Rain, Clouds, Rain, Clouds…bummer. Started raining in the night and rained off and on all day on the 23rd. We left about noon to move to the Chinook Casino in Lincoln City – about 1/2 north. Free camping and a view of the ocean! Glimpsed some huge kites – part of the kite festival being held in Lincoln City. Lots of traffic and people! Weather cleared up in the afternoon a bit.
June 24 still raining. Did a bit of shopping at Safeway and then on the road north. Highway 101, then to SR 18 where there is a scenic corridor through the H. B. van Duzer Forest. Followed the Salmon R for quite a while, twisting and turning. Then up to 500’ to a “snow zone”, skirting the Siuslaw Nat. Forest. Spotted a “Barber Litter Picker” (looks like a street sweeper) cleaning up the shoulders of the highway. Nice to have those alligators off the road. Saw a cute sign at the Pendleton Store: “Shearing our prices.”
Arrived at the Oregon City Elks Lodge RV Park which is about 18 miles south of Oregon City near the village of Mulino. Instructions were to look for a small sign above some mailboxes on this narrow winding road. Yup, there it was, but it was only a narrow winding lane through shrubs and weeds. We started down it…it said this was it! No place to turn around if it’s not. No signs. Finally after going past a couple of driveways to private homes, we spot a sign Elks and Guests only! Greeted warmly by Sandy the park caretaker. She remember our conversation when I called to make reservations. Led us to our campsite right on the banks of the Mulino River. What a wonderful green, natural place to be after so many weeks of asphalt parking lots! We both kind of gave a sign of relief! Lovely quiet spot!
Enjoyed happy hour in this beautiful setting. Then I made delicious shrimp, lime and cilantro tacos…yum.
June 26, we drove to cousin Chuck Hale’s home about 15 minutes north in Oregon City for 11:30 lunch and to look over Lord, Vinall and Hunter photos in his collection. Found some great tidbits which answered some mysteries in our tree, but we still have puzzles to solve. Had a wonderful lunch which he prepared, homemade pea soup using frozen peas which gave it the most wonderful fresh taste. A salad from his garden with garnish of nasturtium flowers and leaves…a wonderful spicy flavor to perk up the salad greens! Grilled cheese sandwiches were yummy as well…what a feast! While we indulged in the trip back in time through photos, Jerry took the truck to see about the squeaky brake on the Dodge. A Napa Care Center in Bend had done the work and we found another Napa Care Center in Oregon City. Apparently the Bend shop had neglected to grease one of the brake pads.
Then we traveled about 15 minutes further north to Clackamas and met our Boomer friends Chet and Gaye at the Sweet Tomatoes restaurant for dinner. Squeaked in before the 5 pm deadline and got our huge buffet dinner for $6.99! What a deal… Delicious food and great catch-up conversation! They invited us to come to the festival they have at their home in Twillingate, Newfoundland the 3rd week in July in 2014! Wouldn’t that be fun! Maybe…….
All in all a wonderful day!
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