Category: Oregon

Tuesday September 4 – Sunday September 9, 2018

We had a beautiful trip on the Redwood Highway from Grants Pass, OR to the ocean. We were even in California near Crescent City for a few miles. All along the highway were signs from residents thanking the firefighters.  We saw many firefighters with trucks full of gear, looking tired.

Treated ourselves to dinner out and just enjoyed being near the ocean.

The trip back along the Redwood Highway was exciting. We could see the Smith River below, a long, long way down. The road was so narrow there really wasn’t a good place to stop for pictures. Especially with the motorhome and our toad.

We made it safely to Lake of the Woods to meet our friend Pete. He had dinner cooking and the wine opened when we arrived.

Pete had a double campsite that accommodated both our motorhomes under beautiful tall pines.  We spent the evening around the campfire enjoying remembering old times.

Friday we took a mountain bike trail through lava fields. There were some nice short climbs and fun twisting runs through the tall pines. Making our total Oregon miles 114.

Friday we packed up our campsite and were off to Klamath Falls. We spent 2 nights parked in Pete’s driveway. We really enjoyed visiting with his daughter Sue and her husband Brian. They treated us to a really good dinner done on the barbecue.

We were ready to head for Wyoming on Sunday morning when our slideout would not retract. Most of the day was spent figuring out the problem and then working around that to retract the slideout. Problem was broken wire in one of the motors. Solution to get slideout retracted was to remove motor and use 5 people to push slideout in. So by late afternoon we said our goodbyes and headed for Jackson, Wyoming.

Saturday August 1 – Monday August 3, 2018

We have never watched the Buckeyes play while having breakfast but that’s what we did on Saturday.  Game was at 9 AM here. (Buckeyes 71 Oregon State 31) Then to make it an even better day, we watched the “team up north” get beat by Notre Dame.  Oh perfect day!!

On Sunday we moved on to Pine Meadows Campground on Cottage Grove Lake. It’s a Corps of Engineers campground so only $11.00 a night for us.

Monday morning we road the Row River Trail from Cottage Grove to Culp Creek. I  chose this trail because Cottage Grove is the “Covered Bridge Capital” of Oregon.

We saw a couple other bridges from a distance.  I was a bit disappointed they weren’t closer to the trail. It was a fun trail. Through forests and meadows and beautiful valleys far below the trail.

There was an uphill grade for about 6 miles then the trail leveled out for the next 10 miles until we reached Culp Creek Trailhead.

We stopped at a farm market for some vegetables on our way back. The gentleman there told us that the lake was always a bit lower this time of year but extremely low now because an error was made and too much water was released from the dam.

This was our 4th and final ride in Oregon.  We reached our 100 mile goal. Tomorrow we are headed for the Oregon coast to spend a day beachcombing and tidepooling. Later in the week we are meeting our friend Pete at Lake in the Woods near Klamsth Falls.

• Historic Columbia River Trail
• Riverfront Trail at The Dalles
• Banks-Vernonia State Trail
• Row River Trail

Tuesday August 28 – Friday August 31, 2018

We left Memaloose State Park and headed for LL Stub Stewart State Park near Banks, OR. This campground is right on the 22 mile Banks-Vernonia State Trail. It is the first “rails-to-trails” linear state park built in Oregon.

Wednesday we rode the trail north of the park to Vernonia, around Lake Vernonia and returned. From the campground we took a mountain bike trail to reach the rail trail. White knuckle ride for me, I don’t like doing downhill in the dirt. Beautiful ride, mostly forest with lots of welcoming shade. Some areas were being logged.

There was a mostly gentle uphill grade to Vernonia.  One exception was the Horseshoe Trestle bypass which switchbacked up 700 feet and descended 300 feet at Tophill (13% grade). There was a sign at the top of one of the switchbacks that said “steep grade walk bike”.  A challenge for sure but the ride up the hill to our campsite was even more of a challenge.

Thursday morning we road the trail south to the city of Banks. We traveled through forests of tall pines on a significant downhill grade for 6 miles.

The floor of the forest was covered in huge ferns. The last 4.5 miles was a gentle downhill grade. Just before Banks we saw small farms and large meadows.

The Buxton Trestle was a highlight of the trail – 80 feet high and 700 feet long.

Some parts of the trail was lined with raspberries. They were so sweet, warm and tasty.

Our return trip was a bit slower. The last six miles were slow going. Two moms had 5 young children  out for a hike and they waved and cheered us on. I felt like I was in the Tour D’france.

Back at Stub Stewart the long steep climb to our campsite awaited us. I really don’t think I could do that climb a third day.

Friday we were off to Albany, OR. it was a really enjoyable trip through the Willamett Valley. Acres of corn, peppers, vineyards, and more hops. We planned to stay at Blue Ox RV Park where we would have cable to watch Ohio State defeat Oregon State.