At last........

 8:02 am - Wednesday - September 16th - Seal Rock, OR - 59° F, 100% humidity, wind - CALM.....heavy cloud cover with a little fog today with a forecast high of 67° F.....a chance of rain a little later today.  On this day in 2014 we were living at Cape Blanco, and on this particular day beach combing........↴

It was lightly misting when we awoke Tuesday morning, and by 10 am it was raining.....not what we wanted, but we had not planned to leave Chinook until 11 am for that very reason.  By 10:40 am the rain squall had passed, and it was time to turn over the big Detroit Diesel.  Once she as aired up we moved over to where the trailer was parked and within a few minutes had dropped it back on the Newell hitch.  Once that was done all that remained was to begin the 4+ mile crossing of the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River and into Oregon.....

......the bridge is one lane each direction, and quite narrow.  On a windy day (typical) there is a strong cross wind making it difficult to stay in one's lane.  We have crossed this bridge in the Newell three times previously, and the wind was a booger, but on this day there was NO wind whatsoever.....sweet!  Just set the cruise control and get across.  Within minutes we were descending off the bridge into downtown Astoria, and then across another bridge into Warrenton, then Seaside, Cannon Beach, and then the iconic Nehalem Bay overlook.....

.....one of the most beautiful views along the Oregon Coast, bar none.......

Taking a break at the Nehalem Bay overlook

........this was our fourth, or fifth time at this overlook, and we never pass it by without stopping whether in the Newell, or in our car.  Our next rest stop was at the Winema Wayfinding Point where the we saw our shadows for the first time in 6 days......

....we kind of wandered around the vista point soaking in the ultraviolet rays, which have been in short supply the past week......

.....at last we came to Lincoln City and it was time to top off our 180 gallon diesel tank for our 6 month winter stay at Seal Rocks RV Cove.  Why, you might ask?  Well, it is better to park your RV with a full tank of diesel as it helps prevent condensation inside the tank, and therefore, water from collecting.  It is especially important if you will be parking in a humid environment. Most of the prices we had seen down the coast were in the $2.69 - $2.89/gallon range, but in Lincoln City we came across prices in the $2.21 - $2.26/gallon range. We took on 120 gallons of Bio Diesel at $2.21/gallon......

......from there is was under 38 miles to our destination........

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse can be seen in the distance

Newport at last....only 11 more miles

Getting ready to cross the Yaquina Bay Bridge

.....once we crossed the bridge it was just 9 more miles to Seal Rocks RV Cove.....

Yelp photo of the entrance....our site is just up the hill to the right

.......we arrived at our winter destination around 3:30 pm, and met, for the first time, some of our co-workers......Marcia, Greg, Michele and Terry.  We parked in front of the office so we could walk up to site A3 (our assigned site) to check it out and figure out how we would fit the Newell and trailer into the site.  Within minutes we had decided we would detach the trailer and drive the Newell up to the site and back it in.  After that was done Greg, using his Chevy P.U., hauled the trailer up to our site and backed it in so that it sits in front of the Newell......

                             

.....and the following pictures are taken from the vicinity of our site.......

....it is rare when expectations meet reality, and there is no difference between the two, however, this is exactly what I expected our view to look like.  Our site is up the hill in back of the park office, which you can see in the above picture.....the office is the building on the left.

By the time we finished hooking up our utilities and putting away a few things it was 5 pm, and time for happy hour, after which we walked down to the beach.......

.....or I should say I walked down the steep trail while TLE looked on......😊

.....we are so looking forward to walking this beach every day for the next 6 months!

So, that's it....we have arrived.  I have driven the Newell for the last time for the next 6 months, and now we settle down to enjoy the Central Oregon Coastline.  It does not get much better than this, does it?!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Sheltering in place........

 7:20 am - Saturday - September 12th - Forks, WA - 55° F, 93% humidity, wind - CALM.....heavy overcast, and smoke from forest fires.  The forecast high today is 68° F.  On this day in 2017 we were in Jackson Hole, WY.........↴

......the view this morning..........↴

There are three of us now

As can be the case in the nomadic life plans must be changed due to circumstances beyond your control, and that is what has happened here in Forks, WA.  Our Jello plan had been to head south to Raymond, WA Friday morning and spend a couple of days there on the Willapa River, but when I called the RV park for which we were destined to secure a spot I was advised the smoke from the Oregon fires was quite bad, which would mean sitting in the coach for two, or three days paying $35/day for only 30 amp, water and a dump site.  Here in Forks we are paying just $20/night for 50 amp, and water with a dump station on site.  If we are to be confined to our motorhome due to bad air quality then why not stay put?

This is how it looked most of the day

As Friday went on the air quality began to worsen due to the smoke moving up from the south, and we ultimately had to close our windows.   Staying inside was fine, at least for the morning, as we were watching the 13th Stage of Le Tour, but by the time it was finished I was getting stir crazy, and went outside to putter around in the trailer for an hour, or so.

Later on in the afternoon I spent some time cleaning the Newell exterior once again.  It has been a while, and a few thousand miles since I last wiped the dirt and grime from her riveted aircraft aluminum sides.  Over the next three days (we'll be here until Monday when winds are forecast to shift and blow the smoke inland once again) I'll work my way around and get her all pretty once again.....not that she isn't pretty as she sits right now.  From 20' away she still looks great, but I spend most of my time within 5' of her and notice the road grime beginning to build once again.

That was pretty much our day....I wish there was more about which to write, but when you stay inside most of the day there is not much to share.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Smoked!

 8:16 am - Friday - September 10th - Forks, WA - 56° F, 84% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the south by southeast.......foggy this morning with a forecast high today of 70° F.  On this day in 2017 we were visiting my sister and brother-in-law at the Grand Tetons......↴

Our purpose for spending a couple of days in Forks, WA was to drive out to Cape Flattery, the western most point in the Continental U.S.  We left the Elks Lodge a little after 10 am for the 1+ hour one way drive.  The first town we came to was Clallam Bay......

....then Sekiu.......

....we stopped a few times to take shots of the rock formations along the Puget Sound coastline......

.....then we came to this unfortunate sign......Neah Bay is a few miles east of Cape Flattery, and is apparently located on Indian land along with Cape Flattery.  The COVID restrictions are much more severe on any Indian land, and this was no exception......

.....so we had to abort our plans and turn around.  We knew there was a possibility the road past Neah Bay might be closed, but did not know Neah Bay itself would be closed to outside traffic.....doh!  

The road out to Neah Bay is quite narrow, windy, twisty, uneven, and rough.  I could never see us driving the Newell out to Neah Bay......

....TLE took the following video to show how narrow, windy, twisty, and rough this road is.....

.....we drove back to Clallam Bay to get a cup of coffee and figure out the rest of our day.  The only coffee place was drive through only, and we really wanted to get out of the car and drink our coffee outside.  The local fuel station had a coffee shop inside with benches outside so we both settled for two Americanos with two shots and sat outside talking and sipping the surprisingly good beverages.  We decided to drive back into Forks, visit the local ACE Hardware store to get a few things, then head back to a food truck we had see in town (4.5 stars on Yelp) called FYABES.  We both ordered their 4 taco plate....mine with carne asada, and TLE's with pollo asado.  Since they offered no adult beverages (beer) we opted to do 'takeout' and head home where we have a more than ample supply of brews.  I set up the table, and brought out a couple of chairs so we could watch the rest of the 12th Stage of Le Tour we had begun to watch that morning.......

FYABES (Yelp picture)

.....these were some of the best street tacos I have had.....top 10 for sure....maybe even top 5.

Thursday was also the second day of the heatwave with temps in the high 80's, and by 3 pm it was time to head inside to the air conditioned confines of the Newell for the rest of the afternoon.

Our Jello plan today (Friday) was to head south to Raymond, WA (124 miles south of Forks) for a few days, but I just called the RV park we were going to stay in while there and found out the smoke from the Oregon fires is terrible there, so as things stand right now we will probably be staying a few more days here at the Elks Lodge in Forks where there is very little smoke right now.  We heard yesterday US-101 is closed south of Lincoln City in Oregon.  Our winter work destination is south of that, so will need to wait for that to reopen, also.

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Serendipity........

 8:00 am - Thursday - September 10th - Forks, WA - 51° F, 83% humidity, wind - CALM......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 87° F.  On this day in 2012 we were in Rock Springs, WY Wallydocking at the local Walmart.....we were at the Starbucks across the street when it began to rain.....↴

Wednesday was moving day, but we only had 86 miles to travel so we did not depart 7 Cedars Casino around 10:15 am.  Traffic was heavy as we slogged through Port Angeles, and there was one construction zone after another, but at last we came to the city limits on the west side.  Just as we were passing the last gas station in town both TLE and I noticed a vintage class 'A' just pulling out onto US-101 going the same direction as we were.  It became apparent to both of us that this was a late 60's Newell.  I have seen pictures of these Newells, but have never come across one on the open highway until Wednesday.  At some point the owner recognized that we were also a Newell and pulled over.......

......we followed suit and pulled into the turnout.  In the mid 60's a trailer company called Streamline (begun by former employees of Airstream) built their first class 'A' motorhome.  A man named L.K. Newell bought one of them.  After two weeks he returned to the factory in El Monte, CA with suggestions for improving the design.  The owner of Streamline remarked that if Mr. Newell thought he could build a better product he should buy the motorhome division, so he did.  He moved operations to Miami, OK and in 1967 L.K. Newell (for a history of Newell click here) produced his first Newell using the same design.  It was a front control unit (motor up front) utilizing a Ford Industrial V-8 engine.  This particular Newell is a 1969, and in pretty rough shape.  Nate and Tammy (the current owners) just purchased it a short time ago, and this was their maiden voyage to test the integrity of the engine repairs Nate had made......

.....we exchanged tours of our Newells, and our contact information before taking the requisite 'usie' in front of their unit.......Nate and Tammy have plans to renovate the interior, and bring her completely back to life as a functional RV......

....it is always serendipitous to run into other Newell owners as we travel as there are not a lot of us.  Over it's history from 1967 until the present Newell has averaged building around 25-30 new units a year.
We only had about 43 miles to go when we resumed our westward drive on US-101 to Forks, and arrived there around 50 minutes later.  There is a nice Elks Lodge in Forks, WA which provides 12 RV sites with 30/50 amp electric, water and a dump station for a mere $20/night.  it is about 6 blocks off US-101 which means there is little noise at night.  This is a very nice facility, and we are totally surprised to be here all by ourselves, but who is complaining, right?  
We are also in the midst of a 2 day heatwave here in northwestern Washington, and the forecast high for Forks Wednesday was 88° F.....

......for the first time in weeks we had to run our rear A/C for several hours.  We spent the afternoon reading, and then after dinner watching 3 more episodes of 'Travelers'....what a great series!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!