RWI018 – You think Austin is Weird, Try Portland
Oregon Coast – Natural Beauty
Leaving the Redwood forest of California, we headed up highway 101 to experience the Oregon Coast.
Julie found the Camp Blanco State Park that is situated on the coast and walking distance to Camp Blanco Lighthouse. Huge props to this state park that can handle big rigs with sites a deep as 80’. After a little struggle, Julie backed Diane into an available site that made us not want to ever go to RV Resorts again.
The site was huge and could handle both Jack and Diane and the Jeep. Huge hedges separated each site for total privacy. We also had a little forest grotto at the back of our site.
We took the Jeep down an access road and drove the grey beach for a few miles. Huge mounds of driftwood snuggled the golden cliffs along the entire coast as far as the eye could see.
Camp Blanco Lighthouse peninsula was covered in fog most of the time. The weather in this area was very weird to us. Foggy along the coast and as we drive inland the sun breaks through for a sunny day. The temperature shifts 20 degrees hotter within two miles.
On the second day, Julie and I took the coastal trail from the camp site to the lighthouse and were able to catch the lighthouse on a Sunny day. It was still jacket weather, but at least the fog was gone.
Scare of My Life
We continued our journey up coastal highway 101 with the plan to follow the coast as north as possible then turn East to Portland. We drive with a Garmin RV 770 NA LMT-S GPS Navigator. It is made for RV’s to route you on roads that can handle your length, weight and maneuverability. The GPS kept on trying to route us towards Portland and we kept ignoring the turns so we could continue up the 101.
The GPS states “Take the dirt road to your right 300 feet” I looked over at Julie and laughed and said. “I’m not taking a dirt road”. Then a big warning came across the GPS Low Bridge Ahead 11’ 11” and our rig is 13’6”. We were on a winding two lane road with no shoulders – mountain on our right, cliffs to the beach on our left. I began to panic and slowed down to 10 MPH trying to evaluate how I was going to get out of this situation. Even if I let all the air out of the tires, I would still be a foot too tall and it is impossible to do a U-turn with this big rig on this narrow road. We just passed our last “out” and backing up would become impossible once cars started piling up behind me.
Panicking I continued forward while my mind was calculating an exit plan. As we turned a corner, we spotted a Scenic Overlook on our left. Thanking God, we pulled in and let relief wash over us. We pulled into the overlook and headed to the other end where I would make a right turn and go back where we came from – disaster avoided.
Because we are so long, I must pull all the way to the left to exit and make a right turn. Julie noticed a truck right at the exit and warned me about hitting it with our camper tail swing. I watched closely out my mirror to make sure not to hit the red truck when Julie screamed. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw the camper tipped 45 degrees – almost at tipping point. The three right camper wheels were on top of a mound that was at the right side of the exit. I continued forward, figuring I was at the point of no return and watched the Diane settle back straight.
Heart beating out of my chest I pulled off at the next scenic overlook to survey the damage that had to have occurred from tipping so much. We entered Diane expecting to see broken stuff strewn everywhere. Fortunately, only a few light things fell over and cabinets swung open – Damage averted.
Falls City..Hidden Oasis
We reprogrammed the GPS for our next destination of Falls City and took every turn that she indicated.
Falls City population 900 our last destination in Oregon. We are moochdocking with friends of the family. Their property starts at the top of the falls that the city was named after and stretches ¼ mile upstream. They also have gardens, beehives and walking trails to maintain daily. We are able to mooch electrical, water and sewage while here – as our hosts have made their property RV ready.
While in Falls City, Julie was certified as a Cannabis Nurse and started her consultation site CannaNurse.Care. She also partnered with my brother Dave to start ReefNatural.com – a one stop shop for CBD products that can be shipped nationwide. CBD has many health benefits and is now sold with zero THC, making it legal in all 50 States. Julie and Dave see CBD as a healthy alternative to the pharmaceuticals (and their numerous side effects) and as a growing business once the stigma of Cannabis related products wears off and becomes more mainstream.
Julie and I also got a personal tour of a government regulated marijuana grow site high on a hill overlooking miles of Oregon land. Our host was the grower, and he took us through every stage of preparation, growth and processing.
At his site, everything is organic and natural from the fertilizer to the pest control. It was interesting to find out that the government requires cameras cover every plant and processing area. Every plant is accounted for – including the waste (stems, leaves, etc.) until it is processed, and the waste destroyed.
Once harvested, they have four minutes to strip each plant, trim the buds, package and label the product and put it in the freezer. Once the harvest is over, the product is then shipped to distributors or to be processed into oil.
Hiking The Coastline
Our location afforded us the ability to day trip to the Oregon Coast. Julie and I spent one afternoon hiking the Cascade Head trail near Three Rocks OR. The trail wound upward through densely forested areas to grassy hills to the cliff edge.
The day was perfect, and we were able to see for miles. We got pictures of God’s Thumb from the north and a rocky cove from cliffs edge.
Oregon coastline is perfect for awesome views and uninterrupted walks, not so good for sunbathing and swimming – even in July – unless you are ready for a Polar plunge.
One thing that you will notice on the Oregon coast is the absence of hotels that stretch for miles hosting the summer vacationers. Also, there is an abundance of driftwood pushed up against the cliffs, stacked like a Dinosaur boneyard.
The locals gather this wood and create little beach shanties to block the wind during a social gathering around the bonfire.
Portland Needs to Fix Its Homeless Problem
Our main attraction was to be Portland. Seen in many movies and TV shows, we had great expectations that Portland was going to be cool and weird.
I hate to speak ill of a place, but Portland is now a no go in my book and off the recommendation list for tourists. The places that we visited: Pearl district, Voodoo Donuts, Chinatown and waterfront park were full of homeless. Every block, every corner, every overpass. Tents and sloppy shelters were everywhere along the roads, sidewalks and underpasses.
While parking our Jeep to venture the area. A man was wiping his but in full view of the family and then proceeded to stare at the blood-soaked paper for 15-20 minutes. Wiping – staring – wiping – staring, we could not take our eyes off the spectacle. The image of homeless and blood-soaked paper is forever seared in my mind and how I remember Portland.
Austin recently passed an ordinance to let homeless live anywhere in the city except around the Capital. The Mayor of Austin needs to visit Portland to see the future of his City – it is not a pretty picture.
Adventure With Friends
One highlight of our visit was the arrival of the McGhee family. In and earlier blog, I wrote about our relationship with this family during our 16 years in San Antonio. Nichole has always wanted to visit Oregon and Washington, so they hopped on a plane and hung out with us for a couple weeks as we made our move.
Both families ventured into Portland for their benefit and we actually landed in an area where the Homeless are not so pronounced. A great little spot to visit is the Peculiarium which hosts a $5 tour of oddities. Not quite a freak show, but close to it.
We ate at a quaint sidewalk restaurant called the Tap and Table and had a refreshing re-visit of Portland. Next up – Voodoo Donuts a place with the weirdest assortment of donuts that turned out to be really good.
From there, we walked down to the waterfront to witness guys yelling at nothing and a woman bathing in the fountain (she at least covered herself with a towel). Bye-bye Portland.
While I was at work for the week, Julie packed up Diane and took off to Mt. Rainer to a riverside campground with plenty for both families to do. They were able to get some hiking in and visit the local town before packing it back up to head to Seattle….
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