Day 38 - We gotta get outta this place……

Salem, Oregon, 08.07.2017

Stayed overnight at Blue Heron Cheese Co. field. Great stay. Real cool evening as Tillamook, Oregon gets Pacific coast weather. Greeted at sun up by rooster crowing (stopped counting at 9 and just got up).

Met a nice couple from the Oregon coast who were taking their new camper home, staying in the same Blue Heron filed. We had breakfast with them at the Tillamook County Creamer Association, where they produce everything dairy for the Pacific Northwest. At 10 AM the parking lot was already nearly full, as people come from everywhere to try their cheese and ice cream, all of which is excellent. We took home the salted caramel toffee.

Now to the theme of this day’s memo. We planned on camping at a winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, an area that is fast becoming a go-to place for wine connoisseurs. We drove up the dirt path and were greeted by the owner, a real nice guy who looked like an overweight gold prospector from the 19th century. He showed us a spot to park by the barn and offered electricity, but it didn’t work with our rig. That was too bad because it was in the 90’s and he said the temp wouldn’t drop much in the evening. We immediately began to think about the possibility of creating excuses for not being able to accept his hospitality, but we wanted to be kind because the prospector was so friendly. He then tells us to never leave the trailer at night. Why not, we ask, even though we had few intentions to do so? Answer: there are three (not 2 or 4) aggressive skunks that patrol the area all night and are not afraid of people. Added to that, five (not 4) feral cats could be noisy and several elk running around (number unknown) could do damage to our aluminum trailer, but they usually confine themselves to the vineyards. After that intro, he left and we simultaneously said we gotta get out of here, so we bought a bottle of Riesling as a courtesy and blew out of Dodge. We blamed our quick exit on the heat, which was true, but left out our concerns about nighttime critters. We wouldn’t want him to think we were weak people from the East.

We checked into an upscale RV resort near Salem, OR, called Premier RV. Clean, great swimming pool, well landscaped, electricity, plumbing, nice hosts … this was what we needed.

Our 2017 Northwest USA Adventure

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