Another Nice Ten Days in Oregon

Welcome back friends. Our last chapter concluded on Friday, May 31^st with our departure from Harrisburg, Oregon after a couple of weeks. We didn't move too far, only about 60 miles north to Keizer, Oregon, a suburb of the state capital, Salem. We settled into the Keizer Elks Lodge which has a very nice RV park with about 40 full hookup sites. We have water, sewer, 50 amp electric, and cable, all for $17 a night. A real bargain. It was really nice that we had mostly clear skies for the entire trip. No rain for the first time in a week.

After we got settled in early Friday afternoon we just relaxed until about 5:30 or so when we walked over to the Lodge for a cocktail. The place was very busy as this lodge has some very nice Friday night dinners. Tonight was steak night, but they have a full dinner menu

as well. We were sitting at the bar enjoying our first cocktail when another couple sat down next to us and engaged us in conversation. It turns out that they were also out in the RV park and had seen us come in this afternoon.

Their names were Ben and Annie Snoddy and they are originally from Northern California and are members of the Lodi Elks. We have stayed at the Lodi Lodge a number of times and will be there again later this summer. They were about our age, and Ben even has a little pony tail. They are full timers like us but they are in a big fifth wheel trailer instead of a motorhome. They were very nice people and we talked to them for about an hour before they went off to have dinner. While we were talking to them the topic of geocaching came up and they expressed an interest in the hobby. They were vaguely aware of the sport from talking to other people, but didn't know any details and had never tried it. We made arrangements to take them out on Saturday for a “sample” caching run. After they went in for dinner we had another cocktail and then went back to the coach for our dinner.

Saturday we woke up again to the promise of mostly clear skies. About mid-morning we had one small cloud go over that dropped some rain for about two minutes, but then it went away and the sun came out again. After lunch, about 1:00, we picked up Ben and Annie in our Jeep and went out to do some local caching. We did caches in Keizer, most within a few miles of the lodge and within about two and a half hours we had 13 new finds along with one new DNF. Ben and Annie really got into the hobby and were excited when they actually found about half the caches. By the time we were done caching Annie had downloaded a caching application to her smartphone and was trying to register for a caching name. I don't know if they will stay hooked, but they certainly seem excited now.

We went back to the coach a relaxed for a while and about 5:00 Ben and Annie came over for cocktails. They were already cachers now, having registered on the website with their new caching name. We sat and talked for a couple of hours before they went back to their RV. We had a quick dinner and watched TV the rest of the evening. We are looking forward to seeing Ben and Annie down the road in our travels. They hang around the west coast for the most part, so there is no doubt we will cross paths again. Unfortunately, they are leaving on Sunday, so we won't be able to take them caching again on this trip.

Sunday was supposed to be another mostly sunny day, but we woke up to clouds and it didn't change too much for most of the day. There were times when the sun came out for a while, but it was mostly cloudy and windy. At least it didn't rain. I got Jackie her beloved Sunday paper and we decided to just make it a stay at home day. After lunch we both did a few little things around the coach. I did some repairs and Jackie did a little spring cleaning. I did watch the NASCAR race, but we didn't leave the park all day and just had basically a nice, relaxing day at home.

Monday, June 3^rd, another nice day on tap. I am actually able to go back to wearing shorts again during the day. We left the coach after lunch with Benji in his carrier and headed to the Petsmart store in Salem to get his nails clipped. The girl at the store was very nice and thought Benji was really pretty and well behaved. He got his nails clipped, but for some odd reason, the Petsmart stores here in Oregon will not put on the plastic nail tips. We had it done at a couple of stores in California, but we contacted at least three stores here in Oregon and none of them would do it. They sell the tips in the store, they just don't let their employees put them on the cat. Weird.

After Benji was done we went next store for a quick Walmart run and then headed home to drop off the cat and the groceries. Once we were done with that we went out for about an hour to do some caching. We managed to get three new finds and one DNF in about an hour. We then had to pause to get some fuel for the Jeep. While heading to the gas station we passed an accident at one of the major intersections in Keizer, north of the Elks Lodge. It appeared to my practiced eye (years of investigating vehicle accidents during my time with the Sheriff's Office) that a car had pulled out of a gas station in front of a big pickup truck pulling a really big fifth wheel RV. That's a lot of weight to try and stop and they failed, hitting the car. Then another small car ran into the back of the trailer. Fortunately, the impacts did not appear to be too severe, so I doubt anyone was seriously hurt. However, it really made a mess of the intersection as the police and tow truck folks tried to figure out how to clear everything out.

After we got our fuel we went back by the scene of the accident and they had the first car gone and the truck was up on a big wrecker. It appeared they were going to tow the truck with the trailer still attached, which made sense. By now it was rush hour and traffic was really backed up so I know the cops were getting a little frustrated and impatient. We drove back to the Elks and relaxed in the coach the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, June 4^th, the eighth anniversary of our being full time RV'ers. June 4^th, 2005 was the day the sale of our house in Indio closed and the day we took delivery of our new motorhome. My how time flies when you are having fun. We left the coach about noon and went over to the Lodge for lunch. The Keizer Elks serves lunch six days a week in the bar. Jackie had a burger and I had a Philly cheese and both were very good and fairly inexpensive. Including a couple of drinks lunch was just over $20 for the both of us. The food was about what you would pay for fast food, but you can't get a bloody Mary at Burger King. After lunch we drove to the nearby UPS Customer Service Center to pick up our mail. A quick glance showed no surprises. I got my new Sheriff's Office retired ID card, Jackie got some pills, lots of magazines and some junk mail. I also got the new sensors for our tire pressure monitoring system. I had to send the old ones in for battery replacement after four years. I will feel better with the sensors back on the coach tires.

Once we had our mail in hand we set out to do some geocaching. We ended up getting ten new finds in about two and a half hours. We also ran across another cacher, an event that happens less often than you might think. Although there are five million cachers in the world looking for over two million geocaches, we rarely see one in the field except at an event. We were approaching a cache in a city park in Keizer and we saw a man get out of a car with a walking stick and go into the park. We thought he was just another muggle, a non-cacher, our for a walk. As we started to park I told Jackie, “I think he's a cacher.” He wasn't going into the park, instead he was poking around the entrance area, looking behind and under things. Very cacher type behaviors. We got out of the car and he sort of stood there looking at us and I said, “I know what you are doing.” He said, “Yea, what's that?” When I told him I thought he was a geocacher he pulled his GPS out from under his tee shirt. We both found the cache and then chatted for a little while before moving on to the next cache. He was fairly new to the sport, with under a hundred finds. We later saw his caching name on the logs of some of the other caches we found. After we had our ten finds we went back to the coach and just stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday morning promised another warm, sunny day here in Oregon. We went out again after lunch for a little more geocaching. We were able to get eight new finds, along with one new DNF. By about 3:00 we decided to quit because our allergies were acting up and we had neglected to take our medications before leaving the coach. Several of the caches were hidden in bushes or trees, so the pollens were kicking our butts. After we got back to the coach I spent a little time getting the outside decorations and sun screens taken down and stored, getting ready for our leaving Keizer in the morning. We spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing in the coach.

Thursday, June 6^th, the 69^th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, France. We had the coach packed up and folded up by 9:30 and were on the road leaving Keizer. Our final destination for the day was Sherwood, Oregon, a smallish town on the outskirts of metropolitan Portland, only about 40 miles north of Keizer. However, we had to make a couple of stops. About three miles after getting on I-5 outside of Keizer we stopped at the Pilot Truck stop for fuel. Then it was back on I-5 for another 18 miles to Aurora, Oregon where we got off and stopped at the Speedco truck service center. I like to describe Speedco as a sort of Jiffy-Lube for big rigs. They are in business to do relatively simple lube, oil and filter maintenance for over the road trucks. Since the underpinnings of our diesel pusher coach are very similar to those in a big truck, it is a great place for us to take the coach. Based on the mileage we put on the coach, about 9,000 miles a year, we fall under the “once annually” provisions for the maintenance recommendations for our engine and chassis. Every year, around the first of June, I take the coach to get the oil changed, new oil, air and fuel filters, and the chassis lubed.

For the first couple of years we went to either Monaco Service Centers or one of the big Cummins Diesel shops for our annual service. We always ended up paying around $1,000, which was ridiculous considering what they were doing. Then we discovered Speedco. The service today was less than $300 and we got everything done we needed to have done. In addition, even with the wait time for a bay to open, we were done in two hours instead of all day like it was at the fancy places. I have used Speedco exclusively for the last five years now and highly recommend them to anyone with a diesel motorhome. While they were working on the coach Jackie and I found one geocache which happened to be hidden only yards from the Speedco shop.

By about 11:30 we were done with the coach service and back on the road for the last 20 miles to the Sherwood Elks Lodge. We had stayed at this lodge a few years ago for a couple days and enjoyed the experience. Sherwood is a small town, less than 20,000 population, about fourteen miles southwest of downtown Portland. The Elks is on the edge of town on the top of a hill overlooking the Willamette River valley. They have a couple dozen RV sites with water and electric and only charge $10 a night. We had called ahead to be sure they had a spot and ended up in a spot right next to the campground hosts.

We were in and setup by 1:00 and spent the rest of the day just relaxing around the house and getting some chores done. We will be here for three days before moving on to our next destination on the Oregon coast.

Friday, June 7^th, another nice day on tap. It was a little overcast in the morning, but by the time we left the coach about noon it had cleared up and we had lots of blue sky. We set out to do some geocaching in the Sherwood area and by about 3:30 or so we had a dozen new finds, along with one DNF. A couple of the caches took us into the old town part of Sherwood, which dates back to the late 1800's. Sherwood was originally named Smockville, after the founders, James and Mary Smock, however, after a couple of years everyone discovered that no one, not even the Smock's, liked the name. They held a town meeting and a gentleman who came to Oregon from Sherwood, Michigan, suggested Sherwood. The name was approved by the town and by the Postal Service, and in 1893 the town was incorporated as Sherwood. Supposedly, Sherwood, Michigan had been named after Sherwood Forest, England, so the Oregon town has a slight connection to the Robin Hood fable. The Sherwood Elks Lodge goes by the nickname Robin Hood Lodge. When we were in Old Town we saw that the street signs all had a little sign on top of them that said Smockville, in honor of the original name.

While we were caching in a very nice residential area we happened to drive by a couple of houses that were having garage sales. We spotted a small, two drawer night stand that we decided would fit in the corner next to my chair. We needed a table over there and the two drawers would be handy for putting things in. We bought that for $5 and then went to the sale next door and found a nice cloth basket that we bought for a buck. Both would look nice behind the new chair, where the couch used to be.  We also came across a large, probably fifty or so, kids walking down the street in a parade that we guessed was some sort of commemoration of the Oregon Trail.  They had a whole bunch of wagons decorated as covered wagons and most of the kids were in some kind of frontier dress.  They seemed to having a great time doing whatever they were doing.

After our caching we went back to the coach and relaxed until about 6:00 when we went to the Lodge for their Friday night dinner. They had either prime rib or salmon. Both of us ordered the prime rib and it was fantastic. For $12.50 you got a salad, baked potato, veggie and a huge piece of perfectly cooked prime rib. Jackie got a very rare end cut, which is almost impossible to get, even in a fancy restaurant. I always order very rare, and my piece was really thick but still very rare. We both ended up taking a big piece home for lunch tomorrow. We stayed after dinner to play the slot machines for a little bit. I lost $15, but Jackie won and cashed out just a little over even. We walked back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, June 8^th, my brother Dennis' birthday. Happy Birthday Bro! Dennis is the next oldest in the brood, born in '55, and the only other one of the five with the last name Holt. He lives in Cottonwood, Arizona and is in the banking industry.

We left the coach after lunch, about 12:30 or so, and drove back to old town Sherwood for their annual “Cruising Sherwood” car show. They had the entire downtown area, commercial and nearby residential streets, closed and they were lined with hot rods, customs and other show cars, as well as a lot of vendor booths. For a town of just over 18,000, I was impressed that they could pull together a car show with upwards of three to four hundred entries. They had some really unusual and interesting entries, including an early 1947 Cadillac ambulance conversion that was very nicely restored. That really brought

back memories as all the ambulances when I was a kid, and I was born in 1947, were based on station wagon cars. They also had a very rare 58 Fiat 600 Multipla. It was a very compact w
agon that seated six people. It looked a little like a mini-VW minivan. I have been to a lot of car shows and never seen examples of either of these before.

We spent a couple of hours walking around on a very nice sunny day looking at cars and booths, taking pictures and just enjoying the afternoon. We stopped at the American Legion Post, which was conveniently located right downtown, for a beer. Although I am a member of the Legion, the post was open to the public for the weekend. They were selling a lot of beer and drinks as I didn't see any other vendors with alcohol. They also had a big BBQ area set up outside and were selling burgers and hot dogs.

After the car show we took a drive to Camping World. Camping World was in Wilsonville, a town on I-5, about six miles or so east of Sherwood. On the way we stopped and picked up a geocache. We really didn't need much at the store, but Camping World had sent us a $25 coupon, no strings, so we knew we could find something we wanted. We ended up buying some carpet step covers for our inside steps. We ended up with over $30 worth of merchandise for only about seven dollars. Sweet Deal!

After Camping World we went to Home Depot to pick up some new drawer pulls for the nightstand we bought yesterday. They had some that were virtually identical to the ones on our cabinets in the coach. The irony is that the drawer pulls and a little touch up color pencil to fix some dings on the cabinet cost us twice what we paid for the cabinet. We did a couple more caches, ending up with three finds for the day. By this time is was close to cocktail hour, so we went back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the day.

Sunday, June 9^th, we packed up the coach and were on the road about 10:00, leaving Sherwood and heading about a hundred miles northwest to the Oregon coast. We were headed for an RV resort located just outside the town of Wheeler, Oregon. Now Wheeler only has a population of 350 and probably doesn't show on most maps, but the area is about 20 miles north of the city of Tillamook and maybe 40 miles south of the city of Astoria, which sits on the Columbia River at the very northwest corner of the state.

We arrived at the resort, Paradise Cove RV Resort and Marina, a little after noon and got settled into a very nice site. The resort is a membership place that we have access to through Resorts of Distinction (ROD), one of our membership groups. As a “resort” the place is not much, the parking places are gravel parking lots for the most part, and the amenities are not much to brag about. However, where we parked gave us one of the nicest views we have had in a very long time. We are parked facing Nehalem Bay, where the Nehalem River widens out just before it dumps into the Pacific. We look north, across the bay to the trees and mountains of the

Coastal Range and it is beautiful. This is a bit of a remote part of the Oregon Coast, but we will be here for two full weeks and I know we will find lots of fun things to do.

Our arrival here on the coast marks a perfect place to close out this chapter of the blog and get it published. We will publish again at the end of our stay here in Wheeler. Try and stay on the sunny side of life's street, but remember that if it looks like everything's coming your way, you're probably in the wrong lane. See ya.