South Beach Bums

Our mad dash to the coast allowed us to dodge the snow, but we’ve still had precipitation aplenty. When we arrived at South Beach State Park on Thursday afternoon, 3/22, there were puddles several inches deep in most of the sites. Apparently, that is the norm for spring on the coast. While it has rained every day, at least it hasn’t rained all day every day and we’ve gotten pretty good at timing our walks. At least when Riley is feeling cooperative. Unlike Mom and Dad, Mr. Impervious to Weather doesn’t seem to mind 40-degrees in a downpour. But Moooommmm, I want to go out NOW. Lol.

A favorite game on walkies - steal Mommy's glove.

Rain or shine, the beach has been an unqualified hit. We were a little apprehensive about having Riley off-lead in an unfenced area, but he has been great. He stays pretty close and actually comes when called (most of the time). Rog tried to get him to play in the water, but he wasn't sure what to make of the ocean waves and Rog ended up getting wetter than Riley!

You can see who ended up with wet feet! Lol. 

Driftwood.

Beach art in progress. :) 

But he did like the packed sand and dribbled his ball for nearly a half mile down the beach. He had a little help from the wind, but soccer dog is getting good with both the nose roll and the front paws to keep that ball rolling. His favorite position though, is goalie. He is good too. Maybe the Sounders would be interested?? 😊

Go Riley!

Goalie is looking good. :)

My two favorite guys. 

South Beach has some nice trails through the Shore Pines and we’ve enjoyed those too. On Saturday, we hit the local farmers market. Supporting local businesses is a great excuse to load up on homemade baked goods, cheese, jam, and produce. Yummm!

The Old Jetty Trail winds through the Shore Pines. 

By Sunday, we finally had blue skies for our daily beach excursion. Yeah!! Riley made some new friends and had a blast chasing his new buds up and down the beach. Finally someone to wear him out! We really  miss our weekly play dates with his Great Dane friend, Mina.

Riley and new friends, Atlas and Mandy.

Sunday afternoon, Rog and I went into Newport and had an excellent meal at Local Ocean Seafood, a restaurant and seafood market. Yeah, this traveling life is so tough. Lol. In the evening, we took one last walk on the beach and were rewarded with a lovely sunset and a little more play time. Tomorrow will be a coach day as we head inland towards Grants Pass, OR.

Newport Marina.

Sunset on the water.

Last beach walk.

Enjoying Falling Water and Dodging Frozen Water!

Our second stop on this trip was Silver Falls State Park near Sublimity, OR. We arrived on Monday, 3/19, long before dark and dry. Yeah! This is another great Oregon state park with lots to do. The campground is lovely, but the waterfalls are the real draw.

The crown jewel is the Trail of Ten Falls, a 7-mile loop with, not only views of ten gorgeous waterfalls, but the option to walk behind four of the larger falls. That is so cool! The only downside was that pets were not allowed on the Ten Falls Trail so I took over 100 Riley-free pictures - quite an accomplishment for me! The falls range from the diminutive 27’ Drake Falls to the towering 178’ Double Falls. We had a beautiful, sunny day for our hike and it was thoroughly enjoyable! Rog and I laughed because we’ve done long hikes to waterfalls far less spectacular than some of the unnamed spillovers along the trail. Highly recommend adding this hike to your bucket list!

Winter Falls (134') and Upper North Falls (65')

North Falls (136')

Behind North Falls!

Stairs on the trail to North Falls.
Loved the weeping walls of moss and ferns.

Middle North Falls (106')

Rog on the trail as it winds behind Middle North Falls.

Double Falls (178')

Lower South Falls (93')

The trail behind Lower South Falls... just so cool!

South Falls (177')

The trail also passes behind South Falls.

Tubes created when the lava flowed over mature trees.

It took us nearly five hours to do the Ten Falls loop from the campground, a bit longer than we thought it would, but Riley aced his coach day. After breakfast, we had walked him two miles roundtrip to the off-leash dog area for some ball time. We decided to set up the X-pen so he wouldn’t have full run of the RV. He is, after all, still a puppy and there’s no sense tempting fate. Then he got a yummy new bone just before we left. I needn’t have worried about the time, he was totally sacked out when we returned. He rolled over for tummy rubs and had to be cajoled into getting up and going for walkies. Have I mentioned that Mastiffs make awesome travel companions? 😊

Camp Buddies.

Handsome Puppy Brother.

Rog was excited to test out his new mountain bike. Although he’s had his Niner for several months, this was his first time out in the woods on single track trails. Other than the weather, which was cloudy with intermittent showers, he had a great ride. The bike and his wet-weather riding gear all performed to expectations. Riley and I snuggled together in the RV, watching the rain and complementing ourselves on being way too smart to be playing outside. Lol.

Rog takes off and Riley stands vigil. Where did Daddy go?? Lol. 

Catamount Trail.

Oh yes, loving this!

Tired, wet, muddy and cold. And he calls this fun. Lol.

Our original plan was to spend four nights at Silver Falls and then move to Oakridge, OR so Rog could try out the extensive mountain bike trail system there. With 4 inches of snow forecast for Oakridge, we scrapped those plans and changed our reservations to South Beach State Park near Newport, OR. Apparently, that wasn’t enough to please the weather gods.

The campground at Silver Falls had absolutely no cell service, so we went in search of internet connectivity to keep tabs on the weather. The forecast kept getting more interesting, now calling for snow at Silver Falls on Friday evening. No worries we thought, we’ll be out of here Friday morning. However, Thursday morning it started snowing and sticking! Riley had a blast and I love the snow, but driving the motorhome in it, not so much.

Uh Oh. This is starting to stick!

Riley does crazy dog in the snow. 

We drove up to the lodge to use their wifi and saw that the forecast had changed yet again. Now calling for 4-10 inches of snow at Silver Falls! Uh Oh. We checked the route out of the park and it was already getting sketchy – we saw two cars that had slid off the road. Yikes! We decided it was leave now or risk not getting out at all. We high-tailed it back to the RV and were loaded up and on the road in record time. It was a good call. We made it to South Beach without any problems and the forecast just keeps getting better… Silver Falls 8-14 inches of snow and at Oakridge, our original destination, they’re calling for 12-18 inches! I think we’ll enjoy our beach time. 😊

On the Road Again!

Yes! We are back in the bus. Not for a year this time, but we are planning to spend about 2 ½ months on the road. We left home on Thursday, March 15^th and our tentative plan is to spend a few weeks in Oregon State Parks, a few weeks moochdocking with family in California, and then hit some of the National Parks we missed on our first go ‘round. We have reservations at Pinnacles National Park in central California. After that, weather permitting, we will make our way to Death Valley National Park. From there it gets very fuzzy. We’re leaving it open with the goal of landing somewhere warm and sunny. Hopefully with awesome scenery, hiking, and some mountain biking. 

Home is where you park it. :)
Today it's Milo McIver State Park in Oregon.

It seems impossible that nearly eight months have passed since we pulled back into our driveway, ending our year-long RV adventure. I guess it’s the full hours and packed days that tend to fly by. If you caught our last couple of posts, you know we’ve been busy raising Riley. As a new parent (of any species!) can tell you, babies take up a lot of time and energy. Especially really big babies!

It has been a total joy watching him grow from that (relatively) tiny 19-pound puppy to his current 9-month-old, 160+ pound self. I cannot begin to convey how wonderful it is to have a big dog back in the house. There are still times I think of Callie and miss her terribly, but a slobbery Riley kiss is the best medicine imaginable.

What a difference a few short months can make!

It will be interesting to see how having a big dog along changes how we travel. Although we started the long trip in 2016 with our mastiff Callie, she passed away very early in our travels, so we never had to accommodate a furry person’s needs and schedule. I’m sure we’ll figure it out and Riley will be happy to train us. Fair warning: If you’re not a dog person, I’ll apologize in advance since there will probably be a great deal of content and photos featuring the incredibly handsome puppy brother. 😊

Origami Mastiff.
After the first night we used a baby gate to encourage Riley
to sleep on this own bed in the front of the coach. 

So where are we now? Our first stop was Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, OR. Of course, getting here turned out to be a bit more challenging than it should have been. Rog and I have talked about how ridiculous it is to set arbitrary self-imposed deadlines and then stress out if we don’t meet them, and yet ... there I was doing the crazy chicken dance trying to get everything loaded, the house cleaned, check lists completed, and out the door. We were an hour and a half behind (the arbitrary, self-imposed) schedule. Not too bad, I thought. Until... about 30 miles down the road I do a head slap. Oh crap, guess what I forgot? There are very few items that could not be easily replaced, but I managed to leave one of them, my computer! We pulled over and unhooked the toad so I could make the mad dash back home to grab my laptop. All packed up and ready to go, and still sitting on my desk. Of course, with rush hour traffic that “dash” took more than two hours. Ugh! We didn’t pull into our campsite until 8:30 pm and had to set up in the dark in a steady rain. Something we hadn’t done in our entire year on the road, we managed our first day of this trip. And so the adventure begins… 😊

I will say, Milo McIver was worth the effort. This may become my new favorite local camping spot. Gorgeous sites with lots of trails, Estacada Lake for kayaking, the Clackamas River for fishing, the River Mill Dam, a fish hatchery, disc golf, a big off-leash doggie play field… we won’t scratch the surface in the four days we’re here. On Friday, we took Riley to explore the trails. There are miles of interconnected hiking and equestrian trails. We ended up doing about 6 or 7 miles (a bit more than we intended!), and still didn’t see even half of it.

Estacada Lake. 

Riley's first dip in the Clackamas River.

What a handsome boy!

River Mill Dam

Rog & Riley on the River Mill Trail.

The drippy weather makes for lush greenery and impromptu waterfalls.

Let's play ball!!

Oh, and did I mention we’re not too far from Portland and that means we managed a shopping trip to the Columbia outlet, lunch at the dog friendly and delectable Tin Shed Garden Café, and then a short stroll to Salt & Straw for delicious handcrafted ice cream. Happy, happy, joy, joy! 

Salt & Straw in Portland. Riley is officially a fan! :)

Riley also got to experience his first campfire and he is proving to be a fantastic traveler. He is so calm and patient. He loves the walkies and, as long as Daddy is within touching distance, is happy to hang with whatever we want to do. What a sweetheart!

Life is good.