Alpine Valley RV Resort

We stayed at Alpine Valley RV Resort in Alpine, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A new RV resort at 5,670 feet elevation, where we stayed to visit Grand Teton National Park, an hour north.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-07-13
  • Check out: 2023-07-22
  • 9 nights

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temps ranging between 79-88°F, lows around 50-58°F
  • Some wind, 26 MPH gusts

Noise:

  • Some road noise
  • No train noise
  • Some neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

  • #20, pull-through, concrete
  • Kinda needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • Level
  • Asphalt driveway and concrete pad about 70 feet long by about 10 feet wide (rather narrow)
  • Grass between sites about 12 feet wide
  • Young trees
  • Concrete patio with table and chairs
  • Fire pit

Utilities:

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

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Campground Wi-Fi: 80 Mbps down, 90 Mbps up, 5 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 21-40 Mbps down, 7-16 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
  • Verizon: 3 Mbps down, 1-5 Mbps up, 200-1000 ms ping
  • AT&T: negligible service (phones work, MiFi didn’t)
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage pickup from site
  • Package delivery to site
  • Coffee shop and grocery store in walking distance

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Beautiful new park, beautiful mountain views

This is a very nice, new park that definitely has had a lot of care and attention put into it. Sites were immaculate, with spacious grassy areas and concrete patios. When the trees grow up a bit, they’ll provide nice shade, but for now, you get really nice views of the surrounding mountains. At check-in, we were escorted to our site and guided in, which is always a nice touch. When folks checked out, each site was cleaned and prepped for the next arrival. Not every place does this, but the best ones do. Another small thing that makes a huge difference is the frequent trash pickup from your site. My only regret was not getting a back-in site so we’d have fewer neighbors and better views, but that gives me something to aspire to for next time. We camped at Alpine Valley RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Book a whitewater rafting trip with Dave Hansen with pickup from the resort. You basically get concierge service between the resort and the river, which makes for a fantastic experience. Broulim’s is a nice grocery store within walking distance from the resort. Good coffee at Punkins, also within walking distance.

The campground map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Interesting water faucet; looks like they can remove the tap for winterizing:

Interesting water faucet

Adding the Teton sticker to our coach:

Adding Teton sticker

Adding Teton sticker

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

A path to a river overlook:

Path

Path

Snake River (no access from the campground; there’s a steep bank):

Snake River

Snake River

Snake River

The park is still under construction; they have a temporary building for the office currently:

Office

A white-water rafting water feature also under construction:

Water feature under construction

Water feature under construction

Playground:

Playground

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Nearby gas station:

Nearby gas station

A nice nearby grocery store; it was very convenient to walk to get groceries:

Nearby grocery store

Nearby Subway etc, also in walking distance:

Nearby Subway etc

Nearby mercantile:

Nearby mercantile

Nearby coffee shop:

Nearby coffee shop

A nice park. We’d stay here again, though would choose a back-in site next time, for an un-obstructed view over the river to the mountains.

Travel from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming

We drove our coach 270 miles, over four hours of driving, from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming.

Here’s the map route, heading east:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops marked:

Our actual stops:

Preparing to leave:

Preparing to leave

Mural:

Mural

Snake River:

Snake River

Love’s travel centers have been adding RV parks; this looks like a decent one, with pull-through sites:

Love's RV park

Wide load:

Wide load

Shoshone:

Shoshone

Zoomed perspective of the road (highway 26):

Zoomed perspective of road

Another wide load:

Another wide load

We chose this route so we could visit Craters of the Moon National Monument:

Craters of the Moon

It has some RV parking, which barely fits us, so we were able to visit on a travel day — a first for us:

Craters of the Moon RV parking

We unhooked our truck, and drove around the park (see a forthcoming post about that):

Craters of the Moon RV parking

When we got back, the RV parking was full:

Craters of the Moon RV parking

Onward on US-20:

US-20

Arco, Idaho, the first city in the world to be lit by atomic power:

Arco, Idaho

We made an unplanned stop at a rest area, to take a break from unnervingly high wind gusts:

Rest area

Peaks:

Peaks

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

We had to wait for a long time due to an inconsiderate truck driver that had parked and gone inside; the convention at truck stops is after fueling you can pull forward and stop for up to 15 minutes, but this driver was gone much longer than that:

Inconsiderate truck

Potato fields:

Potato fields

Snake River:

Snake River

Palisades Dam:

Palisades Dam

Palisades Reservoir:

Palisades Reservoir

“Welcome to Wyoming”:

Welcome to Wyoming

Our destination:

Our destination

Y Knot Winery RV Park

We stayed at Y Knot Winery RV Park in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A brand-new RV park, still installing landscaping, plus a winery and restaurant.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-07-11
  • Check out: 2023-07-13
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temps ranging between 94-99°F, lows around 58-63°F
  • Some evening wind, 23 MPH gusts

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • Train horn noise (didn’t hear it overnight, fortunately)
  • No neighbor noise (no neighbors!)
  • A little construction noise

Site:

  • #24, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; left it connected
  • Fairly level
  • Gravel about 60 feet long by about 12 feet wide
  • Grass between sites about 15 feet wide
  • Young trees
  • No picnic table etc yet

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
  • 80 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, very inconveniently located (4 10-foot pipes needed; could have managed with 2 if parked the truck in front of the coach)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 17-22 Mbps down, 26-32 Mbps up, 52-115 ms ping
  • Verizon: 11-27 Mbps down, 16 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
  • AT&T: 120 Mbps down, 8-20 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Winery and restaurant

Our review on Campground Reviews:

So new, still under construction

We stayed here for two nights on our way through Idaho on I-84. We were in the new section, which was being landscaped as we arrived. We were originally in site 31, but they hadn’t finished landscaping it yet, and I could tell from a distance that it was going to be far too short and sloped for us. Since we had the place to ourselves, we pulled into site 24 and called the lovely ladies at the winery to explain the situation. They were more than happy to swap our site and also noticed that I had (like another reviewer) accidentally selected 3 nights, instead of 2, through the online booking site, so she gave me a refund for the extra night. This place is going to be really nice when they finish the landscaping, and I look forward to coming through in the future. The restaurant at the winery was also very nice and worth a visit. We camped at Y Knot Winery RV Park in a Motorhome.

The campground map; we had booked site #31, but ended up in site #24 (read on for why):

Map

This was site 31, occupied by sod pallets:

Site 31

Site 31

I asked them to move them, but we then realized that the site was very unlevel (several inches front to back, and some side-to-side), plus they were still working on it. So we decided to take one of the sites that already had sod, and was much more level:

Our site

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

The sewer hookup was super inconvenient; good thing I have 40 feet of hoses:

Our site

Sometimes I think we could offer an RV park design consulting service, to help people avoid mistakes like this.

Sod cleanup:

Sod cleanup

Other sites; there were only two other RVs in the park:

Other sites

 

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

A truck with a load of trees:

Truck with trees

They took a corner a bit too sharp, and broke the sewer cap (another reason that’s a stupid place for it, though to be fair RVs wouldn’t normally be going that way around the corner):

Broken sewer cap

Unloading the trees:

Truck of trees

Distributing trees

This RV park is across the road (and part of) the Y Knot Winery; we went there for dinner:

Y Knot Winery

Y Knot Winery

Y Knot Winery

Y Knot Winery

Menu

Menu

The finest wines of Idaho (video clip):

Wine

Bread:

Bread

Charcuterie board:

Charcuterie board

My steak and baked spud:

Steak and baked spud

Jenn’s dessert:

Dessert

Vines:

Vines

Vines

Vines

The old campground; we wouldn’t fit in most of those sites:

Old campground

The new campground:

New campground

Travel from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho

We drove our coach 242 miles, about four hours of driving, from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho.

Here’s the map route, heading southeast:

Route

Interactive map, with potential stops marked:

Another interactive map, with the places we actually stopped:

I-84:

I-84

Cementworks:

Cementworks

Rest area stop:

Rest area

Snuggling with Paladin:

David and Paladin

A video from our internal security cam while our coach was driving down the road; it’s a rolling earthquake, but much more stable than a trailer. If you look closely, you may notice Paladin asleep on the stacked dining chairs in the lower-right corner:

River:

River

I-84:

I-84

“Oregon Thanks You, Come Back Soon”; yep, we’ll be back every year, as we tour around the country and return to Washington each year for health checkups etc:

Oregon Thanks You

“Welcome to Idaho”:

Welcome to Idaho

Another rest area:

Rest area

A biplane crop duster:

Biplane crop duster

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Fuel stop

Paladin asleep:

Paladin asleep

River:

River

Murals:

Mural

Mural

Water tower:

Water tower

River:

River

Y Knot Winery:

Y Knot Winery

Our coach parked at the winery while we checked in:

Our coach parked at the winery

Y Knot Winery

Y Knot Winery

Their RV park, still under construction:

RV park

Grande Hot Springs Resort

We stayed at Grande Hot Springs Resort in La Grande, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second visit to this resort; our first visit was in a rented trailer on the way to Yellowstone. This time we were also on our way to Yellowstone, via the Tetons, but in our motorhome.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-07-09
  • Check out: 2023-07-11
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Sunny, thunderstorm
  • High temps ranging between 84-92°F, lows around 51-59°F
  • Some evening wind, 20 MPH gusts

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • Rumbling train noise (no horns)
  • No neighbor noise

Site:

  • #31, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; left it connected
  • Fairly level
  • Gravel about 90 feet long by about 11 feet wide
  • Grass between sites about 20 feet wide
  • Tiny picnic table on grass

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: 15 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • Verizon: 13-27 Mbps down, 9-13 Mbps up, 36 ms ping
  • AT&T: 5 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 140 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Thermal pools

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient spot to stop in Eastern Oregon

This was our second stay here, and it was just as nice as the first time. However, I didn’t remember feeling the earth move whenever one of the huge freight trains went by, which we definitely felt this time. If you’re a light sleeper, just be aware they go by all night. Our site was a decent-sized pull-through with the most ridiculously tiny picnic table I’ve ever seen. The hot springs soaking pools were nice after a long day of driving, but the mosquitoes put a damper on the experience. As did the loud, obnoxious group of partiers in one of the pools. Having said all that, though, we did enjoy our stay here as it’s a nice, convenient stop along I-84, and the grounds are very nice, with a small stream running through it. We camped at Grande Hot Springs Resort in a Motorhome.

The campground map:

Map

Interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Tiny picnic table:

Tiny picnic table

Utilities:

Utilities

Our site:

Our site

We went for a dip in the big pool on our first evening, during the adults-only time after dark (which was not as pleasant as it could be, due to several very loud people, and mosquitos):

Pool area

Pools:

Pools

Pools

The entrance sign:

Entrance

Fountain in center of driveway:

Fountain in center of driveway

Fountain in center of driveway

Fountain in center of driveway

Office:

Office

Bridge over hot canal:

Bridge over hot canal

Canal

Canal

Tent sites beyond canal:

Tent sites beyond canal

Tent sites beyond canal

Open area:

Open area

Open area

Open area

Feral cat (notice the ear tip); probably staff:

Feral cat

Fire pit:

Fire pit

Group tent area:

Group tent area

Cabin:

Cabin

Yurts:

Yurts

Garbage and recycling:

Garbage and recycling

Other sites; the park was mostly empty:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Neighboring hot lake:

Neighboring hot lake

Sunset:

Sunset

Travel from Welches to La Grande, Oregon

We drove our coach 262 miles, about four hours of driving, from Welches, Oregon to La Grande, Oregon.

Here’s the map route, heading east:

Route

Interactive map:

Preparing to toad up in the maintenance area:

Preparing to toad up

Mount Hood:

Mount Hood

Mount Hood

Mount Hood

Our tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) reported a high temperature on the front passenger-side tire, which was concerning, but resolved itself (they normally run at less than 99°F):

TPMS high temperature

Columbia River:

Columbia River

A stop at a rest area:

Rest area

Paladin was enjoying sitting on the stacked dining chairs:

Paladin on dining chairs

Interesting overpass:

Interesting overpass

Dam:

Dam

Sternwheeler river boat:

Sternwheeler river boat

Bridge:

Bridge

Wind turbines:

Wind turbines

Another dam:

Dam

Bridge:

Bridge

Another rest area; we were amused by the motorhome towing a jet-ski:

Rest area

We ran the generator so we could use the ACs, but got a wiring status error; when I looked at the generator later, I noticed that the breaker was off; no doubt from when we got it serviced recently; I’m glad it wasn’t an actual fault:

Wiring status error

Solar farm:

Solar farm

A viewpoint stop:

Viewpoint

A sharp corner onto a dirt road towards our destination:

Sharp corner

Our destination:

Our destination

Mt Hood Village RV & Camping Resort, again

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

Our second visit to this nice Thousand Trails Encore park; we stayed here last year in late July.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-06-30
  • Check out: 2023-07-09
  • 9 nights

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temps ranging between 74-90°F, lows around 50-61°F
  • No significant wind

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

  • Hemlock Meadows #97, back in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach (on gravel)
  • Unlevel; used blocks on the front jacks
  • Fairly large site: gravel about 50 feet long by about 22 feet wide, plus about 20 feet wide weedy bark area
  • Picnic table and fire pit on gravel

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 55 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, a little inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 22-83 Mbps down, 5-11 Mbps up, 35-110 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 11 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
  • Verizon: 10-13 Mbps down, 5-8 Mbps up, 150 ms ping
  • AT&T: 6-8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Closed indoor pool
  • Onsite restaurant

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Excellent campground near Mt Hood

This was our second stay here, and still really love it. We were originally assigned a site in the Vine Maple Loop that would have been too small for us, so we asked if there were any open sites in the Hemlock Meadows section, which is a more open area with bigger sites. The helpful staff member at the front gate gave us a couple of choices and told us to let her know which one we picked. Seeing as it was the weekend of the 4th of July, we were so relieved that there was availability. We picked site 97, which was on a corner and gave us a large living area backing onto trees, with a good view of the sky for the Starlink. On a side note: We had dinner at the Dragonfly Cafe, which has really good food, but they seemed to be having some massive staffing issues. It took nearly 2 hours from ordering to checkout, and I’m pretty sure the one and only waitress walked off the job while we were eating as the one and only cook had to act as cashier. We never went back, fearing a repeat, which is a shame because I’d been dreaming of their eggs benedict for the past year. We camped at Mt Hood Village RV Resort in a Motorhome.

The campground map:

Map

Interactive map:

Our site was nice and spacious, and we made use of our new flagpole for the Starlink dish (and you may notice something different about our truck; more on that on Monday):

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Steak and potato salad, watching a Mariners baseball game on the outside TV from the tent:

Steam, potato salad, watching TV

Our site

Our site

Our site

 

Our site

Unlike normal Thousand Trails parks, Encore ones assign sites. We had originally been assigned a different site, but asked when checking in if they had other options, since we thought this wouldn’t fit us; they agreed it wouldn’t be a good fit.

Looking at it later (the left one in the following picture), we were definitely right to change; it was narrow and very sloped:

Original site

Original site

The main plaza area, with the (closed) indoor pool, rec center, offices, and cafe:

Plaza

We enjoy when there’s an onsite restaurant; this campground has the Dragonfly Cafe:

Dragonfly Cafe

Dragonfly Cafe

Dragonfly Cafe

Dragonfly Cafe menu

Dragonfly Cafe menu

Dragonfly Cafe menu

We went there for dinner on our first evening (always nice not having to cook on a travel day). Which was a rather drama-filled experience; we waited over an hour for our food, then the server walked out partway through, and the cook had to come out and accept payment from us and others. It was tasty, though; burger for me:

Dragonfly Cafe food

Prime rib for Jenn:

Dragonfly Cafe food

Laundry:

Laundry

Other sites in the Hemlock Meadows loop:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

See our previous visit for lots more pictures of other loops.

We enjoyed our stay here, and would definitely stay again in the future.

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