McMenamins Roadhouse, Corvallis Meat Pie Shop, 2 Towns Ciderhouse

A few food and beverage highlights.

We took a trip to Portland to take some stuff to our storage unit, and pick up packages from our mailbox. While there, we went to a favorite restaurant, McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse in Hillsboro, Oregon:

Roadhouse

Like most McMenamins restaurants, it is housed in a historic structure, with interesting decor:

Roadhouse

A tasty burger and tots:

Burger and tots

Another day, we went to the Corvallis Meat Pie Shop, an Australian food shop:

Corvallis Meat Pie Shop

The owner was a bit of a character, a very talkative Aussie. Of course, he had some comments about Kiwis vs Aussies once we mentioned I’m from NZ:

Corvallis Meat Pie Shop

Very tasty meat pies and sausage rolls; such a rare treat for me in the US:

Corvallis Meat Pie Shop

Lastly, a couple of days later we went to 2 Towns Ciderhouse, our favorite cider maker:

2 Towns Ciderhouse

We got a couple of sampler flights (and some snacks as an ad hoc lunch) to try various flavors:

2 Towns Ciderhouse

Of course, we had to stock up while there, with a case of our all-time favorite flavor, Pacific Pineapple, and some others:

2 Towns Ciderhouse

We stored them in the cooler in our RV basement:

Ciders

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

Video

Video: Bend, Oregon to Lebanon, Oregon motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 131 miles from Bend, Oregon to Lebanon, Oregon.

I forgot to start the dash cam for a few minutes, so the video starts with a few photos of departing the campground, including the sewer dump.

Travel from Bend to Lebanon, Oregon

We drove our coach 131 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Bend, Oregon to Lebanon, Oregon.

The map route, heading northwest:

Map route

Jenn had lunch while waiting for the dump station at the Thousand Trails park, and I had mine on the way out of the park:

Lunch

Paladin sitting on the step cover:

Paladin

Passing through Bend, Oregon:

Bend

An old van:

Old van

Sisters, Oregon:

Sisters

Rainy forest:

Rain

Rainy forest

Third warning sign of 11 miles of 6% downgrade:

Warning sign

Curves:

Curves

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Rough road:

Rough road

River:

River

Rain:

Rain

After getting out of the hills, we pulled over to let people past:

Pause

Foster Lake:

Foster Lake

Sweet Home, Oregon:

Sweet Home

Water tower:

Water tower

Some people consider it a sign of civilization if there is a Walmart present (though that is not our metric):

Walmart

Our destination, Gill’s Landing RV Park:

Gill's Landing RV Park

Rail bridge:

Rail bridge

Newberry National Volcanic Monument

We did a couple of hikes in Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

The visitor center:

Visitor center

Relief map:

Relief map

Visitor center

A short one-mile hike through the lava field behind the visitor center, “Trail of the Molten Land”:

Trail of the Molten Land hike

Selfie

Trail of the Molten Land hike

A picnic lunch:

Picnic

Sign:

Sign

Another short hike down to Paulina Falls:

Paulina Falls hike

Paulina lake:

Paulina lake

Paulina visitor center:

Paulina visitor center

Relief map:

Relief map

Sign:

Sign

Crater Lake National Park

We visited Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.

Crater Lake is Oregon’s only national park. We’ve been there a few times before, and no doubt will be back many times.

If you haven’t been to Crater Lake, you haven’t experienced the color blue.

One thing we haven’t yet done is drive all the way around the lake. The East Rim Drive is closed most of the year; it only opens late in summer, it feels like only for a few weeks, though is probably longer. One day we’ll make it at the right time!

Here’s a map showing the open and closed portions:

Crater Lake map

Crater Lake sign:

Crater Lake sign

Road:

Road

Snow:

Snow

Crater Lake:

Crater Lake

Picnic:

Crater Lake

Boat:

Crater Lake

Bikes

Crater Lake

Selfie

Crater Lake

Road closed:

Road closed

Snow:

Snow

Crater Lake:

Crater Lake

Crater Lake:

Crater Lake

Crater Lake:

Crater Lake

Crater Lake:

Crater Lake

Crater Lake:

Crater Lake

Crater Lake:

Crater Lake

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Store:

Store

Visitor center

Relief map:

Relief map

Crater Lake Lodge, currently being renovated:

Crater Lake Lodge, currently being renovated

Squirrel:

Squirrel

Crater Lake:

Crater Lake

Selfie

Crater Lake

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

Video

Video: Dayville, Oregon to Bend, Oregon motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 140 miles from Dayville, Oregon to Bend, Oregon.

Travel from Dayville to Bend, Oregon

We drove our coach 140 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Dayville, Oregon to Bend, Oregon.

The map route, heading southwest:

Map route

When departing we toaded up (i.e. hooked up our truck to our coach) on a road outside the park:

Departing

We had an issue where the airbag suspension wasn’t reaching travel height; in the end we decided to start forward anyway, and suddenly it reached the right level. My theory was that since we were heading downhill, there was too much weight on the front, until we leveled out. An important lesson to always get to travel height before moving (which we almost always do; this was an unusual situation).

Dayville Cafe:

Dayville Cafe