Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2015 16:32:29 -0700
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: a trip from Los Angeles to Vancouver Island...
In-Reply-To: <CAFdLW6=i5QPCp0i64hhdsptdf8hPqikHp-KBn0i+a4gLrXpvQg@mail.gmail.com>
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Head back to the coast from Eugene! You can stay in any of the Oregon State Parks on 101 and have a great experience. Oceanside and Cape Lookout are my favorites, but Nehalem Bay is huge, on the ocean, and you can usually find a space. It's also next to Manzanita, a cute beach town worth checking out. Stop off in Cannon Beach and Seaside for two totally different beach town experiences.
In WA don't miss Cape Disappointment SP (stay in the beach loops, much better to stay there than at Ft. Stevens just south in Oregon). It's close to Long Beach (an old school beach town/tourist trap) where there is a huge international kite festival with a sand castle competition the third full week in August.
Kalaloch in the Olympic National Park coast strip is nice but always full, and a trip to the Hoh rain forest campground is worth it too. Assuming you are taking the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, stay the night before in Salt Creek County Park, just east of PA on Highway 112. Great tide pools! These campgrounds fill fast, so it's best to get reservations (all these parks offer reservations), especially for Fridays and Saturdays. Unfortunately, motels are your "overflow" option for most of these parks:
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=reserve.dsp_reserve Oregon allows one motor home per site, but allows two vans, and most Westy's are licensed as motor homes in OR. I've attached a letter (though the list won't get it, you will) from the parks superintendent that lets the ranger decide if you can park both your Westy's (assuming you have two) with one as a van if you don't have motor home plates.
http://www.parks.wa.gov/223/Reservations Washington allows only "one sleeping vehicle per site" (really dumb rule), so you'll need two sites, even if one is big enough for a 50' motor home.
Kalaloch: http://www.recreation.gov/unifSearchResults.do Whatever you can fit in the site works. The Kalaloch South Beach campground is primitive with bathrooms but no water. It's right on the ocean though, but essentially a gravel parking lot.
Salt Creek: https://apm.activecommunities.com/clallamcountyparks/Reserve_Options (the wooded sites are best, but you will need two sites here too.)
We will be on the Coast the week of August 8th, so if you see a brown '85 Westy at Cape Lookout or Cape Disappointment stop by!
Have a great trip!
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Dan N
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2015 1:24 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: a trip from Los Angeles to Vancouver Island...
hi all,
we will have a trip from Los Angeles to Vancouver Island - mid July to mid August... with a stop in Eugene, OR to visit my daughter and pushing North with her van and ours
I would appreciate any suggestion for place to camp, scenery roads to take, good foods etc etc
thanks a lot in advance...
*my wife says... summer is here... let's go... :-)*
dan
