Thursday, October 5, 2017 - Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity, OR, Day 5, .3 Miles, 1,303.2 Towing Miles For the Trip
The shortest tow of the trip - from site 9 to site 100. I'm back to boondocking, and, for the first time on this trip, in the shade. Only 1 amp on the rooftop panels, but the portable is putting out a couple, and would probably do more if the batteries weren't full.
The move went OK, other than I forgot the hummingbird feeder. No hummingbirds, so I didn't pay much attention to it. I went back a couple of hours later, and the hosts had already cleaned up the site. I found them in a different part of the campground & rescued the feeder.
Nice clear skies today with temperatures in the 60's. It feels great sitting in the sun, which is what I did after setting up.
I talked with a couple of new arrivals, then headed to Silverton to do laundry & buy the stuff for the pies. While I was there I also bought dinner - fried chicken & egg potato salad.
Until next time -
My blog follows my travels through the US & Canada in an Escape 21 Travel Trailer towed by a Ford F150 3.5 Ecoboost Off Road. For anyone interested in additional photos I have a Web Page with photos & journals of all my trips. Shortcut to first Blogger post
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Day 61, Wednesday, October 4, 2017 - Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity, OR, Day 4
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 - Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity, OR, Day 4, 0 Miles, 1,302.9 Towing Miles For the Trip
A quiet day after a cool night - down to 37°F by morning, and it only reached 60°F by 3:00 this afternoon. When I was in Salem yesterday it was in the 70's, so the 1000' altitude gain seems to cool things off. In any case, lots of sun, so if felt warmer when sitting in it (which I did a lot of), reading David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks, an interesting, and huge, science fiction novel.
The fiberglass trailers are arriving. There are about 7 or 8 already in the campground, with the Escapes outnumbering the rest of them. Donna D, the organizer of the rally, arrived with her Escape 5.0TA.
Around 2:30 I braved the cold showers. I still wish I had my own showerhead, and maybe a portable propane heater! It was at least 10F cooler in the showers than outside.
Dinner was an invite to Dave & Kathie's (Escape 21 owners) for a pork chop dinner with mixed root vegetables & applesauce. We also killed a bottle of St Lawrence Red wine.
Until next time -
A quiet day after a cool night - down to 37°F by morning, and it only reached 60°F by 3:00 this afternoon. When I was in Salem yesterday it was in the 70's, so the 1000' altitude gain seems to cool things off. In any case, lots of sun, so if felt warmer when sitting in it (which I did a lot of), reading David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks, an interesting, and huge, science fiction novel.
The fiberglass trailers are arriving. There are about 7 or 8 already in the campground, with the Escapes outnumbering the rest of them. Donna D, the organizer of the rally, arrived with her Escape 5.0TA.
Around 2:30 I braved the cold showers. I still wish I had my own showerhead, and maybe a portable propane heater! It was at least 10F cooler in the showers than outside.
Dinner was an invite to Dave & Kathie's (Escape 21 owners) for a pork chop dinner with mixed root vegetables & applesauce. We also killed a bottle of St Lawrence Red wine.
Until next time -
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Day 60, Tuesday, October 3, 2017 - Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity, OR, Day 3
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| Middle North Falls |
After breakfast I decided to do part of the Waterfalls Trail. It would be better to wait until a cloudy day since bright sun makes the highlights burn out, but if we get a cloudy day, I can always go back. I took a few waterfall photos. Far less water going over them than the last time I was here (April, 2014). I'll include a couple of the images from then to show the difference. More photos at toady's LakeshoreImages page.
I guess this points out that waterfalls are more interesting in the Spring when they usually have a bit more water in them!
After finishing the hike, I headed to Salem. OR to pick up my new Key Bank Credit Card, a couple of prescriptions, and, since a Trader Joe's was next to Rite Aid, some snacks.
Dinner was a pork tenderloin sandwich. That's the problem with a whole pork tenderloin. It is fine for a family meal, but for one, it lasts forever - I still have enough left for another meal!
Until next time -
Monday, October 2, 2017
Day 59, Monday, October 2, 2017 - Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity, OR, Day 2
Monday, October 2, 2017 - Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity, OR, Day 2, 0 Miles, 1,302.9 Towing Miles For the Trip
I spent the morning reading, and digging out a couple more long sleeved shirts out from "dead storage" under the bed. The only way to get at the suitcase I have them stored in is to lift the mattress, prop it up with a broom, and hope things don't come crashing down while digging around (they didn't). As long as I was there I also got out the parts to install the battery monitor. It looks like it is going to go in the face of the cabinet over the range hood. I originally wanted it over the refrigerator, but when they moved the solar controller to under the passenger side dinette bench (I still thing it would be better over the refrigerator, but Escape said NO!) I had them cancel running the wiring. While a practical location would be next to the solar controller (and much easier to do), I don't want to crawl around on my knees every time I want to check my battery status. Anyway, it will be a project one of these days. I might even purchase a Bogart Engineering SC-2030, a solar controller that mates with the Bogart battery monitor. I've never been impressed with the performance of the GoPower system. Of course, then I will have to find a new way to switch the inverter off & on since it is currently done using the solar controller.
I also tweaked the FM antenna. Escape installs a bolt through 8" antenna with no ground plane. It works OK for major stations, but I sent them a radio chosen for it's high gain front end, and the current antenna doesn't supply enough signal to make it work on weak stations. Since I like to listen to NPR, both the news & the classical stations, pulling weak stations is usually necessary. So, I did a temporary fix by adding a 4' piece of copper wire running between the antenna & the refrigerator vent. It worked. The one static filled news station is now clear as a bell, and I have 3 new weaker ones that are listenable, including one classical station. I'm going to look for a longer stick antenna to see if I can get rid of the wire, but until then, that's my new antenna.
I drove to the nearest Safeway (14 miles) to make sure they had blueberries. The pies for the rally are going to have to be frozen. They have fresh that look pretty good, but at $8.00 per 18 ounces, that would be $32.00 for 2 pies (each pie takes between 30 - 32 ounces of berries). They do have frozen wild blueberries, which I like better than the standard high bush berries, so one 3 pound bag plus one tray of fresh berries will make 2 pies.
Around 3:00 I headed for a shower. Let me tell you, while there was plenty of hot water (although a low volume, high pressure showerhead that produces cold water at your knees while burning your shoulders), you do tend to get dry in a hurry at 50°F room temperature. I really have to start carrying a standard shower head & a wrench! There is a thermostat on the wall, but I thing it is just there to make you think there is heat.
Dinner was as close to a Cuban sandwich as I could get with the supplies on hand, and broccoli. Call it at least a warm sub.
Until next time -
I spent the morning reading, and digging out a couple more long sleeved shirts out from "dead storage" under the bed. The only way to get at the suitcase I have them stored in is to lift the mattress, prop it up with a broom, and hope things don't come crashing down while digging around (they didn't). As long as I was there I also got out the parts to install the battery monitor. It looks like it is going to go in the face of the cabinet over the range hood. I originally wanted it over the refrigerator, but when they moved the solar controller to under the passenger side dinette bench (I still thing it would be better over the refrigerator, but Escape said NO!) I had them cancel running the wiring. While a practical location would be next to the solar controller (and much easier to do), I don't want to crawl around on my knees every time I want to check my battery status. Anyway, it will be a project one of these days. I might even purchase a Bogart Engineering SC-2030, a solar controller that mates with the Bogart battery monitor. I've never been impressed with the performance of the GoPower system. Of course, then I will have to find a new way to switch the inverter off & on since it is currently done using the solar controller.
I also tweaked the FM antenna. Escape installs a bolt through 8" antenna with no ground plane. It works OK for major stations, but I sent them a radio chosen for it's high gain front end, and the current antenna doesn't supply enough signal to make it work on weak stations. Since I like to listen to NPR, both the news & the classical stations, pulling weak stations is usually necessary. So, I did a temporary fix by adding a 4' piece of copper wire running between the antenna & the refrigerator vent. It worked. The one static filled news station is now clear as a bell, and I have 3 new weaker ones that are listenable, including one classical station. I'm going to look for a longer stick antenna to see if I can get rid of the wire, but until then, that's my new antenna.
I drove to the nearest Safeway (14 miles) to make sure they had blueberries. The pies for the rally are going to have to be frozen. They have fresh that look pretty good, but at $8.00 per 18 ounces, that would be $32.00 for 2 pies (each pie takes between 30 - 32 ounces of berries). They do have frozen wild blueberries, which I like better than the standard high bush berries, so one 3 pound bag plus one tray of fresh berries will make 2 pies.
Around 3:00 I headed for a shower. Let me tell you, while there was plenty of hot water (although a low volume, high pressure showerhead that produces cold water at your knees while burning your shoulders), you do tend to get dry in a hurry at 50°F room temperature. I really have to start carrying a standard shower head & a wrench! There is a thermostat on the wall, but I thing it is just there to make you think there is heat.
Dinner was as close to a Cuban sandwich as I could get with the supplies on hand, and broccoli. Call it at least a warm sub.
Until next time -
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Day 58, Sunday, October 1, 2017 - Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity, OR
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| Site 9, Silver Falls State Park, OR |
Since I didn't have far to go to get to Silver Fassls State Park, my next stop, I hung around the campground until almost the 1:00 check out time. Getting out of the site was tight - I held up traffic while hooking up the trailer. Nothing like the pressure of a line of RVs waiting to get by to make hooking up the trailer interesting!
My GPS wanted me to take a road off OR 22 that had a sign saying "No Outlet". I decided no, and listened to Matilda telling me to "make a U turn" over & over for the next 8 miles. She finally gave up & routed me to the town of Sublimity & OR 214, the road into the park. It ended up being about 15 miles more than Matilda's preferred route, but no outlet signs make me nervous!
I'm in site 9, after a 5 minute wait for the campground hosts to clean up after the last campers. A fairly shady water & electric site close to the playbround & bathrooms for $28.00 per night (including the reservation fee). It would be great for the rally next week, but, unfortunately, is not available (nor are any of the hookup sites) over next weekend. I'll have to move to site 100, a dry site just a couple of hundred feet away, on Thursday.
While the rain has stopped & there is even blue sky overhead, it is still cool, only getting up to 58°F during the afternoon. After setting up the trailer, I read for a bit, than set up my roll up table in front of the trailer door. There is a picnic table for the site, but it is a long way behind the trailer across a muddy section of ground, so using my own table make more sense.
Dinenr was a pork loin (well, a couple of slices, not the whole thing), mashed potatoes, and a salad.
Until next time -
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