A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 90 miles from Eugene, Oregon to South Beach, Oregon.
Author: David
Travel from Eugene to South Beach, Oregon
We drove our coach just 90 miles, about two hours of driving, from Eugene, Oregon to South Beach, Oregon.
As mentioned last week, we had an appointment at Oregon Motorcoach Center for some servicing, so we drove from our overnight county park stay to the motorcoach center, and killed a few hours in their waiting room and going out to lunch, then we were on our way to our next stop, back at the coast.
Here’s the map route, heading north then west:
An interactive map, with potential stops marked; we didn’t need to stop:
After our service appointment at Oregon Motorcoach Center, we headed north on 99W:
Barns:
Hazelnut trees:
A bridge over the Willamette River in Corvallis:
Corvallis county court house:
The Corvallis Meat Pie Shop, featuring Aussie-style meat pies; we enjoyed sampling their wares the last time we were in town. Alas, just passing through this time (and no parking for a 60-foot coach and toad!):
Bigfoot:
Historical society building:
Trees:
Newport bridge:
Newport bay:
Our destination, Thousand Trails Whaler’s Rest:
As is common with Thousand Trails, we parked our coach by the entrance, unhooked our truck, and drove around to find a suitable site (which was a major challenge here; see tomorrow’s post):
Security gate:
A very tight curve; this park isn’t particularly big rig friendly:
Replaced chassis batteries and more at Oregon Motorcoach Center
We had a service appointment at Oregon Motorcoach Center in Eugene, Oregon:
Several other Tiffins being serviced, which (along with our previous experience here) helps gives us confidence that they know what they’re doing:
Waiting room:
We had them replace our engine air filter, an important annual maintenance item. Plus got them to fix a noise with our driver-side bedroom slide-out.
Lastly, we got them to replace our chassis batteries, as they weren’t holding their charge well. Our original batteries:
New batteries (and nicely cleaned out):
Once done, they moved our coach so we could hook up our truck:
A nice easy half-day service visit.
Armitage Park Campground
We stayed at Armitage Park Campground in Eugene, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A nice county park, amazingly with availability for a last-minute booking, as we decided to get closer to Oregon Motorcoach for an appointment the following day.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-05-21
- Check out: 2023-05-22
- 1 night
Weather:
- Partly cloudy
- High temp of 68°F, low around 43°F
- Negligible wind
Noise:
- A little freeway noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #8, pull-through, asphalt
- Didn’t disconnect toad
- Level
- Large site: about 130 feet long by about 45 feet wide
- Picnic table & fire pit on grass
- Tall trees
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 50 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 13 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 26 ms ping
- AT&T: 4 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
- Verizon: 8 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 36 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Nice park by the river
We booked a one-night stay here as an interim stop on our way to Oregon Motorcoach for some service and would have loved to stay longer and explore a bit more. The campground was close to the highway but still pretty quiet. The walk down to and around the river, under the big leaf maples, was very pleasant after a day of driving. The only potential negative was that our pull-through site (site 8) had the living area on the “island” between the site and the road, which means it wasn’t very private. The site was perfectly level with good hookups. We camped at Armitage Park in a Motorhome.
Interactive map:
No paper map, but here’s a screenshot from the booking site:
Our site:
Utilities:
Bees!
Other sites:
Video: Florence to Eugene, Oregon motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 68 miles from Florence, Oregon to Eugene, Oregon.
Travel from Florence to Eugene, Oregon
We drove our coach just 68 miles, about one hour of driving, from Florence, Oregon to Eugene, Oregon.
We had an appointment at Oregon Motorcoach Center for some servicing, and had originally planned to drive from the coast to Eugene, but decided to make it easier on ourselves by doing that drive the day before, staying one night in a county park. Very fortunate that we were able to snag a reservation at the last minute.
Here’s the map route, heading east:
An interactive map:
Since were were parking under trees, I used my 360 camera to examine the slide toppers for debris:
Preparing to leave:
Pulling out of our site:
Driving through the campground:
Preparing to toad up; I had driven our truck to the toading area by the pool, then walked back to help guide our coach:
Approaching the exit:
Since we didn’t have a sewer connection, we used the dump station on the way out:
People waiting for the Memorial Day parade in Florence:
Siuslaw River:
A tunnel; always a little nerve-wracking in our coach:
Jenn driving:
She has back and side cameras (with our truck visible), a built-in RV-safe GPS, and a GPS on her phone:
Paladin on the steps:
Joining I-5 North:
A fuel stop:
The 150-gallon diesel tank was only quarter full; we usually don’t let it get below half, but there weren’t a lot of suitable fuel options on the coast:
100 gallons of fuel, so I guess it was actually a third full:
Bridge:
Our destination, Armitage County Park:
Checking in:
Our site:
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area
The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is one of the largest expanses of temperate coastal sand dunes in the world.
South Jetty:
Umpqua Beach:
Thousand Trails South Jetty RV & Camping Resort
We stayed at Thousand Trails South Jetty RV & Camping Resort in Florence, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)
We were concerned about this RV park, but it turned out to be quite nice. No sewer, but that’s fine for four nights.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-05-17
- Check out: 2023-05-21
- 4 nights
Weather:
- Mostly cloudy
- High temps ranging between 60-61°F, lows around 52-54°F
- A little wind, but sheltered by trees
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise weekdays, more noise on the weekend
- Frequent noise from a nearby go-kart racetrack
Site:
- #E124, back in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
- Surprisingly level (many sites here are not)
- Medium site: about 50 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- Picnic table, fire pit on gravel
- Tall trees
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 60 PSI water, conveniently located
- No sewer
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 10-36 Mbps down, 1-3 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
- AT&T: 26-38 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 64 ms ping
- Verizon: 1 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up,138-249 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
In the thick of the trees
As is typical for Thousand Trails, this campground was first come, first served. They have limited FHU sites, so good luck getting a sewer connection, as they seem to mostly be taken by seasonal/annual users, but we were still able to get a 50 amp site that was long enough for us. We really enjoyed the ambience of being surrounded by trees, however, the Go Kart track up the road was quite noisy and went late into the evening. Despite that and the lack of sewer connection, we wish we’d been able to stay longer. We camped at Thousand Trails South Jetty in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Check out the nearby Oregon Dunes Rec Area, Umpqua River lighthouse, and Heceta Head lighthouse. Chowder at Mo’s is always a “must do” at the Oregon Coast.
Interactive map:
Campground map:
Our site, tucked away in the trees:
Utilities; convenient power and water, no sewer:
Other empty sites, some rather short and unlevel:
More sites, with ours visible at the end of the road:
Dumpster:
One of several restrooms:
Grey water disposal:
A pleasant pathway through the woods to the pool:
Playground:
Pool; yes, people were actually swimming in it, despite the cold:
Activity center:
Video: Crescent City, California to Florence, Oregon motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 174 miles from Crescent City, California to Florence, Oregon.
Travel from Crescent City, California to Florence, Oregon
We drove our coach 174 miles, about three hours of driving, from Crescent City, California to Florence, Oregon.
Here’s the map route, heading north:
An interactive map, with possible stops marked:
Leaving the KOA campground; the road was a little tight:
We passed Last Chance Liquors just before the border to Oregon (on the other side of the sign, it is called First Chance Liquors!):
A strange place to park a boat:
California entry inspection station:
Chetco River:
A rest area stop:
Jenn driving:
Misty coast:
Rocky coast:
Bridge:
Another stop, at a large gravel area:
Rocky coast:
Sunken grade:
Welcome to Bandon:
Another bridge:
Somewhat low overpass:
A parking area:
We parked our coach there, and walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch:
Menu:
We both had clam chowder as an appetizer — notable as the first time I’ve had clam chowder (other than a taste), and the start of my seafood experiments; a separate post about that in due course:
I had my usual burger and fries (about the last time I had non-seafood for a main while traveling up the coast):
Jenn had fish and shrimp:
North Bend:
Another fancy bridge:
A glimpse of Oregon Dunes:
Lighthouse mural:
Another mural:
Yet another bridge:
Our destination, Thousand Trails South Jetty:
As we often do at Thousand Trails campgrounds, we parked our coach and untoaded, so we could drive our truck around to look for a site:
Unfortunately the few full-hookup sites were all taken, so we chose this site, which lacked a sewer hookup; we marked it with our tag:
Driving our coach to our site:
Our site before backing in; rather tucked into the trees:
Tomorrow, our review of this campground.