Sutherlin/Umpqua Valley KOA Holiday

We stayed at Sutherlin/Umpqua Valley KOA Holiday in Sutherlin, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A KOA in an old drive-in movie theater, which still shows movies on the projection screen, and provided a viewing area with chairs and fire pits. The movie sound is played out loud, and can be tuned on a radio station for people who want to watch from inside their RV (for the sites that have a view of the screen, as ours did).

Dates:

Check in: 2025-10-17
Check out: 2025-10-19
2 nights

Weather:

Partly sunny
High temps 62-70°F, lows 45-47°F
Little wind, gusts to 13 MPH

Noise:

Little road noise
No train horn noise
Little neighbor noise
Movie noise in evening

Site:

#86, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
Mostly level site; a little high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 55 feet long by 12 feet wide
12 feet to neighbors on both sides
Fence between sites
Patio table and chairs
Bench seat
Propane fire pit
A tall tree
Clean site
Elevation 540 feet, front facing north

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
40 PSI water, conveniently located
Loose sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

RoamLink: 40-52 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 140 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
AT&T: 60-260 Mbps down, 14-16 Mbps up, 40 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
Campground Wi-Fi: not measured
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Movie screen

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Hey look, the driver-side slide out for the first time in four months!

Our site

A nice fenced patio:

Patio

Convenient utilities:

Utilities

Movie screen, viewed from our site:

Movie screen, viewed from our site

Other sites:

Other sites

The movies were a bit noisy, but over before quiet time, and a fun novelty. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Eugene to Sutherlin, Oregon

We drove our coach just 68 miles, about one hour of driving, from Eugene to Sutherlin, Oregon.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Route map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Leaving Oregon Motorcoach Center:

Oregon Motorcoach Center

Joining I-5 South:

I-5 South

I-5

A nasty parallel-parking rest area with no real space for us:

Rest area

Trees starting to turn:

Trees starting to turn

Arriving at a KOA:

Arriving at KOA

Check in:

Check in

Drive-in movie screen:

Drive-in movie screen

Our site:

Our site

Travel from Fairview to Eugene, Oregon

We drove our coach 133 miles, about two hours of driving, from Fairview to Eugene, Oregon.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

I-84 West:

I-84 West

Heading to I-205 South:

Heading to I-205 South

Interesting paint job:

Interesting paint job

I-5 South:

I-5 South

Shredded tire on the freeway:

Shredded tire on the freeway

Willamette River:

Willamette River

Rest area:

Rest area

Paladin getting off the dash as we get back on the freeway:

Paladin getting off the dash as we get back on the freeway

Triple trailer:

Triple trailer

Exit to Eugene:

Exit to Eugene

RVs by the river:

RVs by the river

Arriving at the Oregon Motorcoach Center:

Arriving at the Oregon Motorcoach Center

Portland Fairview RV Park

We stayed at Portland Fairview RV Park in Fairview, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second stay here; this was actually the first campground we stayed in with our coach. Not the best place, but convenient to Portland.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-10-04
Check out: 2025-10-08
4 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps 67-75°F, lows 47-53°F
Little wind, gusts to 17 MPH

Noise:

Significant road noise
Occasional train noise, but no horn
Frequent plane noise (in the flight path of PDX)
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#38, pull-through, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 45 feet long by 10 feet wide, plus 24 feet long by 12 feet wide car park
16 feet to neighbor on both sides
Just grass between sites
Picnic table
One tall tree
Mostly clean site
Elevation 80 feet, front facing NE

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located; lost power for about 15 minutes one day
55 PSI water, though the pressure dropped significantly when in use; conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 50-80 Mbps down, 8-13 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
RoamLink: 12 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 133 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
AT&T: 14-55 Mbps down, 0.05-4 Mbps up, 40-90 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Not the best park around, but convenient

Usually, when we make our annual trip through Portland, we stay at Mt Hood, but this time we had errands to do in town, so we stayed here for a couple of days. It’s still not the best park we’ve ever stayed in, though. The site was just barely big enough for our motorhome, and we had to squeeze our tow vehicle in the space alongside, but it was pretty close to the neighboring site. The roads are still uncomfortably narrow, and weeds are popping up through the cracks in the concrete. Maintenance is still an issue, as is the road and train noise. If I want a quiet place in the woods, I’ll still return to Mt Hood, but if I need to be nearer to the city, this will have to do because for $20/night (as part of the Thousand Trails Collection), you can’t really beat the value. We camped at Portland Fairview RV Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Very Portland: by the garbage dumpster was these bins, presumably for people to reuse items:

Recycle / reuse

Looking towards the office and entrance:

Office

Other sites:

Other sites

Not a great park, but convenient when in the Portland area, so we’d stay here again.

Travel from Shelton, Washington to Fairview, Oregon

We drove our coach 158 miles, about three hours of driving, from Shelton, Washington to Fairview, Oregon.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Bay:

Bay

John Prairie Road:

John Prairie Road

Electrical work:

Electrical work

I-5 South:

I-5 South

Rest area:

Rest area

Cowlitz River:

Cowlitz River

Train:

Train

I-205 South:

I-205 South

Entering Oregon:

Entering Oregon

Entering Portland:

Entering Portland

Welcome to Oregon:

Welcome to Oregon

I-84 East:

I-84 East

Exit to Fairview:

Exit to Fairview

Arriving at Portland Fairview RV Park:

Arriving at Portland Fairview RV Park

Baseball: Tacoma Rainiers vs Reno Aces

We attended a game of the Tacoma Rainiers vs the Reno Aces at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, along with Jenn’s father, plus her brothers and their significant others.

An interactive map of the stadium and environs; there are two separate entrances and parking lots, and if you go out the wrong exit, it seems that you have to walk around the outfield to get back to your car (ask me how I know):

View from our seats:

View from our seats

Flyover:

Flyover

The mascot, Rhubarb:

Rubarb

Play ball:

Baseball

Exploring the ballpark:

Playground

Mural

Ballpark

Rhubarb:

Rubarb

Baseball

The game didn’t go great for the Rainiers:

Scores

But it was nice to hang out with fam.

Travel from Ephrata to Shelton, Washington

We drove our coach about 250 miles, about four hours of driving, from Ephrata to Shelton, Washington.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west (with the ultimate destination omitted for privacy):

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

There was roadworks on the bridge over the Columbia River, with a 9-foot width restriction, so we considered avoiding that and taking a more scenic route, as follows, but it would have added 1.5 hours to the travel, and been more stressful with curvy highway roads, so we stuck with the above route instead of this alternative:

I-90 West and the aforementioned Vantage Bridge:

I-90 West Vantage Bridge

Narrow, but good enough for trucks, so good enough for us:

I-90 West Vantage Bridge

Thorp Fruit & Antique Mall:

Thorp Fruit & Antique Mall

Rest area:

Rest area

Wildlife bridge:

Wildlife bridge

Keechelus Lake:

Keechelus Lake

Snoqualmie Pass:

Snoqualmie Pass

Crossover intersection:

Crossover intersection

Joining I-5 South:

Joining I-5 South

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Tacoma Dome:

Tacoma Dome

Route 101 North:

Route 101 North

We previously took this exit, but it is more difficult getting through Shelton:

We previously took this exit, but it is more difficult

Instead we took this exit, which is much more straightforward:

Instead we took this exit, which is much more straightforward

Downtown Shelton:

Downtown Shelton

Ephrata RV Park & Campground

We stayed at Ephrata RV Park & Campground in Ephrata, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our last stop on our way home. Good to be back in Washington!

Dates:

Check in: 2025-09-03
Check out: 2025-09-04
1 night

Weather:

Sunny
High temp 100°F, low 68°F
Little wind, gusts to 10 MPH

Noise:

Some highway noise
Occasional train horn noise (including overnight)
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#P23, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
Somewhat level site; a little high in the front; used air leveling, since only one night
Gravel driveway about 60 feet long by 10 feet wide
10 feet to neighbors on both sides
Picnic table
Tall trees
Clean site
Elevation 1,240 feet, front facing SW

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
60 PSI water, conveniently located
Didn’t connect sewer until departure; good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 111-240 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
RoamLink: 8-13 Mbps down, 1-3 Mbps up, 270 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
AT&T: 3 Mbps down, 0.25 Mbps up, 85-235 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop off I-90

We stayed for one night on our way through Washington, and it was just fine for that. I don’t think I’d stay any longer, though, between the narrow site and the aroma of cow manure. The internal roads and sites are gravel, making it difficult to distinguish between the site and road edges, and if we were parked within the boundaries of our site. We camped at Ephrata RV Park & Campground in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Other sites:

Other sites

A tight site, but a fine place for a brief stay. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Missoula, Montana to Ephrata, Washington

We drove our coach 334 miles, about six hours of driving, from Missoula, Montana to Ephrata, Washington.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Map

This map showing timezones, as we crossed from Mountain to Pacific time (west coast best coast), and the state borders between Montana (right), Idaho (middle), and Washington (left):

Timezones

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

I-90 West:

I-90 West

Clark Fork River:

Clark Fork River

Curves ahead:

Curves ahead

Truck stop:

Truck stop

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Rest area closed due to roadworks:

Rest area closed due to roadworks

Trucker info:

Trucker info

Welcome to Idaho and Pacific Time Zone:

Welcome to Idaho and Pacific Time Zone

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Elevation 3,069 feet:

Elevation 3,069 feet

Rest area:

Rest area

Welcome to Washington:

Welcome to Washington

Spokane:

Spokane

Train:

Train

Rest area:

Rest area

Sprague Lake:

Sprague Lake

Train:

Train

Another closed rest area:

Another closed rest area

Exit to Quincy:

Exit to Quincy

Field planting sign:

Field planting sign

Arriving at our campground:

Arriving

And our site:

Our site

Jim & Mary’s RV Park

We stayed at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in Missoula, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

This is our fourth stay here; our first time with a trailer on our Yellowstone trip, and in our coach the following year and the year after. It’s a convenient stop on our way home, and a very pretty park.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-09-01
Check out: 2025-09-02
2 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temp 92°F, low 60-62°F
Little wind, gusts to 10 MPH

Noise:

Some road noise
Nearby train horn noise
No significant neighbor noise

Site:

#A2, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only two nights
Somewhat unlevel site; high in the rear, though might have been more level if parked towards the back; used air leveling, since only two nights
Gravel driveway about 72 feet long by 15 feet wide
20 feet to neighbors on both sides
Picnic table
One big tree
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, a little inconveniently located
60 PSI water, a little inconveniently located
Good sewer connection, a conveniently located (1.5 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 56-118 Mbps down, , 50 ms ping
RoamLink: 6-7 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 200 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
AT&T: 55-100 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 110 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: 10-14 Mbps down, 2-10 Mbps up, 13 ms ping

Amenities: