I’d love to tell you about drives along the beautiful Oregon coast. About walks through the Japanese Gardens, International Rose Gardens and Portland Zoo. About hikes and snowboarding on Mt. Hood. About tours and taste testing in wine country. About downhill skiing in Eastern Oregon. About white-water rafting on the Lower Deschutes. About attending Ashland’s world-famous Shakespeare Festival.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to experience much of Oregon (this time) because we were on a schedule and were basically just driving through on I-5.
Our first night in Oregon was spent at a private park in Grants Pass. It was a pleasant/clean park with a space long enough that we didn’t need to unhook.
The next two nights we stayed at Champoeg State Park. We were planning on spending one day not driving and just relaxing/playing/working —but, not moving. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. As we were getting set up, our front landing legs made a horrible noise. When I looked inside the front compartment, I discovered broken parts. Not good.
So, we had to move on our “not moving” day. Luckily, there was a nearby Camping World that could fit us in and make the repair that day. There was also a public library two miles away from the Camping World. After a second breakfast at Denny’s (Miranda was thrilled to eat out), we spent several hours at the library (something we all enjoyed).
The trailer was repaired by 5:00pm. We returned to the State Park, set up and had a bit more time to play before calling it a night.
On Friday morning we were on the road by 7:30am, and in a short time, we crossed the state line and entered Washington.
We will be back, Oregon, to experience more than a drive on I-5.
hahaha! Yea, we know how that goes. Too many times we’ve just blasted across the country because we had a deadline. hopefully less of that this year. We leave in two weeks for a month-long adventure across the country with our travel trailer.
Let us know when you get back down this way—Bend, OR… you’ll like it ;-) Snowboarded this weekend, swimming today.
Champoeg (Sham-poo-ee) State Park ... love that place. (And the name!)
I miss it.
I’ll let you in on a little Oregon secret. I-5 is just a way to get from California to Washington. Driving it won’t give you a clue as to what you’re missing. Oregon is all that stuff you wished you could have done and a whole lot more. Let us know if you plan on coming through - we’ll leave a light on.