Travel from Eatonville to Shelton, Washington

We drove our coach 84 miles, about 2.5 hours of driving, from Eatonville, Washington to Mom’s place near Shelton, Washington.

The map route, heading northwest (exact destination omitted for privacy):

Map route

Jenn driving our coach:

Jenn driving our coach

Paladin:

Paladin

Windy road:

Windy road

We turn around our knife block to prevent it from falling over while driving… but forgot this time, oops:

Knife block fell over

I picked it up while we were driving down the road; Paladin watching me, plus the GPS on the TV:

Paladin

A water tower:

Water tower

Not a huge fan of tight roundabouts in our coach:

Roundabout

Entering I-5:

Entering I-5

Paladin on the dash; unusual when driving:

Paladin

Shelton exit:

Shelton exit

Shelton sign:

Shelton sign

Not a huge fan of this narrow bridge in Shelton, either:

Shelton bridge

Paladin on my lap:

Paladin

Not a huge fan of the narrow roads near the destination, too:

Narrow road

But happy to arrive at Mom’s place. Here’s our coach and truck in their driveway:

Coach and truck at Mom's place

Slides in:

Coach and truck at Mom's place

Slides out:

Coach and truck at Mom's place

While “moochdocking” at Mom’s place, we hooked up the coach to an electrical outlet in the house. Our coach has a 50 amp cord, so we used an adapter to convert the 15 amp house plug to a 30 amp connector, and another to our 50 amp cord:

15 amp to 50 amp connectors

Not enough power to run ACs, but it keeps the fridge going, plus lights and such.

Me in the backyard:

David in backyard

We spent a week at Mom’s place, sleeping in our coach to keep Paladin company, showering and hanging out in the house during the day. It was great to spend time with Mom and Mike. Thanks for putting up with us!

Alder Lake Park Rocky Point Campground

We stayed at Alder Lake Park Rocky Point Campground in Eatonville, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A delightful lakeside view.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-08-07
Check out: 2022-08-09
2 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps 90°F, lows at 58°F
No significant wind

Noise:

Next to a highway, so a bunch of road noise; no train noise
No significant neighbor noise

Site:

#423, pull through, asphalt
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Not very level, sloped down from the driver side
Smallish site: about 60 feet long by about 25 feet wide
Partial hookups:

50 amp power conveniently located
55 PSI water pressure; conveniently located
No sewer

Picnic table, fire pit on gravel
Several trees on the driver side for privacy

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 55 Mbps down, 22 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
AT&T: 1 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 682 ms ping
Verizon: 8 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage bin

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Lovely view of the lake and close to Mt Rainier

We stayed at the Rocky Point campground in site 423 and had the best view of the lake from our site. However, getting to the site was a little gnarly with our 40′ motorhome, as the road inside the park is very winding and narrow with many overhanging trees. The site was one of the few pull-throughs in the campground and just long enough for our motorhome and tow vehicle. There wasn’t a camp host on duty, but it was pretty easy to just go to our site and get settled. A ranger came by while we were at Mt. Rainier the next day and left our check-in paperwork under our wiper. There’s easy access to the day use area next door, so it was nice to cool off on a warm afternoon. The only limiting factor to this campground is the lack of a sewer connection at each site; otherwise, we would have happily stayed for much longer than two nights. We camped at Alder Lake Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map sign

A delightful lake view from our site:

Lake view

Our site

Our site:

Our site

Only electric and water hookups:

Utilities

Not a sewer dump:

Not a sewer dump

Lake view:

Lake view

Dinner with a view:

Dinner with a view

View from our site:

View from our site

Moon:

Moon

Moon and lake

Another night:

Moon and lake

Aerial views:

Aerial view

Day use area:

Aerial view

Entrance:

Entrance

Campground full:

Campground full

The road in the campground was a bit tight for our coach:

Narrow road

Tiny trailer and tent:

Tiny trailer and tent

Gate to the day use area:

Gate to day use area

Day use area:

Day use area

Cooling feet

Lake

Mt Hood Village RV & Camping Resort

We stayed at Mt Hood RV & Camping Resort in Welches, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice Thousand Trails Encore park.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-07-25
Check out: 2022-08-07
13 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny
High temps ranging between 77-98°F, lows around 54-67°F
No significant wind

Noise:

No road noise or train noise
Not much neighbor noise (kids and dogs)

Site:

Vine Maple Hollow #78, back in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach (on gravel)
Fairly level, sloped up a little at the back
Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 30 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power conveniently located
50 PSI water pressure (we boosted from our tank); fairly conveniently located
Reasonable sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10 foot hoses used)

Picnic table, fire pit on gravel
Several trees for privacy

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 53 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 72 ms ping
AT&T: 6 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 27 ms ping
Verizon: 8 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
T-Mobile: no service
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Indoor pool
Onsite restaurant

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice campground close to Mt Hood

This park has a nice mix of sites close to all sorts of outdoor activities in the area. We were grateful to be under the tall trees during the worst of the heat even if it meant the Starlink was pretty useless. There are newer sites that have no trees, but they were baking in the sun. You really need to weigh your priorities when making your site reservation. The roads are a bit narrow in spots, and they have a few trees that need to be trimmed, but overall we had no trouble getting our 40′ motorhome around to our site. We really enjoyed the on-site restaurant. Their breakfasts are awesome. We camped at Mt Hood Village RV Resort in a Motorhome.

The RV park map; it a large park, with multiple campgrounds within it, separated into short-term and long-term RVs, plus cabins:

Map

An embedded map (that you can zoom and pan around):

Weather:

Weather

Our site:

Our site

Our bikes:

Bikes

The screen tent:

Screen tent

We moved the picnic table out of the way, since we have our own in the tent:

Screen tent

A big rock on the neighboring site:

Big rock

Utilities:

Utilities

I got out my ladder to access the roof; I attached knee pads to it to protect the edge of the roof:

Ladder

The main reason for the ladder was to remove a branch that I’d noticed was wedged up there:

Branch

I also took some pics of the roof, since this was the first time I’ve used the ladder to access it (and I’ve still never been on the roof):

Roof

We took Paladin out into the screen tent:

Paladin

David and Paladin

Paladin

Some aerial photos from my drone:

Aerial

Campground

Roof

The village has a restaurant and store:

Restaurant and store

Village store:

Village store

Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery:

Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery

Breakfast:

Breakfast

Dinner:

Dinner

Plus a game room:

Game room

And indoor pool:

Indoor pool

We were in the Vine Maple Hollow campground (a bit harsh to call the children slow):

Vine Maple Hollow

Campsites

Our neighbor had a catio:

Campsites

Another catio:

Catio

Some campgrounds were a bit more exposed:

Campsites

Monthly sites available:

Monthly sites

Campsites

More campsites:

Campsites

Tiny homes and cabins:

Tiny homes

A nice park. We’ll likely be back here again in the future.

CLAM screen tent

Another useful addition to our campsites: we purchased a 9×9 CLAM pop-up screen tent, to provide shade and/or protection from bugs.

It’s pretty compact folded up in its bag:

Bag

It pops up quickly by pulling tabs in the center of each wall:

Popping up

Popped up, with wind and sun panels attached, and tie-down ropes attached, sitting on a new outdoor mat:

Popped up

With our chairs and small table inside:

With our chairs

Chairs and table

We also got a combo light and fan that can hang from the ceiling, or sit on the table:

Light and fan

On our site:

On our site

We brought Paladin outside in his harness and leash; only the second time he’s been outside, so he was a bit unsure about it:

Paladin

Jenn and Paladin

Paladin

Eating dinner in the tent:

Dinner

Propane fire pit

Back in November last year we purchased a portable propane fire pit, which we carried around in the back of our truck for several months without using it, for various reasons — mostly because we tend to go inside in evenings (remember that we’re not on vacation, but living our life on the road), and when we do sit outside, it’s usually too warm to need a fire.

But having enjoyed the wood fire in Bend, we finally got around to using our fire pit at Stub Stewart:

Here it is, with the cover on, looking a bit dusty:

Propane fire pit

Connected to the propane cylinder:

Propane fire pit

Let there be light!

Propane fire pit

A GIF of it on high:

Propane fire pit

And a GIF of it on low, with me working on my laptop next to the fire:

Propane fire pit

Another GIF, while watching YouTube videos on another day:

GIF

LL Stub Stewart State Park, Dairy Creek West

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

A pleasant state park.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-07-11
Check out: 2022-07-25
14 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny
High temps ranging between 73-90°F, lows around 49-62°F
No significant wind

Noise:

No road noise or train noise
Some neighbor noise (kids and dogs), mostly quiet
Crows making a racket on the roof

Site:

#46, back in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach (on asphalt)
Fairly level, once we moved the coach away from the edge
Large site: about 64 feet long by about 45 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power conveniently located
30 PSI water pressure (we boosted from our tank); conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10 foot hoses used)

Picnic table, fire pit on gravel
Several trees for privacy

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 4 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 38 ms ping
AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
Verizon: 30 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 23 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage compactor and recycling outside campground entrance
No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Huge sites in a beautiful park

We loved our stay at this campground. Our site was beautifully tucked into the trees, and it just felt like what a campground should be. The place has an awesome vibe. It feels like a rustic campground but has full hookups. It feels like you’re a long way from anywhere, but it’s pretty convenient to Hwy 26, so you can head to Portland or the Coast for an easy day trip. The camp hosts are really on top of things; they rake and tidy things up almost as soon as the previous occupant has left. And the sites are just massive. We had room for our 40′ motorhome, tow vehicle, screen tent with table and chairs, plus the campground-provided picnic table and firepit, with room left over. I can see why this park is popular with groups. We saw several campers with multiple sites booked, who all hung out at one site in the evenings.

We stayed in the West campground, which has a lot more trees around the loop than the East one and has a few that need to be trimmed along the road because they twanged the antenna on top of our rig, but it’s a minor thing because we will stay here again when we’re in the area. 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 before parking:

Our site

Our coach in our site:

Our site

From the hill behind the site (and yes, the tent is new; I’ll do a separate post about that):

Our site

A peek of the roof:

Roof

Woods behind our site:

Woods behind our site

A murder of crows; they had an annoying habit of walking on our roof, making a racket:

Murder of crows

The crows did enjoy the drip tray of our griddle:

Crow on griddle

Another recent addition was a milk crate to help carry and stabilize the propane cylinder:

Milk crate for propane cylinder

Griddle breakfast for dinner:

Griddle breakfast for dinner

More pics of our site:

Our site

Another dinner:

Dinner

Oh deer:

Deer

Levitating squirrel:

Squirrel

Butterfly:

Butterfly

Another deer:

Another deer

Aerial views of our site:

Aerial view of our site

Aerial view of other sites

Let’s explore. The welcome center:

Welcome center

The campground didn’t have any garbage bins or dumpsters, but did have a trash compactor just outside:

Trash compactor

And it being Oregon, of course there were lots of recycling bins, too:

Recycling

Self registration station for late arrivals:

Self registration station

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

More bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Tent sites:

Tent sites

Other RV sites:

Other RV sites

We will probably come back here in the future, but might like to stay on the opposite side of the road, for better shade. Site 41 could be a good choice:

Site 41

Or site 43:

Site 43

Or site 45:

Site 45

Behind site 45:

Behind site 45

A seating area by a path to the adjacent campground:

Seating area

We were in Dairy Creek Campground West; the East campground is nearby:

Dairy Creek Campground East

Both campgrounds have a couple of Park Hosts:

Park Host

Dairy Creek Campground East is a bit more open:

Dairy Creek Campground East

This campground might be better for our coach; it brushed some of the foliage in the west campground. Sites 82, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90, and 92 would all be excellent choices for afternoon shade and a decent amount of privacy:

Site 82

A very nice couple of campgrounds. We’ll likely stay here again when visiting Portland.

Video

Video: three Oregon campgrounds in six minutes

A short timelapse from our stays at three RV parks in Oregon: Fish House Inn & RV Park in Dayville, Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver RV Campground in Bend, and Gill’s Landing RV Park in Lebanon.

Gill’s Landing RV Park

We stayed at Gill’s Landing RV Park in Lebanon, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

This is a small city park, and quite nice.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-07-05
Check out: 2022-07-11
6 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, some drizzle
High temps ranging between 74-82°F, lows around 52-60°F
No significant wind

Noise:

No road noise; occasional train noise
Some neighbor noise (kids and dogs)

Site:

#6, back in, cement
Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
Level
Large site: about 60 feet long by about 40 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power somewhat conveniently located
25-60 PSI water pressure (pressure drops with usage, so we boosted from our tank); conveniently located
Non-threaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10 foot hoses used)

Picnic table, fire pit

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 14-24 Mbps down, 25 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 32 ms ping
Verizon: 1-17 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45-75 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage bins
No pool
River

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Beautiful city park on the river

This is a small, lovely RV park right on the Santiam River. All the sites are back-in and pretty large, arranged around a central circle. Our site backed up against trees so it felt nice and private. There’s a nice multi-purpose path that runs along the river for biking or walking. Hardly any traffic or train noise, so it was a very pleasant, quiet stay. We camped at Gills Landing RV Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

The sites are all back-in, so we needed to disconnect our truck from our coach on arrival:

Tow bar

Our site:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

The water pressure is inconsistent; a nice 60 PSI, but drops to 25 PSI when in use. So we filled our fresh water tank and used that to boost the pressure:

Water pressure

Info notices:

Info notices

Rail bridge over the entrance:

Rail bridge

RV sites:

RV sites

Parking:

Parking

Rail bridge:

Rail bridge

Road bridge:

Road bridge

Rail bridge

Bridges over the South Santiam River:

Bridges

Picnic shelters:

Picnic shelters

South Santiam River and boat ramp:

River

Standing in river

Life jacket loaner station:

Life jacket loaner station

There are extensive trails around the city:

Trail

Trails

More RV sites:

RV sites

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

The river boat ramp is a popular place:

River

Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver RV Campground

We stayed at Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver RV Campground in Bend, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

Check in: 2022-06-29
Check out: 2022-07-05
6 nights

Weather:

Partly sunny, drizzle
High temps ranging between 66-84°F, lows around 44-53°F
A little afternoon wind
A couple of afternoon thunderstorms

Noise:

No road or train noise
Some neighbor noise (kids and dogs)

Site:

#A4, back in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
Somewhat level
Very large site: about 65 feet long by about 60 feet wide
Partial hookups:

50 amp power somewhat conveniently located
65 PSI water pressure; not very conveniently located
No sewer connection

Picnic table, fire pit

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 18-25 Mbps down, 9-14 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 32 ms ping
Verizon: 27 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 29 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
Two pools, closed
River
Various games

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Sites: Good, Amenities: Bad

The amenities are definitely tired and in need of upgrades and refurbishment, but the campsites are all nestled amongst the pines which is nice. We were able to snag one of the very limited 50 amp sites, which was a bonus. Our site was also quite large. After I cleaned up all the trash left by previous campers, it was quite a nice spot. Not having a sewer connection is the main limiting factor for us, so rather than stay two weeks, we only stayed six days. Even still, the next time we want to visit Central Oregon, we’ll be back. We camped at Bend-Sunriver RV Campground in a Motorhome.

The RV park map; it’s a little hard to tell the blue 50 amp sites from the green 30 amp sites, but the 50 amp ones are limited to the lower-right corner of the map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Fire pit:

Fire pit

We got a harness for Paladin, and have been getting him used to wearing it. During this stay, we briefly took him outside for the first time. Unsurprisingly, he was somewhat freaked out by the experience. We’ll do more practice later:

David and Paladin

We added another National Park sticker for Crater Lake:

National Park stickers

Burger and chips:

Burger and chips

Toasting marshmallows:

Toasting marshmallows

S’mores:

S'mores

A squirrel visiting our site:

Squirrel

Also a rabbit:

Rabbit

Let’s look around. The entrance:

Entrance

A little lending library:

Library

Town marshal decoration:

Town marshal

Lightfingers Lew:

Lightfingers Lew

Blacksmith:

Blacksmith

Seating area:

Seating area

Country store:

Country store

Store

They have a propane tank, but no longer fill propane for guests:

Propane

Wild rabbits:

Rabbits

Horseshoe pits:

Horseshoes

Pond:

Pond

Mini golf:

Mini golf

There are a couple of swimming pools, but both are empty (and have been for some time, by the sounds of things):

Empty swimming pool

Closed swimming pool

Other RVs, yurts, and cabins:

Other RVs

Other sites

Neighboring site

Rabbits:

Rabbit

Little Deschutes River snakes by the park:

Little Deschutes River

Mountain

Little Deschutes River

Me following our coach when leaving:

Our coach

A line for the dump station; since there was no sewer connection, we (and others) wanted to dump our waste tanks before leaving:

Dump station line

The dump station:

Dump station

Exiting:

Exit

Fish House Inn & RV Park

We stayed at Fish House Inn & RV Park in Dayville, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

Check in: 2022-06-25
Check out: 2022-06-29
4 nights

Weather:

Mosty sunny
High temps ranging between 85-100°F, lows around 49-60°F
A little afternoon wind, only gusting to 21 MPH (not very much)

Noise:

No road or train noise
A little neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

#7, back in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
Not very level
Somewhat large site: about 70 feet long by about 28 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power conveniently located
90 PSI water pressure; conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10 foot hoses used)

Picnic table

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 100 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
Verizon: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used
AT&T: no service
T-Mobile: no service

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
No pool

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Fantastic boutique campground

This campground truly is a gem. It’s a small park tucked away in a small town, with all the charm that conjures in the imagination. All the sites are back-in and surrounded by well-manicured lawns and many big trees. Reservation and check-in were all done online and were very efficient. No phone service, but we were able to find enough sky through the trees to get a decent Starlink connection. We camped at Fish House Inn and RV Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Fish House map