Hurlshot's Summer RV Trip 2012 Edition

Hi folks,

 

A few years back I chronicled my summer RV trip on here as we went through Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. This summer we are going through Oregon, Washington, and Nevada, so I thought I'd do another topic. I will be updating it once a day if I can with a picture from the trip.

 

Day 1: We covered about 270 miles today and ended up in Yreka, California. We will head off early tomorrow for Oregon, so we aren't getting too settled in. These kids are happy to be off the road.

 

But it isn't Summer yet.

Very cool.

Ah, Yreka. We've been through there several times. One of hubby's brothers used to live in Weed, a bit South from there, too.

We used to either go up by 1/101 or 5, then at some point randomly try some road that would take us East to the other side of OR to hit 84. Adventurous roads, some of those. Then I think we used 93 or 95, or both (different trips) to get to 80/Reno.

 

I look forward to more photos, and hearing about the grand time you all are having.

then at some point randomly try some road that would take us East to the other side of OR to hit 84. Adventurous roads, some of those.

Heh, this reminded me of a certain Stephen King short story.

Day 2: Today was mostly spent on the road, getting from California to Tillamook, OR. We did make time to detour at the Rogue Brewery Farm. There are acres of different hops and hazelnut trees, as well as some other interesting crops like pumpkin patches. Unfortunately we were way too early for the tasting room, so we just walked around and explored.

 

 

I had a bit of a scary moment when I almost ran out of gas. As we neared the coast, I was at about a quarter of a tank. We ended up on a road that went about 50 miles before a gas station, so I was down pretty low. We pulled in with about a gallon left in the tank, which only goes about 10 miles.

 

Tomorrow we are off to do the Tillamook Factory tour. If you aren't familiar with the name, they are a huge cheese maker in the US, and they make their own Ice Cream as well. We are not driving tomorrow either, which will be nice after two long days on the road.

Cute kids Hurlshot. You...Not so much.

If I had photoshop I`d totally put flames and stuff coming out of the sides of your RV in the first picture. And maybe mount a laser cannon and a satellite dish on top.

If I had photoshop I`d totally put flames and stuff coming out of the sides of your RV in the first picture. And maybe mount a laser cannon and a satellite dish on top.

 

You can't tel from that angle, but it totally has all that, and retractable wings when I fly through space outsmarting Darth Helmet.

Yeah, but does it have Ludicous speed?

Day 3: Pretty big day, we are staying in Tillamook which is a very cool town. Our main destination is the Tillamook Cheese Factory, which is a huge operation. They make more than just cheese, the ice cream and fudge is phenomenal, and we picked up some yogurt there to try later.

 

 

The self guided factory tour was pretty short, so we found ourselves with a lot of time left to wander. We were on the outskirts of town, so we walked a mile towards town to the Blue Heron French Company. We ate lunch there, it was fantastic.

 

 

And you couldn't beat the view! It is a beautiful area. We picked up some salmon at a local fish market, and headed home for a nap and dinnertime.

 

Day 4 was rough, a long drive coupled by getting lost for about an hour and traffic near Tacoma. It was a very pretty drive though, we stuck on the coast through Oregon and Washington and passed over a very odd bridge. Here it is, I obviously didn't want to try and take a picture while we went over it.

 

 

We pulled into a site that night around 8 PM, and it wasn't very level. But the next morning we got a better site and a new red jetta to get around town in.

 

Day 5: We visited the Space Needle. It was up pretty high. I feel like I did something necessary to the trip, like an achievement in a video game, and now I can insert that into conversations. My wife wasn't comfortable with the height, my kids loved it. Logan looks mad because he wants to climb the rails and we won't let him.

 

 

Here is Logan looking a bit happier in front of a large monitor. I have no idea where he gets that.

 

 

Then we went to the Experience Music Project Museum, which was seriously the best museum I have ever been to. I bought a Firefly shirt, and they had a great exhibit for horror movies. My son went around growling at all the monsters, including a huge guy from Aliens. They had a feature on Evil Dead 2 as well. Definitely a recommended experience, the music exhibits were all great too.

 

Seattle is a cool city, that's for sure.

Logan has the most adorable blond curls for hair.

 

I remember that bridge when my teen boyfriend (not my husband) and I drove across it on the way back from WA after his relatives up there gave him a car (flew up, drove down).

 

Love the pics, looks like a lot of fun, brings back memories too. Hubs would like that Til. cheese place tho, I bet. He loves cheese, and I buy that brand a lot.

The Tillamook factory is really impressive, the gift store is more like a grocery with all the different types of food available. We bought milk, yogurt, ice cream, fudge, chocolate milk mix, and a few different types of cheese. And so far it's all a bit tastier than what you find on the store shelves, although maybe that's a mental thing!

Day 6: We went to the Museum of Flight, right next to Boeing. It was very impressive, I took a ton of pictures of WW2 planes like the Spitfire and Mustang. Bonus points if you recognize my shirt:

 

 

We got to walk through a few full size planes, including a Concorde and a decomissioned Air Force One.

 

 

The World War I exhibit was pretty great too, here is Logan creeping cautiously through a bunker.

 

This is possibly the coolest thread on the board!

So you plan on doing a rockband with the family?

Thanks. I'm not sure if the Partridge family plan will work for us, we need a few more kids I think.

Day 7: We met my cousin and Aunt for lunch at Elliot's Oyster Bar, it was very tasty. One of the best things about the RV is the ability to travel around and see family we don't get a chance to see very often. Plus it doesn't involve us staying with anyone, so we get enough family but not too much

 

Afterwards we walked along the waterfront and ended up at Pike's Market. This is where they do the famous fish throwing.

 

 

Logan wasn't too impressed.

 

 

We bought some frozen ravioli's, a few seasoned steaks, and some other good groceries before heading home. It was a beautiful day, we have one more good one before the rain hits.

That shirt is awesome

Day 8: We went back to Pike's Market, because there was a lot left to do there. The food stalls are just fantastic there, I walked by a place called Piroshky Piroshky and I couldn't resist the smell. My son and I gobbled down a beef and cheese Piroshky super fast. I plan on going back tomorrow and trying the apple cinnamon roll. We had some great clam chowder as well, then we took a boat tour around the harbor. Pike's Market is just impressive, it is crowded and has all these twists and turns, but around every corner is some unique food or store. We plan on going back for one more day there.

 

Day 9: We went to the Seattle aquarium, which was nice. There were fish and stuff. The real treat was going back to Piroshky Piroshky. After that we went grocery shopping, and now we are back at the RV running a couple loads of laundry. Tomorrow is the last day in Seattle.

 

 

Oh, it's pouring down rain right now. Very Seattle-ish.

:: sighs :: I so badly want RV road trips. But I live in Britain. Which is laughably small.

:: sighs :: I so badly want RV road trips. But I live in Britain. Which is laughably small.

 

The couple that owned our RV before us was from the UK. They came to the East Coast, bought the RV, traveled around for about a year, then sold the RV on the West Coast and flew home. Pretty interesting way to vacation.