Destination: Champoeg State Heritage Area, Dundee, OR
Upon recommendation from Rachel, our plan was to visit Oregon's Willamette Valley wine country and see a few of Rachel and Chad's faves.
As we left Edmonds, we made our way down to the town center and waterfront, only a quarter of a mile from CLIK's house.
We stopped at Walnut Street Coffee, and enjoyed a delicious decaf coffee and purchased two muffins for our drive south. Edmonds looked like a great place to live and we commented how happy we were that Chris and Linda found it. We were looking forward to a longer visit after they completed their renovation, perhaps next Thanksgiving? We will see....
From clouds to blue sky, we passed Seattle and entered Tacoma, heading south on I 5. We decided to take the interstate for now.
We made a pitstop at Cabela's. Why not? We were in a campervan after all. Cabela's was always great for clean bathrooms. I bought a comfy red sweatshirt so I could feel more festive. I also found a rust and fuchsia flannel shirt. We were heading to the southwest where I would fit in.
We decided that we should be responsible citizens and get our Covid boosters, so I made appointments in at a CVS San Luis Obispo, CA (SLO) a week away. We would head south to Oregon wine country, see Eric again in San Jose and then get jabbed in SLO. We planned to stay in a hotel for two nights in case we experienced side effects, as many people had reported.
Upon arriving at the campground, I was on a phonecall so Van completed the check-in documents. I forgot to tell him I had prepaid through the Oregon State Parks app. Van provided our credit card information. As we readied TCB for our multi-night visit, I made this realization. Before I had time to admit my mistake, the ranger came by. I began to tell him what happened but he was on it before I could finish.
He said, " I saw that. I will shred the paper with your credit card info. Now where is it you are from?" He asked.
I replied, "Rhode Island." He responded, "But we cannot exchange your money." It took me a minute to get his joke. It always does. Van was by TCB in the distance plugging in, and laughed, as he got the joke right away. People have been so friendly on this TCB adventure.
The campground was gorgeous, with a bike trail running along the Willamette River. We would definitely ride the Ebikes here.
Van purchased a $5 bundle of dry firewood for our evening campfire. We enjoyed s'mores with Van's birthday marshmallow roasting forks from REI. A bearing at the handle allowed twisting the fork like a rotisserie, thus creating the perfect, golden brown marshmallow. Yes, I am all about the gadgets, especially the most innovative ones. And about golden brown marshmallows.
Thank you TCB. For this wonderful day of travel and relaxation.
