Oregon-Portland Woodburn-16 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Today we head East. I take my showers and start to packed up. We do not need to leave early because we are only 83 miles away from our next destination. The route takes east over the mountains into central Oregon Coast to reach Woodburn, Oregon.

The travel time from Chinook Bend RV Resort in Lincoln City, OR to Portland Woodburn RV Park in Woodburn is 1 h 41 min (83 miles) via OR-22.

We leave by 10:45 am from Lincoln City. We traverse the mountains with a caravan of 3 RV’s following behind us for up to an hour. When we turn off towards Salem, the 3 RV’s stay on the highway. Central Oregon is mostly farm land. The are many orchards and nursery farms. Entering Salem is the first time we drive through a large city Dallas. Eventually we get onto I-5 and drive up to Portland Woodburn RV Park by 12:30 pm.

The resort does not look like the photos. The sites are tight but do have a small piece of lawn between each site. Most sites are pull-thru. They have decent Wi-fi and Cable TV. We are close enough to local restaurants I can connect through their Wi-fi. Elmer’s Restaurant is stronger than the campgrounds Wi-fi. There is a constant flow of RV’s coming in and leaving. There appears to be some resident campers, but most are very well maintained. The campground does not allow campers older than 2002 without manager approval. The campground is directly behind the Woodburn Outlet Mall. There is a back gate to easily access the mall from the campground. The office, store, and hall is one large building. It also houses the bathrooms and showers. All are very clean. The day we arrived there was a free banana spit party at 6:00 pm. They also have an event schedule.

We get settled in and decide to find a restaurant for lunch. Lora is in the mood for Chinese. We search local Asian food and find Gina’s Chinese Restaurant. The reviews are good. Many note the appearance outside is not the greatest, but the food is good. We order off the menu. The meal was ok. There was more rice, than shrimp and chicken. Lora’s plate was large, but mostly all vegetable and little chicken. She only ate about half and was disappointed with the amount of vegetables.

I call Pet Smart to schedule an annual checkup for Bella Bee. I schedule a drop off appointment for 8:15 am Thursday.

After lunch we decided to look for the nearest Covered Bridges. Oregon is known for its covered bridges. They had over 50 historical cover bridges in the state. We see there are 6 within 1 hour drive of us. We find on TripAdvisor the nearest Covered Bridge. We drive to Gallon House Covered Bridge. Gallon House Covered Bridge is the oldest active covered bridge in Oregon. The bridge was first placed into service in 1916.

After the first bridge we notice Gallon House Covered Bridge is not part of the 6 other bridges. We google map the next bridge head south west driving through Gallon House Covered Bridge. The drive was so scenic and different than driving along the coast. It reminds us very much like Virginia and West Virginia. We are really in favor of coming back to Oregon to visit more.

Our second covered bridge is Stayton/Jordon Bridge. The bridge is relativity new built in 1994 after the original was burned. The bridge is located in a park in Stayton, OR.

The third bridge we visit is Hannah Cover Bridge, built in XXXX. It is located just off US-226. There are route signs for a Cover Bridge Tour. Vehicles can traverse the bridge. The covered bridge cross Thomas Creek.

The next bridge is Shimanek Covered Bridge. We head down US-226 towards Scio. Shimanek Covered Bridge is just before Scio off US-226. Shimanek Covered Bridge was built in 1996. The covered bridge cross Thomas Creek.

We drive through Scio and head into West Scio. We turn left onto Gilkey Rd. Gilkey Covered Bridge crosses Thomas Creek. There is a rail road trellis parallel to the bridge that shows its age as well. Gilkey Covered Bridge was built in 1939.

Driving through Gilkey Cover Bridge we head towards Crabtree to Hoffman Covered Bridge. The bridge is located on Hungry Hill Road. Hoffman Covered Bridge was built 1936. There seems to be a time in the late 1930’s the community needed bridges constructed.

We drive through Hoffman Covered Bridge and head to our last Covered Bridge on the Covered Bridge Route. The final covered bridge is Larwood Covered Bridge. The bridge is on Larwood Drive. There is a small parking area on one side of the bridge with a restroom and picnic tables. The creeks flowing water adds to the photo opportunity.

After the last bridge, we have 58 minutes back to the campground. We drive through Shimanek Covered Bridge on our way to Stayton, followed by Highway 22, then I-5. We got back after 6:30 pm. The day was busy but not stressful. There appears to be a lot to do in Oregon that we can stay here for a couple of weeks.

We finish the evening watching TV.

I get up before daylight. I walked Bella Bee hoping she will do her business before we must leave for Pet Smart. I see a hot air balloon flying overhead. At 7:45 am I get Bella Bee out of bed with Lora and head out to Pet Smart. Pet Smart is north on I-5, 15 minutes away. I complete all the paperwork to renew Bella Bee’s annual medical plan and hand her over. I drive over the Camping World across the highway and checkout their Satellite TV Dishes. We want something we can use when we visit Alaska and in areas where we have not data, HD air or cable TV. I check out the options, then head back to the campground.

Lora is up when I get back. We decide to have breakfast at Elmer’s Restaurant. We walk across the street to Elmer’s Restaurant. We are seated quickly. Lora orders a cheese omelet and hash browns. I order eggs, biscuit & gravy, bacon, and hash browns. All was satisfying. The server was attentive to keeping our drinks topped off.

We get a phone call from the Vet informing us Bella Bee was ready. She recommends a teeth cleaning because small dogs are prone to para dental disease. We agree to pick Bella Bee up by 12:30 pm.

We walk back to the camper and start heading to Pet Smart. Before picking up Bella Bee we stop at Camping World to purchase a Dish TV Satellite.

We then head to Office Depot to make copies of important documents for Canada. Office Depot is next to Pet Smart, so I walk over the Pet Smart. I buy up enough dog food for 2 months in Alaska and Flea Meds before picking up Bella Bee. I get a copy of her shot records for Canada and head back to the Truck.

We drive back to the camper and begin the task of setting up the Dish Network. I had to make a trip to Walmart for a coax cable to complete the installation. Once all hooked up I call Dish Network and register the receiver. I get Technical Support to set up the antenna. I learn from the Technician we will not be able to get satellite service in Canada or Alaska. It has to do with the curvature of the earth. Satellite TV satellites are located along the equator. Alaska is too close to the horizon the antenna would need to be perpendicular to the ground with nothing blocking the antenna. I guess we will not be using the antenna in Canada or Alaska. What is nice with Dish Network is we pay month to month with no contract.

We complete the day watching our new Dish Network TV.

The morning is cloudy, but the temperature is comfortable. Lora gets up around 7:30 am after Bella Bee goes through a barking bit out the window. I make McBenz’s for breakfast and catch up on news, blog, and email. We wash up and plan to visit the Oregon Garden in Silverton. We drive the same route we took to visit the covered bridges earlier this visit. We get to Oregon Garden and discover there is a brew fest schedules for the weekend and tickets are starting at $30.00 apiece.

We decide to head to Silver Falls State Park. The state park is known for its waterfall Trail of Ten Falls. The trail is 7.2 miles in length. There is a Day-use parking fee of $5.00 for use of the park facilities. They have kiosks for credit cards and cash sales. Our first stop is South Falls Day use area. The parking area is the largest in the park and has four bathroom facilities, trails, picnic area, and ranger offices. The walk to the top of South Falls is a short walk from the parking lot. The falls drops into a deep gorge into a creek blow. There is a steep hike to the base of the falls. There are a few vantage point for good photos of the falls from the top and part way down the walk.

We head back to the parking lot and continue on OR-214 through the park. We stop at Winter Falls. I walk down to the base and spend some time getting multiple shots. Lora stay back because of the slope downward.

We then stop at North Falls. The view of the falls is across the valley. It is still a good photo opportunity, especially if you have a zoom lens.

After we complete the waterfalls along the highway we drive out of the park and circle the mountain back to Silverton. We drive to the town of Mount Angel. The town has a German theme and has building like Germany. They also have German text.

We drive to Mount Angel Abbey & Seminary on the top of a mountain in Mount Angel. The drive up to the Abby & Seminary is a windy road with huts on the right representing the Christs Stations of the Cross.

We drive back to Woodburn and visit Walmart before heading to a gas station to top off the tank. We purchased B20 Diesel for $3.09 per gallon.

The remainder of the evening we watched TV and relaxed. Tomorrow we head to Washington State. Our destination is Othello, WA. We are staying at O'Sullivan Sportsman Resort.

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