Travel from Buxton to Welches, Oregon

We drove our coach 77 miles, about two hours of driving, from Buxton, Oregon to Welches, Oregon.

This is the start of our eastern migration, as we head from the west coast toward the east coast, ending the year in Florida.

Here’s the map route, heading east:

Route

Interactive map (no stops):

We drove our coach and truck separately to the welcome center, as a convenient place to toad up:

Connected truck to coach

Toaded up

Leaving the state park:

Leaving state park

Roadworks, replacing a bridge:

Roadworks

Heavy traffic near the Vista Ridge tunnel, as usual:

Heavy traffic

Traffic map

Freeway tunnel

Freeway tunnel

Freeway tunnel

A bike and pedestrian bridge over the Willamette River:

Bike and pedestrian bridge over Willamette River

Jenn driving, with a glimpse of downtown Portland beyond:

Jenn driving with Portland beyond

Portland downtown:

Portland downtown

Overpasses:

Overpasses

Freeway with the convention center towers in the background:

Freeway with convention center in the background

Bridge:

Bridge

MAX light rail station:

MAX light rail station

A water tower and a glimpse of Mt Hood:

Water tower and glimpse of Mt Hood

A plane coming in for a landing, and Mt Hood:

Plane and Mt Hood

We took NE 238th Drive, which used to be unsuitable for RVs and trucks, but was widened a few years ago:

NE 238th Drive

Some somewhat close trees:

Trees

Our RV GPS kept warning of 40 foot length limits, which no longer applied since the road was improved. It’s a nice feature when up-to-date, though:

40 foot length limit message

Totally fine, though:

NE 238th Drive

Turning on to Burnside Road (with some roadworks; good thing we didn’t want to go straight):

Turning on to Burnside Road

US-26 highway:

US-26 highway

US-26 highway

Downtown Sandy:

Downtown Sandy

Our homestead was somewhat near Sandy (25 minutes away, but it was where we went shopping). But we never made it to the rather distinctive Joes Donut Shop:

Joes Donut Shop

Mt Hood Pet Resort was where we took our dog for playtime and boarding, often grabbing a coffee at Mountain Moka Cafe next door:

Mt Hood Pet Resort and Mountain Moka Cafe

Interesting structure:

Interesting structure

A glimpse of Mt Hood:

Glimpse of Mt Hood

Glimpse of Mt Hood

Glimpse of Mt Hood

Motorcycles:

Motorcycles

Our destination, Mt Hood Village:

Mt Hood Village

Mt Hood Village

Driving to our site:

Driving to our site

Our site before parking:

Our site before parking

Our site before parking

Our site before parking

When we get into a site, we are always careful when opening cupboards and the fridge for the first time, as things can shift. On this occasion, our fridge was rather full, and an expensive bottle of bubbly, some juice, and some food fell down; if we had just pulled the fridge door open without being careful, they would have smashed on the floor, and we would have been very sad:

Fallen items in fridge

LL Stub Stewart State Park, Dairy Creek East

We stayed in the Dairy Creek East campground of LL Stub Stewart State Park in Buxton, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We stayed here last year in the west loop, and really enjoyed it. So we decided to stay again this year, this time in the east loop.

Unfortunately it was a relatively late change to our plans, so we weren’t able to get a more private site on the outside of the loop, but we still enjoyed our stay.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-06-25
  • Check out: 2023-06-30
  • 5 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 73-79°F, lows around 46-50°F
  • Fairly negligible wind, up to 23 MPH gusts

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train noise
  • Quite a lot of neighbor noise (kids playing)

Site:

  • #81, back in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • Unlevel; used blocks on the front jacks
  • Large site: about 28 feet long asphalt driveway, plus about 40 feet long and 35 feet wide gravel area
  • Grass between sites, about 25 feet space between sites, about 75 feet behind
  • Picnic table and fire pit on gravel

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 47 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 8-11 Mbps down, 12-18 Mbps up, 28-90 ms ping
  • AT&T: 105 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 32 ms ping
  • Verizon: 25-42 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 30-140 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage compactor and recycling outside campground entrance
  • No pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice state park in the Coast Range

This was our second time staying here, and have enjoyed it both times. Last year, we stayed in the West Loop and enjoyed the trees. This year, because it was a last-minute plan, we got a site on the inside of the East Loop. I would have preferred an outside site on the East Loop, as the inner sites have no trees or shade and back up onto a large grassy area where people play loud field games. Still, the sites in both loops are large, with plenty of room for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle, a screen tent, a fire pit, and a picnic table. We would definitely stay again and make sure to plan in advance to get a site on the outside of the loop. We camped at L.L. Stub Stewart Memorial State Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

An embedded map, that you can zoom and scroll around:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Even though we only stayed five nights, we set up the CLAM tent, in part to help discourage people from taking a shortcut through our site, since we were next to a path leading to the bathroom block:

Our site

Our site

Our site

We both worked outside in the tent at various times:

Our site

The aforementioned path, with our coach visible in the background:

Path

At the other end of the path, the bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

A camp host ran after this T@B trailer to tell them that their tongue jack was still down; oops (T@B trailers are cute; this is a slightly larger one than the one Jenn’s father has):

T@B trailer

Earlier in the week there were a lot of empty sites:

Empty sites

Central grassy area, with the playground in the background:

Playground

Playground

Playground

We would have preferred a site on the outside of the loop, but we still really like this campground, despite all the kids. We generally like state park campgrounds a lot.

Travel from Shelton, Washington to Buxton, Oregon

We drove our coach 180+ miles, about three hours of driving, from our home base in Shelton, Washington to Buxton, Oregon.

Here’s the map route, heading south (exact origin omitted for privacy):

Route

Interactive map, with potential stops:

We were “moochdocking” at our home base, with 15 amp electric, water, and no sewer. We had showers and most bathroom usage in the house, while sleeping in our coach. But our grey and black tanks still reached about half full over the two weeks we were there. We dumped them at our destination:

Tank levels

Paladin on passenger chair prior to departure; he would probably have preferred to stay there, but sorry, I need that chair:

Paladin on passenger chair

When you come to a fork in the road, take it:

When you come to a fork in the road, take it

US-101 South:

US-101 South

Heading to I-5 South:

Heading to I-5 South

A motorhome towing a boat; we wondered if they had another vehicle to put the boat in the water, or had just bought it and were transporting it somewhere, or something:

Motorhome towing a boat

We stopped at a Love’s for fuel, with an extra long truck and trailers going out the entrance:

Extra long truck and trailers going out the entrance

Fuel stop

Fuel stop

80 gallons of diesel; our first fuel stop since Eugene:

80 gallons of diesel

Bridge:

Bridge

Paladin wasn’t having a good time; sometimes he forgets about travel days:

Paladin

I-5 and Columbia River:

I-5 and Columbia River

Another bridge:

Bridge

Nice day for a Classic Beetle convertible:

Classic Beetle convertible

A pickup with oversized tires crossed the median barrier and got stuck, causing miles of slow traffic in both directions:

Pickup stuck on median barrier

Pickup stuck on median barrier

Rough concrete roads almost worthy of California in southern Washington:

Roads worthy of California

Interstate bridge:

Interstate bridge

Entering Oregon:

Entering Oregon

Entering Portland:

Entering Portland

Exit to west:

Exit to west

Fremont Bridge:

Fremont Bridge

A glimpse of downtown Portland from the bridge:

Downtown Portland

Fremont Bridge

Downtown Portland

Freeway tunnel:

Freeway tunnel

Paladin hadn’t been using the steps, so I closed the step cover, and re-introduced him to his safe space next to the passenger chair; he was happier there:

Paladin back in his safe space

Arriving at our destination, Stub Stewart State Park:

Stub Stewart State Park

Stub Stewart State Park

Stub Stewart State Park

Untoading at the welcome center:

Untoading at welcome center

Welcome center

Untoading at welcome center

I followed our coach to our site:

Following coach

Following coach

I parked the truck by the bathroom, and took the path to our site:

Parked truck by bathroom

Our site before parking:

Our site before parking

Preparing to back into our site:

Preparing to back into our site

15 amp to 50 amp power adapter

While staying at our Washington home base, we “moochdocked”, plugging our coach in to the house power.

15 amp power from a house isn’t enough to run air conditioners or multiple heavy-draw gadgets like the microwave, but is enough to keep our fridge going, power computers, and keep the batteries charged for the 12 volt lights and such.

To do this, I previously used a 15-to-30 amp adapter and a 30-to-50 amp adapter (“dogbone”). But this time I bought an adapter that goes straight from the 15 amps to 50 amps plugs, along with a surge protector:

15-to-50 amp adapter

15-to-50 amp adapter

I also bought a heavy-duty 30-foot, 50-amp extension cord to reach from inside the house to our coach (in addition to the cord on the reel built in to the coach):

Extension cord

I plugged the power cord from our coach into my Power Watchdog smart surge protector, as usual, then connected that to the extension cord, which went through a window into the house:

Cable through window

And into the adapter, which was plugged in to an outlet in the house:

Plugged in to house

(We did try plugging in to an outside outlet, but it popped the breaker, as that was on the same circuit as a freezer in the garage.)

We had to be careful not to use too much power at a time. The Power Watchdog was useful in monitoring this, since it has an app that connects via Bluetooth that shows the current power usage. But we managed.

Staying at campgrounds, we won’t need this adapter and extension cable, but useful to have when moochdocking.

Baseball: Ferry to Seattle, Mariners team store

We took the fast ferry from Bremerton to Seattle, Washington, to go to the Mariners team store, and walk a little around the city.

Fast ferry

Fast ferry

Fast ferry

Lumen Field for feetball:

Lumen Field

T-Mobile Park baseball field:

T-Mobile Park

T-Mobile Park

Mariners Team Store:

Mariners Team Store

Mariners Team Store

Mariners Team Store

Pioneer Square and environs:

Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square

MOD Pizza for dinner:

MOD Pizza

MOD Pizza

MOD Pizza

Seattle

Seattle

Seattle

Skylight for underground area:

Skylight for underground

Seattle

Seattle

Seattle

Seattle

Seattle

Line for ferry:

Line for ferry

Glimpse of stadiums:

Glimpse of stadiums

Baseball: Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox

We took Mom to a Seattle Mariners baseball game.

Jenn’s game summary:

The Mariners lost 4-3 in 11. They had the lead most of the game until Sewald blew the save and went into extra innings. Saucedo really blew it then. J.P. Crawford led with a home run on the first pitch. It was “Salute to the Negro Leagues” day so they wore Steelheads uniforms and everything had a retro vibe, which was cool. The roof was closed, so it was not the best day for baseball, but it’s still a beautiful ballpark. Sat in the Club level, but couldn’t park in the connecting lot—$60 to park two blocks away.

T-Mobile Park:

T-Mobile Park

Jenn with a picture of her hero, Cal Raleigh:

Jenn with a picture of her hero, Cal Raleigh

View from the club level:

View from the club level

Media booths:

Media booths

Pizza:

Pizza

Mariner Moose:

Moose

Play ball!

Play ball!

Salute to the Negro Leagues Day:

Salute to the Negro Leagues Day

Closed roof:

Closed roof

Home run!

Home run!

Home run trident:

Home run trident

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Line for food (fairly fast moving):

Line for food

Stands

Fish and chips:

Fish and chips

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Retro sailboat race:

Sailboat race

Baseball

Selfie:

Selfie

Panorama:

Panorama

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Moose

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Our Washington home

We stayed at our official domicile, aka Mom’s house, in Shelton, Washington.

It was good to be home! An opportunity to catch up on dentists, doctors, optometrists, etc, and of course with family.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-06-11
  • Check out: 2023-06-25
  • 14 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy, a little drizzle
  • High temps ranging between 64-83°F, lows around 47-53°F
  • Wind gusts to 26 MPH in the area, though much less when sheltered amongst trees

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train noise
  • Occasional neighbor noise

Site:

  • Front in, gravel and concrete
  • Disconnected toad; parked next to coach
  • Fairly level

Utilities:

  • Only 15 amp power from the house
  • 27 PSI water from the house (just used to top up tank)
  • No sewer

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 12-37 Mbps down, 8-23 Mbps up, 32-50 ms ping
  • House Wi-Fi: 12 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 20 ms ping
  • AT&T: 13 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • Verizon: 16-26 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 53-84 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: no service

Amenities:

  • House

Our coach parked in front of the house:

Coach parked in front of the house

Coach parked in front of the house

Coach parked in front of the house

Coach parked in front of the house

A pile of packages waiting for us:

A pile of packages waiting for us