The Western US trip, Just the Facts Maam!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Sometimes you are right Gary. While staying for a week will sometimes get you a discounted rate, I am still committed for a week. Normally that is not an issue but if the weather turns on you or the area has an unexpected down side, it can make it feel much longer. 

Our one rule of thumb is though, if the place we are in turns out to be very unappealing for any reason, we pull up stakes and go regardless of cost.  I won't suffer through miserable conditions just to save a buck.
 
Marty, what would say is the average price of the RV campgrounds now in the areas you are visiting on this trip? From your pictures, it appears you are staying in some pretty nice spots. How much of a discount do you get for staying a week - one night's worth? In my research so far, it seems that back in sites cost about $10 per night less than pull through. Does that sound about right from what you have experienced? The last question is important to me because I'm trying to decide whether to buy a scooter and carrier for the back of the coach, or a trailer to tow my 4 wheel drive SUV. I can still back in with a scooter carrier on the back.
 
The average is kind of speculative John. We are not the "look for the absolute cheapest place to stay" types, so we sometimes will pay a little over the average to stay in a park that fits our needs.  In some places a pull through site is a slight bump in price, maybe $5 a night, but often is depends on the desirability of the site.

For instance the Marina RV park we just left in Brookings fit that description. There were 2 rows of sites. The front row were pull through's with great ocean views, but the power was 30 amp.  The second row behind us were back ins so their view was looking past whoever was in front of them. But their sites were 50 amp, and $7 a night cheaper. 

So if saving a few bucks is more important, take the cheaper site. If having the unobstructed view is more important, pay the $7 bump.  Many places will offer a discount for a weeks stay. Often it is pay for 6 and get one night free. In Brookings that extra night brought the price of the site down to the same as the 2nd row back in site.

We also don't stay in WalMart's or truck stops either (unless it's an emergency) but some folks don't mind it at all. Given the choice of towed or scooter, I would personally opt for the towed. More versatile, more comfortable in too hot or too cold conditions ect.  The trailer does add a different dimension to the experience though. But that's the great part about RVing. You get to pick what fits your needs and lifestyle the best. 
 
We left Brookings and headed for Waldport, OR to McKinley's Marina and RV Park.  This was more northbound driving on Highway 101. Even though it was only 190 miles, the trip still took nearly 5 hours.  The 101 is the coast road, but it runs smack through many small towns on the route.  Even though most stretches are marked for 55 MPH, doing that speed in a large RV is not possible.  And then each small town you drive through will slow you down to 25 MPH as you pass through their downtown area.  Throw in the occasional stretches of twisty's and your average speed is much lower.  It is still a very scenic drive though. 

McKinley's is a dual purpose park, as are many in this part of Oregon. They cater a lot to the boating/fishing crowd as well as the RV customers.  In fact, this particular park is almost 2 parks in one.  One side is the strictly RV side and has concrete streets, pads and patios. In fact there is very little green area between the sites, maybe 1 -2 feet max.  The sites are plenty big though for most any rig.  The cool part about this park is that the builders were smart enough to include full utilities on both sides of the parking pads.  That way a MH can pull in to the sites to face the water with the hook ups on the left, but a TT or 5ver can back in and still have the hookups on the correct site. 

The only down side of that is that if you are in a MH and pull in, but your neighbor is a towable, you patio's will face each other.  Not usually a big deal unless your neighbors are obnoxious.  The other part of the park has a string of 30 or so dry camping sites that back up onto the bay as well. They will accept a full size RV, all the way to a tent. The sites are grass with no hookups at all. Those sites were favored by the fishing crowd that liked the extra space of the grass area and were in close proximity to the bay. There is a port-a-potty for use in the tent no hook up area, or you can hoof it to the regular facilities on the side of the office building.  There is also a laundry mat on site, and it too has a handicapped bathroom inside, but no shower.

It seems as though a very popular past time among the locals as well as the RV'ers is catching crabs in the bay.  Many of the locals came out to one of the long docks on the bay to check and reset their crab cages nightly.

The rates were reasonable as well. We paid $207 for 6 nights and got one free night, making the final rate $29.57 per night.  The park is not on the ocean, but on Alsea Bay. You can launch a boat from the in campground launch for a fee. We paid for a pull in site that faced the water which was nice. The odd ball thing about these sites though is that while you are in the rig you have a great view of the bay and all types of boats coming and going.  While sitting outside on your patio, the park has decided to grow a thick hedge in front of the sites, that is now about 4' tall.  Sitting in your site and looking toward the water you see nothing but bushes. I took the somewhat thrilling step of placing two of our patio chairs on top of the picnic table and sitting on top of the table to see the view. 

They offer free WiFi here, but our Verizon Air card
had very strong signal from a near by tower. They have handicapped accessible bathrooms and showers, but they are in the RV side of the park. There is a  ?play area? in the middle of the park that has such games as ?bean bag toss? and ?rope ladders? free for use.  The center area of the dry camp sites has a sand volleyball court, basket ball, and horseshoes.

We visited the downtown area of Waldport and the bigger town next door, Newport.  Both had older preserved walking areas to window shop and plenty of restaurants to pick  from. We also visited a few local attractions, state parks and light houses. Diane covers them more in  detail in her blog. 

Our next stop we go backwards 15 miles to Yachats OR. We made that reservation far in advance for the 4th of July week, as we knew things would be packed for the holiday.

The Cool Stuff at this park:
1) Big cement pads and patio's
2) The view of  Alsea Bay that is close to the ocean.
3) Very quiet night time atmosphere.
4) Various family games set up in the grassy areas.
5) The summer time temps in the 60's and low 70's.
6) The reasonable price for the sites.
The not cool stuff at this park:
1) The lack any type of pool or spa available.
2) The excessively tall hedge that blocks your view of the bay.
3) The wind off of the bay can be frigid, even in the summer.
4) Camp fires are not allowed in the RV area, only in the dry camp area.

Diane has just updated our blog with more detail about the places we visited. Stop on by!
 

Attachments

  • 013.JPG
    013.JPG
    154.5 KB · Views: 33
  • 014.JPG
    014.JPG
    154.6 KB · Views: 33
  • 015.JPG
    015.JPG
    157.1 KB · Views: 32
  • 046.JPG
    046.JPG
    157 KB · Views: 35
Marty, good to know about this campground. On our long trip out West, we are planning on visiting friends in Lincoln City, just north of you, and were wondering where would be a good place to stay. Thanks for the info.
 
Well this was the 4th of July weekend, and Diane made the reservations for Sea Perch RV Resort back in March. She asked me where I  wanted to be on the 4th of July, and the Oregon coast seemed like a good answer.  Sea Perch is a private campground with only 25 sites, but they are concrete, wide, and  6 of them are on the ocean front. There are also 3 “Villas” for rent on the ocean front also. The ocean front sites from May to Oct rent for $85 a night, and the rest are “ocean view” for $75 a night. For the extra $10 we went for the oceanfront site.  The Villas rent from $175 to $250 in season.  By staying for a week we got a small discount to make it $81 a night.  The amenities here are a nice workout room with various aerobic machines, free weights and a universal machine. There is a TV and DVD player in the room as well.  The clubhouse has dining space, and a game room with a pool table and other table games.

The sites are FHU with cable TV, and the park has good WiFi which we had to take advantage of as our Verizon air card even with the booster was pathetically slow most of the time.  The oceanfront sites are about 100' from the waves at high tide and waves are heard 24/7.  There is not a lot of other amenities close to the park without driving into Yachats north about 7 miles, or Florence about 16 miles south. Yachats is pretty small with limited stores and shops, but Florence is much bigger if you need any significant supplies.

All sites are handicapped accessible as they are flat and smooth, and the restrooms are likewise accessible, but they are limited to one each in the club house.

On the 4th of July Saturday the park put on a potluck, and supplied the main courses with the campers bringing side dishes. The park supplied ribs, baked potato's,  burgers, hot dogs and  hot links as well as soft drinks and some beers. With the side dishes supplied by the campers, the potluck turned out great with tons of food.  And it was all included with the price of your site.

Coast weather being unpredictable at best, while the rest of the country was sweltering in heat, we were wearing jackets and long pants for the first few days. And throw in 20 – 30 MPH sustained winds and we didn't see much outside time for the first few days.  Then on Friday we got a break and the winds slowed  to 5 – 10 MPH and we were able to take many walks on the semi private beach, and dogs were allowed off leash to run and play.

We even did some hiking while we were here, and they were challenging and beautiful. We hiked the Cape Perpetua Lookout, at 1.5 mile trail each way with a 800 ft rise in elevation, but the view was spectacular. The other hike was the Heceta Head Lighthouse trail that goes from Highway 101 up to the back side of the lighthouse and the magnificent coast line. That trail had a 300' elevation gain and was about 1.3 miles each way.  We also ate in Yachats at the Luna Sea Fish House, and the food was fabulous. There were also some attractions we didn't see, like the “Sea Lion Caves”. Being from So. Cal. We have seal lions in abundance along the coast so the it was not unique for us. 

Cool stuff about this park:
1) Cement pads and patios.
2) Oceanfront sites 100' from the waves
3) Well equipped work out room.
4) Weekend potlucks put on by the resort.
5) Good strong Wifi.

Not cool stuff about this park.
1) No pool or hot tub available.
2) Other than the beach, very limited walking area in the park.
3) Small park, kind of pricey.
4) All shopping or stores are a drive N or S on Highway 101.

I included a few pics of the resort and views, but visit Diane's blog for many more pics and details.  From here we head north to Fort Stevens State Park on the Columbia River. 
 

Attachments

  • 030.JPG
    030.JPG
    159.4 KB · Views: 36
  • 042.JPG
    042.JPG
    162.5 KB · Views: 33
  • 007.JPG
    007.JPG
    155.5 KB · Views: 34
  • 015.JPG
    015.JPG
    163.5 KB · Views: 32
Thanks John. We are trying to mix it up to keep things interesting. The next stop is completely different than the last one. This should be interesting to say the least. Fort Stevens has about 500 RV spaces..........
 
Well this stop was quite a departure from the last few stops in Oregon. The last few parks have been small, intimate, and somewhat pricey.  But for some of the prime spots on the ocean, that isn't unusual. However, this time we checked into Fort Stevens State Park, located at the meeting point of the Columbia River and the Pacific.  And this is no ?intimate? little RV park.  Fort Stevens has over 500 sites of all types. FHU, Electric and Water, and tenting.  They are arranged in a series of loops, and most of the loops are among stands of giant trees, easily 100' tall.  While this makes for a lot of shade in the warm parts of the year, if the weather is cool you may never see the sun all day.  All the campground roads are paved as well are the parking pads.  The rest of the site is dirt and gravel, so bring a rug if you have one.  There is also large bushes growing around many of the sites, so  your neighbors are partially obstructed.  Each site has a fire ring and a picnic table, but the tables are a little worn.  The site itself was decent size, but we goofed up and picked a site that had the walkway to the restrooms right next to us. It wasn't as bad as  it could have been, but the kids on bikes riding on the ?no bikes allowed? sidewalk to the bathroom got a little annoying.  The other problem with the huge tree canopy was that satellite signal was impossible. The roof mounted dish didn't have a chance, and after about 90 minutes with the remote dish, I gave up and went for the OTA antenna.  It worked OK, but most the channels were PBS and a few locals.  So not much TV was used during the stay. 

The bathrooms and showers are handicapped accessible and are in good condition. Our Verizon air card worked decently well here, but there were periods of unexplained dropouts so the service was not 100% reliable.  There is no Wifi offered by the park itself.

This is a great park to bring bicycles to not only due to all of the paved loops to ride through, but there is a whole system of paved bike trails that run throughout the park that take you to the various historic Gun Battery's in the park.  We would have loved to bike the trails, but soon  after arrival I inspected our bikes that we have had with us since we left on the trip in April.  They had not had much use up to this point, and because of the small parks on the coast we have stayed in for the last few weeks, and considering the damp ocean winds we had, both bikes were about rusted solid and wouldn't move! Our bikes have been around for about 5 years, and have been back and forth across the country, sometimes twice every year, riding on the back of the Jeep .  I have been repairing stuff as I went along, but they just may be done for this time.

Without bikes, Diane and I walked and even ran many of the trails in the park. One day we took off walking with Heidi (our faithful mutt) to visit Battery Russell, which is about 1.25 miles from the campground. The trails are mostly shaded  and are gently rolling hills for the mots part.  After Battery Russell, I had the great idea to walk to the next set of Battery's down the road, it couldn't be too far, right?  Well we did the walk and by the time we got back to the campground, we had covered over 7 miles!  Heidi thought we must have lost our minds.  Another fun thing to do is to drive the beach. There is a access road in the park that takes you to the remains of the shipwreck Peter Iredale. Right next to it is the access road to the beach. We drove access road #1 and popped out on the beach and headed south.  You can drive the beach for about 10 miles, and there are a total of 6 access roads in the 10 mile  stretch. A 4 wheel drive is recommended because of the loose sand on the access roads. Once on the firm damp sand, any car could easily drive the whole 10 mile distance.  We drove it twice while we were there, and on the second day we noted that access #6 had been graded and smoothed. Any passenger care could make it easily to the beach.

The other big change with this park, and the reason that it was usually sold out, is that for a FHU site we paid just over $33 a night, quite a switch from the last few stops.  Interestingly, directly across the street from the entrance to Fort Stevens is a KOA campground.  It looked to be a pretty big park, and they usually had a sign out saying that they had sites available. KOA tends to be much more expensive though, and they also charge a pet fee and a resort fee per day.  Another reason why the state park usually sells out first.

Also on the way to Fort Stevens we stopped off in Tillamook at the Tillamook Cheese factory for lunch and some goodies from the factory store. It's about 40 miles south of Fort Stevens, and really worth the stop.  It has a huge parking lot and special lots just for RV's.  We also visited Astoria while we were in Fort Stevens.  It's an interesting town with lots of shops and restaurants, and we patronized a few. Diane's blog will have more detail pics about these locations. 

Cool stuff about this park:
1) Great price for a FHU site.
2) Paved roads and parking pads.
3) Lots of shade trees for sunny days.
4) Tons biking trails, and separate hiking trails as well.
5) Driving on the beach.
6) Lots of stuff to see and do in the park.
7) Separate play ground for the kids.

Not cool stuff about this park:
1) No patio's for chairs.
2) Super heavy canopy makes satellite impossible.
3) Trash dumpsters are not in the camping loops. Set aside in a special parking lot that is quite a hike to get to.
4) No park Wifi, and sketchy cell signal.
 

Attachments

  • 007.JPG
    007.JPG
    152.3 KB · Views: 35
  • 085.JPG
    085.JPG
    148.5 KB · Views: 28
  • 086.JPG
    086.JPG
    162.9 KB · Views: 29
  • 022.JPG
    022.JPG
    156.4 KB · Views: 25
  • 004.JPG
    004.JPG
    162.5 KB · Views: 26
  • 009.JPG
    009.JPG
    158.6 KB · Views: 25
  • 010.JPG
    010.JPG
    163.7 KB · Views: 37
  • 022.JPG
    022.JPG
    166.7 KB · Views: 30
Oops, I see I need to clarify that statement Tom.  By "intimate" I meant the amount of spaces that the park had, not the length of sites themselves.  All the Oregon parks we have been in so far easily accommodated a 40+ foot rig with no problems.  And Fort Stevens was no exception. We saw 45' MH's as well as a few triple axle toy boxes in the loops.  Some of the camp roads may be a little tight though for that length of rig do to the old massive trees throughout the park loops. 
 
We left Fort Stevens and headed east following the Columbia River.  Fort Stevens was our last coastal location for quite awhile. This time we broke with our usual week long stays and stopped in Boardman, OR for a two night stay at the Boardman Marina and RV park. 

Boardman is a little town off of Interstate 84 that also follows the Columbia River.  Even though there is not much to the town, the RV park was pretty nice.  It is set on the banks of the Columbia and the river is just a few steps from the campground.  The park has 63 sites and the river can be seen from many of them.  We stayed in a FHU river view site, but one row back.  Barges and various other ships could be seen navigating the river from our site.  The morning we were packing up to leave we saw an old paddle wheel boat headed up river.

The roads are paved, and some of the parking pads are paved and some are gravel, but much of the area surrounding the rigs is grass and gravel.  As a matter of fact, the whole campground is lush green well manicured lawn.  It is apparent that this part of Oregon is having no water issues!  There was not a lot in the way of amenities, but the views were spectacular.  There is a paved walking path that circles most of the campground, and leads off to other historic attractions in the area.  There is also good space between the sites so you don't feel like your neighbor is right on top of you.

Our site was on the north side of the park which is closest to the river.  There are train tracks on the south side of the park, so sites on the north side tend to be further from the train  noise. If you are outside the trains are audible, but at night we were not awakened by train noise.

The park is reasonable priced at $31 per night, and that was for a river view site. The park offered Wifi, but our Verizon air card worked well and cell signal was strong. There are huge shade trees in the park which are great for keeping the afternoon sun off of the RV, but it was yet another park that the trees blocked the satellite signal from the roof mounted dish.  However I was able to place the remote dish in a location to get signal without too much trouble.

A hot tip for fuel if you visit this park. On the south side of the freeway there is a Shell gas station that has a pair of diesel pumps set on the side of the station. It is easy in and out, and they have high delivery nozzle pumps, but they will maintain a reasonable flow for smaller tank  filling.  We paid $2.99 a gallon for diesel.

Now we head into Washington State for a week stay just outside of Spokane.

Cool stuff about this park:
1) Tons of well manicured lawns.
2) Reasonably priced.
3) Watching boats on the river.
4) Big shade trees.

Not cool stuff about this park:
1) No patio's for chairs, just grass and dirt outside your door.
2) Being close to the river is nice, but at night the flying ?river gnats?  are everywhere.
3) All that grass takes a lot of water, and the park waters it often.
4) Big trees can block satellite reception.
5) Train noise.
 

Attachments

  • 001.JPG
    001.JPG
    154.9 KB · Views: 45
  • 004.JPG
    004.JPG
    158.7 KB · Views: 44
  • 008.JPG
    008.JPG
    163.9 KB · Views: 45
Marty,  With all the flooding that is going on around the country, does that affect where you plan to stay, or do you even pay any attention to that sort of thing ?  RV parks seem very vulnerable to flooding, as a lot are close to rivers and creeks.  2 years ago we camped from Kansas City down to Houston in May,,, we were 70 miles from Moore OK, when the tornado hit.  I slept very little that leg of the trip, as there were tornado warnings every night.
 
Oh yeah Pete, we pay very close attention to local weather and what is going on. We plan our itinerary in advance where summer crowds are a possibility of locking us out.  But if the weather gets crazy we will adjust on the fly. We have changed plans in the past due to snow, tornadoes, dust storms, and even fire.  For us, RVing enjoyment is not taking unnecessary risks. 
 
Similar to when I was OTR, I plot my route with my phone GPS and a RM Motor Carriers Atlas to determine roads that can be used, and then check the weather along the entire route, including wind advisories, making any changes to the route that are necessary.
 
We continued our trek north/eastward and made our next stop in Deer Park, WA at the Spokane RV Resort.  Deer Park is a little town off of Highway 395 and is about 15 miles north of Spokane.  After our more rustic stop in Boardman, Diane picked a little more upscale place for this stop.  The park is part of a larger development of single family homes that are built next to a rather nice golf course.  The RV park and the homes are separate though, but to get to the RV park you drive about .7 of a mile down a residential street lined with new homes.  Through another gate and you enter the manicured well maintained RV park.  Half of the sites nose up to the golf course fairways, and the others are across the street with a view of the course. Some of the sites are owned and nicely outfitted, and  others like the one we had are just large cement pads with lots of green grass and about 30' between RV's.  Most sites have a large mature shade tree towards the front of the sites that provided really nice shade in the afternoons.  I caught a few naps stretched out in the recliner enjoying the afternoon breeze. 

The park has a pool and hot tub, laundry, and the handicapped accessible showers and bathrooms are available in the new office building. The park accepts all types of rigs, and age doesn't seem to be a  problem. Many of the RV's were from BC Canada, as the border is pretty close. Our neighbors were from BC and were staying for 2 months.  But home was still close enough for them to go home for a doctors appointment. The park offers Wifi, but our Verizon air card had strong cell signal and satellite reception was easy.  They also had a ?Family Pavilion? that  had a library, kitchen, and a small workout room.

They also have a wash service that will come to the park. It too was reasonable. 2 guys showed up and hand washed and dried the rig, roof included for $2.50 a foot. The whole wash cost me $97.50.  The roof was super dirty after spending 4 weeks on the California and Oregon coasts, so they really earned their money.

Even though it is a very upscale park, the rates were reasonable. We stayed for 7 days and with the Good Sam 10% discount paid $34.12 a night.  The little town of Deer Park is surprisingly well featured for a small town. There are grocery stores, auto parts, and various restaurants.  For major retailers though you need to drive to Spokane which is about a 15 or 20 minute drive.  There isn't much in the way of tourist attractions in Deer Park, so we drove into Spokane one day and checked out the city. They have a nice downtown Riverwalk area with some shops interesting places to eat. It  too is not a big area though, and we walked the whole area and had lunch in about 2 hours. 

A hot tip for service if you are in the area though and need service work.  I was due for an oil change and fuel filter service while I was there, so about a week before my arrival I called 3 different shops in the area for prices and availability to due the service. 2 of the 3 quoted a week to 10 days waiting time, and the prices ranged from $300 to $400 just for the oil change.  One place was first come first serve, and was possible, but the prices were about the same.  And I was going to have to drive back into Spokane for the service. I know that auto repair can be pricey, but since I usually do a lot of my own service, it bugs me to pay those prices for simple maintenance. 

When I got into town I kept calling and talking to people and finally found a local shop 10 minutes  from the RV park named Deer Park Diesel RV and Auto Repair.  I called and spoke to the shop and they said they could get me in no problem. Also supplying my own filters was not a problem and they would just charge me labor and how much oil the rig took.  I was elated!  I made a 10 AM appointment for Wednesday.  I showed up and dropped the rig off and went to breakfast with Diane.  We stopped on the way back at a Les Schwab tire shop and had the Jeep tires rotated (free) and headed back to Deer  Park Diesel. When we arrived they were just finishing up the oil change, and had the fuel  filter on. He then grabbed a grease gun and slid under the rig and lubed all the grease zerts. 
They charged  me for 1 hour labor and 24 quarts of oil.  All total including tax and shop fees came to about $200.  So I saved myself about $100+ and had some friendly personal service to boot.  If you need service in the area, Deer Park  Diesel and auto repair is highly recommended.

For many more pics of the downtown Spokane River front area, stop by Diane's blog at the link at the bottom of my signature.

Cool stuff about this park:
1) Big concrete sites with lush well manicured lawns all around.
2) Quiet surroundings with no road noise or trains in the middle of the night.
3) 2 dog parks, and lots of undeveloped adjoining land to walk pets.
4) Reasonable stores  and businesses in town for basic shopping needs.
5) Nice pool and hot tub.
6) Reasonable prices.

Not cool stuff about this park:
1) Not a lot to do in town in the way of entertainment.
2) Spokane is about 20 minutes away for major shopping.
3) Can be pretty hot during the mid day, then strong wind gusts are normal.
4) Lawn sprinklers can water your rig as well as the grass.
 

Attachments

  • 001.JPG
    001.JPG
    165.1 KB · Views: 39
  • 006.JPG
    006.JPG
    159 KB · Views: 35
  • 005.JPG
    005.JPG
    158.7 KB · Views: 36
  • 031.JPG
    031.JPG
    153.2 KB · Views: 36
  • di and beer.jpg
    di and beer.jpg
    114.6 KB · Views: 42
Marty - good review of the park and one that I'll put in the back of my mind since we'll be staying in Spokane on our western trip and I'll be looking for a park. Sounds like this is a really nice one for the price and the pictures prove that out.

Did you make reservations for the parks you are staying at in advance before your trip began, or are you hunting as you travel? When I take the long one, I don't want to be tied down to reservations for specific days in the event I am having fun at a stop on the way. I'd like to plan it on the fly, if that's possible.

I'm glad to hear to finally found an oil change for a decent price. I was wondering the prices out west were simply a lot higher than down here because I can get an oil change and lube for $100-150, but I've got a gas engine.

Enjoy your future travels and keep us posted.
 
Back
Top Bottom