We're settled in here at Devils Lake State Recreation Area for the month of August. This is our third time hosting here and the second in site B-1, the primary Yurt Host position.
D-Lake is a very busy park this time of the year, as all parks are on the Oregon coast during the summer. If you want to visit a Oregon state park on the coast between June and September, we highly recommend making a reservation nine months in advance. Every day we see several campers turned away and having to find a place to stay at the last minute. Devils Lake is full 98% of the time, with the full hookup sites at 100% reserved.
With the high occupancy rate we have here, you can be assured we have some noise issues to deal with. So far we haven't been called out late at night as the rangers are in the park until 10 PM and they usually deal with the rude campers. However, we'll more than likely get a knock on the door very late at least a few times during the month.
Our camping site is under a lot of trees so our roof-top Winegard satellite dish can't get a signal so we're using the cable TV provided. It's not very good but hey, at least we have television. Also, our cell 3g service for is slow to nonexistent during the mid part of the day. To get a 4g signal you have to be at the north end of town. See what we have to put up with to do this hosting thing.
08/08/2013
We didn't have anything special to do on our days off so on Monday we did a little Geocaching here in the Lincoln City area. If you have never tried Geocaching, we highly recommend you consider giving the sport a try.
One of the cache's was here:
There are actually three in this area
One is placed in this beautiful area
08/14/2013
On Monday we took a drive up the coast to Tillamook to pick up our mail. After getting that chore out of the way, we drove over to the Blue Heron French Cheese Company to have lunch and pickup some of their great brie cheeses. Of course we just had to get a piece or two of the delicious truffles.
Next we did some shopping at Fred Myers. After that very trying ordeal, for me anyway, Joyce noticed that we had $.10 a gallon fuel points available so we decided to top off out tank. To our surprise we actually had a $.30 savings points accumulated, bringing the cost for diesel down to $3.58 a gallon. Wish we had a hundred gallon tank!
Next stop, the Tillamook Country Smoker to pick up some of their pepperoni sticks and jerky. They have some really good smoked meats but for my money the best is Taylor's in Cave Junction, OR.
Yesterday, Joyce had a "date" with Joe, the maintenance host here at Devils Lake to play bingo at the Chinook Winds Casino. Joe was a winner but Joyce made a donation to the welfare fund.
08/15/2013
Yesterday turned out to be a very sad day when I learned that I lost a brother Air Force aviator and friend, Chief Master Sergeant (Ret) Fred Lewis, in an airplane crash near Paradise, CA. I flew several missions with Fred and worked with him to get FAA Professional Flight Engineer certifications for Air Force flight engineers. Fred became the first Check Airman at Travis AFB. I will miss you Fred. RIP brother.
Last evening it started raining here in Lincoln City and as I write this it looks like today is panning out to be more of the same. Of course, I started washing the rig on Tuesday and planned on finishing yesterday.
08/21/2013
On Sunday we welcomed Rick, Patty and Hunter (their Golden Retriever) Stills to Lincoln City. Since we are booked solid just about every day here at the state park, they are staying at the Elks Lodge RV Park about six miles south of town. It's not real fancy out there but it is very peaceful with some beautiful views of the hills.
On Sunday evening they came over to have a pulled pork supper with us at the park and then on Monday we went out to their house. While Joyce and Patty did some shopping at the outlets, Rick and I did some geocaching. Rick had heard geocaching but had never had the opportunity to participate in the sport so we grabbed two easy cache's near the RV park.
When the girls got back, Patty fixed a delicious brat and sauerkraut dinner followed by a killer cheesecake desert. We all ate way too much but I can tell you, we were happy!
Yesterday we did some sightseeing here in Lincoln City. One of the stops was at Roads End State Park where we had a picnic lunch and then let Hunter play in the water.
We weren't sure who was having the most fun:
We then went to the Abe Lincoln statue to show them where another geocache is located. Since that landmark is next to the Elks Lodge we decided to stop in, say hello and have some refreshments.
Joyce and Patty at Abe's statue
And Rick & Patty
Rick and Patty at Selitz Bay
When then made a couple of stops and eventually wound up at Gracie's Sea Hag, a local landmark on this part of the Oregon coast. Gracie's wasn't there to play the bottles but the bartender on duty did a great job to playing The Chicken Dance song. Here is a video of the bartender doing a song posted on Youtube sometime back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE9eN93R0gQ. We had a delicious seafood dinner before heading back to the Elks campground where we had to say goodbye. Rick and Patty are heading back to their home in Idaho today.
I get a daily RVing tip newsletter from rvtravel.com and have learned a lot of great things that have been very useful. Here is today's which can be very helpful and not just to RVer's: http://www.rvtravel.com/?q=daily-rv-tips-issue3129193
As you might know, Joyce and I are planning a trip to Alaska next summer. Our friends and Oregon State Parks co-host's, Bill and Carol Smith are on their second trip and are having a ball "communing" with the bears. Check out their blog at: http://bearsnob2.blogspot.ca/
Just had to throw a couple of pictures of the grand babies in for good measure:
Abigail's first day of 2nd grade
Skyler's first day in day care
Until next time, have fun!
Barry & Joyce
