January 2010 Camping Trip

The new year is upon us, and Karen and I finally broke the bonds of our "Cabin Fever", and headed out for our first camping trip of 2010. Now... where to go? Karen suggested someplace by the beach, and I suggested someplace we haven't camped at yet, with Full-Hookups (Water, Electric, and Sewer connections) to make our return home all that much easier. We ended up staying at Beverly Beach State Park just North of Newport, OR. Two outta' three for our wish list requirements weren't too bad for this "Thurlacki" adventure (more about this later).

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Site C-11

The back of our trailer was backed right up next to Spencer Creek, so at night we could hear the gurgling of the water as it rushed to the ocean, which also made for some sound sleeping. We experienced rain storms the second night, but we stayed warm & dry inside the trailer. A few sites in this campground also offer Cable TV hookup (which we had), so we were able to get over 62 channels and didn't miss any of our favorite shows during the evenings.

Spencer Creek and the Ocean. That's the Hwy 101 Bridge right above Abby and I

Of course we had to walk on the beach... and you'll notice that we had beautiful weather as well. During the Winter time, the Oregon beaches can be a lot rockier than the Summer time, as the larger waves and winter storms take the sand off the beaches exposing the rocks.

My two favorite girls!

Looking North up the coastline with Spencer Creek at last finding the sea

One of our favorite sea food restaurants resides in Newport. It's called "The Chowder Bowl". Karen and I both enjoyed a large bowl of their clam chowder, complete with garlic bread. For desert we both had their Bread Pudding with Brandy/Butter sauce (it's to die for)!!!

The "Chowder Bowl" at Newport's Nye Beach

My almost finished Bread Pudding

One of my requirements for this camping trip, was being able to have "Full-Hookups", so that we could empty our trailer waist tanks before heading back home. I had constructed a new "rain gutter" & "raised support" system for hooking up to the Sewer connection, so I was looking forward to seeing how well it worked.

My new Sewer connection system

This morning (as we prepared to head for home), I pulled the waist drain handle... and shades of the Beverly Hillbillies song came to mind: "and up from the ground came a bubbling crude"... but it wasn't "Black Gold" or "Texas-T" that I saw! Thankfully, I was standing by... and was able to shut-down the trailer waist valve before any more of the "sludge" slowly oozed up from the Sewer connection. It was plugged Big Time! So... off to the Dump Station on the way out of the park, with a friendly reminder to the Camp Host that site C-11 has a blocked sewer dump pipe. I don't know how we do it, but we sure manage to find our share of surprises when it comes to dumping our waist tanks! I for one have had enough of that "crap"! :-)

The beautiful Oregon Coast at Winter time

I couldn't dare end this BLOG on a bad note, so above is proof that we do see some sunshine in the state of Oregon during the Winter months. The fresh sea air also smells a lot nicer than what I experienced this morning as well. :-)

Happy Trails...

-Gary & Karen-