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.
Silver Falls State Park
We visited Silver Falls State Park near Salem, Oregon, and hiked to South Falls and Lower South Falls.
But first, a picnic lunch:
South Falls Historic District:
Top of South Falls:
A switchback path:
Falls selfie:
South Falls; yes, those are people; there is a path behind the falls:
GIF:
Low ceiling:
Behind the falls:
We used our hiking poles, since there were steep portions; not essential, but they do help:
Mossy trees:
Exposed tree roots:
Steps:
Lower South Falls:
Steep switchback path:
Mossy trees:
An historic shelter that is being restored:
Gift store:
Cafe:
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:
Like most McMenamins restaurants, it is housed in a historic structure, with interesting decor:
A tasty burger and tots:
Another day, we went to the Corvallis Meat Pie Shop, an Australian food 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:
Very tasty meat pies and sausage rolls; such a rare treat for me in the US:
Lastly, a couple of days later we went to 2 Towns Ciderhouse, our favorite cider maker:
We got a couple of sampler flights (and some snacks as an ad hoc lunch) to try various flavors:
Of course, we had to stock up while there, with a case of our all-time favorite flavor, Pacific Pineapple, and some others:
We stored them in the cooler in our RV basement:
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:
The sites are all back-in, so we needed to disconnect our truck from our coach on arrival:
Our site:
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:
Info notices:
Rail bridge over the entrance:
RV sites:
Parking:
Rail bridge:
Road bridge:
Bridges over the South Santiam River:
Picnic shelters:
South Santiam River and boat ramp:
Life jacket loaner station:
There are extensive trails around the city:
More RV sites:
Bathrooms:
The river boat ramp is a popular place:
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:
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:
Paladin sitting on the step cover:
Passing through Bend, Oregon:
An old van:
Sisters, Oregon:
Rainy forest:
Third warning sign of 11 miles of 6% downgrade:
Curves:
Roadworks:
Rough road:
River:
Rain:
After getting out of the hills, we pulled over to let people past:
Foster Lake:
Sweet Home, Oregon:
Water tower:
Some people consider it a sign of civilization if there is a Walmart present (though that is not our metric):
Our destination, Gill’s Landing RV Park:
Rail bridge:
Newberry National Volcanic Monument
We did a couple of hikes in Newberry National Volcanic Monument.
The visitor center:
Relief map:
A short one-mile hike through the lava field behind the visitor center, “Trail of the Molten Land”:
A picnic lunch:
Sign:
Another short hike down to Paulina Falls:
Paulina lake:
Paulina visitor center:
Relief map:
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 sign:
Road:
Snow:
Crater Lake:
Picnic:
Boat:
Road closed:
Snow:
Crater Lake:
Crater Lake:
Crater Lake:
Crater Lake:
Crater Lake:
Crater Lake:
Visitor center:
Store:
Relief map:
Crater Lake Lodge, currently being renovated:
Squirrel:
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:
Our site:
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:
We added another National Park sticker for Crater Lake:
Burger and chips:
Toasting marshmallows:
S’mores:
A squirrel visiting our site:
Also a rabbit:
Let’s look around. The entrance:
A little lending library:
Town marshal decoration:
Lightfingers Lew:
Blacksmith:
Seating area:
Country store:
They have a propane tank, but no longer fill propane for guests:
Wild rabbits:
Horseshoe pits:
Pond:
Mini golf:
There are a couple of swimming pools, but both are empty (and have been for some time, by the sounds of things):
Other RVs, yurts, and cabins:
Rabbits:
Little Deschutes River snakes by the park:
Me following our coach when leaving:
A line for the dump station; since there was no sewer connection, we (and others) wanted to dump our waste tanks before leaving:
The dump station:
Exiting:
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.