Meeting Stephany Smith

Jeanette & Stephany

This morning while Jeanette and I were birding and walking our dog Buster at Fairfiew Drive Wetlands we met a lady walking her dogs.  Here first question was "Are you Cascade Ramblings?" Well yes, how would you know? Her name is Stephany Smith and she met us a couple of years ago in Tuscon Arizona at Gilbert Ray County Park.  Here is a link to a post for some of our time there. As it turns out she is a regular reader of our blog, and completely unknown to us, has kept track of us and even knew that we had a new van.  Beside the obvious common interest in dogs, and possibly birds, she also has an RV, a Lazy Days.  After several questions concerning our Roadtrek Zion we gave her a tour.  She was particularly interesting in our Pico chairs that fold up into such a small space.

 Jeanette giving her spiel on Pico chairs

New Designs and Improvements

Jeanette has been busy making new designs and improvements in our Roadtrek Zion.  This finished product in the above photo is some rear storage space.  First she designed and build a shelf made of slats, and then today on a trip to The Container Store in Tualatin we found these three perfect storage boxes. It is quiet a challenge, often daunting, to prepare such a small space as the van to live in for the winter months we plan on traveling around California and Arizona.

In the lower photo is our rear twin-bed set-up.  She has spent literally weeks working away selecting material and sewing to make a comfortable sleeping arrangement.  This project, finished earlier this week, includes two memory foam mats covered with removable slip covers and matching pillow slip covers.  This is actually a second design, the first she deemed a failure.  Luckly she forged on and came up with this beautiful finished set.

Recent Van Trips

I seem to have gotten behind in posting.  I guess in part because we have been so busy trying to get the van arranged to our liking. We have taken a couple of trips to the coast to escape the heat and test out the van. I'm going to post a collection of our two most recent trips   

Fort Yamhill State Heritage Site

On Tuesday August 28th we took off early in the morning for a one nice stay at the coast.  It was going to be in the high eighties in Salem.  Buster's impatience led us to make Buell County Park on Mill Creek our first stop. We had the park to ourselves and got in a good bird walk. Our second stop was at Fort Yamhill State Heritage Site, where we got in a second walk and made up a second bird list. Our third stop was on the Salmon River Estuary at Knight County Park.  Here we had lunch, rested in the shade and made up our third bird list of the day. In late afternoon we drove over Cascade Head to make our night parking at Neskowin Beach State Recreation Site and have dinner at the Hawk Creek Cafe, which for some unexplainable reason was closed! 

Knight County Park

Our second trip to the coast started on Tuesday September 4th.  Our first stop to accommodate Buster was the Riverview Park in Independence, and surprisingly again we had a great bird walk.  We continued on to Corvallis and over the coast range towards Newport, but turning at Toledo to stop at a favorite of ours, Paddle Park on Yaquina Bay. Here we spent some time relaxing at I used my mobile office set-up to catch-up our bird lists and photos. Leaving Paddle Park we drove along Yaquina Bay, and then over the Yaquina Bridge, stopping on the south end at a favorite fish place to purchase a shrimp salad and a crab salad for lunch which we stopped at the South Beach Day Use Area to enjoy. After lunch we continue south on Highway 101 to Walport, stopping at Governor Patterson Memorial State Recreation Site for a good walk on the beach and a bird list. Our night parking was back in Walport at an undisclosed location.

  Paddle Park

Our second day on this trip we headed north on Highway 101 making a stop at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area to park at a very scenic spot that we used two years ago and seems to be mostly overlooked.  Here we spent a good part of the day relaxing, taking short walks, having lunch, and catching up with computer time. Our dinner plan was to stop at Moe's in Otter Rock. Again we found a closed restaurant!  Checked out some spots at Depot Bay and elected to park for the night at Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint.  Leftovers for dinner and a glorious sunset. 

Yaquina Head view point

Sunset at Boiler Bay

Conclusion: Three days and two nights, zero for camp fees, 25 dollars for lunch, 50 dollars for gas. Great weather and scenery.  Biggest disappointment, the Girard On-demand water heater. Unbelievably impractical to the point we will probably be replacing.   

Change in Weather and Routines

The oppressive smoke and heat that has plagued the whole state for weeks has finally changed to cooler more reasonable temperatures and clearer skies. And today started a change in routine with using our new van as a second vehicle.  It's smaller size lends itself to be parked in the drive way and be used on a daily basis. Today we started what may be a new routine. While Jeanette took the car to pickle ball, I took Buster to the near by Brush College City Park.  There are several advantages to this plan.  Buster is a real creature of habit, and because we have taken him on enough morning bird walks through the years that this is now his daily expected routine.  We find that every one's day goes best when Busters expectations are met. This morning worked out great, Buster got to leave the house on an adventure, we went to the park, I got to look for birds, and he got to check out the smells and squirrels. I'm also hoping taking him for a ride in the van everyday will help with his newly developed travel anxiety.  Below are some of the friends we met at the park this morning.

American Crows

Eastern Gray Squirrel

Trip in Review

Our maiden voyage in our Roadtrek Zion produced mixed results.  We enjoyed the cool weather of the coast and the van proved to be a handy vehicle to drive, park and live in for three days and nights.  The electrical system continued to impress us, we were able run the micro-wave, vent fan, lights, furnace, and charge my laptop and our phones, and by the last morning we even discovered we could also run our electric heater, all without being hooked up to electricity.

But we did have a few hiccups. The on-demand water heater did not produce any hot water.  Absence of manuals for not only the water heater, but the TV and DVD player lead to frustration. And then our dog Buster has developed an increasing anxiety while riding in a vehicle.

The bright spot for us was stopping at Waxmyrtle Campground on the Silcoos River to camp with our friend Glenn.  It's always a relaxing experience to spend time on the trails, and enjoy the great variety of wildlife in this bit of paradise in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

 Glenn & Jeanette on the Lagoon Loop Trail

A male Wood Duck objects to our presence 

Saffron-winged Meadowhawk Dragonfly

First Adventure

This is our first night's parking spot at Boiler Bay State Wayside in our new-to-us Roadtrek Zion.  We left yesterday morning to escape the heat of the Willamette Valley for a few days to enjoy some cool temps along the Central Oregon Coast.  A combination of fog and smoke hide our ocean view here, but the cooler temperature makes up for it.

We picked up the Zion from Johnson RV in Sandy on Thursday, trading in our 2014 Leisure Travel Van for this 2017 Roadtrek Zion. There are a myriad of reasons we traded, but one big one that we are really enjoying is complete independence with electricity.  This starts with powerful long lasting 400 amp lithium batteries. The batteries are kept charged by 300 watts of solar panels, or a second engine driven alternator, A 2000 watt inverter changes the direct current of the batteries to alternating current which powers all our electrical needs including micro-wave and air-conditioning. In simple terms we do not have to hook up to what is called shore power to charge our batteries or run our appliances. In other words we do not need a campsite with hook-ups.

We will be meandering along the coast line, birding as we go, parking where we want, enjoying the temperatures and the views, with no dependency on campgrounds or hook-ups.

Oh What A Relief It Is!!!

We finally picked up our RV today, it's been in the body shop in Klamath Falls since our encounter with a deer on Highway 97 on June 28th.  We had no idea how dependent we were on the RV, and addicted we were to the freedom of the RV life style.  We are relieved beyond measure to have it back.

After receiving a call yesterday afternoon at home in Salem to let us know that our RV was finished, we rented a car and drove down to Klamath Falls this morning.  Our eyes we pealed to the side of the road as we drove down Highway 97.  No deer were seen, but there was evidence of at least 3 other impacts that had taken place recently.

We are set up this afternoon in the campground at Collier Memorial State Park,  where we are in site B-29, the only empty site when we got here shortly after lunch time.  With every mile we drive, and every system we use in getting camp set up our confidence continues to build, and the worry and concern fall away layer by layer.

Tomorrow we make a fresh start up the death corridor of Highway 97, and over the Willamette Pass to home.  Stay tuned for our next surprise.