Day 38 Oregon Another State
Eugene,
Oregon,
United States
Friday, June 13, 2008
Day 38 Oregon
Another day another state, the journey continues, it didn't take long to cross the state line and enter Oregon.
We chose to drive highway 1 north and the plan was to stop at Florence, the drive was a comfortable, the road was reasonable and wide with a bit of winding through forests and some hills, but certainly not like the previous journey along Hwy 1.
The trees changed and the views of the ocean were again terrific, with the ever present cold wind hitting us broadside.
We stopped a small fishing village called Bandon,( I have no idea why it isn't "A-bandoned" with the strength of the cold wind hitting it!)it has many "historic buildings" and definitely required a bathroom stop, when we stepped out of the Castle, if we didn't think we required one before, we definitely did when the wind hit us. Yep it is still a cold wind!
We walked around and spotted a coffee shop and decided that it was worth paying for a cup of coffee and a cake just for the use of the facilities. (we have noticed an extreme lack of rest areas along the side of the road for rest and pit stops.)
After the morning tea stop we decided to brave the wind to have a quick look at this village, QUICK it was! Rick found a fish shop and purchased some oysters and some fresh Halibut (Alaskan fish) to cook for tonight, Earnie attempted to shelter from the wind outside and Karon had dived into a sweet shop to just get out of the wind. Being so mean she didn't buy the boys any sweets! HOW MEAN IS THAT?
We climb aboard the Castle again and set off, the trip further was uneventful and the open road speed limit in Oregon is 55mph, which after the rest of the states it feels very slow.
We travelled another 1.75 hours and found a park area that offered facilities and off the road place for a lunch break.
It was in a State Park and there was a day use charge of $5, We figured we were not there for a day so elected to move on after a half hour lunch break. (Rick enjoyed his oysters while the others had a banana Sandwich)
It didn't take as long as we had estimated to reach Florence and the wind had not abated, Florence being alongside the ocean we decided that we would head inland towards Eugene.
We took the 128 highway and continued driving, again the road was good and no big deal, followed some nice scenery and alongside a nice river for a while.
The gas position looked a little challenging, but we managed to find a filling station without to much stress but in the last quarter of the tank.
We pull over and a guy comes up to the driver's window, Rick opens the window and we are told it is a full driveway service, Wow impressed! He then informs us that it is illegal to pump your own gas Oregon, there are two states in the US where it is illegal, Oregon and New Jersey, We are still learning something every day along this journey.
We head on into Eugene with directions from Mandy to an RV park we had randomly chosen, The off ramp we were directed to take was closed, this closure causing some instant confusion between the driver, Mandy, and Karon, but with a series of turns (through a shopping centre car park ) we managed to get us all co-ordinated again, Gee anything can be thrown at us now and we simply keep going J I reckon it is still a funny experience honestly.
We found the park and booked in, This is a bonus park we get a free breakfast and it has a lot of facilities and is well set out. We are settled for the night and without the wind it has become quite warm.
Earnie and Karon went "walkabout" and found a horse shoe throwing rink, they had a game while Rick "played IT Computer man again"
I mention here, Earnie is becoming quite the expert at setting up the TV and finding the channel options, Bonus!
Catch you out there
