We got to the Kalama Campground just before dark. It is just east of I-5, right on the Kalama River. No one was in the office, so it was self-register. We found a spot somewhat away from the others who were in the campground. Below is a picture of our campsite.
We found out, though, that this is not really a campground that we want to stay in again, for one primary reason. The restroom/showers are locked up at 9:00pm every night and don't re-open again until 8:00am the next morning. The reason? The sign said "because of vandalism". Below is what is set up for campers to use if needed during the night. No thanks.
After leaving Kalama on Wednesday morning, we made good time down to Salem, where we stopped in at Neil and Sarah's, just so Jennie could see baby Abby. Below is a picture of Jennie holding Abby.
After leaving Salem, we drove to Florence OR and decided to stake out our campsite at Honeyman State Park. Below is a picture of "our" little slice of heaven for a couple of nights. The canopy was only to protect the table from falling needles and such from the trees. It never rained while we were there, although when we woke up Thursday morning, the ground and everything else was wet, like a somewhat heavy fog had gone through during the night. Everything was nice and dry when we woke up Friday morning. The hill behind our site went right up to the dunes. There was a trail that we used to hike up to the dunes and back again.
The next day, Thursday, we went down the road just a short ways and rented a Polaris Ranger for an hour of absolute fun out on the dunes. Below is a picture of Jennie sitting in the machine. That little thing would go just about 30mph, and that was in low range. It was also 4-wheel drive, so it would go just about everywhere we wanted to go.
Here is the two of us sitting in the machine.
Below is a short video that Jennie took of me climbing a small hill. What a hoot.
I thought this next picture would turn out a little better, but it didn't. I decided to include it anyway because it will give you some sort of idea of the Dunes area. Beyond the island of trees is a line of trees and it is beyond that line of trees where the ocean is. We found out that the ocean is about three miles from the campground, and there is no trail to the ocean. We were able to find another spot further south where just a short hike over a short dune would put you right at the ocean.
We spent the rest of day scouting out likely camping spots for the family reunion. But it seems that the likely spot will be Honeyman State Park. As it is with all the Oregon State Parks that we have been in, it is a lovely place, with plenty of amneties.
Friday, we packed up our stuff and left Honeyman State Park for our journey home. We drove north from Florence to the town of Newport, where we left the coast and headed back to I-5 and the trip north. We made one stop in Wilsonville at a Camping World, where we made a couple of purchaces (no sales tax in Oregon). From there, we continued north to a spot just north of Battle Ground, where we spent the night at Paradise Point State Campground. Nice place, but too close to I-5. It was very noisy, but we were still able to get some sleep that night.
We drove on home on Saturday, making it there about 12:30pm. After driving to, and spending a few hours, at a graduation party in Marysville, we went back home and got the camper unloaded and removed from the truck.
All in all, it was a very pleasant trip, although, as usual, it was too short.
