The western US in the new rig, fulltime! Just the facts Maam!

[SargeW]

Absolutely Butch. Good things come to those who wait!

 

[Steve N Dee]

Marty:
  I've been enjoying following along.  We travel the same route frequently, although we usually stay at New Brighton State Beach in Aptos, CA.  I am interested to see where you go from here.  I am off work the last week of June and the first week of July and am thinking about heading up to Southern Oregon over the 2 weeks.  I looking forward to your commentaries on places to stay in Nor Cal and Southern Oregon.  Thanks for the great posts.  Hope we cross paths again.

Steve

 

[SargeW]

I hope so too Steve. We will be out here wandering around!

 

[SargeW]

Angels Camp RV Resort
Angels Camp, Ca​

After leaving the really tall redwoods we headed towards the Sierra Nevada foothills. Angels Camp was the jumping off point to go see the biggest of the redwoods, known as the Giant Redwoods. Those are found in Big Trees State Park.

But first, a little about the RV park.  It is a rustic sort of park with about 80 sites of both pull throughs and back in's.  The pull through sites are longer. We were escorted to our site, and it's a good thing because we had to reject it upon seeing it.  The site was long enough, but the trees between the sites really needed some trimming.  I managed to pull into the site, but there was no way to open the slides without pushing them into the overhanging tree branches.  Our guide, James, was pretty understanding and called the office on his radio to get us a different site.  After a bit of arm twisting by James, he led us to a different site that was much more open.  The only drawback to the new site was that it was a group of sites that were cut into a terraced hill.  The site was wide enough for the rig, but the ground naturally sloped up towards the next site.  This made the outside space next to the rig too unlevel to put chairs on,  so we put the Jeep in back of the rig and sat in front.  All the sites are gravel/dirt so there is a bit of dust.

We were able to get satellite from this site, and it was FHU with 50 amp power.  We paid just under $61 a night, but the clerk in the office forgot to charge us for the $5 pet fee (darn).  There were handicapped accessible restrooms available. Wifi was offered, but our on board Wifi worked acceptably.  There are some cow grazing nearby, so there was the occasional ?farm? smell drift by at times, as well as some fly's and mosquito's to watch out for.  One thing I wasn't crazy about was the layout of the pull through sites.  Even though the sites were terraced, they set them up ?Jack & Jill? style. So that made our up hill neighbors patio face our patio. Even though there were light bushes on the hill separating the sites, we felt like they were in our conversations while sitting outside. 

We did do two site seeing trips, one to the redwood state park, and another to Mercer Caverns. There are many underground caves in the area and Mercer was rated well. Our guide on the cave tour, Jerry, was a bit eccentric to say the least.  Jerry was kind of throw back from the 60's and probably did way too much recreational drugs.  He was entertaining though, but I am glad we were the only two people on the tour with him.  Diane's blog has a write up about the caverns and Big Trees park as well. 

The Mercer Cave tour was $17.50 a person, but you got a free Mercer Cavern's bumper sticker when you finished the tour (which we politely declined).  I will say this about it though, the cave goes down some pretty steep steel stairs, about 200' below ground, then back up.  So wear good shoes if you go and be able to climb. Even the guide had to stop and get his breath a few times.

We also did a 5 mile hike through Big Trees SP while we were sight seeing. Some of the trees we saw had a circumference of over 25' and 150' tall.  The park is at about 4500' in  elevation, so you may need a sweater even in summer depending on the time of day. It is important to note though, that due to lack of regular maintenance, the hiking trail through the trees had about a dozen downed trees randomly across the trail. Some could be easily stepped over, but a few were really big and required a bit of climbing and  jumping to get by. One was so big that a short ?tunnel? was dug under it and crawling on your hands and knees was required.  It is obvious that CA is not spending much on the state parks for upkeep. 

We were only at the campground for 3  days, so it slipped my mind to get a pic of the campsite, but we did get some great pics of the hike and cave. 

Pic 1) Family portrait at Angles Camp
Pic 2) Standing inside Chimney Tree
Pic 3) The biggest tree in the park
Pic 4) Our cave tour
Pic 5) Angel wings on the tour
Pic 6) Steep stairs on the cave tour
Pic 7) Crazy Jerry, our tour guide

 

[SeilerBird]

I love the first photo of the dog Marty. )

 

[SargeW]

Jackson Racheria RV Resort and Casino
Jackson, Ca​

We made a few quick stops while on the way down back to So. Cal.  We have stayed at Jackson Rancheria several times, and it's one of our favorite campgrounds. It is very well maintained and the spaces are all cement with lush grass at each site.  This time was to attend an RV rally with a bunch of folks that we got to know from when we had a brief fling as 5th wheel owners about 8 years ago. We had made some good friends and still keep in touch and RV with them. 

Jackson Rancheria has a nicely appointed RV pool and spa area, a good size putting green with about 10 different holes.  There is a walking path that surrounds the campground that is 2/3 mile in length.  The restrooms are modern, clean and handicapped accessible.  Wifi is offered at the park, but our on board Wifi worked well. The views of the surrounding hills is great and the area is quiet and peaceful.

I have to admit though, after staying at the campground several times we have yet to visit the casino. Those that have visited the casino have indicated that it too is well appointed and maintained.  The casino is about a half mile from the RV park, but a free shuttle makes regular trips between the two. 

We paid $45 a night for our stay, but this may have been reduced somewhat due to the 20+ rigs that were part of the rally.  The only minor issue that we had there was that someone crashed on a nearby road, and took out a power pole that supplied the RV park. We were without power for about 12 hours. It didn't affect us with our generator, but some folks were skimping to get by with battery power. 

I can highly recommend Jackson Rancheria if you are in the area.

 

[SargeW]

Bakersfield River Run RV Park
Bakersfield,  Ca
​

This RV park is a bit of a surprise as you drive towards it, winding through an industrial area.  Then  making a turn, the road dead ends into the park.  The park itself is nice and well maintained.  The roads are paved and the sites have a concrete patio, but the sites themselves are packed DG and dirt.  The grass is nice and green but in Bakersfield that means a lot of watering, almost every night.  Since the sites are DG, some of them can get a bit muddy from the constant watering.

There is a nice pool and spa area, a small exercise room had a few aerobic machines but it didn't get much use.  It looked like there was a fair amount of longer term residents there, but their sites were mostly clean. The ?River Run? name of the park is because  it backs up to the Kern river. Unfortunately  it is just a dry river bed right now, and looks like it has been that way for quite a while. We did use a walking trail out the back gate of the park that stretches along the river bank and goes for a few miles. If you wanted to you could cross the river bed to a park on the other side.

Probably the biggest issue I had with the park was it's proximity to highway 99 which was always busy day or night.  It seemed particularly loud and night, and could be a bit intrusive if you are a light sleeper.  We made sure to get a back in site, as the pull throughs are ?Jack-n-Jill? style that we really don't care for. 

The park restrooms were nice and handicapped accessible. The park offered Wifi, but our on board Wifi worked OK but not great. We paid $44 a night and stayed 5 nights. The weather was pretty pleasant during our stay, but it can get scorching hot come July. One nice feature was that they didn't  mind if you washed your RV, which I took advantage of. 

On the other hand, this may have been the most  expensive RV park I have ever stayed in.  OK, not so much for the park itself, but we did  wind up buying a new Jeep while we were there!  A 2018 Jeep Sahara JL.  We had been talking about it for a while, and due to Diane's research, it all fell into place one day.  When they offered me a decent price for our current Jeep, we took the deal. 

A lot of it was on me though. After having the Rubi for 10 years, I was ready to get into a vehicle with and automatic transmission. And we went with the Sahara model this time. We don't do much in the way of hard core rock climbing anymore, and I have to admit the higher end interior of the Sahara is nice.  Now I just have to get it ready to pull behind the RV.........

One pic of the new Jeep before I start taking it apart.  I know, sounds crazy huh?

 

[SargeW]

Canyon RV Park
Anaheim Ca​

We made it back to So Cal in time for the family reunion. It is also centrally located in the heart of the ?OC?  (Orange County) which was easy access to all kinds of parts and supplies for the Jeep.

Canyon RV park is located in Featherly Park which is part of the 795 acre Featherly Wilderness Preserve. On the up side, most of the sites are very large and can easily fit large RV's. They are all FHU, but the parking pads and patio areas are gravel.  There is a lot of green space around most of the sites so there is a lot of room for outside activities.  We had one of the family get  togethers there for the reunion.  One of their rules however because it is a County Park, visitors must pay the gate fee to get in to visit UNLESS you are staying at least a week in the RV park, then the visitors will get in free to visit you.

Even though there is a significant amount of grass at the park, it was well cared for and routinely mowed and trimmed. All of the roads in the park are paved.  There are 5 bath houses available for guests. They are handicapped accessible, but could stand some updating. The park has a variety of activities available, including a pool, playground, pickle ball courts, and the Santa Ana River Bike Trail runs through the park. We had 2 different sites during our stay. Site 96 and 123. Due to the many large  older trees in the park getting satellite from the roof mounted dish was a challenge. Site 96 needed my portable dish and tripod, but site 123 I could use the roof top dish, but just barely.  There is no Wifi offered at the park, but our on board Wifi worked well. Between T-Mobile and Verizon, T-Mobile had a  stronger signal. 

The down side to the park is noise.  The 91 Freeway, and 241 Toll Road intersect right at the park, and one of the access ramps for Gypsum Canyon  Road actually has an overpass that runs through the park. Even though the traffic noise was always present, it quieted down considerably at night. So much that it was not disturbing to a good nights sleep.

The daily rate for a site is $75 a night, but the weekly rate is $375. This is like paying for 5 days and getting 2 free.  That brought the daily rate down to about $54 a night. 

It had been a few years since we were here last, and the staff and their attitudes have changed considerably. The previous staff was ?squirrely? at best, and usually rude and condescending. We hesitated going back for a long time for that reason. The new staff is pleasant and helpful. Quite a change.

We wound up staying here about 12 days total, just so I could get some time to work on the Jeep to get it ready to pull behind the motor home. Thankfully my son was available to help me with a lot of the installs. We managed in one day (once all the parts were there) to install a ?Rock Hard? after market steel  bumper with tow points, the brake cable for the ?Ready Brute Elite? braking system, and the ?Cool Tech? wiring harness to hook the motor home lights up to the Jeep. It was a long day and I never would have made it without his help. Thank heaven for youth!

Pic 1) Site 123 at Canyon RV Park. Plenty of space to spread out.
Pic 2) Nothing like taking apart a Jeep with less than 500 miles on the clock!
Pic 3) During the tear down. Too late to turn back now!
Pic 4) The finished product at the end of a long day. Woo Hoo!

 

[SargeW]

Redlands RV Park
Redlands, CA
(Really Redlands Truck and RV Service)​

The first stop after the family reunion was to get the annual service on the RV. It's hard to believe that we have been back full time for nearly a year already. Finding competent service shops can be difficult at best, and there are scant few choices in So. Cal, even though there are so many RV dealers around.

I have used Redlands Truck and RV in the past and was very happy with their work. Looking at recent reviews on line they were very well rated. They have recently put in a 10+ space FHU RV park (waiting area) about a half block from the shop. If you are waiting for a service appointment the lot is free. Not real luxurious, a gravel lot with pull throughs and a small patio next to each one. But why look a gift horse  in the mouth.  We stayed two days there and our service was 1 ? days. That covered a full chassis service along with the generator. We also had them do some minor warranty work as we are officially out of warranty at the end of the month. They are a bit pricey but their work product is usually spot on. And they did all of our warranty billing with Tiffin without charge.

As for the RV, looking back at the first year of ownership we have been pretty happy overall. There were a few wrinkles to handle, but Tiffin stepped up on every one. We are still  extremely happy with the Bus.

Orangeland RV Park
Orange, CA​

After leaving the service we had a day to kill before heading north so we went back to be close to the grand kids for day. This particular park is not all that remarkable, but it draws a lot of business as it is the closest RV park to go to Disneyland in Anaheim. The sites are on the small side and close together, but are all paved with small grass areas and some trees. The park was built in the middle of an old orange grove and many of the old  trees are still throughout the park. You are free to pick as many oranges  as you can carry for free.  The sites are FHU and have cable and Wifi. Our on board Wifi worked will here. We paid $69.50 for the one night stay, and was with a Good Sam discount. It's not cheap, but a hotel room in the area would be at least double that to start. There are handicapped restrooms and some sites are designated handicapped. There is also a decent size pool to cool off  in.

Probably the odd part of this park is that the 2 dog walk areas that they have are pretty small, and if there are lots of pets in the park, they can get pretty ripe smelling at times. We also noted that there are signs posted at the entry on the way out that say you are not allowed to walk your pet outside of the park on the sidewalk and grass medians. I can only imagine that the locals complained about people not picking up after their pets when walking outside the park.  Usually some pet owners are their own worst enemies.  I just don't know how that could be enforced though. The signs were probably a peace offering for the locals. 

Cava Robles RV Resort
Paso Robles, Ca​

Our first stop when heading back north was to check out a brand new park in Paso Robles. It is down the road from Wine Country RV, a favorite of ours in wine country, and is in fact owned by the same group, Sun Resorts. Cava was having it's ?soft opening? as all of the sites and facilities were not completed yet. What we did see was quite impressive though. Very large sites but the RV parking pads are hard packed DG. The sites have very large concrete patios, and some brand new landscaping between them. All sites are FHU and everything works well. Like Wine Country RV, the park is built on a tiered plot of land. Some of the sites are on top of the hill (where we were) and some are lower. The large pool, bar, club house, spa and  meeting rooms are down below in the lower area. Interestingly the lower sites near the pool and club house are a ?premium? site with a bump in price. We would prefer to be up the hill, especially in summer when it hot, The higher up sites get better breezes than the ones down the hill.

Part of the resort still under construction and there will be more RV lots and another club house. They are probably still a few months out on opening that phase. We received a discount on the regular price because they are still in the construction phase, and workers and trucks are still using the park roads.

We stayed 3 nights and paid $66 per night which included all taxes and fees. I am sure that the rates will go up considerably when  the place  is finished. 

The club house area also has room for events and live entertainment. They did have some live music the days we were there, and one of the local winery's came in had had a free wine tasting on the patio for 3 hours one day.  The restrooms that were open all looked like high end casino facilities and were of course handicapped accessible. 

I didn't find too much to be critical about while staying there, other than the heat in Paso can be stifling. I think we hit mid 90's on one day, and  summer hasn?t started yet. This will be another good option if heading to the Paso Robles area to do some wine tasting. 

Pic 1) Redlands RV campground waiting area.
Pic 2) Campground patio and waiting area.
Pic 3) The sites are a bit tight at Orangeland RV Park
Pic 4) Lots of sites, and lots of orange trees.
Pic 5) The sites were bigger at Cava Robles. Lots of brand new plantings.
Pic 6) Looking down from the top on the Cava club house.
Pic 7) The Cava pool, club house, wine bar, and banquet room.
Pic 8) The banquet room.
Pic 9) The wine bar. Opens onto the rear patio where the live entertainment is set up. 

 

[SargeW]

Valley of the Rouge State Park
Gold Hill,  Oregon​

This was our first time staying at this park. One thing about the state parks, they are almost always much cheaper to stay at than the commercial parks.  This park was a great value at $33 a night for a full hook up site. It is right off of Interstate 5, so there is some road noise but it's not over whelming. The further you get back in the loops away from the freeway, the less noise. We were in Loop B at site #24 and it was reasonable. The Rouge River is also running in back of the site, but it is set down lower so you can't see it, but you can hear it from the site.

The trees in the campground could use a good trimming, and when I pulled into my site I had several overhanging branches that were touching the roof and sides. They were not heavy branches, so after setting up I went up on the roof with a set of pruning shears that I carry and trimmed the branches back off of the rig. The roads and RV pads are paved, but the surrounding area around the RV is weedy grass. There is access down to the river in a few places in each camping loop. There are places where you can get into the river, but expect it to be very cold. 

In the state parks, and especially in Oregon, one of the challenges is to get any kind of a usable wifi signal. If you are close to a major town it's easier, but it's pretty spotty in the parks. Likewise getting satellite signal  was tricky but I did get enough useable signal to use my roof top satellite dish. There were handicapped accessible restrooms available, but could have used some updating.

There is a paved bike/walking trail that runs the distance of the park, which is about 3 miles or so. We rode bikes on it one day for our daily exercise. All in all it's a very nice state park with some nice outdoor activities. I can recommend this park.

Crescent City/Redwoods KOA
Crescent City, Ca​

We dropped back into Ca to be able to take the highway to the coast.  This KOA is typical in some ways of a usual KOA. Dirt/gravel sites and roads, and the usual amenities for kids. However, the proliferation of redwoods throughout the campground does make for an unusually cool surrounding. The sites are very tight, and very wooded, so it is often cool in-spite of the 100+ degree temps a bit further south. 

We paid $47 a night for a FHU spot, but it was a bit out of level. Since they saved as many  trees as possible, RV sites are wedged in every which way. So that makes for some pretty close quarters on  most sites. The one thing that really would have helped here was a healthy dose of fresh gravel everywhere in the park. The roads were so dusty, even at slow speeds, any vehicle or bicycle put a cloud of dust in the air. The park offered Wifi, but I coaxed our on board Wifi to work well enough to not need the park service.

One day we decided to take a hike. Literally. We went to a nearby trail head and took a hike through the redwoods. Diane printed out some of the area maps that showed the trails. We planned on about a 4 to 4 ? mile hike that would take about an hour or so.  Or so I thought. We parked on a road side area next to an entrance to the trail.  We took a ?entrance trail? that was supposed to be 1.2 miles and then hit the main trail through the trees. That trail turned out to be just over 2 miles, and we hadn't started the main trail yet. But we pressed on. For another 1.5 miles until we hit a piece of yellow ?caution tape? strung across the trail. I took it as a sign that we needed to turn around. The to this point, the trail had been challenging. Steep narrow climbs, wet footing, climbing over and under fallen trees. It was beautiful, but no walk in the park.  So after turning around and hoofing it back another 3 ? miles, I was whipped. The Fitbit exercise counter that I wear recorded over 17,000 steps that day.  But hey, it's all part of the adventure, right?

Oceanside Beachfront Resort
Charleston, Oregon​

We had high hopes for this park when Diane reserved it for a week back in January. It is on the Oregon coast, off of Cape Arago Highway. I  should have know something was up when we got off of Highway 101 and took ?7 Devils Road? to get to the park.  7 Devils Road is quite twisty and scenic, but you need to pay lots of attention to the road. Its about 12 miles off of 101 to get to the coast, so it does take a while. 

We finally pulled in and there was not much room for RV's to stop and check in, so with us behind a TT checking in, we pretty much blocked the whole entrance, in and out. One guy in passenger car that was trying to get out of the park wanted me to back up (what?) or pull forward into the back of the Airstream parked in front of me. I inched up, as far as I dare, and he had to work it out from there. Diane went to the office to check in, and came back hopping mad. Apparently they had moved our site reservation a few times, and we were not down close to the beach access where we thought we were, but instead were up by the office with our patio side staring at the side of a camping cabin about 10' away.  And the cabin had several windows on that side, so they were staring back at us.  We decided to at least go to the spot and figure out what if anything we could do about it. The office also told us that if we pay for spot, there are no refunds.  Then to make things more difficult, there was zero cell signal in the area, at least not enough to make and hold a call. 

So we disconnected the Jeep, put the RV in the site, and drove a few miles into town to make some calls. We were able to get into our next place a few days early, so we only were stuck at this place for 3 nights.  When Diane went back to the office to pay for the shortened reservation, the woman behind the counter had some time to think about it, and didn't charge us for the 2 day balance. Diane had paid a one day deposit when the reservation was made, of $51. So the park comped us for 2 nights because of the mix up. Although not thrilled with the site, I thought it was a pretty stand up gesture on their part.

Even though it felt like we were camping in a sub division, there was an up side. The upper part of the park where we were at had paved streets and sites, with nice grass in the patio area. The lower part which is closer to the beach is dirt/gravel sites and pretty dusty. The other unknown we dealt with is that there are 2 light houses in close proximity to the park. Both had foghorns that blew all night long. Sometimes loud, sometimes softer, but 24/7 none the less.

They did offer Wifi, but I was able to get the Verizon sim to work  well enough to do the usual on line stuff. It appears that this is an  AT&T area in much of the Oregon coast, and not much else works well if you are not right in a decent size town. All things considered we were ready to head just 30 miles north to Winchester Bay for the next stop. 

Pic 1) I carved out a spot among the trees to fit the coach at Valley of the Rouge SP
Pic 2) Headed for the Rouge River
Pic 3) Swim area on the river.
Pic 4) Things were a bit tight in Crescent City KOA
Pic 5) Scrambling over obstacles on the hike through the redwoods
Pic 6) The scenery was spectacular though
Pic 7) One of us looks beat........
Pic 8) Camping in a sub division, Oceanside Beachfront RV
Pic 9) The area adjacent to the beach
Pic 10) Made it to the beach finally.

 

[Alpena Jeff]

Great write up and photos as always guys!
Thanks for posting.

 

[Kevin Means]

Great update Marty. We've stayed at that Rogue River campground several times, and we really like it. We've also stayed at the Redwoods RV Park, which is only about a mile or two up the 101 from the Redwoods KOA. What a beautiful area! I just got Diane's travel log update the other day, but haven't had time to read it. Will get to it soon. Say hi to her for us.

Kev

 

[Steve N Dee]

It was great running into you at Winchester Bay, Marty.  Unfortunately, we left early the next morning, so no time for a visit.  Would have loved to ask you some questions about the new Jeep.  Perhaps next time.  Hope you enjoy Winchester Bay as much as we did.

Happy Travels,

Steve & Dee

 

[SargeW]

Thanks Steve, we are really enjoying the Jeep, and the park. We will see ya out there on the road.

 

[SargeW]

Winchester Bay RV Resort
Winchester Bay, Oregon
​

My blogs have slowed a bit because the length of our stays have increased. It's been nice though staying in a location long enough to do all the sight seeing and chores.  We have been to this location a few years ago and liked it then.  Since then they have put some money into the park in the form of a new office, expanded landscaping, upkeep on the restroom facilities.  It was nice to see a location improve instead of gradual decay.  We made an unusual move of RV sites this time, but we did leave the last park ahead of schedule and stayed 2 weeks.  They did manage to put us in the site right next door, so it wasn't a big move.  Our intended site we reserved, #124 is a end site with the large grass and shrub area on our patio side.  It also gave us a very clear bay/ocean view, even though we were not on an ?ocean front? site. 

The sites are paved and have a paved patio about midway in the site. The grass surrounding the sites is lush and well maintained. The biggest drawback about that is that to keep it that way, they water almost every night. And like many places the sprinklers are not particularly well designed and may water the RV as much as the grass.  I do carry 4 ?sprinkler guards? that I found at a ACE hardware a few years back. They are basically half pie shaped plastic guards with metal stakes on each end. I put them in the ground to block the sprinklers from spraying back onto the rig.  But because of the near constant coastal wind, I still spent a part of each day with the detailer and rag to wipe off the water spots.  Yes, I know it's a bit anal, but I do it anyway. And Diane humors me and doesn't give me too much grief about it. 

All sites are 50 amp FHU, and all utilities worked well. The restrooms are clean and modern and handicapped accessible.  All of the sites in the park are designed to face a certain way so that the prevailing winds will blow against your drivers side and protect your patio (mostly).  We were there over the 4th of July holiday, but the cool ocean breezes had us in long pants and sweatshirts most of the time.  Some of the sites face a harbor marina with boats in slips, and others (ours) faced out to open waters.  There is an ATV area down the road known as the ?Oregon Sand Dune? area and is quite popular. There are many other more rustic RV parks, most dry camping, some hook up that cater to the ATV crowd.  Winchester Bay RV does not permit ATV riding in or out of the park, so ATVers usually go to the parks to camp. This helps quite a bit with the noise of high pitched ATV's racing around.

Much to Heidi's dismay, there were tons of fireworks display's going on all around us on the 4th. One show was put on at the edge of our park, and many others were firing off stuff in a lot of the surrounding areas. It was pretty heavy the 4th, but died off quickly the following days. 

We paid what worked out to $39 a night for our stay. There was a discount if you stayed a week, so our stay covered a full 2 week period. Probably the biggest knock on the park, was not the parks fault and that was the cell signal in the area. Our router carries 2 different carrier sim cards, Verizon and T-Mobile.  T-Mobile is usually our primary, but not at this stop. T-Mobile signal was non existent,  and Verizon was fair. Even though Verizon showed download speeds of 15-20 mb, the signal dropped out regularly,  even though I could see a cell tower on a hill less than a mile away. My phone indicated that  it was an AT&T home area, but nothing seemed to work very well. The park had free wifi, but a big disclaimer on the RV park rules page specifically stated that they take no responsibility for the quality of the signal.  Even the regular residents that lived in the area said their signal wasn't very good.

There is a nice walking path around the park that is a mile long, and we used it regularly. There was also a few nearby hiking trails that we explored. Not much in the way of near by shopping though so for any real selection we either drove to Coos Bay to the south, or Florence to the north. Both are about 20-30 minutes away.  All things considered I still like this park, and would come back here again. 

Pic 1) Our end site #124. We are in the second row, but still had great water views.
Pic 2) The bay, then right out into the ocean right from our patio.
Pic 3) The ocean front sites were not much different than ours but the price bumped up.
Pic 4) We hiked the Eel lake trail, an easy 2 mile hike around a picturesque lake. About a mile from the campground. Dogs were allowed on the trail.
Pic 5) Plenty of photo op's on this trail.
Pic 6) This was the ATV campground across the street from where we were. Quite busy.
Pic 7) Views from the Marina side RV sites. We were on the ocean side.
Pic 8) Some of the days were just gray all day. And this was early July. Temps further south in Ca were 100+ some days.

 

[Alpena Jeff]

We've never been up that way but it is on our list. Thanks for the detailed review Marty.
Printed and filed!
Jeff

 

[BikerFlex&HappyJen]

Looks like you both have had some beautiful stops so far. Great feedback and info.

 

[SargeW]

Thanks guys! BTW Diane just updated her blog with more pics and story. Next it's on to Newport Or.

 

[cadee2c]

Next it's on to Newport Or.

My favorite part of the Oregon coast.

 

[SargeW]

Pacific Shores Motorcoach Resort
Newport, Oregon​

We drove about 70 miles up the coast on Highway 101 to the next stop in Newport, Or. We did have a reservation at a state park for a week, but after struggling with cell signal and long drives we switched to a more ?in town? location.  Pacific Shores is a owner park and all or most of the sites are privately owned and then some are put back into a rental pool. It's a nice location on the Oregon coast, and the park is very nice and well maintained.  There is an indoor and a outdoor pool area, rec room, and a small gym with aerobic machines.  There are also banquet facilities, and a meeting room.  The exterior restroom and shower facilities were beautiful and well maintained. There is also walking path down to the beach, but it is a bit steep in a few places, so wear decent shoes to get down there. It is also a dog friendly beach, so Heidi got to run and chase birds. 

We didn't know when we made the reservation, but the week we were there was an ?owners weekend? with some various activities for owners only, and some for all guests. One unexpected benefit for us was that one of the local RV dealers brought some new RV's and was having an open house kind of event for everyone.  It just so happened that the RV's on display were from Tiffin Motor homes, our manufacturer!  Even though we just got ours last year, we still got to see what changes were made in the 2018 models.  Of course Diane saw and loved a newly redesigned rear bathroom in a similar model to ours.  And no, I am not trading up.  Also, the owner and CEO of Tiffin happened to be in Oregon with his wife, so he stopped by one afternoon and hung out in the new RV's to chat and answer questions.  Bob Tiffin is a class act, and really cares about his customers. He is one of the main reasons there are so many repeat buyers of Tiffin products. 

This is a really beautiful coast location, but here again mid July, and many days were in the low 60's with 20-30 mph winds blowing.  Many of the owner lots had installed glass wind breaks at the front of the sites to try and cut the stiff chilly winds.  Then one day, for about 36 hours the winds all but died and the place was paradise. But it didn't last and the 20 mph winds came back.  We figured out that if we parked the Jeep sideways in front of the motorhome we could put chairs right up against the side and use it as a windbreak. As beautiful as this place was, I wouldn't consider buying a lot here just because of the weather. 

We paid $65 a night with a discount for a week stay. The town of Newport is 2 miles away, and any stores or services you may need are there.  As soon as you drove away  from the coast the weather improved dramatically.  They have a great farmers market in town every weekend, and we bought lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. 

One of the other reason we came here was for the cell service, and we were not disappointed.  I was able to switch back to T-Mobil and had great speeds and bandwidth.  We have found though that many areas of Oregon have weak or non existent cell signal unless you are in or around a major town. I guess the population along much of the coastal  areas does not have the population to justify carriers spending a lot of funds on cell towers. 

Rouge Brewery and restaurant is in town and we met some RV friends there one day for lunch on their dog friendly patio. The food was good, and the beer great. Newport is a neat little town worthy of a stop if you are in the area.

Pic 1) Our site with a strategically placed Jeep to block the winds.
Pic 2) Straight out the end of the road is the blue Pacific.
Pic 3) A few days turned out like this. Picture post card quality.
Pic 4) But when this rolled in, it chased you back inside quick, along with 20-30 mph winds.
Pic 5) We got out when we could to walk the beach and exercise Heidi. Heidi photo bomb here.
Pic 6) So what to do when you are trapped inside in Oregon? Make a Oregon berry pie of course!
Pic 7) Then you wait for the weather to clear.