050715 - moving north
July 15, 2005
As we travel north thru California, an astonishing and spectacular landmark looms in our windshield. It is Mt Shasta. What an impressive natural wonder. From 50 miles away, it appears as a snow covered (not snow capped) wonder. During the hour it takes to actual approach it, it becomes more impressive with each mile. It is sort of a prelude to the landscape in Oregon that we will soon be immersed in.
We have stayed at a quaint, simple but serene park call “the old orchard”. and in Glendale, Oregon we enjoyed a couple of days at a park hidden in the woods called Meadow Wood. The bonus was that they were both part of a 50% discount plan. Couldn’t beat that.
My favorite Oregon law is the one that requires a gas station attendant to pump your gas. No self-service. You have no idea what a process it is ordinarily.
I have to make sure when I pull up to a pump that I am “on target”, because if I’m off, I have to get back in the Beast and reposition. Then wait for 40-50 gallons to fill and climb back in. Every once in a while my credit card doesn’t register and I have to go into the office to pay.
In Oregon, I just pull up and shout “fill ‘er up”, hand them my credit card, and wait till they announce “ all done” and hand me my receipt (usually for about $100). At one station, the guy actually washed my windshield and got spots I could not reach. Some bugs had been there so long I thought they would never come off.
We are currently in Washington, just north of Portland. Tomorrow we plan on visiting the Maritime Museum at the mouth of the Columbia River, then across the bridge to Chinook. This WILL BE OUR first exposure to the Pacific Coast and I do not know how well my cell phone or wireless modem will work there so I’m getting this off now to warn you that you might not hear from me for about a week. We will be at Copalis Beach, and then move on to Puget Sound.
The weather has been just lovely. In California the temps were in the high 90’s, but Oregon and Washington have more pleasant ranges in the 60-70’s.
Right now we are situated on the Lewis River bank watching some small boats with fisherman and tourists.
I may be new to Rving, but I thought there were 2 types of parking spaces – Back-in and pull thru. At this park we found a third. A pull-in. The site is on the riverbank and you pull into it and back out on leaving. I wonder if there are any other kind.
At a previous park, I was talking with a fellow camper who suggested a few places to visit. There is the “Great Northern Highway” that runs eastward from Mt. Vernon (Wa) thru some glacial areas and goes to a town called Winthrop that is an old western town that has been preserved in its 1850’s style.
From there, we can visit and tour the Coulee Dam – the largest concrete structure in the United States. Sounds interesting. We’ll add it to our plans.
That's what I love about this kind of travel – flexible and easy to change by whims and comments.
Till next time,
As we travel north thru California, an astonishing and spectacular landmark looms in our windshield. It is Mt Shasta. What an impressive natural wonder. From 50 miles away, it appears as a snow covered (not snow capped) wonder. During the hour it takes to actual approach it, it becomes more impressive with each mile. It is sort of a prelude to the landscape in Oregon that we will soon be immersed in.
We have stayed at a quaint, simple but serene park call “the old orchard”. and in Glendale, Oregon we enjoyed a couple of days at a park hidden in the woods called Meadow Wood. The bonus was that they were both part of a 50% discount plan. Couldn’t beat that.
My favorite Oregon law is the one that requires a gas station attendant to pump your gas. No self-service. You have no idea what a process it is ordinarily.
I have to make sure when I pull up to a pump that I am “on target”, because if I’m off, I have to get back in the Beast and reposition. Then wait for 40-50 gallons to fill and climb back in. Every once in a while my credit card doesn’t register and I have to go into the office to pay.
In Oregon, I just pull up and shout “fill ‘er up”, hand them my credit card, and wait till they announce “ all done” and hand me my receipt (usually for about $100). At one station, the guy actually washed my windshield and got spots I could not reach. Some bugs had been there so long I thought they would never come off.
We are currently in Washington, just north of Portland. Tomorrow we plan on visiting the Maritime Museum at the mouth of the Columbia River, then across the bridge to Chinook. This WILL BE OUR first exposure to the Pacific Coast and I do not know how well my cell phone or wireless modem will work there so I’m getting this off now to warn you that you might not hear from me for about a week. We will be at Copalis Beach, and then move on to Puget Sound.
The weather has been just lovely. In California the temps were in the high 90’s, but Oregon and Washington have more pleasant ranges in the 60-70’s.
Right now we are situated on the Lewis River bank watching some small boats with fisherman and tourists.
I may be new to Rving, but I thought there were 2 types of parking spaces – Back-in and pull thru. At this park we found a third. A pull-in. The site is on the riverbank and you pull into it and back out on leaving. I wonder if there are any other kind.
At a previous park, I was talking with a fellow camper who suggested a few places to visit. There is the “Great Northern Highway” that runs eastward from Mt. Vernon (Wa) thru some glacial areas and goes to a town called Winthrop that is an old western town that has been preserved in its 1850’s style.
From there, we can visit and tour the Coulee Dam – the largest concrete structure in the United States. Sounds interesting. We’ll add it to our plans.
That's what I love about this kind of travel – flexible and easy to change by whims and comments.
Till next time,
posted by The Highway Guys @ 10:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home