Chinook Bend RV Resort, Lincoln City, Oregon Day 2

Monday – July 9, 2012

This is our second day at this lovely RV resort. I was so happy and relieved when Bill got up and was feeling okay. He wasn’t feeling well yesterday. Last evening he had a fever and his shoulders and legs were aching. He said he’d been bothered by them for the last couple of days and even started talking about taking his prednisone again. Ugh!! We were thinking he was either getting the flu or his old symptoms of sore shoulders and legs were coming back. I started thinking that these trips to Oregon that we so enjoy every summer might not be so good for him. If this continues to be a problem for him, I suspect the weather might be to blame. So far so good. It’s 1:30 P.M. as I write this and he’s feeling fine. Perhaps he was just tired. Shopping can do that to him.

There are so many paths to walk on here that we’ve decided Daisy and I would go with Bill for one good walk every day – well, good for us anyway which means about 40 minutes. We went on our first one this morning. We tried the “world’s largest doggie run”. It went forever! Daisy absolutely loved it and what a trouper she was. She was huffing and puffing but enjoying every step and smell along the path. I understand that sweet, juicy blackberries grow everywhere so I was anxious to pick them. To my dismay, the berries are just now budding. It doesn’t look like they’ll be ready for picking for several weeks.

After our walk, Bill took Daisy and me back to the motor home and then left to do a little more exploring. He walked the path he’s going to take us on tomorrow and ran into a couple of Llamas. It’s a path that runs right alongside the river. I’m looking forward to that. I’m so happy that I’m able to walk a little. It’s so flat here which is exactly what I need.

I understand the weather is 100 degrees in Sparks. It’s about 70 degrees here. We are so lucky to be able to do this and we don’t take any of it for granted.

Chinook Bend RV Resort, Lincoln City, Oregon Day 1

Sunday – July 8, 2012

We started our day with Bill going to his favorite bakery at 8:00 this morning. He brought back fresh French bread, cinnamon rolls and something else that looks delicious. We joined the crowd on television and had breakfast at Wimbledon as we watched the men’s final match.

We left the casino around noon time and we found a little slice of heaven! It’s called Chinook Bend RV Resort (www.chinookbend.com) which is located on the bend of the Siletz River in Lincoln City. It is 15 minutes to shopping (where my favorite outlet mall and Bill’s favorite bakery is located). We happened on it only because it takes Passport America - $18/night with 50 amps and full hookups. There is a nine-hole Pitch N’Chips golf course (which I’m hoping even I can do), fishing for giant salmon from private boat docks (which I doubt we’ll do), a playground and horseshoe pit if Jim’s family joins us here, flat walking trails, elk, deer, wild flowers and sweet juicy blackberries which they say grow everywhere but we haven’t found yet. It’s $15/hour to rent a boat with a motor and $55/hour for a pontoon boat. I’m sure we’ll rent the motor boat once or twice. They also claim to have the world’s largest doggie run although Daisy thoroughly enjoyed walking with us on the paths.

This is the spot we’ve been looking for – a cool, quiet and beautiful destination for the summer. We have extended our stay from two days to a week so we’ll get a better feel in a few days. You would have to know this place is here because you sure can’t see it from the road. It’s tucked back away from the highway. It looks like a little valley cut out of the mountains which is surrounded by huge, beautiful trees. We are so happy to have found it! We just had a lunch of fresh bakery French bread, cheese, grapes and a glass of wine (it’s only 1:00 P.M. but we thought the occasion called for it as we were so excited to have finally found the location we have been searching for). When we’re not traveling with Jim’s family, I think this will be the location we’ll be heading to every summer for as long as we are able.

We have enjoyed our wine so much that we’re thinking of going back through Napa on our way home and spending several days. We didn’t take enough time to really see the wineries too well or to do much tasting when we were there in June. This is just a thought for now as we have decided not to go to Vancouver, Canada this year.

There are a couple negatives about this resort. The Sprint telephone coverage is very poor and WIFI only works at the barn (office) “since the campground floods during the spring”). The only way to send or receive email would be to drive to the office and use our laptop there. I do not think we’ll have any telephone coverage while here.

Lincoln City, Oregon

Saturday – July 7, 1012

On our way out of Newport we stopped at the Hatfield Science Center which is part of Oregon State University. It was so interesting that we could have stayed for a couple of hours but we were anxious to get on our way so we concentrated our time looking at the octopus. Bill wanted to stay and watch them being fed but it would have been several hours later so he just took some pictures. It might have been our imagination but it certainly looked to us like the octopus was sticking his tongue out.

We arrived in Lincoln City around noon. We stayed in the RV parking lot of the Chinook Winds Indian casino. There must be 75 RVs in this lot!

Lincoln City is where my favorite outlet mall is located so I couldn’t wait to go shopping. There are two book stores that I love to peruse and several favorite stores. I’ve saved some money just for this stop. We went to the mall late in the afternoon but didn’t spend much more than an hour or so. Our money ran out fast but it was fun while it lasted. I hope to go again later in the week. We will leave tomorrow morning and will be staying at the Chinook Bend RV Resort. It’s only about a fifteen minute drive from here. We’ve never been there before and we’re looking forward to seeing it.

Newport, Oregon

Friday – July 6, 2012

Before going to bed last night we set our TV to record the men’s semi-final match at Wimbledon. We watched the first match before leaving Florence – Roger Fedder won. We saved the other match to watch in Newport so I’m looking forward to that as I write this blog.

We’re staying at a lovely RV park at the marina in Newport. The first thing we did after Bill plugged us in was to go to lunch. We were told about a favorite place frequented by the locals which was five minutes from here so we decided to try it. Bill had fresh homemade Clam Chowder (which was delicious) and a homemade cinnamon roll. What a combination! He loved it. I had a pasta dish which ended up not being a very good choice. After lunch we went back to the motor home, picked up Daisy and headed for the beach where part of a dock had come ashore from the Japan tsunami. Bill walked down the beach to take pictures of it. It was too far down the sand for me to walk so Daisy and I waited for him at the park.

It’s 5:00 P.M. now. I’ve just put a load of wash in and after I finish this blog Bill will be pouring us our evening wine which we will enjoy while watching the last half of the Wimbledon semi-final. Tomorrow we will leave and drive an hour to Lincoln City. Today has gone by in a flash.

Florence, Oregon

Thursday – July 5, 2012

We are still parked in the RV lot of the Three Rivers Indian Casino in Florence, OR. We took Daisy down to the beach today – her favorite thing to do in Oregon. She loves the cool, soft sand. Later we went into the casino for a buffet lunch. We went down to the pier and walked around twice in the two days we were here, we watched a movie and I did some reading. That’s about it for our two days in Florence.

Fireworks at Mill Casino, North Bend, Oregon

Tuesday - July 3rd 2012

They do things differently here at Coos Bay. On July 3rd they have fireworks at Mill Casino and on July 4th the city has fireworks at Mingus Park. At first it didn’t make sense but it was a very smart move since the 4th was on a Wednesday and most had a holiday on the 4th so they could watch the fireworks on Tuesday evening and sleep in on the 4th. These photos were taken from inside our motor home; yes, we didn’t even go outside to watch. We were so lucky to get this spot in the RVpark with such a fantastic view of the show. It was as if we had front row seats. The moon even cooperated showing itself in the most prominent way. The fireworks were like a send off for us since this is was our last night at Coos Bay.

Coos Bay, Oregon

Sunday, July 1, 2012

We’ve spent three days in Coos Bay thus far and we may add another day or two, not that we’ve been doing much but the days pass quickly.

We took a drive to Cape Arago State Park and to the Shore Acres Botanical Gardens. It was an unplanned trip. We had been shopping for a calculator when Bill decided to take a little drive. Daisy was with us. It was nice, quiet and very pretty.

We saw crab nets waiting to be launched. This is definitely a fishing town.

The weather remains cool – in the high 60’s. It rained quite a bit yesterday so we spent most of the day inside the motor home watching tennis (Wimbledon).