South Beach State Park, Oregon (A-)

On our first camping trip to the Oregon coast we decided to try South Beach State Park in Newport, Oregon. Neither my husband or I had been there before and weren't sure what to expect. We stayed 3 nights. We loved so many things about this park. There were only a few negatives. Let's get to it! (Pictures at the end)

The Good

1. The sites were spacious and had long RV pads. There were plenty of places to put a tent. The sites were clean and well maintained. We rode our bikes through the rest of the park and didn't see any loops that were bad, some just offered different amenities like a playground, or closer to a path to the beach. 

2. The bathrooms were some of the best we've seen at any campground. They were located in the middle of the loops and close to almost all sites. We never had to wait to use the shower and they even had a special needs restroom/shower. 

3. Each site offered water and electric hookups. There are no full hook-up sites at this campground, except for the Camp Host sites. However, there are gray water drains that you can use close to most of the bathrooms. We used a bucket and emptied off some of our gray water that way. 

4. The trail to the beach was AMAZING! We had one very close to our site and it was a short 1/4 mile paved trail directly to the beach. We rode our bikes and locked them up in the bike racks next to the beach access. It would also be a very easy walk with no hills and a great view of trees and plants along the way. My husband took off for a long ride on his bike and says if you like to ride, this is a great place to go!

5. There are many different kinds of activities for all ages. There is a Jr. Ranger program, interpretive center, Frisbee golf, great trails for bike riding or hiking, multiple playground structures, very close to the Newport Aquarium and much, much more! 

6. The beach was perfection. Soft, clean, beautiful sand. Great views. Very little wind, no rocks. A+ Oregon coast beach! 

The Bad

1. The dump station was available and free but at least a 45+ minute wait each time we drove by.  There were probably 6-10 RV's waiting in line always. They really need to add another dump station or 2. There is room to do it!

2. Lots, and lots of people. This was a very large campground. We were laughing when we saw there are loops A-I. That's 9 (!!!!) loops throughout the campground. I have never stayed in a campground this large.

3. There aren't a lot of trees within the campground. It's pretty open and not a lot of privacy, no matter which loop you are in. 

4. Full hook-ups would really add a lot to this park for RV campers. We didn't want to break everything down, go dump and set back up again. So that limited us to about 3 days max. 

The Ugly

Nothing ugly! 

Overall, and after consulting with my better half, we have decided to give this campground an A-. We really did enjoy ourselves. Riding to the beach and playing multiple times a day was just perfect. Having access to restaurants, crabbing and other activities was great. It wasn't quite "camping" but it was a very cheap place to stay on the Oregon coast and better than a hotel! 

Bathroom, just across the road from our site.

Back half of our site. And Grandma and Grandpa :)

RV pad, room to park 2 trucks and tent trailer.

Beach walkway and back racks (on either side)

Beach boardwalk

Crabbing just down the road on the public pier in Newport

Crabbing. All too small, but we had fun!

Memaloose State Park, Oregon (C+)

On our trip to the Oregon coast we needed a place in the middle to crash for a night. We decided to try Memaloose State Park. It was right off of the freeway just east of Portland, Oregon. I didn't take any pictures of this park, nor did we explore much but I'll make a few brief comments about our experience.

The Good
This is a great place to pull over if you need to crash for a night. It's clean, spacious and has full amenities (showers, etc.). There are big mature trees and grass. Also a play structure for kiddos. The campsites were level and paved with plenty of spaces for tents and long RV pads. We didn't have a reservation and were able to have our pick of 10+ spots on a Thursday night. We had one interaction with the camp hosts and they were very, very nice. The dump station was convenient and easy to use.

The Bad
The lady at the check in booth was very rude. I think she was a State employee and she had a major attitude. A lot of the grass was dried out but they were doing their best to water it. This isn't a place to camp, only to stay for a night while you are traveling through. It is VERY loud here and not a peaceful quiet camping experience. I can't imagine wanting to stay more than 1 night unless you sleep like the dead. The campground is bordered by the interstate on one side and a train track on the other. The trains went through all night long. At approximately 330am one of them started blowing their horn multiple times just as they were beside the park. There is no vehicle or other crossing there and no reason for them to do that other than they were being jerks. This isn't the parks fault, they are making good use of a difficult piece of property that would otherwise go unused.

The Ugly
Because of the loud interstate traffic and train whistles/rumbles, our children would not sleep. A little over 2 hours of crying and just being angry. Not a great first night of camping for the kids.

Overall I give this campground a C+. If it were in a different (quiet) location it would be great! The river is beautiful and the trees were big. Again, if you just need a place to sleep en route, this would be a good choice!

Pop-up Mods/Wish List

I have had a few people asking me about things that would be nice to have and modifications we want to do to our new-to-us pop-up. We would like to get a couple of cheap things done before July's camping madness (12 nights booked in July!) but since we are on a budget we'll have to pace ourselves. Here is a list of modifications we'd like to do as well as things that are on our wish list.

Lighting
One thing we noticed last trip was that we couldn't run the lights in the camper because we were afraid of draining the battery. With a deep cycle RV battery you should keep it above 12.06v and we had no idea if we were close to that. So I went on Ebay and purchased some LED light bulbs to replace all 10 of the iridescent bulbs (inside and outside). These bulbs will draw MUCH less power and have a life expectancy of 20+ years so we'll never have to replace them.

Here's a pic of the outside porch light with the LED replacement. This was a 906 size bulb in "bright white). Inside bulbs are 1141's in "soft white". All 10 bulbs cost me about $30. We have a 2007 Fleetwood Niagara for reference.

Voltmeter

This will give us an active display of the battery life. I haven't installed something like this in years so it will take some time to refresh my memory but I'm pretty sure I can figure it out - especially with my husbands help. I'll post pics when we get it done. These are cheap - less than $10. I plan on purchasing one in the next week or so before we leave on our next trip since we'll be dry camping. 

Radial Tires 

The bias tires we have now were manufactured in 2008 so our best guess is they were put on in 2009 or 2010 and its time to replace them. They have some significant wear on the inside. Bias tires are great for rugged roads but you really shouldn't go too fast with them and we anticipate 65-70mph on the freeway through Oregon. So we'll have to purchase 2 radial tires before the coast. The spare tire that we have is already a radial. This will cost about $150-160 but we won't have to worry as much about speed and we'll make it through our 1300 mile trip. 

Replace Smoke Detector/Carbon Monoxide

This is a must. Ours had a fault and wouldn't stop beeping no matter what we did so we removed it. For now we are bringing a portable battery operated carbon monoxide detector with us. I'm looking for a good sale on a hard wired version we can install. Cost is about $45 to get a combo fire and carbon monoxide detector. 

Digital Thermostat

I really dislike the RV thermostat we have in our pop-up. It's clunky and super hard for me to turn on and off. It doesn't seem to have any correlation to the temperature settings. It was set on 70 last weekend but it felt 85+ in there. I think the digital thermostat in our house is simple and would be perfect to relocate to the pop-up. Then we could just get a new thermostat for our house - maybe a smart one with wifi that you can control remotely. Hopefully my husband isn't reading this. Just in case I am not including the cost information. :) This one will have to wait. 

Bike Storage

We want to bring our bikes but we seem to have run out of room in the back of the truck, especially with the big bike trailer. We know what bike rack we want but we need about $250 which isn't in the budget right now. We also can't decide if we should mount it on the truck hitch and buy a dual receiver or if we should mount it on the back bumper of the pop-up. Still researching this one and hunting on craigslist for used options.

Bag Awning

We would love to have a 13ft Carefree Campout awning installed on our pop-up. After researching various bag awnings we feel like this one would be the best for us. Again, this is out of the budget with a price tag of nearly $400. 

Mattress Topper - Memory Foam

It's a well known fact that pop-up "mattresses" are not that comfortable. It's a very thin foam pad laid over some sheets of plywood. We have been searching for a king size memory foam mattress topper that we can trim a little bit to fit our bunk. The bunk is advertised as a king size but in reality its an RV king meaning a little bigger than a traditional queen but smaller than a king. One topper of decent density that is 3" thick runs about $175 on Amazon. This is another item that will have to wait. 

Outdoor Mat

I think having a large (at least 9ft x 12ft) outdoor mat would cut down on the amount of dirt we bring into the camper as well as give the girls a place to sit and play. These are about $60-$80. 

Pop Up Gizmos

These are solar end covers that help reflect heat to keep the inside cool or you can flip them the other direction and they keep the camper warm for cooler weather. They cost about $180 for all 3 covers (2 bunk ends and the slide out). 

Solar Panels

This is a total dream but eventually I would love a solar panel set up so we can boondock and not worry about power as much. I haven't even started looking or researching so I have no clue how much this mod will cost. 

I figure in total we have about $1500 in modifications and additional items we'd like to purchase to make things a little more comfortable and convenient. Yikes! As I said, most of these will have to wait or we'll keep looking for them used. 

That's The Spot, Ahhhhhh (Silver Creek)

Last weekend we went to my husband's childhood favorite mountain retreat - Silver Creek Plunge near Crouch, Idaho. It was about a 2.5 hour drive one way. The road getting up there was paved until Crouch, then about 25 miles of dirt road. We had a FANTASTIC time and stayed 3 nights. We reserved a spot using recreation.gov at the Forest Service campground called Silver Creek Campground next to the Silver Creek Plunge Complex. Silver Creek Plunge features rustic cabins for rent, a large grassy area, a playground structure, sand volleyball court, small store with some essentials (and ice cream!) and best of all... a hot springs pool! http://www.silvercreekplunge.com/

I had never been up there so seeing it with a fresh pair of eyes here's my good, bad and ugly;

Good
1. The road getting up was really good. I heard rumors that it was steep and "switch back-y" with lots of water ruts but we found the road to be well maintained and had a very pleasant drive.
2. The campground was beautiful! We had a very roomy site (U026) that was nestled in along a pretty creek. The space to park our pop-up was very large and we were able to park our truck along side it leaving lots of pad space in the back for the kids to ride their tricycles and scooter. It had the nicest fire pit and picnic table I have ever seen at a campground. The grounds were well maintained and the bathrooms were cleaned twice daily. There are vault toilets and no showers. Boise National Forest gets an "A" from me regarding this campground!
3. Camping fees were reasonable at only $15 per night ($7.50 for us with our discount) but there are no hookups at the sites. There is an RV fill station for water when you enter the campground but no dumping facilities. Unlike other Federal campgrounds I have been to there isn't a Park Host or those little envelopes to pay your fees in. You have to go to the pool office to take care of that stuff. Their hours are 0800 to 2200.
4. The pool was very clean and kept around 100 degrees. There is a kid friendly shallow area that is 1ft 2in deep. It was crowded at certain times of the day but we went around dinner time and there were only a few people there.

Bad
1. It cost $10 for adults and $8 for kids 2 and over to swim in the Silver Creek Plunge pool. For us, that meant almost $40 for the day which is a little pricey when you are camping on a budget.
2. A bag of ice was $3.50 and a small bundle of wood was $7.50. With the closest store 25 miles away its all about supply and demand. :)
3. It was very cold 2 of the nights, but that's the risk you take camping in the Idaho mountains mid-June.
4. One thing I love about camping is the people. Often you meet other families or couples and strike up a conversation and make new friends. Sometimes you sneak over to each others campsites and sit around the fire chatting or telling lies. There weren't a lot of friendly people on this trip. In fact, even though we'd wave or say hi to other campers we were basically ignored. It seemed odd and uncharacteristic of the usual camping culture I have experienced. Maybe it was the fact that our kids scream/play/cry for 1 hour prior to falling asleep just before dark. I dunno. :)

Ugly
1. Somewhere along the way we picked up a screw in our truck tire and got a flat. I know this isn't really considered ugly, but I hate it when things like this happen. Luckily we had a full sized spare and were able to get home OK.

Lessons Learned
They make these metallic looking covers for pop-ups called Pop-Up Gizmos. I want them. I think on both of the trips we have taken they would have been really useful. If you put the metallic side out it keeps your Pup-up cooler, metallic side in will help retain warmth. Once I get them I will do an in-depth review. We learned how to operate our gas furnace in the pop-up. It worked really well but our unit does not retain the heat for long. http://www.popupgizmos.com/

Last camping trip we brought wayyyyyyyyy too much stuff. It was our 1000th time camping but first time camping with kids so we weren't sure what we'd need. This time we scaled back on a lot of things and it made a big difference. We brought just enough clothes, food and drinks/water to get us through.

The biggest thing I learned on this trip is to always bring warm and cold clothes. There were times of the day that it felt hot and then it would rain and you'd be able to see your breath. Being prepared for both extremes is good.

Overall I give this trip a B+. It was fun and beautiful up there but the main attraction - the pool - was a little pricey and the weather was a little colder than I liked.

Pictures

Lots of space to play!

"Clifford" The Truck and "Cleo"The Pavement Princess

Nice gravel tent pad

The "Rabbit Hole"

View to the left form site U026

View to the right from site U026

The Maiden Voyage (Lake Owyhee)

We just got back from our maiden voyage in the new pop-up as well as the first ever camping trip with our girls! It was a learning experience. We went to Lake Owyhee State Park in Oregon for Memorial Weekend, 2014. Good, bad and ugly, here we go!

Good
1. Fishing was excellent. The girls caught their first fish (tiny crappie) and had a wonderful time.
2. The weather was nice, if a little hot at times. We had electricity at our site so we plugged in fans to help keep us cool.
3. First trip of the year is all about working out the bugs and getting back in the swing of things. I feel like we did that.

Bad
1. People were out in droves. There was not an empty spot in the campground. But it was a holiday weekend, so yeah.
2. My family has been to this campground in the past and it used to be green and well taken care of. Now, there was almost no green grass and the grounds weren't in the same shape the used to be years ago. Budget cuts maybe?
3. The RV sites were SMALL. I could stand with my arms spread out and touch both our pop-up and the motorhome next to us. There was very little wiggle room at the site to even put our lawn chairs and canopy.
4. A lot of the sites near the top of of the park (closest to the road) were literally on cliffs. Thankfully we didn't book one of those sites because the kids would have fallen down the cliff.
5. The bathrooms were dirty and I did not see anyone clean them the entire time we were there (Thursday - Sunday). Our campsite was literally feet away from the bathroom/showers so we would have noticed.

Ugly
1. Aggressive dogs. Yeah. That's right. Someone pulled into the spot next to ours (basically in our lap) and the second she got out of the car she says, "we have aggressive dogs". So I ask, "aggressive towards dogs or kids?". Her response was "both." Obviously with two year old twins and a dog of our own that wasn't going to work. After speaking with the camp host and getting the Ranger's involved the aggressive dog people were moved to another site. What complete idiot brings dogs that are aggressive to a State Park with families and children? Needless to say a complaint was filed and the State of Oregon handled it very well, so kudos to them.
2. MOTHS. Oh. My. Dear. Lord. There were moths everywhere. Thousands of them swarming the trees near our campsite. Almost a month later we are still finding dead moths in our camper. We spent a good 2 hours a day just trying to capture and/or kill moths in the pop-up. Ridiculous. It was almost like an end-of-days infestation.

Lessons Learned

On this trip, our maiden voyage with the pop-up, we discovered that whoever is going to be at the camper needs to have the keys to the camper. Not the person on the boat out in the middle of the water. Otherwise you'll be stuck at the campsite with 2 screaming kids, no access to food/water in 90 degree heat sitting in direct sunlight cursing your spouse's name until you finally decide to break into the camper using a screw driver. Then the next day the spouse that enjoyed fishing and the father-in-law have to spend hours trying to fix the door so the camper can actually be broken down and driven out of the moth infested hell it sat in for 3+ days.

Sunscreen. If you have little ones bring lots and lots of that spray on sunscreen Works great!

I also tested a screened-in instant canopy that I feel deserves its own review post, so that will be coming soon!

Overall I'd give this trip a D. Here's to hoping the next trip is a little better!

Pictures

A moment of quiet in the bike trailer

Cleo in her gravel spot next to the bathroom path

Our "space"

Testing out the new sun/bug canopy, trying to stay away from moths

Fishing with Daddy and Grandpa

This is what its all about!

My storage solution 

Chips!

I'm happy, I promise! ;)

How To: Get a Camping Spot

You've decided to take a camping trip. Good! You have three options.

1. Backpacking/Boondocking - Pack up your stuff, drive to your desired area and look around for a spot to set up camp. Be careful that you aren't camping on private property. Your best bets are federal or state land  available for public use. You run a risk of not being able to find a spot, but if you are a risk taker and enjoy the unknown, this is for you.

2. Walk-In Campsite - All campgrounds offer sites you can reserve and walk-in sites meaning first-come-first-served. Usually at least half of the campsites are walk-in only so unless its a busy holiday weekend there is a good chance you'll get something. Load up your gear and head to the campground you have in mind hoping to get a spot. Have an alternate campground in case your first choice is full. Worse case scenario you aren't able to find a campground with an available spot and you have to boondock it for a night and see if one opens up.

3. Reservations! - This is me. I reserve every single time we go camping. I like knowing that we FOR SURE have a spot to dump our gear and sleep, especially if we are driving a long distance. There are websites available for online reservations, or you can call the phone number and make them with a reservation agent. You will be allowed to select the exact park and campsite you want, as long as its available and reservable. Some parks even have yurts or cabins you can rent. See below.

Federal Camping; www.recreation.gov - this is a great site for reserving Forest Service and other federal campsites. A good majority are primitive sites (see my previous post about types of camping). There is an online reservation fee but for me, its worth the peace of mind. If you are a disabled Veteran like myself you get half off camping!

State Park Camping; www.reserveamerica.gov - You can reserve for an $8 fee per reservation (whether its 1 or 5 nights). These parks usually have full hook ups, grass and concrete. Veterans get free camping in certain states. The state of Idaho doesn't offer it unless you are 100% disabled but the state of Oregon offers free camping for all disabled vets (LOVE YOU OREGON)!

Levels of Camping! Which is for you?

Growing up in Idaho I was surrounded by camping. In fact, for most of my childhood our family vacations consisted of being out in the wilderness for weeks at a time. Not only does camping offer time away from our busy lives, it gives us a chance to bond with one another. No Internet, no phones, no TV, no distractions! Yes, that means you actually have to sit and talk to people face-to-face, usually over a campfire telling stories or taking a hike to discover new things. Have you ever caught and released a fish? It's amazing! Try roasting marshmallows over an open fire while telling stories, it's life changing. I realize some of you have never camped. You may be scared of bugs or bears. I get that, I do. But anyone can enjoy camping and there are different levels for people of all backgrounds. Are you a camper or a glamper? Let's find out.

Camping and "glamping" are different and depending on the situation I am a fan of both. Here are the levels;

1. Backpacking - This is where you only bring what you can carry, hike in to a remote spot and set up a small tent. No campground, no fees, no bathrooms, no power, no running water, etc. I've never done this and don't see it in my future.

2. Boondocking - Finding a wide spot on the side of the road somewhere with no designated campground and no fees, setting up a tent or parking your RV and enjoying yourself!

3. Primitive campground - Most primitive campgrounds have a outhouse style toilet and hand pump water, that's it. Usually you have to drive on a gravel or dirt road to get there and there is no pavement for miles. There are established numbered camping spots and picnic tables at each site. There is a fee, typically around $10-$18 per night. Most of the camping I have done falls into this category. You can reserve these ahead of time online (more on that in another post).

4. Campground with services - These more established campgrounds have various amenities including pavement, hot showers, and electricity - this is bordering on glamping. There are some advantages to these campgrounds especially if you are staying for more than a couple of days and want to take a shower or have an RV and want to take advantage of the hookups. Most state parks fall into this category and typically cost $20-$30 a night. These can also be reserved ahead of time online for a small fee.

5. Resort camping (full-on glamping) - The final level of camping is the big resorts which often have Wi-Fi, cable TV hookups, pools, a schedule of activities, horseshoe pits and are generally closer to a town or city. I have never stayed at a camping resort but we are going to give it a shot this summer. The one we reserved costs $40 per night, but that varies around the country.

We have a big summer planned with camping at all the levels except backpacking. No chance I'm strapping a potty training 2 year old to my back and hiking in to a remote site with no potty. Just not going to happen. Camping is all about knowing your comfort levels!

Oh - and in 30+ years of camping throughout the northwest I have NEVER seen a bear at a campground. Honest. :)