Jul 9, 2018 – Jul 19, 2018
July 9, 2018 – Monday – On the Road
On our way! Departed late morning to avoid Seattle’s rush hour. Stopped by Chehalis Collision to get a quick estimate on fixing a couple small patches of flaking clear-coat on the back of the coach. (Too expensive at this point – we’ll monitor the spots.) From 3:00-6:00 we napped, relaxed, and ate dinner at a rest stop in southern WA to wait out the Portland rush hour. Then we headed out to a Camping World in Wilsonville, OR, to spend the night. Despite being right next to I5, we had a good night’s sleep.
July 10, 2018 – Tuesday – On the Road / Arrive Bend, OR
We got an early start and stopped at Speedco to have the RV’s oil changed, as well as the oil in the generator. Friendly, efficient staff. Less than 2 hours later we were on our way to Bend. It was a very scenic drive through the Cascade Mountains (Sorry Mom! We didn’t think we were going thru any!) and national forests, often with a river alongside the passenger side. We arrived in Bend about 12:30 and settled in. The RV park is connected to the Deschutes Expo Fairgrounds where club activities will take place. There was a Happy Hour followed by dinner consisting of heavy hors d’oeuvres that everyone contributed, followed by a meeting with Beaver founders Frank and Jim, as well as Bob Tiffin. It was very informative about the history of Beaver coaches.
July 11, 2018 – Wednesday – Bend, OR
A gorgeous, sunny morning. The area here is considered high desert. It looks kind of like desert but has evergreens instead of cacti. We were fed a breakfast of cheesy eggs, bacon, sausage, yogurt with topping, and fruit. It was nice to have a free morning to relax since the rest of the day was so busy starting with a “Waterfall Poker Challenge”. We were teamed up with another couple to visit three waterfalls where each couple received playing cards to go with cards we got at the beginning and end. Tumalo Falls was a beautiful, tall waterfall, but the other two looked more like powerful rapids. One of the falls had an “Amazing Race” type of challenge which involved making a paper airplane and flying it a certain distance. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed spending time with the other couple despite taking a time consuming “detour” on one of the falls. The idea was to see which couple had the best poker hand. (Ours was probably one of the worst!) After a long, tiring afternoon we had a welcome Happy Hour and a Mexican themed dinner including marinated shrimp and skewered steak. Dinner was followed by live country music by Darryl Worley and 2 others. We’re not usually country music fans but these three were entertaining.
July 12, 2018 – Thursday – Bend, OR
After another big breakfast spread we relaxed at the coach before heading out to the High Desert Museum about half an hour away. A lot of the museum was outdoors including an old farmstead with a tiny house, garden, stables, corral, and sawmill. There were a few animal exhibits including otters, eagles, and owls. Indoors were exhibits on rock climbing and the ecology of the high desert. It was very interesting but not a place we’d feel compelled to revisit. Back at the fairground a Pet Parade was held followed by root beer floats. Each day has been getting a little hotter with the temperature today just missing 100 degrees so the root beer floats were especially wonderful! Tonight’s Happy Hour was followed by yummy grilled salmon, vegetables, and grilled peaches. After dinner there was an auction to benefit the Future Farmers Association with local kids who are members present and helping out. The auction raised about $6,000. We came away with 2 bottles of wine and a mini slow cooker. We were beat so we returned to the coach despite another planned gathering.
July 13, 2018 – Friday – Bend, OR
Today we had breakfast delivered to our coach by horseback (people in horse costumes)! After breakfast sandwiches and mimosas, we relaxed until Pat went to a driving class. The class taught some basics of driving, turning, and backing into a parking space. We had a little more down time until the Mint Julep Happy Hour held at a coach across from us. We all tried to stay in the shade while we enjoyed our beverages as it was another scorcher. After a group picture, we were given a choice of boxed sandwich dinners then loaded onto two charter buses for a 45 minute ride to the Crooked River Roundup for an evening of horse races. Despite the heat (at least we were in shade) it was a fun evening. Just before the first race we found out that they had lost power back at the RV park. Pet owners were given the opportunity to go back on one of the buses to take care of their animals. As soon as we got back about 10:30 we turned on the generator to cool down the RV until the evening air started to cool off. It was a very long, hot, tiring but fun day and the official end of the rally.
July 14, 2018 – Saturday – Bend, OR
Still no power this morning so we turned on the generator to make breakfast and coffee. Today is an open house and dinner put on by Beaver Coach Sales (BCS) in Bend. We went late morning and attended a presentation dealing with tow bars as well as a discussion about BCS starting their own online forum. We enjoyed a delicious BBQ brisket sandwich lunch and visited with people. Then we learned the power had come back at the RV park on so we went to Target for a few items and returned to the RV to crank up the A/C and rest for an hour before heading back to BCS for a wine Happy Hour. The dinner provided included salad, baked beans, BBQ chicken, brisket, and cheese bread followed by cookies and brownies for dessert. They also had a raffle for some small items but we didn’t win anything. We said our good-byes and thank-yous, toured a couple coaches for sale, and returned to a somewhat cool RV for the evening. Tomorrow is travel day!
July 15, 2018 – Sunday – Bend, OR – Westfir, OR
We started our morning with an early breakfast at a nearby Original Pancake House. The food was delicious and the service outstanding. Laurie had an apple pancake and Pat had Eggs Benedict. Laurie said the pancake was very good but none have ever lived up to the apple pancakes we got years ago at Walker Brothers back in Illinois. We packed up and were on the road about 10:30. After a 2+ hour drive through some beautiful scenery, we arrived at Casey’s Riverside RV Park on the Willamette River. Our spot faces NE on the river with gorgeous views of the water out the front and passenger side windows. Despite being surrounded by trees the sun beats down on the RV most of the day. As in Bend, it is running in the 90’s here but gets down into the low 60’s overnight. A nearby pavilion has a self-serve soft-serve vanilla ice cream machine for $1 a cone. We enjoyed cones then returned to the coach as we were hot and tired. We watched CNN, had a spaghetti dinner, watched a couple episodes of the “Limitless” series, and had some more ice cream.
July 16-18, 2018 – Monday-Wednesday – Westfir, OR
The past few days we have been doing exactly what we planned – basically, nothing! It’s been very hot and a bit humid so we go out for a little while in the morning and try to stay comfortable inside in the afternoon. We drove around Westfir and Oakridge, very small towns with older, mostly ranch-style, homes. We walked around the RV park enjoying the beauty of the Willamette River and surrounding wooded mountains. There are rapids right in front of our RV as well as some calmer water in another area. There’s even a small sand beach where you could wade into the river. A lightening quick, 2 inch lizard scurried across our path, there are birds around, and at night we hear frogs in a pond behind the RV. It’s a beautiful setting although I think we’d try for a shaded spot if we stayed again at this time of year. On Wednesday we drove to a nearby covered bridge (Office Covered Bridge) which was built in 1945. We walked a short distance on a trail to a train trestle by the bridge. Then we got a better view of the dark red bridge by stopping down the road from it. It was a picturesque setting with the bridge over the swift flowing river which had a half dozen ducks paddling madly upstream. We also were adventurous and drove a single lane road through woods and ended up at the Buckhead Nature Trail. This was a half mile loop trail through a wooded area with interpretive signs that gave some background on the area. We caught a glimpse of the river, saw a few butterflies, but mostly we saw a lot of plants and trees, often covered in a carpet of moss. It was good to get a little exercise and the day was a little cooler, only the mid-80’s. We watched a cute movie called “Waking Ned Devine”, CNN, and some more episodes of Limitless. We enjoyed dinners of lasagna, hamburgers twice, and had ice cream every night.
July 19, 2018 – Thursday – Westfir, OR – HOME
Travel day! Due to a problem with the tow car base plate we were not able to hook it up to the RV so Pat drove the car behind the RV. We had a couple walkie-talkies so we could chat during the 6-1/2 hr drive. We hit the road just after 7:00 so we’d get to the Portland area after rush hour, or so we thought. We stopped at a rest stop briefly before Portland, but then encountered a bit of traffic going through Portland. We stopped at another rest area for lunch and stopped to gas up the RV as well as the car. We dropped the car at TorkLift (a facility that specializes in the installation of tow bars) to have it looked at then drove to the house together in the RV arriving about 4:00 to unload and pick up Laurie’s car so we could get home after putting the RV back in it’s home at the storage place. We still have the car to deal with but overall it was a fun trip and we had a wonderful time.