Travel from Ocean City to Shelton, Washington

We drove our coach 80+ miles, about two hours of driving, from Ocean City, Washington to our home base in Shelton, Washington.

Here’s the map route, heading north (exact destination omitted for privacy):

Route

Interactive map (to Shelton instead of our actual destination):

We had no sewer at the campground, and hadn’t been particularly careful, so our grey and black tanks were both very full, as indicated on the main control panel:

Control panel with full grey and black tanks

We dumped the tanks on the way out (I didn’t get any photos of that, as there was a line).

But before that, here’s our coach preparing to leave; if you look closely, you’ll see the step partway closed; I had just closed the door, as water was dripping from the slide topper:

Our coach preparijng to leave

A closer view of the dripping water; that always happens after it has rained:

Dripping water from slide topper

On our way, with a curvy road (kinda looks like the Sinclair Trails logo!):

Curvy road

Chehalis River delta:

Chehalis River delta

Paladin watching my iPad:

Paladin watching iPad

Hoquiam:

Hoquiam

Hoquiam

A rather narrow bridge; we drove down the center of the two lanes:

Narrow bridge

Narrow bridge

Artwork:

Artwork

International Mermaid Museum:

International Mermaid Museum

Mural:

Mural

More bridges:

Bridge

Bridge

A fiver pulled over after a tire blowout:

Fiver with a tire blowout

The Elma rest area, with four lanes of dump stations:

Rest area with dump stations

A very spacious rest area:

Spacious rest area

Bear artwork:

Bear artwork

Entering Mason County, our home county:

Entering Mason County

Exit to Shelton:

Exit to Shelton

Shelton

We’re not a fan of this narrow bridge, but it’s doable:

Narrow bridge

Rail bridge work:

Rail bridge work

Bay:

Bay

Travel from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington

We drove our coach 119 miles, about three hours of driving, from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington.

Here’s the map route, heading north:

Route

Interactive map, with potential stops marked; we didn’t stop at any:

We drove to an open area to hook up our truck to our coach:

Leaving campground

Toading up

Another RV toading up; they started before us, and finished after us; with our weekly practice, it doesn’t take us long to do:

Another RV toading up

Leaving the campground:

Leaving campground

Crossing the Astoria-Megler Bridge from Oregon to Washington; a little nerve-wracking, with a curved approach and high bridge, but it was fine:

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Astoria

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Low tide exposing the sandbar:

Low tide

Entering Washington state:

Entering Washington

We could have gone left or right, but I had decided on left to avoid some roadworks (planning the route pays off):

Turning left

Lighthouse:

Lighthouse

Tunnel:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Another bridge:

Another bridge

Aaaargh! COFFEE!

Aaaargh! COFFEE!

Artwork in Raymond:

Artwork

Artwork

An advantage of a motorhome is I can get up and use the bathroom while Jenn is driving — a very rare occurrence, since there is some risk in moving about while in motion, and we prefer to take rest stops so we can both take a pee break, but on this occasion Jenn didn’t need to stop:

Inside while driving

Pilings:

Pilings

Rusty building and structures in Aberdeen (a rather ugly city):

Rusty building and structures

A mural helps a little:

Mural

Rusty bridge:

Rusty bridge

We paused in a slow vehicle turnout to let other vehicles pass:

Slow vehicle turnout

Slow vehicle turnout

Bridge:

Bridge

Our destination, Thousand Trails Oceana:

Our destination

Checking in:

Checking in

Our coach in front of our site, preparing to back in:

Our coach in front of our site

Travel from South Beach to Seaside, Oregon

We drove our coach 125 miles, about three hours of driving, from South Beach, Oregon to Seaside, Oregon.

Here’s the map route, heading north:

Route

Interactive map, with potential stops marked:

Our bedroom with the slide-outs in; Paladin just sat in his bed while the slides were coming in. We store the steering wheel table, the bedroom air cleaner, and other stuff on the bed for travel:

Bedroom with slides in, and Paladin

Jenn bringing in the front passenger-side slide-out, via the switch on the side of the chair (Tiffin puts it there to help ensure the chair is moved forward before bringing in the slide, to avoid hitting it):

Bringing in the front passenger-side slide-out

And the front driver-side slide-out:

Bringing in the front driver-side slide-out

Leaving the campground:

Leaving the campground

Entering tsunami hazard zone; there are signs like this all the way up the coast:

Entering tsunami hazard zone

Newport:

Newport

Newport bridge:

Newport bridge

We enjoy seeing an instance of our favorite coffee stand, Dutch Bros Coffee:

Dutch Bros Coffee

Parts of the coast highway can be prone to slips; here’s the remnants of a previous slip:

Repaired road

Repaired road

The coast:

Coast

Lincoln City:

Lincoln City

Espresso in a fun building:

Espresso

Tiger:

Tiger

It’s marshmallow harvesting season!

Hay bales

Bridge near Tillamook:

Bridge near Tillamook

Tillamook Creamery; we would have liked to visit the world-famous Tillamook Cheese Factory again (we haven’t been since they built their new visitor center), but it didn’t work out this time:

Tillamook Creamery

An old smokestack:

Old smokestack

A nice house:

Nice house

Pronto Pup giant hot dog:

Hot dog

Mural:

Mural

We stopped for lunch at Lakeside Hideaway in Rockaway Beach:

Lunch stop

Menu:

Menu

Menu

I had a clam chowder:

Clam chowder

And we both had huge club sandwiches (with one of each of ours saved for leftovers) and tots:

Club sandwiches and tots

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Paladin waiting for us:

Paladin

Rock:

Rock

Tunnel:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Paladin keeping an eye on the Bluefire dash on my iPad:

Paladin and iPad

Seaside:

Seaside

Rope course:

Rope course

Our destination, Thousand Trails Seaside:

Thousand Trails Seaside

Checking in:

Checking in

North side drive:

North side drive

As usual for Thousand Trails, we parked our coach and drove our truck around to look for a site:

Our coach

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:

Route

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:

Heading north on 99W

Barns:

Barns

Hazelnut trees:

Hazelnut trees

A bridge over the Willamette River in Corvallis:

Corvallis bridge over Willamette River

Corvallis county court house:

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!):

The Corvallis Meat Pie Shop

Bigfoot:

Bigfoot

Historical society building:

Historical society building

Trees:

Trees

Newport bridge:

Newport bridge

Newport bay:

Newport bay

Our destination, Thousand Trails Whaler’s Rest:

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):

Our coach by the entrance

Security gate:

Security gate

A very tight curve; this park isn’t particularly big rig friendly:

Tight curve

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:

Route

An interactive map:

Since were were parking under trees, I used my 360 camera to examine the slide toppers for debris:

Preparing to leave:

Preparing to leave

Pulling out of our site:

Pulling out of our site

Driving through the campground:

Leaving 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:

Preparing to toad up

Approaching the exit:

Approaching exit

Since we didn’t have a sewer connection, we used the dump station on the way out:

Dump station

People waiting for the Memorial Day parade in Florence:

Waiting for Memorial Day parade

Waiting for Memorial Day parade

Waiting for Memorial Day parade

Siuslaw River:

Siuslaw River

Siuslaw River

A tunnel; always a little nerve-wracking in our coach:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Trees

Jenn driving:

Jenn driving

She has back and side cameras (with our truck visible), a built-in RV-safe GPS, and a GPS on her phone:

Cameras, GPS, phone

Paladin on the steps:

Paladin on the steps

Joining I-5 North:

Joining I-5 North

A fuel stop:

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:

Quarter tank

Fuel stop

100 gallons of fuel, so I guess it was actually a third full:

Fuel stop

Bridge:

Bridge

Our destination, Armitage County Park:

Armitage County Park

Checking in:

Checking in

Our site:

Our site