In the Woods

May 30, 2007
Westfir, OR

Casey's RV Park

I think we have arrived at RV nirvana . (Click here for a bird's eye view). The Willamette River rushes by about 50 feet from our rig. A very clean park with a lot of well-deserved ‘10’ ratings at www.rvparkreviews.com. A bonus is that there is a nice 9-hole course about 6 miles away. (Honest, Janice, I had no idea….) We are here a day earlier than scheduled, but our overnight yesterday at the Tri-City RV Park in Myrtle Creek left us wanting to escape the heat and I-5. We will be here ‘til Saturday morning when we head to the McKenzie River via Eugene.

Speaking of Tri-City RV Park, not since I was fooled on the internet about 10 year’s ago (when we wound up staying in a condo in Kauai that was a destination place for German nudists) have I been misled by carefully angled photographs and slick verbiage. Tri-City, a brand new park on old 99 across from Sue’s Bar and Dancing Club, was pretty much all pavement . Nice hook-ups, but about as sterile as a park and ride lot. Very weak on the ambiance. Bill the manager asked me for names of fellow RV’ers to send advertising postcards to. Fellow roadies…know that I didn’t give you up to Bill. No postcards in your mail box from Tri-City. If you are ever cruising up or down I-5 in the area, and you are really desperate, this is your place!!!

The day had started so well, with a phone call from ‘Tony”, the service manager at Village RV, which had recently disallowed my reimbursement claim for the batteries that died in Mexico. Tony (and his boss, the GM) were on the receiving end of one of my ‘special’ letters regarding the subject. To make a long story short (and it isn’t as long as the heralded microwave oven replacement campaign of 2006), they succumbed to my persuasive prose and the ‘check is in the mail.’ However, Village may have had the last laugh, as their guaranteed repair of the black tank fumes venting into the RV while on the road was a dismal failure. Today’s journey was breathless. Thought I was back in Baja.

Another highlight yesterday was the fact that Tuesday was ‘Senior Day’ at the Myrtle Creek Golf Course. Cart, green fees and a bucket of balls for $37.00. This is a course with swooping drops from rolling hills. Played with Ken, a chain-smoker employed at the local Indian casino. Between puffs, he really smoked the ball. It was a mediocre round for me. In keeping with past practice, no scores will be divulged on the blog, to keep any future wagering on the up and up.

On the way today we succumbed to an ice cream stop at Peggy’s Café at Rice Hill. At 10:20 a.m., it was the earliest I had eaten an ice cream cone in my life. The server assuaged my guilt, advising me that she has 7 a.m. regulars. A huckleberry cheesecake and a blackberry cone . One scoop each on a sugar cone:$4.50. Later bought gas at $3.25 a gallon (a lot of it!), and actually thought, “Good price!”. The attendant (remember, they gottta pump the gas in Oregon) advised that just 6 weeks ago the price was $2.25 a gallon. Are we all stupid or what?

One of the unfortunate benefits of having internet on the road is that I can review the travails of my beloved SF Giants. It’s time to get rid of Armando Benitez, who as the ‘closer’ relief pitcher has blown 2 of the 3 last games. How can a team hope to have any chance for success knowing that Armando will give it away in the late innings? Somebody please dial up Luigi “The Sniper” and tell him that there are some good upper deck tickets for him at ‘will call.’

Janice received an encouraging e-mail from her publisher today wherein she was advised that the company is excited about her book, etc, and it is moving into lay-out and editing processes.

As we head north, our intentions are to be in the Portland area (we’re coming Fritz and Dee!), followed by Coeur d’Alene, ID (daughter, Julie has a triathlon June 24), then Glacier NP, Waterton NP, and then Calgary (for the Stampede). After that, we’ll trickle down through Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, then to Colorado, including stops at Estes (Rocky Mountain NP), Evergreen (Janice will see me swing a golf club for the first time), then Colorado Springs, Canon City, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Durango, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Las Vegas and home, by August 15. Please forward any sightseeing or adventure suggestions along the route to jeff.marschner@sbcglobal.com. You’ll get a postcard if we go there!