DescriptionThe Waldport / Newport KOA is a small, nicely maintained campground perched on a low bluff overlooking the stunning Alsea Bay and historic Waldport Bridge. The park has a great view and is family and big-rig RV friendly. Continue reading
Bullards Beach State Park campground is a large, scenic and family friendly park just a few miles north of Bandon, Oregon. Nestled in a stand of coastal pines, the park is sheltered from breezes off the Pacific Ocean. Park roads and trails provide easy access to the Coquille River and Lighthouse, grassy coastal dunes and long sandy Bullards Beach. The campground is quiet, clean and well-maintained.
Moving on from the shores of the Columbia River, our next stop was at the Ocean Breeze K/M Resort at Ocean City, Washington, another of the ROD parks along our route. This was a lovely RV resort with spacious sites nestled in a heavily forested setting. We only stayed for three nights, very short by our new standards in retirement, just long enough to fill a gap in our reservations at our next stop up the coast.
Our route around the Olympic Peninsula
We were very excited about our stay here because my mom, Marta, was joining us on our travels around the Olympic Peninsula. Our last visit with mom was about a year ago during our travels through Iowa and we were really looking forward to seeing her again. Mom had booked a flight from Des Moines, Iowa, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac), arriving about 9 PM on the day after we arrived in Ocean City. I met her at SeaTac and brought her back to camp, about a six-hour round trip from Ocean City.
We had one more full day at Ocean City so we took mom on a long drive down the coast to Astoria and back. Mom enjoyed crossing over the soaring Astoria bridge and spending some time along the Columbia River. This was her first visit to the Olympic Peninsula and she really seemed to enjoy the scenery along the way. Continue reading
Moving on from Waldport, Oregon, we continued along the Northern Oregon coast and into Washington, taking our time with week-long stays at each stop. Before we knew it, most of July had flown by. We really enjoyed the lovely coastal vistas and cool weather, especially after seeing the sweltering weather forecasts for other areas of the country.
From Bandon we moved on to Waldport, Oregon, for a week-long stay at the Waldport/Newport KOA. By now this was the first week of July; we had booked reservations at the KOA months before as someplace interesting to ride out the busy Independence Day holiday. We were very pleased by this campground, sited on a low bluff and offering spectacular views of the Alsea Bay and historic Alsea Bay Bridge. A short trail from the campground leads down the bluff and through grassy dunes to a sandy beach along the bay – a perfect place for Jasmine and Pepper to chase balls in the water. Continue reading
Catching Up With the Blog (But First, a Quick Update and Greetings from Sequim, Washington)It has been quite awhile since our last blog post and we have much to report. The summer months have flown by; we have covered much territory and seen many sights as we made our rambling way up the Oregon and Washington coasts. As of this writing, we are nearing the end of a two-week stay in Sequim, Washington, and will be moving to our next site along Puget Sound – soon to leave the coastline behind, entirely. Kim & I have both been doing well, as have Jasmine and Pepper. Our vehicles and rig are in good shape and we have not had any breakdowns or major mechanical issues. I hope to catch up on the blog posts for our travels fairly quickly. Now, on to the first installment – Bandon, Oregon. Continue reading
From Trinidad, California, we moved on up the coast to Port Orford, Oregon, a lovely coastal town with a working port. Our drive up the coast went smoothly, despite occasional heavy rain, and the rainy weather made for some very interesting coastal vistas along the way. Port Orford features a stunning coastal vista of sandy beaches and massive sea-stack rocks, including the well-known Battle Rock formation. Humbug Mountain is visible in the distance along the coast.
Humbug Mountain State Park is a gem of a park and campground set in a deep forested valley between mountains, right off the Pacific Ocean. Sheltered from strong, cool ocean winds by the surrounding forest and mountains, the campground is warmer than nearby areas of the coast. The park features a hiking trail to the summit of Humbug Mountain (1,765 feet elevation) and access to a lovely pet-friendly beach, popular with wind surfers and scuba divers.
From Manchester Beach and the Mendocino Coast we moved on to another of our favorite spots on the northern California coast, Trinidad. There we camped among giant redwoods at the Emerald Forest of Trinidad RV Park, a park we have visited and enjoyed several times in the past.
Our trip from the Mendocino Coast to Trinidad went well, but was white-knuckled at times as we navigated the curvy road and steep grades of the Fort Bragg – Willits Road, CA-20. We chose the Fort Bragg – Willits Road as our exit from the Mendocino Coast to avoid even more curves and switchbacks on Highway CA-1, between Fort Bragg and Legett. The CA-20 is heavily used by semi and logging trucks, so is suitable for larger RVs, but there are some very tight curves with no shoulder where a large rig must swing out to clear the mountainside. Oncoming traffic sometimes made clearing the turns with a wide enough margin difficult. We were certainly relieved as we arrived in Willits and could continue our travels on the much more comfortable Highway CA-101! Continue reading
The Emerald Forest of Trinidad is a lovely private campground nestled in a forest of giant redwoods. The campground offers RV and tent camp sites, as well as rental cabins. The Emerald Forest is just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean and within easy driving distance of many area attractions.