Thursday, June 12, 2014 Traveled from Hoquiam, WA to Seaside, OR

Yay!!! I finally made it over the state line, although I am not sure where because I didn’t see the sign.

This morning I got up early. I was on the road at 7:00 am and headed out of Hoquiam, WA on Hwy 101. I passed through Aberdeen, then Raymond and South Bend, Wa.

Hwy 101 south through this area is primarily a two lane road with wide lanes, decent shoulders and a lot of curves.  The speed limit is 55 mph, but every 5 minutes there is a curve which slows the speed down to 40-45 mph. Just past Raymond, Wa the road straightens out. Willapa Bay appears on the right while passing through the next town, South Bend, Wa. (Photos will eventually be added to this post. Thank you for your patience.)

South Bend, Wa has proclaimed itself as the “Oyster Capital of the World”. (However, Point Norris, NJ also has the title).   The tidal changes in the Willapa Bay are the perfect environment for oysters as well as many other sea creatures including Dungeness crab and clams.

I drove past Willapa Bay when the tide was out. I saw little water and just miles and miles of tidal mud flats. It was actually very beautiful!

Shortly after Willapa Bay, I temporarily turned on to Hwy 401.  Hwy 101 cuts far west and does a loop out to Seaview and Longbeach, Wa then travels back east to Astoria, OR.

I picked up Hwy 101 again just before crossing the Astoria Megler Bridge. This is a really long bridge that connects Washington to Oregon. Perhaps I was too terrified going over it to notice the state line sign.

I had planned on stopping in Astoria. It is known for several historic sites and attractions.  I had found an RV park to stay at in the next town over. It was only $20.00/night vs the KOAs which tend to be $35-45.00 per night.

As I drove through Astoria I noted the signs to the KOAs, but proceeded on to the RV park that I had found on-line. It was called Sunset Lake Resort and RV Park. The website looks beautiful and has a great pitch about all of the amenities and activities at the park.

The signs along Hwy 101 were great and guided me right to the park. Just before the entrance was a small bridge over a river. From there I could see a lot of old trailers and the closer I got the worse it looked. I pulled into Sunset Lake Resort and stopped to register. It was about 10:00 am and the office was still closed. There was a sign stating that it would open at 11:30 am. I took a registration form, then slowly drove in a circle through the park and right back out. It was bad! It was dirty and cluttered. All of the trailers were old and a significant amount of them were no longer mobile.   There were no nice new trailers to be seen. I’m glad the office was closed, so that I was free to leave.

I continued south on Hwy 101, passing several RV parks with trailers jammed in next to each other.  Before I know it I was in Seaside. At that point I decided that Astoria would be added to my wish list to visit at some other time.

I saw a sign for an Encore Resort RV park. Encore tends to have high standards. I aimed for it, then saw the next sign as I was passing it. It was too late to turn. I thought about turning around, but there weren’t a lot of options and there was a lot of traffic. So southward I proceeded, then the land opened up and this beautiful spacious RV park showed up on my right side. There was just enough notice to signal and safely turn in.

I stopped at the office to check in. I tried to talk to the lady in the office, but she was a little strange and appeared socially awkward. She made sure to let me know that the check-in time is not until 2:00 pm. She stated that there was an open spot or two that she could put me in. Well it’s Thursday and almost 7:00 pm now and most of the park is still empty. There were plenty of spots that she could have put me in!

Not complaining, the site is great. Her customer service skills could be improved upon that’s for sure!  It is a beautiful park. I will give details on my RV Parks: Oregon page.

I settled in at the site and then headed into downtown Seaside. It is a cute little touristy town with lots of shops, restaurants, candy stores and entertaining activities for kids like an indoor carousel and a crazy mirror place. There is also an aquarium where kids can feed seals. On the south side of town are go-carts and a family fun center, scenic helicopter tours and zip-lining.

Unfortunately it was raining by the time I got into town. I forgot my raincoat, which limited my walking around town or hiking or going to the beach or hiking.  I ate lunch at a place called Finn’s and then explored town a little bit.

Feeling hindered by the rain, I returned to the travel trailer and tried to plan for the next couple of days while I have Wi-Fi and my phone works.  I called a couple of RV parks to check availability and then committed to one in Idleyld Park, OR for Saturday.  I didn’t want to commit, but it’s father’s day weekend and options with hook-ups appear to be limited along Hwy 38 in Western Oregon.

It’s stopped raining. I searched for gas stations and found one 4 min south. That sounded great. I pointed the truck south and drove. Drove more until I ended up in Canyon Beach. There were no gas stations that way, but Canyon Beach was a nice little oceanfront town with a beautiful beach overlooking rock formations. There also was an RV park on the left when entering Canyon Beach. It looked really nice.  I almost wish I had stayed there instead. I could have remained hooked up and walked into town or to the beach and numerous seafood restaurant (with my raincoat on of course).  Canyon Beach is a much classier, artsy looking town with a lot of upscale seafood restaurants versus the family oriented tourist attraction that Seaside appears to be.

After my brief stint in Canyon Park I headed north. Back to Seaside to get gas. In Oregon the gas station attendant pumps your gas. I felt bad making the guy stand out in the rain while he filled up that truck. It was down to 1/4 of a tank and took a while to fill up. I wonder if I should have tipped him?  Please comment if you are a local to Oregon and let me know.

It was still raining after getting gas. I returned to the RV park and decided to hitch up in the morning, hopefully it won’t be raining then.

Thanks for reading. I will be adding pictures later. It might not be until I get back to Florida. It is very time consuming.