Today we faced a mixed bag of stuff to do. I spent a couple hours straightening out my backlog of blog uploading caused by our lack of internet communications in the last few campgrounds. The last place we had wifi was in Yreka back on May 19. Peggy went to the big laundry facility here at Blue Ox RV and graciously washed all our clothes.
However, we eventually emerged from under the miserable cloud of toil and returned to unfettered fooling around. Late in the day we hopped into Charlotte and drove over to the Willamette River for a cruise upriver (south) to Eugene. Recent rains and expensive irrigation have created an emerald wonderland along the river. Handsome farm houses and tidy pastures are sprinkled between sections of both conifer and hardwood tree patches along the route. It is very bucolic.
Once close to Eugene, we took a short drive up the lower section of the McKenzie River that empties into the Willamette in Eugene. Again, we passed through some more very scenic territory. Those old enough to remember the movie “Sometimes A Great Notion” will probably recollect the house the Stamper family inhabited in the movie and it can be found here.
As dinner time approached, we drove back into the Springfield/Eugene area to dine at a Chinese food buffet with Peggy’s sister and her now full grown kids. Sean, Peg’s nephew, and his mate, Veronica, brought along their newborn, Orion. He is a very healthy-looking, absolutely delightful little guy that smiles a lot. He was unafraid of me and my massive bulk, instead choosing to offer an evening of entertainment to the crowd. He is not a whiner. He is also a handsome little fart. I like him. Peggy’s other nieces joined us with their mates and all seemed to have a pretty good time. We certainly had pretty good food.

The various Santiam Rivers were our exploration target for today. We left Blue Ox RV in Albany, turned left and headed east on OR-20 toward Lebanon. We passed through Sweet Home and towns with other pithy names as we continued into the South Santiam River watershed. Above Sweet Home, OR-20 get skinnier and more serpentine. There are very few trucks using this route over the Cascade Mountains, probably because the road would be terrifying in anything larger than our pickup truck due to numerous hairpin and 20 mph curves. To compensate for the squirrely road, the scenery as the road goes toward the pass is beautiful. The maple trees, providing shady canopies covering the highway, are clothed in thick layers of moss. Roadside waterfalls decorate the bluffs along the route. The River cascades west through rocky gorges. There are stands of old-growth timber. It is gorgeous.
Our Garmin became quite confused as we went further east up the Santiam Highway. Either the tall roadside trees and serpentine road blocked the device from communicating with satellites or our old GPS system is failing. Once we made it to the top of Tombstone Pass at 4236′, our normally-accurate Garmin indicated we were at an elevation of 3526′, a substantial difference. Either the Garmin or the guys who made the sign at the summit are assuredly gunnybag.
Once we started down the descent on the other side of the pass, we drove through big expanses of crumbled lava with a great view of Three-Fingered Jack, a strangely-named mountain east of us. We passed over the ridge between the two Santiam Rivers and followed OR-22 down into the watershed of the North Santiam River. This branch of the river has been dammed in a couple spots, forming gorgeous blue reservoirs. We passed through towns with strange names like Idanha and Minto before emerging back into the gently rolling hills and flat pasture lands of the Willamette Valley. Near the town of Sublimity, we turned north toward Silverton.
Silverton is a very attractive little burg with handsome older wood-framed residences. A lot of Craftsman style architecture here. Also here is one of Peggy’s nieces, Michelle, and we stopped by her place for a short visit. She has a nice place on the edge of town and was nice enough to take us on a driving tour of her pretty town after dinner. The number of truly gorgeous houses here is amazing. There must have been some affluent folks here back in the day because they sure built nice houses. The downtown is quaint, a river flows right behind the businesses on the main drag and the food we bought here was tasty. I would like to return to this part of the world again sometime.
Check out the scenery along the way. Click here

Today was a travel day. We hooked up the trailer, stopped by the waste dump for a visit and headed north on US-101. A mile past the Siuslaw River in Florence, we turned east along the north bank on OR-126 toward Mapleton. At Mapleton we took the turn to stay on 126 for another 35 miles or so before we took a risk and turned north on what is shown in our atlas as “not RV-friendly” Poodle Creek Road. The atlas is wrong. It’s a good road.
Eventually we turned east again on OR-36 to Junction City where we turned north on US-99. After about 15 miles we jogged east a bit and got onto I-5 northbound to Albany. We have pulled into a big private RV park called Blue OX which has great full hookups, paved spaces, cable TV and terrible wifi. Peggy has some relatives around here and I’ve got a couple, too, so we will spend the next few days seeing if we can’t make them suffer through a visit.
We also popped into an oil change place late this afternoon to change Charlotte’s blood. It would be terrific if someone else did all our vehicle and trailer maintenance but I have been unable to find any suckers willing to do my work.

We were lucky and had no pressing tasks to complete today so we went exploring. We left South Jetty TT and jumped onto northbound US-101 for a bit. In the town of Florence, Peggy got a sudden inkling to go to the north spit of the Siuslaw River. Without hardly any getting lost at all, we soon found ourselves parked at the end of the north breakwater where we got out to check out the river. There was a stiff breeze today so there were whitecaps out in the ocean and in the river/estuary. It is beautiful out there.
After the north spit, we headed east into the coast range. Our eastbound route took us up the north fork of the Siuslaw River. Close to town, there are some homes and ranches built in the flat parts of the gorge but as we continued northeast, the buildings sort of crapped out and the valley got skinnier. The road has ample curves; 10 miles up the road only means about 4 miles as the crow flies. About an hour into our route we ran out of pavement so we turned south on Mapleton Hill Road which also soon ran out of paving. We wound our way up the ridge on switchbacks that made Peggy nervous. Eventually we came out on top and started the descent down into the valley of the main fork of the Siuslaw River. We emerged at OR-36 where we turned east again toward the dinky town of Swiss Home where I did some logging back in the old days. The return road back to Mapleton and Florence passes through what must be some of the most naturally beautiful territory in Oregon. It is spectacular.
Once back in Florence we went to Bi-Mart for supplies and filled up with diesel because we are headed into the Willamette Valley tomorrow.
Check out some Oregon views by clicking here

Today we headed north on US-101 from South Jetty RV, over the bridge at the Siuslaw River, through Florence and then settled in for a leisurely cruise up a particularly stunning portion of Oregon’s Pacific coast. The sections of this serpentine byway between Florence and Newport offer shattering coastal views, tortured and twisted trees and shrubs trained by relentless winds, moss and fern-filled grottoes with small waterfalls and dripping edges, Small residences that look like hobbit houses and a few scarce stores are spread out along the roadside. The bluffs overlooking the ocean are impressive. There are many turnouts along the highway so gawkers like us can let working folks pass us before their next birthday.
Based on map observations I would say the Oregon coastline is anything but straight, instead being a serpentine series of lumpy projections into the Pacific. However, folks that name stuff and call out strange landmarks have given some of the really big rock projections into the ocean a designation of “Cape.” The Oregon coast is lousy with capes, with names like Ferrelo, Sabastian, Blanco, Arago, Foulweather and a passel of others. Today we stopped in at Cape Perpetua which is an especially impressive and massive rock formation jutting into the ocean about 10 miles south of the coastal city of Waldport. The highway winds through spruce forests sprinkled with wind-twisted alders, ample flowers in bloom and jaw-dropping views of the coastline. We pulled out almost everywhere. There were fat sea lions far below the road barking out their come-hither pleas to possibly interested females. Bright white lighthouses and associated wood houses contrast vividly with the emerald green vegetation and black, bare rock. The offshore surf looks violent. The rivers entering the ocean are crystal clear.
At Waldport we ran out of time and turned around for our return back down 101 to Florence. The scenery on both sides of US-101 looks just as amazing going south as it did going north. We pulled out at almost all turnouts on the ocean side on our way south. A stop at a local Fred Meyer store for supply re-stocking completed our trip for today. It was a gorgeous drive.
Check out some of the views by clicking here

We are settled into our RV spot at South Jetty TT south of Florence, OR, so we had time today for a little spin down the Oregon coast to Coos Bay. Some of Peggy’s acquisitive family lives there so we kinda had to sneak in, hoping to remain invisible to her myriad relatives and/or their minions.
We instead stopped at my sister-in-law’s (Katie’s) place where her house is perched on a ridge with an exquisite view of Coos Bay. Today in the Bay there was some kind of local event (actually, the event was centered behind the Indian waterfront casino where Weyerhauser’s sawmill used to be) and old-fashioned sailing ships were luffing around the bay below us although I spotted some suspicious-looking prop wash emanating from the sterns of a few tall ships.
After a great afternoon hobnobbing and playing with Robin, Katie’s snuggly retriever, we were able to get Katie to join us at the Captain’s Choice, a seafood restaurant in nearby North Bend. We had some nifty seafood. Their chowder is deadly to willpower and restraint. Everybody should try some. We got away for around $35.00 for three people.
After dinner we hopped back on US-101 for the 50 mile run back up to Florence. When I was younger I lived in this part of Oregon and drove up and down this road maybe 100 times but did not fully appreciate how spectacular the Oregon coast was. It is still a stunning drive between Coos Bay and Florence but we happily have the time now for slow-motion exploration. There was nothing ugly to see today except maybe us.
There’s a picture of Robin. Click here

Today was a travel day. We will regret leaving the Remote Outpost RV Park. They are located in a gorgeous place along the Coquille River. The campground is maintained by Edie and Rob, the owners, and they do a terrific job. There is a pavilion campers can use with full cooking facilities (stoves and barbecues – all stainless and shiny) in addition to cushioned seating, a massive fireplace and all of it under a heavy timber framed roof. The grass is mowed everywhere. RV sites have full hookups. The price is very reasonable. There are cute cabins for non-RV types. The roads are terrific. The wifi is a bit touchy but the camping spots near the pavilion have good internet access. About the only drawback is the nearby OR-42 but it seems deserted at night so sleeping was easy. This is probably the best maintained and visually attractive park we have ever stopped in during our journeys, to date.
We pulled the Barbarian Invader on OR-42 northbound through Remote, Bridge, Myrtle Point and Coquille before joining up with US-101 a few miles south of Coos Bay where my spouse was born and where I worked for 10 years logging for Weyerhaeuser back when saber-toothed tigers roamed around. We continued through town and passed through North Bend and Reedsport before pulling off at South Jetty Thousand Trails across the Siuslaw River from Florence, OR.

Exploration by vehicle was our chosen activity for today and we hopped right into it. We started by driving from our current spot at Remote Outpost RV Park and heading west on OR-42 all the way to no-real-downtown Remote. From there we turned north into the forests of eastern Coos County and the Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest by driving up Sandy Creek Road. Our gazetteer map was not entirely accurate and by some quirk, probably crummy navigation, we turned the wrong way and the road got thinner, then turned to gravel and got skinnier yet before being blocked by a steel cable stretched across the road. There was a sign dangling from the cable that said in confusing language that some type of activity was occurring on the other side of the cable where tourists and idiots are unwelcome, like logging, marijuana cultivation or Neo-Nazi battle training. We turned around and backtracked a few miles until we found some paving and, miraculously, the route continuing up Sandy Creek.
After turning on the second option road, pavement markings soon disappeared and the road got very steep. It was a long, steep (maybe 5 miles of grades exceeding 10%) climb but we ultimately made it to the ridge separating Sandy Creek from the East Fork of the Coquille River. They had recently logged near the ridge so we could see a series of ridges between us and the Pacific which is a long way off. There were too many ridges to count.
Leaving the ridge, we dove down another steep road with switchbacks as we descended into the East Fork watershed. After a lot of road, none of it straight or level, we crossed the East Fork at a bridge from the 1930s and took a right toward a town shown on the map as Sitkum. Sitcum is a lot like Remote in that it really does not exist, per se, as a town but is actually a very small collection of houses in a series of gorgeous meadows flanked by massive rock walls. If I was in the cattle business, I would want to do it there.
We were sort of running low on time so we headed down the East Fork to Dora, another town but this one has a fire station and a nice library in addition to a few houses. It is also very pretty. From Dora we turned northwest across a series of low ridges until dropping down into the valley of the North Fork of the Coquille River where we went up to La Verne Park, the place my beloved wife and I started paying attention to each other about a million years ago. It is still gorgeous there. There are small waterfalls right in the campground and adjacent to the day use areas.
The sun was setting so we drove down the North Fork to the county seat, Coquille, where we turned back south to our spot in Remote. We stopped at a Kozy Kitchen in Myrtle Penis. We have eaten breakfast many times in other Kozy Kitchens in North Bend and Coos Bay and morning meals have been good. They were not so good in Myrtle Point. I give their Myrtle Point outlet a D for our dinner; soggy veggies, shaky main course and fair potatoes. A short fuel stop and then we were home.
There’s pix. Click here

About 30 years ago, Peggy and I bought a house on 4 residential lots in Powers, OR. Back then, we had a tenant renting the place but his adherence to schedule when paying the rent was quite poor. I think he spent quite a bit of time in prison. In any event, not getting paid any rent on a rental property was frustrating so we came up with an alternate plan. We donated the temporarily vacant structure to the local volunteer fire department and they turned it into a glorious conflagration.
We took a tax loss on the house but the property has remained vacant since the fire. We have now encountered a possible problem with the property because the City of Powers holds the position that there are no sewer stubs to the property. There were 3 when we bought the place and there were 3 when it burned. Somehow, Powers has lost the stubs in paperwork limbo so we drove up there today to see if we could get it straightened out.
The drive up the road from Myrtle Point (20 miles west of our Remote, OR, campground) to Powers is a bit challenging because the road was poorly constructed and is poorly maintained. To offset the lousy road is the magnificent scenery along the road as it follows the south fork of the Coquille River for 18 miles to Powers. We stopped by the property and the Powers City Hall to address our sewer problem and we finished up pretty quickly. They will (or maybe won’t) get back to us after they have some time for research. We would love to get the sewer working at the land because we could then move our fifth wheel trailer onto our property for extended periods in the summer, despite the crummy access road.
From the city hall we continued up the Coquille for another 20 miles or so upriver to a national forest campground called Daphne Grove. The drive is stunning; the clear waters of the river cascading over rocks on the one side and shady forest with numerous small waterfalls on the other. We gave several vehicles plenty of room to pass us because we were just barely creeping along while enjoying the views. We spotted a big flock of male turkeys putting on gorgeous mating displays near some females that seemed to be ignoring the flashy guys. We spotted some deer and lots of birds, mostly robins and blue jays.
At Daphne Grove we drove through the campground and day use areas before turning around and heading back toward Myrtle Point, sometimes referred to as Myrtle Penis by locals. We stopped in Myrtle Penis for booze and fuel before returning back to our camping spot at the Remote Outpost RV Park in Remote. Remote isn’t really a town; it is mostly a few residences plopped down in the bottom of a spectacular valley. We like it anyway.
We got some scenery pictures and maybe some photos of possible relatives that you can see if you click here

By 10:30 this morning we were pulling our trailer from the Glenyan RV Park and Campground near Ashland and heading north. We took I-5 (there really are not any other north-south highways through the mountains) for a bit over a hundred miles before turning off on OR-42 which runs from the I-5 corridor near Roseburg over the Coast Range to the Pacific Coast. After another 40 miles or so, we pulled into the Remote Outpost RV Park in Remote, OR. I have a pretty good idea why this place is called Remote.
The park is very pretty and quite small; around 25 RV slots with full hookups and a few cabins. It is located alongside the middle fork of the Coquille River and the water runs right behind our trailer space. There is no cable TV. There is no satellite TV either because we are camping down in a steep-sided valley with Douglas fir trees blocking any satellite reception. The wifi is pretty funky but the park is just beautiful. The staff is very friendly and we are happy to be in a place where we are secure and isolated from the rest of the world. The next few days should be quite restful. Maybe, if we get inspired, we will perform a bit of easy maintenance.