Brett And Paul On the Road: August 2013

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Lewis & Clark RV Park - Astoria, Oregon

This last weekend we revisited one of our favorite cities on the Oregon coast, Astoria. We packed up the RV, picked up Paul's parents in Portland and headed NW to Astoria.

ROUTE CHOICES FROM PORTLAND: There are three main routes to get to Astoria from Portland. The quickest route is actually up I-5 in Washington, cutting over at Longview to Hwy 30 and then continuing west to Astoria. The second route, arguably the longest, is to take Hwy 30 out of Portland the entire way to Astoria. The final choice it to take Hwy 26 out of west Portland up through Seaside and then north on 101. We have taken all of these routes in the past and definitely prefer the more leisurely Hwy 30 route. You pass through several quaint towns along the way and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Hwy 26 is loaded with weekend travelers trying to get to/from the coast as quickly as possible and can be quite a hair raising adventure so is one we avoid in the RV.

FOOD: OK...so if you follow this blog you already know food is HUGE focus for us :) Astoria happens to have some of THE best food on the coast. You certainly cannot go wrong with the choices over here. Our absolute favorite is the Bowpicker located downtown across from the maritime museum. Fresh tuna fish and chips that just cannot be beat. This place is VERY popular, so plan accordingly and plan on waiting in line as well. A new find this trip was only 2 minutes away from the park on Young's Bay with a million dollar view....a Mexican restaurant that looks like a shack you would probably never try without several recommendations. Well let me tell you, La Cabana de Raya is well worth a visit! The prices are tremendous, the view is breathtaking, and you will eat for at least two days on whatever meal you happen to purchase. We cooked the remainder of our meals in the coach so those are the only two nuggets I can share on this trip, but promise to fill you in on future trips to Astoria as we have a LONG list of places we are still wanting to try.

Enchiladas for 4...or 1 at this place

Delicious Guacamole!

Do NOT go to Astoria without trying this place...amazing!

LEWIS & CLARK RV PARK: This is our favorite summer park in Astoria. Fort Stevens is a nice state park but is not a relaxing place in the summer. Lewis & Clark is a smaller park with pull-thru and back-in sites that will accommodate any size rig. It is located off Youngs Bay Road, SE of Astoria by a few minutes. Almost all of the sites look directly onto the 9-hole golf course and it is a peaceful and quiet setting. With the craziness of our weekday lives, we both love getting away on weekends to quiet and relaxing. The owners are THE absolute best! They are friendly, fun, know all of the good places in town and really work to make your stay enjoyable. We rented a "super site" they have that has an RV pad along with a park-model cabin attached where Paul's parents stayed. There is a huge patio attached with a firepit, BBQ, and seating for 20 easily. The A and C sites are the best choices for Class A and C RVs with a clear view of the golf course and large grassy area. They have frisbee golf available, Bocce ball, as well as the adjacent golf course....plenty of relaxing fun times.

Patio Area - A sites in background

Enjoying some ladder ball in front of patio. C sites in background

Paul on golf course adjacent to park


Paul's parents enjoying some summer coastal sun

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

FMCA Virgin Report

So this last weekend was our FIRST ever RV rally....kind of....which really means that we only attended for one day and didn't actually camp on-site. Since the rally was only 20 minutes from our house it just seemed weird to pack everything up and drive 20 minutes to camp. We DID however get to spend an entire day at the rally and had a tremendous time....here is why:

1. WE RAN INTO UNEXPECTED FRIENDS. The biggest surprise of the day was running into Denise and Roger. Denise worked for me at OSU and I blame her for initiation into the RV lifestyle. She would describe all of the amazing travels her and Roger would make in their RV and it got Paul and I SO excited that we bought our own RV two years ago and have never looked back. Denise always brings a smile to my face as she loves people, she gives a great deal back to the community, and she is just fun all around! We also ran into Doug and Ann, Butch and Jodi and several others that we have met during visits at Pacific Shores in Newport. Finally, we got to spend time with our favorite salesperson who is now a good friend, Susan Graham from Premier RV Sales in Junction City, Oregon.

2. WE GOT TO TRY OUT COMFORT DRIVE. Newmar was giving test rides in an Essex, Dutch Star, and Ventana. These were hour-long test drives and included a free jacket at the end of the test drive! Who can beat that....of course, to keep our slobbering to a minimum, we chose to drive the Ventana. I do have to admit that the Comfort Drive was quite amazing. I was most impressed with how you just let the wheel go and the coach would back up in a straight line...something I can never seem to accomplish with my backing abilities.

3. WE HAD FUN WALKING THE GROUNDS. We spent time exploring the vendor booths, all of the show coaches there from dealers, and just walking about the 200+ rigs that were camping there to see all of the creative decorating/living that people do.

Needless to say, based upon our experiences here, we will certainly be attending the FMCA rally in Redmond, Oregon, next summer where roughly 2,000 coaches are expected...can't even imagine!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Back at the Feathers

OK. I will admit that we are probably here far too frequently, but THIS time it was to meet up with our friend Marcia who is over here from La Pine for a few days. We of course made it just in time Friday for the truck stop line-caught blackened salmon special....absolutely delicious.

Perhaps you are wondering if every destination we choose is food related...well...yes, sometimes that is accurate. I am happy to report that after dining on salmon and hitting the casino with Marcia, I am up $100 and Paul is up $40. Today we arose and made a trek down to Heaven on Earth, a restaurant in Azalea that boasts the worlds largest cinnamon rolls...from what I saw this could definitely be accurate. Due to our extravagance this morning we will be skipping lunch and then meeting up with Marcia again tonight to try out a local Italian restaurant.

We tried a new section of the resort this visit, site 174, and were impressed with privacy and views here on the south side. I have added a few pictures so you can check this out. Many of the back-in only sites on this side are quite private. We will definitely stay on this side again.

I will report back on the Italian restaurant. Next weekend we will be hitting the FMCA rally in Albany, Oregon with our friends Michele and Cathy. Have never been to one of these so look forward to giving you the virgin's perspective!