30, HOME FREE AND UNEMPLOYED

bobDog

Expedition Leader
Welcome to the PNW
Cool women who like good beer ... yep. Plus no sales tax.:D

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BertCaldwell

New member
restaurant in Astoria

If you're still In Astoria, I would suggest a little Bosnian restaurant called "Drina Daisy". We stopped in there on our 6 week drive over the Olympic penn. The owner talked with us a while and boldly declared that "this will be the best meal on your whole trip." Amazingly he was Right! We each had a meal Carole had a Bosnian cola and I had a Turkish coffee and the bill was around $25.00 Maybe try the goulash, it seems to be a dish full of chunks of meat that are seasoned perfectly. Have a great time and stay safe.
 

4whtundra

Adventurer
Not much traveling going on today, I'm staying at Fort Stevens a second night. I woke up this morning with my furnace blasting cold air, my kitchen a mess and water all over the counter. Plus after stepping outside for a moment coming back into the camper it stunk. I tried to make some coffee but seeing as my furnace sucked the remaining of my propane I couldn't even do that. I had a DOH! moment when I realized my fridge was running off of propane still (or was) as well. It was evident that today was going to be a "work day" instead of a play day. I devised a plan for the day and started at it. Basically I needed to spend some more time with insulating the camper. I removed all the food from under the couch cabinet, vacuumed and wiped down the linoleum. Yesterday I bought some of that laminated foam insulation stuff and cut out a couple pieces for my windows and door. I had a bunch left over so I started by lining the bottom of the "pantry" under the couch. I also cut small pieces to go in the openings for the turnbuckles. I had talked with my dad last night and he suggested lining the floor with the same stuff, so I started around the door and then ran out of material. I mentioned the water on my counter, I've been having a slight leak when it rains hard, so I climbed on top to investigate. It was obvious it was coming from the supplied solar panel connector housing (I don't have a solar panel but it's convenient to have the plug there when I want to add one). I headed to Astoria.

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I did a bunch of running around in Astoria, my initial plan was to eat at a restaurant that BertCaldwell had suggested called the Drina Daisy. I did a drive by and it looked real nice, I just had so much to do I didn't see it in my cards this afternoon. I may try to eat there tomorrow for lunch. I stopped at a laundromat and did some laundry (the laundromat sign was funny), headed out and got a personal pizza then had to take care of some other errands. Gas fill up and propane. After I finished my laundry I headed back to home depot.

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At home depot I got one more sheet of the 1/2" insulation board, some duct tape, batteries, a throw rug and some tack nails. I started by insulating the floor and then used the remaining large piece of insulation for under my mattress, this should help insulate me from the cool camper. I then cut up the throw rug and used tack nails to nail it on top of the insulation through the linoleum floor into the wood. They worked great. There was a small spot near my door that the rug didn't cover so I ran in and got a cheap door mat, cut it to size and laid it in front of the door (this way I can shake it out). It came out pretty well.

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After the Home Depot run I went back to Fort Stevens, on my way back I stopped at Ross and picked up a couple things. I got a mattress topper and some new warmer sheets, I'm preparing for my visit from SL. When I got to the campground I went to work, I figured out the smell was from the garbage leaking into the trash can so I cleaned that up. I got everything cleaned, the leak fixed on the roof, the bed situation figured out and had some time for some maintenance. My cupboard doors keep coming open and spilling all the internals all over my floor basically every time I go somewhere so I installed latches on them, plus one of the doors hinges was coming off so I fixed that as well. I made leftover pizza and tomato soup for dinner with some sour patch kids for desert :chef:.

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bobDog

Expedition Leader
Hey using the insulation under the bed is genius ....... I would have never thought of that. How's it working?:p

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banditotimoteo

New member
I'm so freaking jealous right now! I should've taken another week off. Damn! Looks like you're gettin' er done on that camper. Keep it up my friend.
 

bdp1978

Adventurer
This is an awesome thread to read, enough to make my first post in 2 yrs as a member. Keep on truckin'


Waylon Jennings - "Are you sure Hank done it this way" and "Im a Ramblin' Man" - 2 of the best off the essential album!!
 

AA1PR

Disabled Explorer
excellent thread, enjoyed everything so far

it makes me miss the PNW

lived in spanaway for about 8yrs
 

kevin7720

New member
I have enjoyed reading about your trip. If you need any info about Washington let me know. Not sure what you have planned but I have lived here for many years on both sides of the state. I suppose Mr. Rainier should be a stop for you. Have safe travels!

Kevin
 

4whtundra

Adventurer
Defenders of the Columbia

Thursday night I stayed up to about midnight, dancing around and listening to Ol' Waylon. Around 11:30 pm I had thought I heard voices outside my camper and stepped out to see what the commotion was about. A couple where standing in front of my rig apologizing about waking me but I was in their spot. I hadn't seen a reservation notice but didn't make a fuss about it and moved a couple spots over, they were happy I wasn't some old grouchy guy that was going to give them ********. I woke up in the am on Friday to rain, made myself some oatmeal and coffee and headed out for the day. I wanted to see some of Fort Stevens before I left. I went down to the beach to check out an old ship wreck and then headed out to see the "fort" part of the park. BTW, the roof leak that I fixed held up so I was happy about that.

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I headed down to the fort parking lot, there was some sort of barracks built into the bottom of the hill, I checked it out for a minute then headed up a set of stairs to the left.

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At the top was the main part of the fort, it was a pretty interesting and cool sight. I guess I didn't think it was going to be as big as it was and it completely made out of concrete and steel, it too was built into the side of the hill. Walking around it had sort of an eerie feel to it, it reminded me of the scene in the movie Easy Rider when they're all trippin' balls on LCD. It was neat to climb the stairs and check out all the rooms, your imagination sort of runs wild when entering these places. I was bummed to see the amount of graffiti that was covering the walls, mostly names and sayings carved into the walls, it only takes one ************ to start that.

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Fort Stevens was build close to the end of the Civil War, it was active from 1863-1947 and used to guard the mouth of the Columbia river. The molded round concrete circles were what held the large guns that could swivel and "disappear" out of site.
 

4whtundra

Adventurer
Maritime/boondocking in Mayger

I finished up walking around the fort and found the opening towards a small trail, there was a monument at the opening that I thought was nice.

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I hiked a mile or so down the trail, I ran into a couple of Swedish ladies hunting for mushrooms. I hate mushrooms but thought if I found some in the wild I would most definitely eat them (as long as they were safe), after the run-in with them I found myself hunting for mushrooms as well. After a while I turned around and walked back to the truck. I did find a small cluster of mushrooms and a couple of other little friends. I saw a couple cool looking snakes and a ginormous snail.

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After the fort I headed back out of town on the 101 North towards Astoria, the destination for the day was unknown but wanted to head South East on the 30 towards Portland. A day later in Astoria I noticed a bunch of kids skateboarding near the pier so I went over to check out where they were. It was a really nice Museum called Columbia River Maritime Museum, I decided before I head out of town to stop and check it out. It was $12 to get in and was well worth it. I don't know the history of the museum but it looked to be pretty new and very well kept up. They had full sized boats with real looking crew on board, a lot of old relics and models of old fishing and sail boats. I was impressed with all the tools and they even had an old divers suite with a hand crank air devise used by the divers. It is amazing to see how things were done back in the day.

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After the impressive museum I headed out of town to find a place to stay. I traveled for a while on the 30 East, after a while I was sick of driving and wanted to find a place to pop-up. On my map I noticed a small town which sat right on the Columbia, it was called Mayger. I headed up the little road towards it and found a road that dead ended at a fishing dock. At the end of the road was a trail to the left which was muddy and covered with trees, I took down the trail which seemed like a perfect spot to boondock it for the night. After reconnoitering the beach a little I noticed a Larry (term I use for sketchy looking guy) shanty over by the shore, it seemed like there wasn't anyone living there until I saw smoke from a recently put out fire. I decided not to head any further and find a place to park. I got a spot right next to the river, my view out the back door was nice, I could see the boats passing by and what not.

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Little did I know the spot was a known partying and thrashing place for the local teenagers on Friday night. I was about to head to sleep and I heard (a really large) truck smashing through the woods out onto the beach peeling out through the sand while pulling his air horn, a bunch of guys jumped out laughing and burping, girls laughing and messing around. They stayed for a little while and then headed out, about 15 minutes later another smaller car came flying off the shore, tires spinning and headlights bouncing, again the same laughter spilled out afterwards. I thought about leaving the spot but I had nowhere to go and thought I'd just ride this one out. I woke up in the morning with the sound of rain, I packed my things up, made oatmeal and coffee and headed down the 30 towards Portland.
 

bobDog

Expedition Leader
You know all the times I've been to Astoria I've never visited the fort! Now you made want too. So next visit I stop. Your photography is very nice, made me want to visit.
Swedish women & mushrooms ....hmmmmmm.....lots of room for a great story there. :D

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