When we finally gave up.

[mike_bc]

@Kal
The Crazy Norwegian in Port Orford I think. Yup we ate there also.
IMO their kitchen produced re heated food that was prepared frozen food they must have bought at a supermarket. Your experience makes it seem like we dodged a bullet there.

We were in search of some real good seafood from Astoria to Bandon, but unfortunately came up disappointed all along the way, local food wise. Camping was great, especially when we cooked for ourselves. :-)

Anyway, too bad about your overall experience. Lower your expectations along the coast and always prep for cooler weather even in summer as weather changes readily. Next time it will be different.


If it helps at all we cruised through the Coquihalla summit on July 2 and met wet snow! Arriving to a mosh pit site in Revelstoke the local host said it rained for 4 weeks straight and just stopped on our arrival. They had to close some sites down because of the mud.

[Kai in Seattle]

Surprisingly, I does help to know we're not the only ones to have less thrilling trips than we hoped. We don't feel so singled out by fate. And you're right, the next trip will be different. And we'll have a better idea of how much and how long we can "stand it."

Thanks!

Kai

[ZachO]

Oh every trip is an adventure and short of complete disaster, the only thing that makes it disappointing is your expectations. AKA: expectation is the source of all disappointment.

There will be hardship and troubles, and they're all part of it. Though I agree some trips seem to be more "one thing after another" than others...

I just know when I go on trips, whether in the camper or not, and for some reason expect things to go really smoothly and be nice and comfortable the whole time...I'm always disappointed.

[Mike Magee]

On our first family trailer trip, we towed a UHaul CT from MI to CO and back. Heading up the grade west of Colorado Springs, the rain turned to snow... so heavy and thick you couldn't see ahead properly. Creeping along at 25 mph, I spotted the glow of a 7-11 store sign and turned in, and they let us spend the night in their parking lot. The furnace wouldn't ignite, so we spent a cold night with all 4 of us huddled in 1 bed and all the covers on top.

In the morning we headed down the mountain and took the trailer in to the UHaul dealer to get the furnace fixed. It started immediately. We headed back to higher elevation. The furnace wouldn't ignite again. Next morning, back down the mountain. The dealer's tech finally decided the spark was set too close for the lower oxygen at elevation. But by then we'd had enough and started back toward MI (we'd originally intended to go all the way to AZ to see my dad).

Then on the way back home, driving through rain, the front window leaked and got the kids' sleeping bags and pillows all wet.

That's just how some trips are! We all survived to laugh about it.

[Kai in Seattle]

I always think my expectations are low enough...(If I want to be comfortable and happy, I'll stay home) but apparently I was able to discover new depths. I know now it can go even lower than that...suppose Paul had a heart attack at Farewell Bend? No phone service, no businesses around, Rangers not there all the time, hospital whole helicopter rides away IF you can get hold of them at all and me not able to drive the van. Well, today I drove it a whole 13.2 miles with no trouble...so I CAN do it. Though today there was no trailer attached. I need to expect having to ditch it in camp at some point. Ahh, if I lower my expectations much more, hardly seems worth going. Hope and optimism fuels the enthusiasm.

BEST
Kai

[honda03842]

Interesting thread.

We've been to Port Orford area 7 times and always had a great time. It has been about 5 years but we often ate at the Crazy Norwegian and another place on Main Street with the largest Pancake ever. Of course restaurants change hands and it's been 5 years....

We are a couple that spends long times on the road and not everything goes your way...simply the way life is.

We went to Newfoundland for our 10th time this year and it was really cold and we don't carry winter clothing. Still we had a great time.

This is our 18th year of travel, of course nothing is perfect, however there is little I would trade for our 126 road months (7x18). As we turn 76 this month we merely hope for 10 more years, another 70 months on the road. By then our Scamp will be 37 years old.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

I always think my expectations are low enough...(If I want to be comfortable and happy, I'll stay home) but apparently I was able to discover new depths. I know now it can go even lower than that...suppose Paul had a heart attack at Farewell Bend? No phone service, no businesses around, Rangers not there all the time, hospital whole helicopter rides away IF you can get hold of them at all and me not able to drive the van. Well, today I drove it a whole 13.2 miles with no trouble...so I CAN do it. Though today there was no trailer attached. I need to expect having to ditch it in camp at some point. Ahh, if I lower my expectations much more, hardly seems worth going. Hope and optimism fuels the enthusiasm.

BEST
Kai

Someday I predict you'll look fondly on the experience. But for now you probably need to do what you think is best for you. We've suffered many hardships camping, including one abbreviated trip to take one of the kids to the hospital. We were about 5 hours away from any transportation, meaning we had to walk, then drive 5 hours to get to the hospital. Everything workout ok but it's one of those trips that you remember. Another time we walked 7 and 1/2 miles only to get into a rain down pour. Broke camp and walked back out. Going in wasn't so bad with my 60lb pack but going out with a water logged pack of who knows how much was a bit more work. We still had a lot of fun and learned from it.



One other thing we've always done is try work out ways to increase the amount of stuff we take but adjust the stuff until we found what would make us some what comfortable and happy with over burdening us. Even today when most of our camping is with the trailer we still do the same type of things.



I know some people enjoy a different style of camping For us we've had some pretty remarkable experiences like talking to a wild spotted owl when all the negative stuff was happening.



I hope you can find what you would enjoy.

[War Eagle]

While in grad school in West Virginia in the 1970's, three friends and I decided to spend a three-day weekend backpacking through the Dolly Sods Wilderness area of the Monongahela National Forest. After a long day of hiking, we spotted a beautiful campsite on the far bank of a little creek. About 2 in the morning, a torrential rain rolled through, the little creek became a raging river, and the four of us and a very wet dog ended up crammed into my two-person tent for the next four hours that I had luckily pitched on high ground. It took the better part of the next day to get back across the little-creek-turned-raging-river and back to our vehicles. That was my last backpacking trip to Dolly Sods. Beautiful place, not so beautiful memories of that trip.