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.