Ozette Lake
Highlights
A very good evening and morning at the Ozette Lake Campground. The coffee seems especially good today. Are we hitting our stride? Today’s revelation: we will likely sell the Chinook after this travel “season” (however long that is) and here’s why:
the counters are too short for us. I’m in a constant state of crouch. With the stove vent in place, the crouching to cook is especially troublesome. My body’s not meant to crouch.
the sofa bed is very comfortable but every time the window person (Robin) has to pee at night, the aisle person (Ross) has to get up to avoid a very awkward climb over.
the Chinook was purchased more for the experience of owning one and renovating it. And while the renovation turned out well, we’re starting to get a sense of the “nice to haves” and “need to haves”.
We hiked the Ozette Loop trail (9 miles) from Ozette Lake to Cape Alava down the beach to Sand Point. On the beach we saw eagles hunting overhead and ancient petroglyphs at Wedding Rocks. We were pretty beat by the end of the hike. A good feeling.
We rode our bikes over to the Lost Resort for showers, beers, and sandwiches. This is a very cool place with wifi and bluegrass music — a fitting reward for an awesome morning.
She leads me where she likes…this time to get a look at the glacier-fed Hoh River. The river color is called glacial milk…sediments ground up over the millennia give it the special hue.
The Gap Band - Party Train
We are OUTTA here!
My old fave Gap Band tune is our Official Departure Song whenever we pull out of our latest campground for the next destination.
Ross finished his clinical contract last night and we head for points North this morning. We are armed with good ideas from Ross’ coworker Vern and my friend Britta (thanks Britta!). Please email or text if you have more ideas for us along the way.
Astoria
- by Robin
Foggy mornings turn into sunny breezy summer afternoons here in Astoria.
This was our view at lunch today, just two minutes from the clinic where Ross is working. We sat on the dock here and ate Crab Louie from Northwest Wild: fresh picked Dungeness crab, asparagus, artichoke hearts, black olives, tomatoes, hard boiled egg over a huge bed of mixed greens.
If we’d had a loaf of sourdough, we’d have felt like we were in San Francisco…
Notes from Astoria, Oregon: Day 1
posted by Robin
HIGHLIGHTS and OBSERVATIONS
Arrived in Astoria just in time for the Scandinavian Festival Pannukakku Breakfast. Pannukakku can best be described as a an eggier version of bread pudding or very close to my favorite Southern dish SPOON BREAD! A truly delicious comfort food, although the accompanying picture makes it look like burnt toast. It was served with an enormous slice of ham and the traditional Scandinavian Canned Fruit Salad in Heavy Syrup.
Really bummed we missed yesterday’s Running of the Trolls. Which reminded me of Troll Dolls from my youth. Why were they all naked? And what was up with that hair?!!
I have a farmer’s market fetish from our days as full-time RV’ers. Farmers markets around the U.S. reveal little slices of local life and culture, access to fresh produce and baked goods, and watchable dogs (my favorite part).
Our arrival here was timed to allow a visit to their Astoria’s Sunday Market. Astoria’s growing season is ahead of Bend’s, so I knew we were in for a treat. Sure enough…we left with a bounty of fresh greens, other veggies and fruit. Astoria has a top-notch market.
Spotted three different baby goats were at the market, on leashes! Are baby goats trending at farmer’s markets, or was this just Astoria? Either way…I loved seeing all the baybees.
Dogs at farmers markets spend most of their time peering between human legs at other the other dogs in the market.
Everyone’s happy at a farmer’s market.
LOWLIGHTS
I tried to get Ross in a picture with the Scandinavian Festival Queen, but he refused.
No local pie at the Farmer’s Market. There was some regionally produced pie, but I ain’t wasting my pietime on that.
Got ‘pronuncisplained’ by a persnickety male desk manager at the Cannery Pier Hotel. Went to inquire about using their sauna and he replied you mean the “SOWna?” Sure enough, there are two pronunciations of sauna. Did not know that. But his version was no more correct than mine! haha!!
That reminded me of the great KeFEER vs KEEEfir controversy of 2014.
BORING DETAILS
We signed up for the Astoria Aquatic Center/Gym, which we will use during the two weeks Ross is working. My wonderful strength coach Joey texted me my workouts tonight so I can keep bulking up (hahaha!). I already miss my SuperWomen Training Group, and I want to be ready to jump back when we return.
Found a mini-blender for jucing at Costco. Ross tried it and it works great. We can keep our green juices going.
Ross removed the bent bike rack and we’ll take it to the recycling area this week.
Dinner was a salad leftover combo with fresh market greens and a shared Backroads Vanilla Porter.
We are already weeding out things we need to send home, and will end up with a box to mail by the time we leave here including shoes, hand blender, extra dishes and extra sheets.
Bend to Astoria with a Bang
*posted by Robin*
Shipped out of Bend today with T’Chat (a.k.a. MonkeyShines) and two bikes on the front of the renovated Chinook (Thanks Ross!). Arrived in Astoria, Oregon with NO bikes on the front, after getting in a fender-bender in Warm Springs.
It was the best car accident I’ve ever had (and my first car accident since 1987, thank goodness). The car in front of me stopped suddenly at an intersection. I was going the speed limit and had a good bit of distance between us, but couldn’t quite keep from tapping his bumper with our bikes. There was a chain reaction to the RIGHT of us in the turn lane where 2 other cars collided (don’t know why).
SO much good luck:
no one was injured
no major damage on any vehicle
a Warm Springs policeman witnessed the whole thing.
he said it was simple chain-reaction, no speeding or mistakes, therefore no tickets issued.
One of our bikes was tossed on the ground, but had NO damage. The bike rack is a goner (bent up) but Ross wanted to get a different rack anyway.
The Warm Springs policemen and EMS were so efficient, we were back on our way to Astoria in under 30 minutes.
I am so grateful there were no injuries. It was a big reminder how swiftly life can take a nosedive. I was pleased that I didn’t freak out, felt very calm through the whole experience, although I did let Ross take over the driving afterwards.
It was a beautiful day for a drive, and we had spectacular views of Mt. Hood.
T’Chat was her usual traveling self. Every single trip she vomits, but only once and usually about ½ hour into the trip. She did her ritual vomit around Madras and we had the cleanup supplies standing by. Once that’s out of her system, she’s a trouper. She goes from lap to lap, watching out the windows and napping. She won’t get carsick again on this whole adventure, if she is true to form. Once she gets it out of her system, she is Road-Worthy.
We landed safely in Lewis and Clark Golf and RV Park. Our site pulls up to a golf range. T’Chat was already begging us to let her go hit some balls. Dinner was margaritas, tamales and chile rellenos at our favorite traditional Mexican restaurant here in Astoria: Cabaña de Raya.
It is drizzly and overcast in Astoria…but after our experience here this past spring we expected nothing less. (There is a reason everything here is so lush and beautiful.)
Chinook Renovation
New front hitch for the bikes
Feeding larger conduits for wiring access to the battery compartment, I used a hole saw to cut a 1 ½ inch hole into the floor at the driver side pillar (widening the original wiring conduit) and then cut a nasty 1 ½ inch hole through the front side wall of the battery compartment. After considering using an angular grinder to cut a rectangular hole in the front side wall to install PVC box, I decided just to line the hole with Eternabond tape. Not very elegant but functional.
I pulled all the upgraded wiring into the battery compartment.
Ran some ground wire from the above-cabin cabinet down to the chassis for the ham radio and antenna tuner.
Inspected all of the ground connections at the chassis (near the battery compartment, near the black tank, near the generator) and noted that they are all appear corroded and covered in rust.
Chinook Renovation
Finished upgrading the cabinet struts with Columbia struts. The previous owner replaced the mounting hardware with a lower quality version in two of the cabinets. I was able to order the original quality hardware and install the new struts.
I installed the Curt front receiver, part # 33055. This required that I drill larger holes in the chassis, extend existing holes, and cut though the bottom of the plastic bumper to make room for the 2 inch hitch.
Chinook Renovation
Solar installation
Ran two 6 AWG wires from the Progressive Dynamics 4645 charger toward the battery compartment.
Pulled all the wiring from the battery compartment and cleaned up the silicone.
Pulled all the wiring going through the floor of the Chinook (solar and LVD) which left a pinky-sized hole in the floor. My plan is to enlarge the hole to 1 ½ inch. I removed the 50A fuse under the chassis (in the white box).
Installed the two solar panels and wired each with 10 AWG to the combiner box, and attached the duplex 6/2 wire that goes down to the controller.
Routed the cellular booster antenna wiring through the combiner box.
Chinook Renovation
I installed the new Fantastic Fan 803350 12V Vent ($220) in the bathroom. I’ll have to figure out lighting in the bathroom since the previous fan including a light fixture. I might just use a battery operated LED light in the near term.
Using the old solar wiring conduit, I ran the wiring (feed line) for the UHF/VHF antenna from the roof into the above-cabin cabinet. I installed the antenna (Comet-NCG SBB-5) on the Diamond K540KM mount to the passenger side rail. It has a swivel mechanism allowing me to manually rotate the antenna flat to the roof.
Regarding the solar system installation, I ran the wiring from the roof through the old TV antenna hole to the driver side cabinet and forward to the above-cabin cabinet, and down the driver side pillar toward the battery compartment. It looks like I’ll have to drill a new hole through the floor and then another into the side of the battery compartment. More on reconfiguring and updating the battery compartment later…
I removed the low voltage disconnect (Sure Power model 135000) and plan to rewire from the charger to the battery using the direct route along the driver side wall behind the couch and bypassing the now removed LVD. Any recommendations on wiring size? Should I wire the negative to the battery negative and forgo the existing wiring to the chassis ground?
I replaced the non-functioning cabinet struts with new ones from Columbia Struts. Wow! What a difference.
Chinook Renovation
New swivel seat
Today I installed the passenger seat swivel base. I really like the use of space. The chair is much more comfortable (to me) than the dinette seating or the jack knife sofa.
The swivel base didn’t swivel at first. I had to remove the locking pin and loosen the nut that at the center of the mechanism. This turned out to be a 30 minute diversion. Nonetheless, the rest of the installation was pretty easy. Rotating the chair is not all that difficult — just moving the seat back and forth to clear the pillar and the doghouse. After sitting in the chair and staring at the furnace for a while, I’ve pretty much decided to yank the furnace and install a wall mounted catalytic heater on the wall utilizing the available propane and 12V access. And this will give me addition floor space for my livestock.
I’ve spent several hours reading and researching the pros and cons of various heating solutions in RVs. And while everyone has their own opinion on the pros and cons of each, I think I’m going to install the 5,200 BTU Platinum Cat vented heater on that wall utilizing the available venting options. Why?
Venting moisture outside;
Thermostat; and
No need to leave a window open
Chinook Renovation
I installed the Fantastic Fan over the living area. The install went well with no hiccups. Yeah!
I replaced the light bulbs in the fixture near the entrance. The old bulbs were clearly burned out but the lights didn’t work with the new bulbs. I removed the fixture and checked the voltage at the wires coming out of the ceiling. No electricity. Yikes! After reinstalling the fixture, I realized that the fixture had a switch in the panel above the closet. I turned it “on” and the lights came to life.
After receiving the weBoost cellular booster, I played around with antenna placement on the roof.
I ordered the ICOM IC-7100 HF and VHF/UHF ham radio transceiver, a VHF/UHF antenna & mount, and a tuner.
Chinook Renovation
After a frustrating attempt to get the seatbelt off the driver side pillar, I took the snippers to the plastic cover to access the bolt underneath. I was able to pull the driver side pillar and visualize the wiring bundle running from the overhead cabinet down to the battery bank area.
I pulled the old solar panel plugin access to see if I could use that hole in the roof to run the ham radio antenna cables. It appears the solar cables run through a conduit that won’t be accessible.
The batteries are still charging.