Another journey concluded... we are home. Yup, caught the 0820 Coho ferry out of Port Angeles on Friday morning. Are we glad to be home? You bet! The trip was great... good to see old and new friends (as always).. good to see some of Mother Nature's exquisite beauty (absolutely amazing)... and/but... nice to be home (finally).
For those of you wondering how we got from there to here.. and our impressions of our stops.. here goes. After the Sierra Trails RV Park in Mojave we heading off to Coalinga (the Harris Ranch). We had heard of this spot from friends and wanted to see it. Great restaurants, free parking for RVs in their truck stop area as well as their general parking lots. We met good people as always, had a lovely prime rib dinner, and took off early the next morning on our next leg. Monday the 18th saw us in Corning at the Rolling Hills Casino. This is a nice RV spot if you're going to the Casino and want to be among RVers. What we noticed, after we'd booked in and paid, was that we could have stayed (for free) in the very large, paved, truck stop portion of the parking lot(s). By the end of the day it was filled with RVs and, although they didn't have the view including a bush or two and some grass... they did fine. We'll try that next (vs $35 USD).
Our next leg... took us to Canyonville and the Seven Feathers RV park.. which is affiliated with the Seven Feathers Casino. This has been one of our favorite stops for years.. but, sadly, we must admit.. it was the most expensive hot tub we've ever had. True, the sites are flat and clean and beautifully groomed.. but the price has been going up each year and $57 was just too much to actually enjoy it. Next time we'll stop over in their truck stop which is actually right next door to a cafe/truck stop store/showers and washrooms... for 0$. As you may be figuring out...this year we have learned that we can be self-sufficient and 'dry camp' far more than we ever did when were 'on route' to Mexico. There's $$$ to be saved if you're set up for it.
After Canyonville we headed on north to Vancouver, WA (just across the river from Portland). There we stayed at the 99 RV Park (a place we'd stayed at before). It was much warmer this time, compared to our last visit.. and the folks were friendly. It was/is suitable for an overnight stop... but be forewarned, the office closes at 4 PM and will only give out the code for the washrooms during office hours :-(
And then.. we found a gem. Just 45 minutes before Port Angeles, nestled into the little town of Sequim is the Gilgal Oasis RV. Now don't all of you go rushing there. It's small and you should phone ahead to make sure there's room; but it's delightful. Friendly management, well groomed sites, and a lovely lounge... all made it a lovely little place to stop in for the night.. and we did. Then up bright and early and we were on our way to Port Angeles and our ferry ride home to Canada. We were treated well by the officials, enjoyed the ferry ride across to Victoria, and were home by mid-afternoon (after stopping off in town for some business and some grocery shopping).
All in all, despite the snow, wind and freezing temperatures...(where they shouldn't have been)... I'd say we had a very nice vacation, thank you very much. And/but it's so nice to be home. The daffodils are up and the rest of the gardens are starting to show signs of life. We have hit the ground running and will be up and ready for spring and early summer.
For now.. know we are well and safely home. We hope each of you are equally comfortable wherever you are. Bye for now, adios, ttfn..... CJ
