RV Fun Trips --- On the Road --- Crab Fishing 1999

Our Second Annual
Crab Fishing Adventure
September 1999
Day 1

Sunday
We left for Oregon from the outing at seven o’clock this morning. Our route took us north on US 101 to Gilroy to fill the fuel tanks on our motorhomes. From there we continued on highway 101 to I-680 and on to I-80. There we connected to I-505, which took us to I-5. This would be the highway where we spent most of our time for the remainder of the day.

The fields of crops don’t look as neat as when we passed by this way a year ago. Kay made an observation about the agricultural area along I-5 north of Sacramento; she said it looks very much like Kansas as long as you don't look toward the mountains.

We approached Corning, California when it was close to lunchtime. So we took a break from driving and found our way to the parking lot at The Olive Pit. There, the four of us had lunch in Tom and Nora’s motorhome. Then we went into The Olive Pit to see if there was anything there that we just had to have. Kay and I bought a couple of bottles of olives and all four of us walked out with ice cream cones.

Mt. Shasta ahead of us

After getting back on the Interstate, it wasn’t long until Mt. Shasta appeared ahead of us. As we drove toward the mountain it slowly dropped below the scenery in front of us. Then suddenly Mt. Shasta was in the distance on our right side. Again Mt. Shasta disappeared from view as we proceeded along the highway. Then the volcanic peak of Mt. Shasta was in our rearview mirror, as it slowly grew smaller.

Along the way we were treated to beautiful forests and mountain valleys. This was especially true when we entered Oregon. There would be one hard climb after another to a mountain pass. Then at the crest of each incline we would be presented with another view of a picturesque valley or canyon ahead.

We made really good time today as we arrived at "Valley of the Rogue" State Park at about 4:30 in the afternoon. As it turned out, it had been a very hot day and the temperature was still 99 degrees when we arrived. So, right after connecting to the electric hookup, I turned the air conditioner on in the motorhome.

Valley of the Rogue campground

Dave and Barbara were already set up in a campsite and they had reserved campsites for our two motorhomes. I was assigned to a pull-through campsite while Tom was given a back-in campsite. Because it would be easier for me to disconnect the boat than for Tom to unhitch his car, Tom and I traded campsites. The pull-through site was directly across the street from Dave and Barb while the back-up campsite was next to them. We were in the same loop of the campground as last year, except this year we were located at the bottom of the hill next to the Rogue River.

Rogue River next to campground

We received a very warm greeting from Dave, Barb, and Buster. He wiggled around like a puppy in his excitement to see us. After getting situated in our campsites we visited for a while. Dave barbecued some Italian sausages for our dinner. Barbara prepared a very nice meal to compliment the sausages. A pleasant conversation accompanied our meal as we all caught up on what each other has been up to.

Dave and Barb have dinner almost ready

After dinner we walked around the campground and visited as we walked. Kay gave Barbara a set of RV club minutes, a brochure for the next outing and an outing sign-up sheet. We joked about how far we had to drive just to deliver the club documents.

A nice evening visit to catch up

Fortunately, the outside temperature cooled down quickly after the sun went down. By the time we finally got to bed, the outside temperature had dropped to a very comfortable level. We were able to sleep with the windows open to let in the fresh, cool night air.