Fri, May 13, 2022
The word for today is “rain.” Sweet Jesus, so very much rain.
8:00 am
Robert finally staggers awake (Gini has been up since 7:00 am and has taken a shower and rearranged the cupboard shelves).
We have realized an important aspect of traveling in Harvey: We will either end up getting along really well or we’ll kill each other. There is no in-between. This space is so small that the other person is pretty much always in the way. And not in a happy, “Oh, look how close we are!” but in a “Why are you standing on my foot!?!” way.
So far, we both are still breathing and have all our body parts. We might yet make it!
9:00 am
Gini told Robert that there was a timer dial he needed to set when he took his shower at the Kampers West RV park. This dial turned on the heater for hot water, so he could have a warm shower.
Did Robert listen? Ha ha. Ha. Nope, Mr. Cold Shower realized it as he was getting out of the shower (“Hey—what’s this dial do?”).
You can imagine, but probably not measure, the amount of sympathy that Gini had for him.
Important RV park tip: Look for a timer dial before you climb into the frigid shower.
10:00 am
“Why are there sandals in the freezer?” asks Gini.
“Because there’s room for them in there,” replies Robert, as though this is the most obvious thing in the world.
You might imagine the ensuing argument, but Robert can’t because he (still) doesn’t see why we shouldn’t take advantage of the storage space in the freezer. Storage space is at a premium and there’s something stowed everywhere that something can be stowed. And there is a lot of empty space in the freezer…
Later on today, the argument will be about why there’s sneakers in the freezer. Gini says, “I think maybe you’re trying to get cold feet!”
11:50 am
We beat the RV park check-out time by 10 minutes!
Aside from the showering and cooking breakfast (buffalo meat scramble!) and emptying the black water tanks (Robert is getting a lot smoother at this and hardly spills any nasty liquid on himself or bystanders) and almost driving away with the electricity connected (!!!), Gini was also deboning the flying chicken to make sure it was grounded. Once this was done, we set sail!
12:10 pm
We are ready for some history! In WWII, a Japanese submarine shelled Fort Stevens, which is located near Warrenton. Because it was night time (and the Fort commander told everybody to turn out the lights), the 17 explosive shells that the submarine fired did little damage (it broke some telephone cables).
Our sources indicated that there’s an Historic Marker at this historic event, and we were so close we could taste it, so off we went! We head to the area and see a sign saying “Historic Marker,” so we must be close by!
Well, after driving around where the marker was supposed to be, we got out of Harvey, which was a huge mistake. Seems this entire area is a swamp and as soon as we got out, approximately 40,000 mosquitoes cried “Fresh blood!” and descended on us.
We quickly decided that if Warrenton wanted to bury this reminder of their past, we were okay with it and clambered back into Harvey, leaving a couple of pints of blood behind.
1:00 pm
We are on our way to the Tillamook Creamery and Siri has decided to take us all around Robin Hood’s Barn instead of sticking to Highway 101. (Yes, this really is a phrase, and one that Gini employed. It turns out that even though Robin Hood probably didn’t have a barn or cows or horses, this phrase exists.)
Siri’s alternate route is pretty, but a bit slower (45 mph the entire way), although there’s no traffic, which is always worrisome (“How far off the beaten track did Siri take us?”). We think future updates of the Siri software should include a feature where she has to explain why she is taking you through the barn.
2:25 pm Tillamook Cheese Factory
Yay! We made it!
It was a bit underwhelming, honestly. It’s one giant gift shop, although it has some lovely exhibits, and you can watch through windows as blocks of cheese are cut and packaged.
Watching cheese get made
Tillamook would also really, really like you to know that they make ice cream. They are not just cheese people these days. The make lots and lots of ice cream!
You can sign up for a tour at $40 per person, but they were all full, so we’ll never know what nuggets of wisdom we might have acquired. We returned to Harvey for a lunch of delicious flying chicken sandwiches that Gini made.
5:00 pm Lincoln City
Finally, something that doesn’t disappoint: Sparky The Wish Guardian
There he is at Devil’s Lake, proudly guarding wishes, with his body made of recycled rubber and steel. He’s not flashy and he doesn’t have a gift shop, but he’s on the job day and night making sure everybody’s wishes receives equal protection.
Because it was still pouring down rain (did we mention it rained all day?), we got a quick picture from the car and moseyed on towards our campsite.
Sparky, the Wish Guardian, on the job
8:00 Jesse Honeyman State Park
The entire Oregon coast seems to consist of one state park after another, so it’s not too surprising that the most convenient place Robert found to stay at was a state park (“They had on-line reservations!”).
Apparently, though, there are two sections to the park. One of them is closed and is the one that Siri took us to. “Closed?” said Robert, “Darn, I guess we’ll just have to stay in a motel with a shower that doesn’t have timer dials and where we don’t have to transform the couch into a bed before we climb into it!”
“Wait,” says Gini, "I saw a sign across the highway that we need to check out!”
Sure enough, this turned out to be the Jesse Honeyman State Park. Even though it was after the office was closed, and the Park Hosts were off duty, we managed to find our way to our soggy campsite and get Harvey backed in without any major damage. We are now ready to collapse into our bed (once we convert the table and couch into a bed) and go to sleep with the sound of rain on Harvey’s roof…
(Also, the park didn’t have Wi-Fi or good cell reception, which is how this log got sent the next morning from a Starbucks at Coos Bay.)
Our slightly soggy camping spot at Jesse Honeyman State Park
Robert & Gini
Harvey Staff