Coyote Rock RV Resort - Lincoln City, Oregon (July 2018)

Our idea after the Airstream International Rally in Salem was to spend a week along Oregon's coast. It seems that Oregon's coast is similar to Florida's Gulf Coast in that it is difficult to get reservations there. We were happy when Coyote Rock had a site on the river available for Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer.

Rosie at Coyote Rock RV Park

We were surprised when we arrived and noticed that most of the trailers in the first loop of this park appeared to be “forever” residents and some of those trailers appeared to have skipped several maintenance appointments. It also appeared to us that most people sought out this campground to go fishing on the river.

View from the river

Our site was a back-in along the river. That meant we had a great water view. It also meant we heard the sounds of the fishermen as they left in their boat every morning. 

We were not there to fish. We used this location to explore the Oregon Coast. Our daily trips allowed us to see tidal pools, whales, seals, star fish and lighthouses. We also found some good seafood, crab cake and clam chowder.

Lighthouse along the Oregon coast

The Devil's Punch Bowl in Oregon

Whales

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection with higher than normal pressure 
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The cable TV connection at our site did not work 
• We were unable to see any TV stations using Rosie’s antenna 
• AT&T placed a weak signal for voice and data over our site 
• The bathhouse serving the campground was very undersized. It is best that one person at a time use the restroom 
• Speaking of the bathhouse, it needs to be updated 

We were amused by the growing number of signs at the campground. It became a game to spot the new hastily handwritten signs put up during the day to warn the campers of the consequences of some newly discovered problem. Maybe it was a good thing that we were gone during the days we camped in this park or we may have been the inspiration for more signs. 

Suzy looking out Rosie's door

Oregon's coast

The Tillamook Dairy

The line waiting to  buy Tillamook ice cream

Oregon State Fairgrounds - Salem, Oregon (June 2018)

It is always exciting to arrive at a WBCCI International Rally. You are greeted by a sea of shiny aluminum Airstream trailers already on the grounds. By the end of the week, approximately 700 Airstreams were on the fairgrounds in Salem.

Arriving at the Salem WBCCI International Rally

This was our fourth IR, Airstream lingo for International Rally, and it also marked the farthest distance we have pulled Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, since becoming Airstreamers.  

It is easy to be anxious over the parking process when you arrive at an International Rally. The parkers assign spaces systematically. While the parkers say there isn’t too much difference between sites on the fairgrounds, anyone having attended an IR before knows that some sites are a long, long, long way from the activities at the rally. We noticed that our escort took us past the trailers parked at the back fence as we were being led to our site. We couldn’t believe our luck as we were told to park in a site close to the buildings being used for the rally. After three years of parking away from things, we had a front row space for the Salem rally.

Following the parkers to our site

In line to be parked at the WBCCI International Rally

Our site

We heard before we arrived that Salem had issues with its water. The levels of algae in the city’s water supply was unsafe and we were told to arrive with a full fresh water tank and plenty of bottled drinking water. To help with the situation, the Airstream Corporation provided a special water filter site that allowed us to fill water bottles for drinking. We quickly learned how to conserve water while there. 

As a side note, officials in Salem's city government were saying that the city will have to invest more than $230 million in water treatment plant infrastructure to fix this problem or it will continue to reoccur in the future. Chances are that once the chemical treatments get the current problem under control, talk about actually fixing the problem will fade away. 

Camping sites at the Salem Fairground

As soon as we parked, we started recognizing our fellow Airstream friends already in Salem. It is amazing how many people we knew from previous International Rallies and from caravans.

Becky meets her "Airstream Twin"

Becky wins First Place in the Watercolors Category for her painting

This was a different IR for me. I was responsible for three presentations and two meetings. I look forward to going back to being a participant at the next IR.

Steve participating in the WBCCI IR Flag Ceremony

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site had 30 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• A septic tank truck pumped out our gray and black tanks twice while we were in Salem 
• Our site was paved with asphalt and was close to being level 
• To get 700-ish trailers on the fairgrounds, the parkers had to place them close to each other. We had enough room to open the awnings with a few feet to spare
• The fairgrounds offered a slow and overwhelmed WiFi service in several buildings 
• We were amazed at the lack of TV stations in Salem. We were able to see several TV stations from Portland using Rosie’s antenna 

 The two most common questions we heard people asking in Salem were 1) have you found the showers and 2) how do you exit the fairgrounds?  We heard reports of phantom showers in various buildings on the grounds. We finally found a shower facility that appeared to me to be similar to the ones used during basic training in the Army. 

Finding an open gate to exit the fairgrounds was a challenge. As a security precaution, only a few gates were open and some people had to drive around searching for one before they the found the open gates. 

One of the events we enjoy at IR is the vintage trailer parade. It is always amazing to see early Airstream trailers that are 70+ years old, fully restored and still being used.

Vintage Airstream Parade

Vintage trailer parked on the grounds

Steve check out Airstream's Nest trailer

The Basecamp RV

Rosie on the fairgrounds

Bend Sisters RV Resort - Bend, Oregon (June 2018)

We have stayed in campgrounds that were called resorts before. With the exception of Topsail in Florida, which is a real resort, the only thing that ended up being resort-worthy at those so-called places was the fee. Not so at Bend Sisters RV Resort. Their resort camping fees come with a real resort.

Sign at Bend Sisters RV Resort

As you can tell, we thought Bend Sisters was a very nice RV Park. The grounds were well groomed, the swimming pool and the hot tub were both clean and the individual campsites were well maintained. We felt that we were camping in a resort.

Taking  Suzy for a walk

This was our last stop before arriving at the WBCCI International Rally in Salem. By the number of Airstream trailers in the park, we were not the only Airstreamers who thought this would be a good place to stop before heading to Salem.

Airstream trailers in the campground

As this was simply an overnight stop, we didn’t explore the park nor the area. From our conversations with other campers, this is a park that one could easily enjoy for several days. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was a pull-thru
• Our sit was paved with asphalt and was level 
• Unlike many campgrounds, there was some “green space” between sites and we appreciated not having our neighbors so close to us
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The park offered WiFi. The person who checked us in did not give us the passcode. That was OK since we heard other campers complain about how slow the Internet connection was. 
• AT&T placed two bars of 4G voice and data over our site 
• The park provided a basic tier of cable TV service 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC using Rosie’s TV antenna. We also saw digital channels Decades and ME-TV
• The campground had a good laundry facility 
• The campground had several restrooms and showers scattered throughout the park. These were clean and well maintained. A problem was that the showers ran out of hot water too early. 

Many flowers around  this park

Bully Creek Park Campground - Vale, Oregon (June 2018)

We were following our GPS to Bully Creek Campground. It seemed that we were on a road to nowhere. 

The park had a Corps of Engineers look to it when we finally arrived there. Individual sites were large and there was a grassy area in the middle of our loop.

Large sites in Bully Creek Park Campground

Our site was on a lake. Our concern was that the site had a pronounced front-to-back tilt. Since our site was gravel, I hoped we would not have trouble getting out the next morning and asked another Airstreamer in our group to stay until we leave to make sure we could pull out. By the way, our truck had no problem pulling Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, out the next morning.

Our site

It was easy to see one of the differences between this campground and most others. We didn’t have a water connection. You could see where it once was, but it was removed because there was arsenic in the water supply. We were told when we made our reservation there to arrive with a full fresh water tank, so the arsenic wasn’t a big surprise.

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were several loops in this campground. We camped in the one next to the lake
• Our site was gravel and we could not level Rosie left to right and front to back
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site did not have a water connection 
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• The campground had a dump station 
• The bathhouse was clean but needed updating. There were multiple signs warning you not to drink the water because it was not safe
• We did not see any service from AT&T at our site
• We were able to watch ABC and NBC using Rosie’s TV antenna. We also saw digital channels Decades, Retro and THiS

This campground may hold the record for having the most doves cooing in the evenings. We were glad that the doves quieted down after sunset.

The  lake

Mountain View RV Park and Restaurant - Arco, Idaho (June 2018)

Our first impression of this campground wasn’t “Chamber of Commerce” perfect. When we reserved a site in this campground a few months earlier and they took our credit card information, we were given a cost for the night. When we arrived, the cost had significantly increased. When we questioned this unanticipated change, the woman working the counter tersely said she didn’t know who would have given us that rate, besides prices change. 

So much for our welcome to the Mountain View RV Park. 

On the positive side of things, we couldn’t help but smell bar-b-que while checking in. The restaurant part of the campground was cooking ribs and we were hungry. We can report that the ribs were good and that saved us from having to worry about dinner that day. 

The campground is a few miles away from the Craters of the Moon National Monument. It didn’t take long after eating ribs before we were driving through the monument. The monument's name seemed appropriate to us. It is mostly a large area covered with black volcanic rocks. Signs in the monument warn motorists to watch for wildlife while driving there. We couldn’t help but question what type of wildlife would want to live there?

Craters of the Moon National Monument

While we were enjoying our visit to this national monument, a quick rain storm came up. We used the water from the storm to help rinse the accumulated dirt off our truck.

Craters of the Moon National Monument

Craters of the Moon National Monument

Craters of the Moon National Monument

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was gravel and we needed some leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean
• Our site was a pull-thru
• Our site had 20 and 30 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The campground had a restroom and showers that could be best described as “rustic.”
• Taking out the trash was an adventure. The dumpster appeared to be outside the campground and you had to unfasten a spring loaded clasp while holding your trash to get to it
• AT&T provided four bars of 4G voice and data service over our site 
• The park claims to provide WiFi service, but we were not given the passcode to access it
• There was a wide area between sites but the access roads were single lane and the space between rows was very narrow 

Rocky Mountain RV Park and Lodge - Gardiner, Montana (June 2018)

Fishing Bridge is the only campground inside Yellowstone National Park that offers full hookups. As you would imagine, it is very difficult to make reservations there because that campground fills up very quickly.

Yellowstone National Park

To make matters worse, there is a major road construction project on the road leading to the campground plus the campground will close later this year for a complete renovation. No, we were not successful getting in this campground and ended up having to camp outside the north entrance to Yellowstone.

Heading into Yellowstone

That was a shame because I remember camping in Yellowstone with my parents when I was probably 11 years old and my mental pictures of camping there are cherished memories. 

If you know Yellowstone, the north entrance is in Montana. There are several private campgrounds there that are close to the park and offer full hookups, something that makes camping a better experience for us. 

Driving from the Tetons, we drove through Yellowstone on the western loop. This allowed us to stop at Old Faithful and several other well known attractions along the way. There was plenty of parking around Old Faithful for our truck and Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer. The other attractions we visited didn’t have parking lots big enough to accommodate Rosie. That meant one of us had to circle the parking loop with Rosie in tow while the other ran along the path to the attraction. As awkward as that sounds, it worked out okay and allowed us to see the places we did not want to miss.

Old Faithful

The Paint Pots

This path also took us across about a dozen miles of roadwork. Make that a dozen miles of single-lane washboard dirt/mud road that covered Rosie with caked-on mud. A scary comment we heard on the radio we used to talk with the other Airstreamers in our group was that this section of road was similar to some of the roads traveled on the WBCCI Alaskan Caravan. The exception is that the washboard dirt road in Alaska is more than 100 miles long. I would hate to see Rosie after being on that road!

We exited the park and drove through the Rockefeller Arch. Our campground was about a mile from the arch. The park’s entrance was up a steep hill. As we arrived in a group, we ended up having to wait for the Airstreamers in front of us to get their parking assignments. That turned out to be a problem because there was some loose gravel on the road and that caused us to slip some as we tried to resume heading up hill after being stopped for a few minutes.

Rockefeller Arch

Our site was in the upper loop. The campground host didn’t have to tell us twice to have some speed to make it up the hill to the top loop. Our entrance into the park was enough to convince us that we needed to be aggressive when climbing gravel roads. 

The campground is in a great location for visiting Yellowstone National Park. We went on a wildlife tour bus looking for grizzly bears, black bears, moose, elk, bison, deer, mountain goats, coyotes, sheep and wolves. We were successful with all except for wolves.

Grizzly bear in Yellowstone

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was gravel and very close to being level 
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• Our site was closer to our campground neighbors than we are used to in most campgrounds
• The park had clean restrooms and showers 
• The park provided basic cable TV service 
• AT&T placed a weak 3G signal over our site. It was good enough for voice but too slow for data
• The park provided a slow WiFi service that was more irritating than effective 
• There was a good laundry facility in the campground 

The weather caused some excitement while we were visiting Yellowstone.  It snowed on us as we drove through the park one day. While that was amazing to us, people living there said that wasn’t unusual.

River in  Yellowstone

Rosie in the campground

Moose in  Yellowstone

Rosie as we travel through Yellowstone National Park

Our Yellowstone tour bus

Colter Bay RV Campground at Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming (June 2018)

There’s no mistaking the first time you see the Grand Teton Mountains. They are amazing and you immediately recognize the differences between the Tetons and the Rockies. This isn’t to imply that the Rockies are not beautiful, because they are. It’s just that the Tetons take your breath away every time you see them.

Grand Teton National Park

A National Park Ranger said that once you see the Tetons, you will return. There may be something to that since returning to the Tetons was on both of our lists. 

Unlike most campgrounds in national parks, Colter Bay has full hookups. That means we had electric, water and sewer connections while camping there in Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer. Another nice feature is that the campground appeared to be carved around the trees and this gives you the feeling that you are in the woods.

Rosie in Colter Bay RV Campground

Of course, no one wants to hang around the campground when you are in the Tetons. The jagged and snow-capped mountains and the abundant wildlife are enough to get you driving through the park every day while there. 

Speaking of wildlife, we saw a moose at Schwabachers Landing.

Moose at Schwabachers Landing

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site had 30 and 20 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• Our site was not paved. Perhaps the best description of our site was to call it “forest floor.”
• Our site was not level. We didn’t have enough leveling tools to get Rosie near level
• Our site was very shaded
• There were “bear warnings” throughout the campground. We didn’t see any bears near our park 
• There were several restrooms scattered around the park. The one closest to our site was clean and heated, an appreciated condition on cold mornings 
• Shower stalls were next to the general store, which was outside the camping loops. Bring a pocket full of quarters if you want to take a shower because the park charges an arm and a leg for showers 
• We were unsuccessful in receiving any TV signals using Rosie’s antenna 
• We had no voice and data service on our AT&T iPhones

It was great to be able to camp in the Grand Tetons National Park.

The mountains

The Teton Mountains

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The Chapel

Fly Fishing in Grand Teton National Park

A mountain stream

Shopping on the way to Colter Bay