It’s time to move on again today, Friday (12 Sept).  We’ve really enjoyed this state park.  Would definitely come here again to Cape Disappointment if the opportunity arises in the future.

We met a nice couple that was camped next to us, they come here every year from Eatonville, WA.  My neighbor’s name was Brian, but I don’t think I caught his wife’s name.  Brian was interested in tips on diesel pushers and was full of questions.  He was thinking of getting a Class A in the future.  I tried to be as informative as I could without  seeming biased… hard for us Alpine Coach owners, eh?  Anyway, safe travels Brian – good luck with your search and I hope I was able to help.

Before we packed up, we took another morning walk.  I noticed a little-used trail behind our camping circle, so we followed it through the woods towards the cliffs as we swatted away spider webs across the path.

We ended up finding a couple of hidden caves.

And then, I’m convinced we found the remains of an old ship wreck hidden in the trees near the cliffs.  The remaining wood is covered with moss and pine needles… What do you think?  Stilla won’t believe me.

We continued on the hidden path  and came out onto the beach again.

Once on the beach, we came upon someone’s idea of a beach fort.  They must have spent some time on this… it even had a “garden” in the front “yard”.

After our morning’s exploits, we finished packing up and then drove the Coach to the park entrance, Stilla followed in the Silverado.  We connected the truck up to the Coach once we were at a wide, straight section in the road.  We successfully navigated under all the low-hanging branches and came through unscathed again.

We headed South on Hwy 101 again after exiting the park.  Then we crossed over the Columbia River into Oregon via the Astoria-Megler Bridge that I posted about yesterday.  After going through Astoria we started looking on-line for RV Parks.  We didn’t have cell service for the last two days at Cape Disappointment on either the iPhones with AT&T or the MiFi Jetpack with Verizon so I hadn’t done any prior planning.  I quickly determined that Tillamook had an Elks Lodge so I called their number to ask if they had RV parking and it turns out that they have their own RV park just South of town that is separate from their downtown Lodge.  Wow!  Who knew?  So I called ahead to make sure they had room.  Dixie, the camp-hostess said, “Come on in!”

Our first rest stop was above Smugglers Cove after the town of Cannon Beach.  We enjoyed the views and took a couple pictures.

And here’s the obligatory “selfie”.

Here’s a few pictures of our second and final rest stop for the day.  Nice views, eh?  I think it was overlooking Devils Cauldron, also not far South of Cannon Beach.

Here’s the entrance to the Elks Park, located ~5 miles South of Tillamook.  Total travel distance for the day was just under 90 miles.

View of the rigs in the Elks RV Park.

As soon as we pulled in, we met the Camp Hostess, Dixie.  She rolled up in her golf cart to greet us.  She told us to pick a spot and stop by once we got settled to pay the $20 per day donation.  However, before I parked the Coach for the next couple days, I wanted to get fuel – I was on 1/4 tank.  It’s always best to keep the tank as full as possible at all times to prevent moisture from condensation building up in the tank and possibly even causing algae to grow.  This can wreak havoc on your fuel system and especially filters.  I had been on the look out for a decent fuel station the entire trip today that would accommodate the Coach while I was still towing the truck, but only saw one place back in Tillamook.  But, naturally I was already past it before I realized it would have worked for us.  I mentioned my need to get fuel to Dixie, and she recommended a place just back up the road that I must have missed.  So we disconnected the truck and parked it in the spot we wanted and headed back out to fuel up.  We found the country store / gas station alright and topped off.  Diesel was $3.99 a gallon!  Here in Oregon, a gas station attendant has to pump your fuel by state law.  The attendant said this was the first time he pumped so much into one vehicle.

After returning to the RV Park and setting up.  We turned on the AC(s) so we could leave little Coach in the Coach in order to go into town and partake of the Elks Lodge Friday dinner.  One thing about Elks lodges across the country is that they all seem to offer a good meal every Friday for a good price and we heard from Dixie, that tonight’s specialty was a fish platter.  This park has full hook-ups with 50amp service, so we could leave both air conditioners on… and it was so hot, we needed it.  We also took the bicycles off the Silverado so we wouldn’t have any trouble in town finding a parking spot to fit into.  And also, as I think I’ve mentioned before, the bike rack sticks out pretty far with the tailgate down and I don’t want to get a ticket from the local police.

BTW – We chose the RV site next to Orman and Susie Claxton who we know from the Alpine SoCal Association and Redmond FMCA Rally we recently attended.  It’s a small RV world out here 🙂

Here’s a couple pics of the downtown Tillamook Elks Lodge #1437.  The food was great!  But I didn’t like the slot machines in the bar area we frequented before dinner… they didn’t give me any money! 🙂

For tomorrow (Saturday) we already got a lot of tips on things to do and see in the area: Munson Creek Falls; Tillamook Cheese Factory tour; Air Museum; 3 Capes; Octopus Tree; Cape Meares and Lighthouse… so stay tuned for our next adventure…