Westfir / Eugene, OR

A quick week went by in Westfir, about 45 minutes from Eugene!

The Digs

We posted up at Casey’s Riverside RV Park right next to the middle fork of the Willamette River and were pretty happy to be out of the smoke-filled valley of Ashland. Major bonus: Casey’s RV Park has a soft serve machine in a covered pavilion that is accessible 24/7. Cones are $1, paid on the honor system via a cash box next to it.

The very best kind of backyard.

The biggest downside of this park is that it’s pretty close to the Pacific Union railroad and several trains ran by day and night. Fortunately, though, with the fan running at night and the river itself we had enough white noise to keep us from waking up. Oh, and the wi-fi was pretty terrible, not going to lie.

BUT ICE CREAM AT ALL HOURS!

It was hot here; not as hot as Ashland, with a nice breeze that kicked up every afternoon. The river itself was a bit too swift (and cold, to be honest) for swimming but it sure made for a beautiful backdrop.

Friday afternoon we rode our bikes into nearby Oakridge for dinner at Mazatlan so we could carbo-load for our big Saturday adventure…

Full of burritos and enchiladas.

Saturday

Saturday morning we started the day with a quick, short hike up the start of the North Fork trail along the river. A 100/50/25 mile mountain bike race was going on at the same time; the hundred milers had already bounced, we basically squeezed our hike as the 50-milers started. On our way back we had to hop off the trail while they whizzed past us, which was pretty fun to watch.

North Fork Trail – watch out for racing mountain bikers!

The site of a former water mill on the North Fork trail.

After our serene morning walk, we went into Eugene for the day. We explored the big Saturday Market, a farmer’s- and craft-market combo with artisan goods, fresh produce, food stalls, and live music. From there we walked to Voodoo Doughnuts, because duh.

Nomming on the Old Dirty Bastard Donut, topped with Oreos and peanut butter.

Then we made our way toward the Whiteaker Block Party, a free, annual event with live bands, craft stalls, beer, and that distinct Eugene spirit  (think: glassblowers, bubble blowers, tricked out buses, and high concentrations of white people, tattoos, and piercings).

Spacebuds: The Dispensary 🤣

Pirate bus, Whiteaker Block Party

Awesome wall mural, Whiteaker Block Party

After noodling around in the heat we stopped at Oakshire Brewing Public House for a rest and refresh with Gose and Berlinerweisse and IPA.

We walked back toward downtown along the river, which runs through the city. We saw tons of tubers (toobers?!)…not potatoes, people in inner tubes. Cities where you can inner tube on a river are A+ in my book.

We ate dinner at a place called Oregon Electric Station which was also A+. It’s inside a former train station from 1912.

Sunday

Sunday Funday was spent renting a couple of kayaks and heading up to Waldo Lake to paddle around for a few hours.

On the way up we stopped at the second tallest waterfall in the state, Salt Creek Falls.

Salt Creek Falls

Waldo is another stunning alpine lake, and like Crater, it’s not stream fed in any way, resulting in bright blue, clear water. Without more nutrients flowing into the water there wasn’t as much wildlife, but we did see some Mergansers and some tiny frogs.

Waldo Lake

Paddling in the tulies

This is the color of the water!

It’s like the Caribbean Sea…just colder.

Post paddle, we stopped at McCredie Hot Springs on the way back; a natural hot springs right next to the river. Bliss.

McCredie Hot Springs

Followed by burgers and beer at Brewers Union Local 180, an all-cask brewery with their own brews and a handful of guest taps.

Lunch/dinner: cask ale and burgers.

Overall, we loved Eugene and the surrounding area.

Next up: Lincoln City, OR!

Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg, TN

“That’s where Dolly Parton is from!”

That was my mom’s first exclamation after I told her we were in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The best way to describe this place is that it’s like an elongated, family-friendly version of Las Vegas.

Dollywood notwithstanding, this place is literally packed to the gills with museums (Titanic, Wonderworks, Hollywood Wax, Alcatraz East, etc), entertainment (magic shows, dinner theaters, arcades, amusement parks, and more mini golf courses than you can shake a stick of beef jerky at), tchotchke shops (doll stores, doll clothing stores, t-shirt and souvenir shops, As Seen on TV stores, candy shops, and on and on and on), retail (boot stores, outlet malls, aforementioned tchotchke shops) – and at night all of these things light up an an electric display of peacockery that will drain your wallet faster than you can say Jolene, Jo-lene, Jolene, Joleeeeeeeene.

A tiny fraction of STUFF AND THINGS in Pigeon Forge

11 million people come through here every year (had no idea) and Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited National Park – by comparison, the Grand Canyon gets about 6 million visitors per year.

October is peak season too, so we paid higher rates to stay here than most anywhere else we’ve stayed so far. The campsites here are pretty packed in – we’re at Creekside RV Park which has a lovely little creek running through it but it wasn’t our first or second choice – we didn’t plan too far ahead so we took what we could get.

It’s fine amenity wise – full hookups and laundry and so forth – but more yippy dogs than anywhere else we’ve been. The real pot of gold here, in my opinion, is the herd of ducks that waggles through the park every day – they hang by the creek here – and certainly aren’t afraid of people. And since the duck is my spirit animal, I was quite happy to be surrounded by them at all times.

One great thing about this area is that it doesn’t shut down at 5pm like some of the smaller towns we’ve stayed in. We worked our days and then spend our evenings trotting about – I hit up the Titanic museum on my own while Travis worked late and loved it – definitely worth it if you’re at all intrigued or entranced by the story (guilty). The building itself is a half-scale model of the ship.

All Aboard! Actually, on second thought…

My favorite part was a trough of water they kept at 28 degrees that you could stick your hand in to experience the temperature of the water – it was painful. I put my hand in there for about 35 seconds before I had to retreat – my bones literally started hurting.

We explored the Island at Pigeon Forge – a collection of shops, museums, and attractions amidst the larger assortment of shops, museums, and attractions in the area. We took the Great Smoky Mountain Wheel for a spin – just in time for sunset.

Then, we meandered for dinner, considering our options…Dick’s Last Resort, Margaritaville, Paula Deen, some BBQ joint whose name I forget – all were packed or priced for airport travel…we skedaddled from the area and found ourselves at a nearly empty Japanese Hibachi restaurant called Kinkaku.

This, my friends, was a smart move. Not sure if people around here just aren’t into more exotic fare but the wait time was zero and the food was outstanding.

We had one warm, sunny day that was nice enough for outdoor ‘sploring, so we hiked Rainbow Falls in the Park. It was a 5.4 in and back and just the perfect day for it – fall foliage was beautiful and the falls were, too – the trail was definitely well-traveled but still worth it.

The top of the trail: Rainbow Falls.

It was cold and rainy all weekend, so Saturday we hit up an escape room nearby and saw Geostorm (it was the best of our 4 options, trust me) and Sunday we drove up to Gatlinburg for the day. Gatlinburg is like Pigeon Forge, but smooshed into a much smaller, entirely walkable area right at the base of where the National Park gets going.

On the trolley to Gatlinburg – necessary out-of-focus selfie…!

We realized this month that burned through 100+% of our budgeted money for the month, so had we been feeling a bit more flush we probably would have gone into every Ripley’s location as well as the Aquarium – but as such we noodled around walking through a few of the many shops and enjoying the sights – we even had about 10 minutes of snowfall before it turned back into rain.

Brrrrr kitty.

From here we’re off to North Carolina to visit Travis’s stomping grounds and family. His great uncle and aunt are RVers and have hookups at their house! So we’re pretty excited to experience RV life in familiar territory. 😀

Ithaca Really IS Gorges. Bonus: Something Died In the Closet

Ithaca is a show pony of a place – everything is spectacular. From brilliant fall foliage to Lake Cayuga to waterfalls eeeverywhere, our sadness of leaving Burlington was short lived.

We knew the forecast consisted of a fair bit of rain for our week here, so after settling in at Pinecreek Campground about 15 minutes out of town in Newfield, we knew we had to pack it in before the rain came.

Pinecreek Campground is great – it has a great mix of tree coverage and open space – we had a beautiful open field across from our site.

When we first pulled in, we had, to be honest, one of the least desirable sites they had. It was close to the office on an end (we had let them know that we would need WiFi), which meant we would be closest to where all vehicles come and go and there were no trees – so no privacy or natural separation from neighbors.

Fortunately Sue was super nice and understanding about it since we were posting up for a week and moved us to a nicer site around the corner with a bit more breathing room.

Ben Franklin needs room to breathe, yo.

On Saturday we hiked Buttermilk Falls – it is a feast for the eyes and a balm for any city-weary citizen. It was like hiking through a small section of Rivendell. Just breathtaking.

Bilbo, is that you?

Afterward we went downtown and wandered about – we snagged lunch at Viva Taqueria, then ate ice cream at 15 Below – they make the ice cream right in front of you – spread it on a large, freezing plate, then roll it into mini ice cream strips with toppings. MOAR PLZ.

After that we went to Stewart Park to see Cayuga Lake, then hit Cornell Botanic Gardens.

Stewart Park on Cayuga Lake.

Cornell Botanic Gardens

Sunday we went to the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, which is probably one of the best farmer’s markets I’ve ever been to. We snagged cherry tomatoes, strawberry rhubarb jam, and some garlic scape pesto before meeting our friends Jay and Melissa and their kids, Riley and Maple, for another glorious hike – this time at Robert H Treman Park. Afterward we all went to dinner at Ithaca Brewing Company and feasted on tasty brews and hens that were raised on site.

Hiking with Team Hubisz!

Okay so I know you must be really antsy to hear about what died in our closet if you’ve made it this far. Truth be told, we don’t know yet.

I have a pretty highly tuned snooter and can smell things long before Travis does. I’ve been noticing a rather off odor in the closet area of our bedroom – sort of like garbage or something vaguely rotting.

After noticing that part of the interior of the closet was coming apart (thanks to that water damage) I also realized the smell was coming from there, too. At first it seemed to be coming from the top corner. But then it would go away. So I set to figure it out and took out some clothes and shoes. My biking shoes smelled awful – like the ass end of a garbage truck. I put them outside, not sure if our ride through Stowe had left my shoes inexplicably stinky.

The shoes aired out but the smell in the closet didn’t go away. I have since discovered that it’s emanating from the lower back wall of my side of the closet, which is slightly sloped. When I put my nose up to it, it was like a stinky lightbulb went on. I sprayed it with bleach and water, and it went away – only to come back again the next day.

So now we’re at a crossroads. The wall piece runs the entire length of the closet so taking it out isn’t a small project. We could cut a hole into the wall but that would leave, naturally, a gaping hole in the wall. We could wait a week or so and hope that whatever is back there just gets its decomposition over with as quickly as possible.

We’re wondering if something crawled in there while it was being repaired back in West Virginia – as it’s suddenly just starting to smell now.

Please tell me someone out there has had to deal with something dead inside their RV closet wall and can give us some advice?!

Megunticook, Common Ground Country Fair, and on to Vermont

This past week we stayed at Megunticook Campground in Rockport, Maine. Pros? Lots of trees, great facilities for laundry and (free) hot showers, a beautiful lookout spot on the hillside out to the sea. The cons? Sites were pretty close together, the entire campground itself was pretty close to Route 1, the main two-lane artery up the coast in this area, nearby trails and accessible beaches weren’t as abundant as I had hoped – going anywhere on foot meant walking on the side of the highway.

We did hike the beautiful Beech Hill Preserve trail – it was a foggy morning but we didn’t want to skip a chance for a nice hike. It was a bummer to miss the view from the top, but the stone lodge at the top was a neat-o reward in and of itself.

Nearby Camden was a fun spot to spend a work day – various coffee shops like the Owl & Turtle Bookshop and the Bagel Cafe had wifi and snacks/coffee. When the Bagel Cafe closed at 2pm (also apparently you only get 1 free hour of WiFi there – I arrived at 1 so this was well timed), I went to the public library to finish out the work day and so glad I did – though almost terrifyingly silent (ahhhh), the brick building’s ship paintings, chandeliers, and lounge chairs gave it a decidedly WASPy, luxurious ambience.

This last Saturday we went to the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, Maine. It’s billed as a celebration of rural living by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), the organization that produces the event. A local described it to me as “a huge hippie fair.” Our friend Gabriel Willow, who grew up in Maine, has always raved about it as well. It draws about 60,000 visitors over three days and consists of workshops, speakers, a farmer’s market, food stalls, arts & crafts vendors, livestock demonstrations, and more.

I certainly got a kick out of perusing the lineup of workshop options throughout the day: Direction Felling with a Chainsaw, Sustainable Beekeeping, Humanure: It’s a Resource!, Compost Parade (I lol’d at the downright political chants that compost paraders expelled: “What do we want? COMPOST. When do we want it? RIGHT NOW.”), Foraging and Working with Medicinal Mushrooms, Log Scooting Contest, Goats as Therapy Animals…

Not only did it make me realize how little I know about homesteading and agriculture, but also grateful to be able to experience even a small fraction of what it means to live more self sufficiently.

Morning coffee by the sea.

We made the hour-long trek early (left at 7:30am) and parked at a nearby Park and Pedal lot and biked the remaining 1.5 miles to the gates. I’m not sure how, exactly, but we spend 6 hours at the fair! I went to a knot-tying class, meandered through every single tent watching demos (wool felting, wood lathe, basket weaving) and eyeballing all the craft vendors, and inspected allllll the food stalls. Organic lamb & beef gyro: check. Homemade apple pie: check. I watched kids sledding down a dusty hill using pieces of cardboard (genius), saw folk singing circles, Balkan dancing, albino Angora rabbits, Alpacas, a sheepdog herding demo, a Native American pow wow, and all the honey and tantalizing produce you can imagine.

Bowline knot!

By 3 pm we were pretty well knackered – but there was one thing I had come for that was nowhere to be found at the fair, much to my dismay: Amish Donuts. We hit the nearby Amish market to grab some on the way home, and all was well in the world – even moreso after we got back home and I was able to take a much-needed nap.

Sunday was a beach day – we went north to Lincolnville to pop a squat on their tiny, but public, beach area – sandwiched between lobster shacks and the Islesboro Ferry, it wasn’t exactly expansive but was worthwhile for a close, low-key beach visit and lunch stop.

I have to admit it’s torture being this close to Acadia National Park and not going. I’m kicking myself but also happy to be heading on to Vermont – our week there will the last that we’ve planned out in advance.

If anyone has tips or resources for finding great RV sites as you go, let me know! I just downloaded Campendium and it seems to be exactly the type of resource I’ve been looking for

 

 

 

 

Maine = Magic. Bonus: Turtle Rescue.

GUYS. Maine is amazing.

Also we’ve realized something important: all things off season are the best. We are starting to think that we don’t want to actively travel or deal with RV parks during any holidays (which are best spent with family anyway). We had been toying with the idea of going to Key West over Christmas, but after seeing the prices and knowing that it’ll be crowded AF, we’re having second thoughts. Anyone ever done the Key West thing over the holidays? Is it bananas?

Anyhoo, we’re currently holed up at Beaver Dam Campground in Berwick, Maine, about 30 minutes from York. Our campsite is right on the lakefront (ahhh), between another (empty) couple of sites and a mini-sand beach with its own dock. Said dock has a couple Adirondack chairs on it for sitting in the sun. There are canoes, kayaks, an AquaCycle, and paddle boats to rent, as well as a little mini golf course, pool (closed for the season), sluice (for “mining” gems out of pre-packaged bags of sand for sale in the office/shop), and picnic tables everywhere. To be honest, I’m nervous to go anywhere else after this, it’s that great.

Yas.

I think the only downside so far is the mysterious rash that developed under my arm on one side – everyone in my family reading this right now is laughing, because I am the queen of sensitive skin problems. I *always* get the rashes (heat rash, eczema, whatever), jellyfish stings, mosquito bites, fly bites, you name it. No idea what this one is. I did go in the lake so swimmer’s itch came to mind but I didn’t submerge this particular part of my body. Chiggers? Who knows, just pass the steroid cream that I keep on hand at all times and add it to my rash roster. 🙄

We’ve taken the canoe and AquaCycle out for a spin – during our canoe the other day we saw a beaver swimming around the narrow end of the lake – we’ve also seen herons, chipmunks, and squirrels.

6:30 am in a canoe.

Yesterday we found a baby snapping turtle along the water next to our campsite that had been punctured on the back of its shell and blood was coming out of the wounds. My animal empath heart went pitter patter pretty hard – but I wasn’t sure what to do. Fortunately, because we’re in Maine and Maine is awesome, the Center for Wildlife was a mere 30 minutes away.

Oweeee! This guy was about the size of the palm of my hand.

I called them 15 minutes before close but they told me to come anyway, they’d be able to take little buddy since there would be staff there. So Tiny Turtle went into a bowl with me and into the truck toward York. The Center for Wildlife is a non profit that gets no state funding and was a pretty incredible facility – after dropping off my patient, they gave me a reference number so that I could call in the following day to check up (which I did, they cleaned and packed the wounds and started a course of antibiotics).

They also took an address on the intake form for where I found it so it can be returned to the same location. After donating $20 and recollecting my now-stinky, turtleless bowl, I did a quick spin through their outdoor rehabilitation area. They mostly have birds of prey, as well as a too-comfortable-around-humans porcupine named Henry, and a neurologically damaged squirrel named Skeeter.

This is Perry, a Peregrine Falcon.

A Red-Tailed Hawk.

A Barred Owl

Most of the animals here had sustained injuries from cars – broken wings, brain damage – Perry, the Peregrine Falcon, had taken his first flight as a baby into an electrical transformer. In any case, it was pretty uplifting to see a facility rescuing and taking care of animals – releasing the ones they can and safeguarding the ones they can’t. Warm fuzzies.

One of the biggest lifestyle changes we’ve had since leaving NYC is eating out. In New York, eating out was part of the fun of exploring the city – and we’re both fortunate enough to have had enough leftover spending money after rent to be able to take advantage of that regularly. Calexico‘s burritos were a regular part of our eating lineup, and more often than not our social outings with one another or friends usually involved eating something somewhere.

Since leaving that has changed drastically! We have made lots of quick-bite stops at places like Dunkin’ Donuts while on the road, but we’ve started eating in a lot more – cooking meals in our mini RV kitchen, planning meals and grocery runs ahead of time. I wouldn’t say we’re completely used to it yet – meal planning gets exhausting pretty quickly, at least for me. All that is just to say that after a couple of months of not eating out that often, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner.

Last night we went Thistle Pig in South Berwick where I ate grass-fed steak that was to. Die. Fa. Kid. Their website says that all the beef comes from nearby farms, which was the reason I was willing to eat it (doing my best not to support any kind of factory farming). I was also ecstatic to see Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine cans on the beer menu, then immediately disappointed – they’d just sold out. BUT I was delighted by my second choice, Austin Street Brewery’s Patina Pale Ale – definitely recommend it. Clean, crisp, and a great balance between citrus and hop. Also: the crispy Brussels sprouts were also outstanding.

More adventures to come!

 

 

The Best Night Ever, and THE TOILET IS FIXED

We went to the Paitak wedding at the Torpedo Factory on Saturday night and what a magical celebration it was! From the colorful ceremony backdrop to the art studios on display to having rosewater sprinkled in the air as we took our seats, the ceremony was a very beautiful combination of Hindu tradition and Scott and Tanya’s own personal twist.

Burning incense before the ceremony.

The vows straight up melted my heart – I heard lots of sniffles in the crowd – the feels were real – while the Maid of Honor speech (yasss, Chevyyyyyy) included, among other bright spots, a series of Haikus that all ended in “the best night, ever.”

Dinner (an Indian food buffet straight from your dreams) was delicious and dancing did not disappoint. The Best Night Ever was indeed just that.

Far less exciting but extremely relieving for us is that the toilet is fixed. We were going to just swing by Camping World today on our way out of town to buy a new part we needed as they were closed yesterday.

Long story short, the piece had been threaded – it was plastic and you attach a hose with metal set of threads to it, so one turn with too much torque and the thing is toast. BUT, we realized it was also longer than it needed to be so in a moment of MacGyver-style inspiration, we cut off the threaded end with a hacksaw. We added plumber’s tape to the remaining threads and were able to attach the hose successfully.

We turned the water on and BAM, no leaks! There is nothing quite like thinking you will have running water, discovering you’re wrong, then finally having it.

The happy faces of people who now have running water and a functioning toilet.

We spent our day walking through the woods, fixing said toilet problem, sealing up our leaky window with silicone (I hope it works), going for a run, dipping our toes in the pool, making spaghetti and steamed veggies for dinner, then building a fire before turning in for the night.

Today we’re off to White Haven, PA for a one-night stop on our way to the Berkshires. Forecast says rain for the next 3 to 4 days…!

So. Many. Mushrooms.