ grill that wouldn't get hot, the shower drain that was running slow, and wash and vacuum the Jeep just to name a few. 

We are making good use of the Smart TV that I put in a few stops ago, Amazon Prime video is keeping us entertained at night! I think I will need to add a sound bar to the TV though. Since the frames on the newer TV's is so thin, they almost always mount the speakers for the TV in the back.  Since I replaced the 40? TV with a 48? it's bottom edge is only about an inch off of the counter. Not enough volume for these ears. Oh well, another project for another day. 



The Cool Stuff at this park:
1) FHU sites on a beachfront RV site.
2) Strong cell signal that makes for great Wifi reception.
3) The crashing waves right out your front door, easily visible from your RV.
4) The beach is also dog friendly for leashed pets.

The not cool stuff:
1) The public access road in front of the RV sites.
2) The public restrooms shared with the RV park.
3) Low water pressure.
4) Pricey sites with not a lot of amenities to offer.

Next we head north to Waldport, OR. The adventure continues.....
 

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Thanks Kev, Oregon's parks are also some of the highest rated in the country as well. Many of Oregon's state owned campgrounds are FHU, witch makes them pretty popular as well.
 
Stay on the coast Sarge.  Weather channel reports a major heat wave for the west including the northwest.  Temperature predictions for Medford 109?, Portland 98? and close to 90? in the Seattle area. 
 
Thanks Gary, we finally guessed right for once! You are right, in Brookings we had a lot of damp foggy weather. We are in Waldport which is further north, also on the coast and the weather has been beautiful!
 
Sutherlin (roughly 60 miles east of the coast) will hit 101 degrees tomorrow (Friday 6/26) and the heat will continue for several days after that.  Very unusual for us.  Chance of thunder storms Saturday and Sunday, very bad for our fire conditions as they are usually dry storms.
 
Come to Milwaukee.  Forecast high of 66? today (heat pump is running right now) and 70s for the next 9 days.
 
Marty, I just got finished reading every post on this thread from the beginning and want to thank you for sharing your experiences with us.

My wife and I have planned out a trip to see as many of the well known national parks as we can and will make the trip in about three years. You are making me rethink our plans because we planned on a 90 day trip that would get us from SW Florida to Mt. Rushmore and then head west to see everything we could, making a big circle through Oregon, Calif., and then head back on the southern route. I was planning on staying in one place more than three nights, just to get a feel for the locale and possibly find a spot where we might want to make a summer residence to get away from the heat at home.

You are now making me wonder if we should stop and smell the roses a bit more. You are also giving me more ideas of stops to make that I had never heard of before. Your input is invaluable.
 
Glad to assist John! I must say that lingering longer at our stops has made a huge difference in our activities. We explore more, and can return to things that we liked for a second look. Not to mention the reduction in fuel budget. Really, that just gives me a few more $$ to spend exploring and taking in the local attractions.  We are enjoying the slower pace.
 
It seems about a week in each spot.  is that right?

I too enjoyed the thread, and linked over to the blog too.  I wish I had more vacation time to get a taste of that full time living!
 
Yep, right on Brad. About a week is about good for my attention span.  Then I get itchy feet and want to see what is around the next corner.  We just got back from  "Old town Newport" down the road from our current location.  Enjoyed walking around, window shopping and lunch at the "Rouge Brewery".  Good beer, good food.  The weekend is upon us,  and I will be ready to pull up stakes on Tuesday and head for the "holiday spot" for 4th of July.
 
SargeW said:
Yep, right on Brad. About a week is about good for my attention span.  Then I get itchy feet and want to see what is around the next corner. 

Glad I'm not the only one.  Sometimes a week seems too long. 
 

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