Drive to Washington, Thousand Trails Parks & A New Camera

With the realization that I needed surgery to remove my gallbladder, we knew that we weren't going to be able to spend the time in Washington that we had planned. Our plans are flexible anyway, with nothing in concrete really, so we just came up with another plan. Keeping a positive attitude helps and we've decided our retirement adventures would all be faced with a positive attitude.

We had already arranged to have mail forwarded to our Washington RV park so we needed to make the trip and we (I) wanted to see more of the coastline. So early Thursday morning (5/22) we headed up 101 on a mission to get to the post office in Seaview and retrieve our mail. We drove about 5 hours, passing many vistas and scenic pullouts, and I promised Rick that we would visit each of them on our return trip. We arrived right at lunch time when the post office is closed (do they do that in the big city?) and took a quick trip to Costco to look for a new camera. We went in looking for one model and realized when we saw it that it wasn't what I wanted. We looked at another Nikon model and liked it, but Costco only had the display camera in stock. We decided we liked it, but passed because it was the display model that everyone had played with. (*Remember all the vistas and scenic lookouts we had passed on our trip north? I was really disappointed that we wouldn't have a new camera on the return trip.)

Back to the post office. Guess what? This is a small, remote post office and our mail was taking a little longer than usual to reach it's destination. We spoke with the postmaster and left him a change of address card for Junction City, hopeful that he would get our package and forward it on. Having completed the 'mission', we were left with the rest of the afternoon to explore. We visited the Thousand Trails RV park in Seaview (aka Thousand Trails Long Beach) and took a quick tour since it is located on the beach. We walked the beach for awhile and thought this would be a nice place to stay with the motorhome when we have the opportunity. It was a stormy day and the waves were kicking up the sand, making the waves appear muddy. There were pockets of wildflowers growing along the path which added a touch of color on a dreary day. The sites are a little close together with 4 rigs sharing a common pedestal, but being on the beach is the draw for this park.

While walking the beach we had time to talk about the cameras and Rick suggested we go back to Costco and get the display model. Costco has a 90 day return policy so the idea was to try it out and see if we like it. You know this made me happy -- to have the new camera on the trip back! Yipeee!

After getting the camera our next stop was another Thousand Trails park at Seaside. This is a beautiful park with wide open grassy spaces. We started using the camera and of course I was pulling into all the lookout points I saw.

We ventured on to another Thousand Trails park, Thousand Trails Pacific City. As we were getting near the park we pulled over to look at the ocean and saw eagles dueling with seagulls over some morsel of food - probably a fish or small animal. We both were able to snap a quick photo, but neither one was that great. We had heard that Pacific City was hilly, curvy, steep, and not big-rig friendly. However, our 36' motorhome would not be a problem getting around this park, especially if we unhook the toad (car). This campground is known for being inhabited by black rabbits (we saw all colors), and they're everywhere! Sort of over run actually. The park is on the hillside overlooking the ocean and is definitely one we want to visit again.

At the end of the day, and I mean 0-dark-30, we returned to Thousand Trails Whalers Rest where we had been staying. Whalers Rest is also a beautiful park with both shaded and sunny sites. In Oregon I've learned that sunny sites are usually better. IF the sun comes out you want to be in a place to catch some rays. This park is also close to the beach, with only a 4 minute walk across Highway 101. This was my favorite park so far with the interesting beaches oozing with agates and gemstones.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you come back for the next post when I'll share the vistas and scenic pullouts of the return trip.