Traveling With AAA podcast

Episode 9: RV Camping - Oregon coast

In this episode:

RVs offer a comfortable way to see the country and camp in the great outdoors, but they may not be for everyone. Brad Wright, a copy editor at Westways and AAA Explorer, recently rented an RV and explored the Oregon Coast with his wife, Daysi. He shares his experience as an RV newcomer and offers tips to others considering RV travel and exploring Oregon.

Mary Herendeen:

Oh, the great outdoors. Growing up, I spent many summers camping out in tents near local lakes, rivers, and all over Northern California beaches. I loved being outdoors, but I loathed the packing, setup, breakdown, and unpacking. I did it anyway because I really hadn't camped out in any other way. Then a few years ago, my husband and I decided to rent an RV for our annual San Elijo camping trip, and we have never looked back. In fact, we are now the proud owners of a 19-foot InTech Sol Horizon travel trailer that we take everywhere. I'm Mary Herendeen and welcome to Traveling With AAA. Today, we are road tripping in an RV up the Oregon coast, and joining us to share his recent RV experience is Brad Wright, copy editor for Westways and AAA Explorer magazines. Brad began his career as a sportswriter, primarily covering college sports in Ohio and North Carolina, before finding his way out West to California and discovering the joys of editing. He worked for nearly 20 years as a wire editor and copy editor of the Orange County Register Newspaper prior to joining us at ACE publications. He and his wife, Daysi, love to travel, and together they've road tripped across much of the Western U.S. and explored more than 20 countries. When Brad's not working, he can usually be found planning his next vacation. Brad, welcome and thank you for joining us today.

Brad Wright:

Thank you, Mary. I'm very happy to be here for this exciting new podcast, Traveling With AAA. I've listened to some of the early podcasts, and you have absolutely been crushing it.

Mary:

Oh, thank you for that feedback. That's good to hear. I've actually been more inspired to travel even more now. So, um, maybe my bosses won't like that because I've already been booking some vacations, trying to take some days off here and there, even for a nice staycation, which I did a few weeks ago. So, Brad, would you tell us a little bit about yourself and your passion for traveling?

Brad:

Sure. Well, like you, I'm happy to be talking to a fellow camper here too. I grew up camping with my family in the great state of Michigan. My parents had at first a popup camper and then we had a travel trailer. So, in summers we would take a take off for weeks at a time on camping road trips. I honestly don't think I saw the inside of a hotel or a motel until I was in my twenties. And after college and during college, I continued to camp in a tent. And we did that for several years, just with friends and even on my own. And when I met the woman who later became my wife, when we were dating, she said, hey, let's go to Italy.

And Italy was not something that was on my bucket list or in the back of my mind. I was a simple person but sure, why not? Let's go to Italy. And we spent two or three weeks there. This was before Airbnb, cell phones and before the internet. So, we did the old backpacking style, got off the train, and found the place to stay. And then when we got tired there, we got on the train and went somewhere else. And I think that trip literally changed my life and who I am. And I just became a travel junkie after that. We came back six months later, we got married, and we honeymooned in French Polynesia, and we've been very fortunate and very blessed. And ever since then, we just love to travel and take a couple of trips a year.

Mary:

What a great story, a great connection to hear that you both have the same love for travel, the same passion, and have built your life around it. That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that now. I have a girlfriend who her and her husband actually did a backpacking trip across Italy as well, as part of their honeymoon. And she said it was amazing. It was such a great experience for them to be able to do that early on in their marriage and kind of, not get that out of the way, but be able to experience that, in the event things change. So it was pretty awesome.

Brad:

Right. And the food, oh my goodness. I mean the, the four courses of food, it's just insane. The aperitivo and then the primi and the secondi and the contorni. Oh, and three-hour meals. It's just wonderful.

Mary:

It is amazing. I loved it there, and the food is incredible. I think I shared before, like Boston, I can't get to Italy right now, but there is great Italian food just in any city in America that I visit. I'm always like, "Where's the great Italian food?" because I love it.

Brad:

I agree with you on that count. And I, I was just so fascinated that pasta was like before the main course, that blew my mind as an American. Oh, this is just the opener. Okay.

Mary:

The salad comes later.

Brad:

Right? I can live like that.

Mary:

And I have to say the first time I went to Italy and I had the tiramisu, I fell in love. So anyway, incredible trip in backpacking. I know you recently went on a trip to the Oregon coast, and you wrote a story in Westways, in the AAA Explorer magazine, "A ride called Hope,” where you shared your experience vacationing in an RV. Was this your first time vacationing in this way, and what inspired this trip?

Brad:

Well, it wasn't exactly that it was the first time in this country. About 10 years ago, my wife and I rented the camper van and drove it around the South Island of New Zealand, and we just had an absolute blast. We love the whole experience. And at that time, we were still mostly tent campers and it just kind of gave us the idea at some point we'd love to have one of these of our own. And separately from that, we took a road trip to Oregon a few years ago, and we saw lots of different parts of the state. We just spent a few days on the coast and as we were driving up the coast, it just seemed like every few miles, there's a state park, a regional park, a place to camp. And I just remember thinking, we have to come back here sometime and go camping. And my editor asked me if there was a story I'd like to write, any story I'd like to tell. So I just kind of put the two and two together, getting back to Oregon and you know, trying out the RV.

Mary:

Oh, what a great opportunity to be able to get back there. I know sometimes I've been places and I'm like, "Oh, if we come back, we've got to plan for this or we have to do that." So, it's so nice that you actually were able to do that and visit again and also in the RV. So amazing. We have a travel trailer ourselves and I have to admit that I never want to go back to tent camping. What are the biggest benefits that you found using the RV?

Brad:

Yeah. I caught that in your intro that you used to tent and you've graduated upward. What are the biggest benefits? Well, for one thing, it's not a tent, right? I mean, the tent, it's not so comfortable to sleep in and it's the middle of the night, you have to get up, you have to use the restroom, you know, you’re lying prone on your back. You're trying to find your shoes and put your shoes on. Oh, it's cold. You need to get a coat. And you're finally stumbling out of the tent. And then your wife wakes up and says, "Where are you going? Oh, wait for me." And then, then the process repeats itself. And we were traveling with a dog for most of those years. And then of course, the dog wants to go too, and maybe it's been raining and it's muddy. And now we have mud all over the tent. So, it's a big difference. And I think the refrigerator too was nice. I mean, this was much better than a dorm-size fridge. It was almost a full-size kitchen refrigerator. So not having to stock the cooler with ice and then have the ice melt and get the bread all smushy, and then you're in the wilderness and you're out of ice and you're going to find ice. So, you know, the bed, it's just a lot easier.

Mary:

It's amazing. It's just a little house on wheels, we found with ours. We love it. I think definitely having the bathroom. So we have two little ones, and the last time we'd gone tent camping, my son was about three and a half and the baby was just three months old. And so there we are where, you know, on this air mattress and, um, the air kept going out and we're just like on these rocks and I've got a baby. I'm like, "Oh, this is terrible." But you know, growing up with eight kids, I'm one of eight. And we camped all the time. It was great vacations. It was cost-effective for my family. It was easy to get us all there. You know, they didn't have to get a separate hotel room, and like you, I hadn't even seen the inside of a hotel room until I was much older.

Brad:

The nature part is exciting, all the other parts about camping are great. It's just the sleeping and the packing up and packing down.

Mary:

And that definitely makes it so much easier. We just keep ours stocked and we take it with us. And it always has clean sheets and everything that you would need at home, which makes it easier for me, especially with the little ones, so I'm not stressed out during the trip. I want to be able to enjoy myself. Now in the article, you mentioned that you and your wife, Daysi, named your rented RV "Hope." Can you tell us why Hope? Were you a bit apprehensive about the trip?

Brad:

I don't know if I would say we were apprehensive. I think first of all, I wanted to give her the name because two of my favorite books from my youth were Travels with Charlie, by John Steinbeck, and he's traveling with his dog and he named his van Rocinante. And then The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe where Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters drove the psychedelic bus across the country. And they named their bus Furthur. So those were epic, and I wanted our trip to be epic. Right. So I thought let's, let's give it a name.

And like I said, this is something we hope to do in the future. Right now, we live in the condo. We don't have a place to park an RV. We can't afford it. We, we hope we can get one someday. So, we just kind of went with Hope and it turned out to be a very fun name. I could pull into a gas station and fuel up and say, “We gotta keep Hope alive.” And I started naming the refrigerator. I started calling it the Hope Chest. And as we're driving up and down the road we live in Hope, so it just became a very fun name too.

Mary:

Yeah. I love it. What fun. Now, you said you wanted your trip to be epic. Was it?

Brad:

It was, it was. We've been fortunate. It was like a trip of a lifetime. We had 10 days to hike and camp, and just be with each other and relax. I think it was an epic trip, and I would definitely do it again. I hope to do more of them sometime.

Mary:

That's amazing. I'm sure you will. Now, what was it like experiencing the beauty of the Oregon coast? Is that what made it so amazing?

Brad:

Yeah, the Oregon coast, my wife and I, we just love the whole Pacific Northwest. We picked up the van in the Bay Area. So, we started by driving up the 101 in Northern California. Whenever we take that trip, we always drive through the Avenue of Giants, which is just a paradise to us with all these massive redwood trees right by the side of the road. And then we camped first in Redwood National Park. And then by the time we got to Oregon, the first thing that struck us was the fog. Oh, it was so foggy. We couldn't see. I have all these notes, I have all these plans and things I want to do. So, there's a, what was it called? The Samuel Boardman scenic area and you had “Oh, let's stop here. Let's stop here.” You know, see the little overlooks. And we stopped at one, even though it was foggy, and walked down the overlook and there's a sign, Arch Rock, but you look out in the water and all you can see is fog. You couldn't see the rock at all. But yeah, the Oregon coast is just, it's just truly beautiful.

Mary:

You hoped it would clear up, right?

Brad:

Yeah, it did. The trip did clear up. There was fog in the mornings, but mostly it was, it was really nice.

Mary:

That's amazing. Yeah. Only having dreamt of visiting the coast, I've never been there myself. And I'm wondering, I'm just like picturing all this green. I've seen some of your photos. Could you describe it for us?

Brad:

I'm really glad you used the word green, because I think that's my favorite part of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, those old growth rainforests, where you walk through and you see moss and ferns and lichens, and just everything is green. It's mystical. It's like a fairytale It's otherworldly. And, you know, they have it in Vancouver. They have it in Washington, Northern California. I drifted back to my past there. But the Oregon coast, it's 350 miles roughly. So, there's different parts. And I was very surprised by the dunes, pleasantly surprised. I'd seen sand dunes before in North Carolina and in Michigan, but these dunes in Oregon, that was a whole different ballgame. I mean, just as far as you could see, nothing but sand and they had tree islands in the middle of the sand. And we took a dune buggy ride. They had two different options for a dune buggy ride. There was the slow and the scenic or the fast and the exciting.

Mary:

What did you choose?

Brad:

We took the fast and the exciting, of course, and they strapped us in there. There were eight of us. They specially designed these custom dune buggies very low to the ground. I asked him at the end, how fast were we going? He said, 55-60 miles an hour. And this is climbing over dunes and getting airborne and then kind of riding on the sides, you’re a little tipped over, and just, it was the excitement of the actual ride combined with the surreal beauty of all you see is these dunes. That was pretty spectacular too. So the Oregon coast has a lot to offer.

Mary:

That's certainly surprising for me. Was that the biggest surprise that you encountered or were there any other surprises?

Brad:

In terms of the scenery?

Mary:

In terms of the scenery, the trip, anything.

Brad:

No, that was a pleasant surprise. The dunes, because again, I'd seen dunes before, and you just kind of had to be out there. Those tree islands. They said they use that to navigate when the wind cuts up; it gets dusty and they don't know where they are. They know by the trees sticking out under these dunes, how to find their way back.

Mary:

I love that. A traveler’s secret there, a local secret—use the trees to get your way back. That's awesome. Now, it really does sound beautiful, and I love romanticizing it. I'm just thinking here, like looking out the window of the RV, seeing the fog, enjoying your cup of coffee, but nothing pulls me out of that faster than running out of propane in the middle of a cold night, like what happened to us a few weeks ago. We were camping on Carlsbad State Beach, and my husband woke me up, “Hey, I've got to get propane.” And of course, I'm always cold. So, I thought it was freezing. You would think it's 30 degrees in there. I'm like, "Oh, get it! Now!" It hadn't even cooled down yet. We needed the propane. So, did you experience any hiccups like me?

Brad:

that's a great question. You know, everybody's asked me that when I came back, everybody, you know, they want, what went wrong? What was the horror story? What did you do? I think we were very lucky. We didn't have that kind of issue. We got a brand-new RV that this was the first time it had been taken out. It literally had like 80 miles on it. When we picked it up, everything worked beautifully, so we did not have any horror stores like that, unfortunately. I'm sorry. I hate to disappoint everyone. I should have just made something up.

Mary:

No, it's really good to hear, because I think for those who are thinking about it and never having used an RV, the first time I know I would be afraid. Where did you rent?

Brad:

We got ours from El Monte. El Monte is a big one. I wanted to get it from an organization that could help me, that had like 24-hours assist.

Mary:

Right. That's what I was thinking.

Brad:

And so, we just went the safe route, and I'm glad we did. We did call them one time. Some engine light came on, and it wouldn't go off. I didn't know. I just called them. And it turns out that, in Oregon, they pump the gas for you. You don’t pump your own gas, and the guy just didn't screw on the cap tight enough. And that's all it was. But they answered the phone as soon as I called them. I just kind of like having that peace of mind.

Mary:

That's great. What comfort to know that there's somebody there on the other line that can help you out, especially for a first-time traveler in an RV, never having used it. I imagine I would've been apprehensive, but it's great to know that they really prepared you for the trip and had everything set up.

Brad:

Yeah. There was a video to watch before you pick up the vehicle. And I watched it four or five times and took notes, and it turned out I was a little apprehensive. I was a little scared. "Can I tell the black water from the gray water?" But it wasn't so hard.

Mary:

Yeah. I let my husband handle that part. I don't want to watch the video for fear of him thinking that I know too much.

Brad:

Yeah. My wife left all of that to me too.

Mary:

Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, what was the funniest thing that happened?

Brad:

The funniest thing. Yeah. I'm not sure how funny this is, but it was just a little strange or odd. So, my wife and I wanted to do a lot of hiking on this trip, and the first campground we stayed at in Oregon, there's a great hike. It's Sunset Bay State Park. And you can hike to a second state park, Shore Acres, and then to a third state park, Cape Arago. And it's about four or five miles one way. And our hiking limit now honestly is about six or seven miles. I didn't want to hike back. So I arranged a taxi to pick us up in the parking lot of the final state park, Cape Arago. And because I didn't think there would be phone reception, I wanted to make sure they could do it.

They assured me they would be there to pick me up. But as we're nearing the end of the hike and about a half hour before the taxi's supposed to arrive, it's a dead-end road. There's nobody out here. It's way off the 101. It's out on this cape. There's no cars, no traffic , and we're almost to the final state park, where there's just this nice view of the ocean and you can see sea lions and all of this. And then this little Fiat pulls up beside us, and the window rolls down, and they call out to us, "Brad and Daysi!" What, what is this? And it's two of our former neighbors from Orange County who moved away like four or five years ago. We hadn't seen them and they passed us on the way. They saw us and they did a U-turn and came back and got us. That was just so weird and strange and unusual.

Mary:

Wow. What a small world, or maybe the Oregon coast is a popular place to travel. Either way, that's so interesting and so fortunate.

Brad:

Right. So, the phone did work. I canceled the cab and they gave us a ride and we went to see their RV in their park and then they drove us back to our campsite. It was just so weird and strange.

Mary:

That's interesting. That's really cool there. Now I heard that there is this marshmallow incident. You want to tell us about that?

Brad:

The marshmallow incident. I ended up writing about this in the story. It's one of those things. It was funny if you were there. So, you know, we're roasting our marshmallows and I just kind of got up on my high horse and I went on this long 5- or 10-minute soliloquy of how to roast the perfect marshmallow. I'm going through the chemistry of it and the proper coals, the distance from the coals, and how it's scientific and blah, blah, blah. And finally, I take the marshmallow out, and it's perfect and it's ooey gooey, and it's all blown up into a big balloon, and it's nice and light brown and puffy. And I kind of blow on it and I take a little bite and then the thing just drops right into my sweatshirt.

Mary:

Oh my gosh.

Brad:

And my wife, of course, you know, just busted out laughing, and then I'm laughing. And it just became this slapstick thing where we just could not control ourselves from laughing. She helps me get the marshmallow off and then I'm still holding the stick in my hand, which has marshmallow residue on it. And she's wearing sweatpants and my marshmallow stick gets caught on her sweatpants. So, I pull that off and we just we're just cracking up. Then, I have the marshmallow stick caught on my shirt, and it was like the Three Stooges incident. And it was kind of weird, but it was funny when you were there, like when you're a teenager or you just can't stop laughing. And I ended up writing that incident and put it in the story, and I kind of expected it to get cut and it stayed in. It stayed in the article.

Mary:

Well, that's great. And you know what? This reminds me of something I'd done the same. I think I roast the perfect marshmallow. Like you, I also like to hold it over. You've got a perfect distance away, brown slowly so it doesn't burn on the outside and it melts on the inside. I don't want a cold marshmallow on the inside. So, I'm doing this and telling my husband, but I'm leaned back in one of our outdoor chairs and it's kind of a reclined backwards. So, then I go to blow the fire off a bit, and I start to blow and the marshmallow just drops. Right onto my shirt. And it's like on fire. So, there I am really freaking out and he just thought it was hilarious.

Brad:

But you have to have some s'mores, right? It's a requirement. You have to do it. I think there's a law.

Mary:

Yeah. There is a law. My husband makes us get the stuff every time. He is like, "Okay, so we got this," and I'm worried about food and stuff the kids like, like the snacks. And he's like, “But you got chocolate, right? Did you get the graham crackers? You got the marshmallows?” So we have to get it every time. Now, are there any disadvantages to RV vacationing? Or for first timers, do you have any advice for them?

Brad:

My advice for first timers would be choose your campground wisely. Because again, the whole point is to be in nature. Right? You want to feel like you're camping. I like a state park or someplace where there's lots of trees, some place where you can maybe have access to a hiking trail or a lake or a creek or the ocean, but you want to feel like you're in nature. There are some RV parks, you see them on the side of the road, and they look like glorified parking lots. I mean, they're just big and open and they might have a swimming pool or a restaurant, but you don't feel like you're camping. So, you want to get those good campgrounds and they go fast, they're popular, it's like getting Springsteen tickets, or for our younger listeners, Taylor Swift tickets. You want to be online with your password the moment they become available for the date that you want to camp, whether it's six months out or nine months out. It is just really important.

Mary:

Yeah. Like I said, we camped two weeks ago at Carlsbad State Beach. It's like, you're describing where it's, you know, right off the freeway, which makes it really easy because I ended up driving down there and meeting my husband there with the kids. So, I was glad it was easy to find I needed it to be right off the road. But, um, we booked it last year and it was like one of those things that opened up, we didn't know if we had the time off or not, but those dates were open, and we booked it for the full week. And we didn't know if we'd stay the whole week or two nights or whatever it was. We ended up going. We did Friday and Saturday night, no, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And I drove down on Friday, but it was beautiful. We were glad that we booked it in advance. It was a good time for the kids. But yeah, looking out over the water, gorgeous, looking back towards the road, not so great. Um, the other thing is with the RV travel, if you plan on using everything and you're going to stay a long time, I would give travelers the advice, to make sure that they're at a place where they either have access or full hookups for the RV, because we ended up running out of water on the last day.

Brad:

Right. So, I'm not the expert at this. I was a newbie, but I learned that the things charge as you drive it. Right. So, we kind of planned to have hookups and then when we didn't have hookups we followed that by a place that did have hookups. I think without the hookups, it can be called boondocking. Yes. Although I don't know if it's technically boondocking if you're in a campground without hookups, but if you can go one or two nights without hookups, if you have the full charge, but then your next site, after that, you should have the hookups.

Mary:

Right. That's what I mean. It was perfect timing. We ran out of water right at the perfect time. We were ready to go home anyway. But the propane thing, and I'm like, "Oh, we've got to be more prepared next time." But I was probably burning the heater all night, and that's probably why.

Brad:

Yeah. Well, I was lucky again. I left with a full tank of propane. So, I haven't had to deal with the issue of, well, when do I refill this?

Mary:

Yeah. That's amazing. And they had it all set up for you. So perfect. First timers should definitely rent. That's what we did. We rented twice before we ended up buying something and we found it to be the perfect size for us. We can park it in our driveway, luckily enough. I didn't want to have something that we'd have to store. So, it was great.

Brad:

Yeah. I rented the 22-foot model, which was the smallest one that they offered. It was just my wife and I, so we didn't need a lot of space and I wanted to be mobile. I wanted to be able to park it and move it and go to a hiking trail and be able to drive it without feeling trapped.

Mary:

Or without feeling worried that you're going to damage it or something like that. So, make it more comfortable. Easier.

Brad:

Exactly.

Mary:

Yeah. I love that. Well, finally, I just have to say I'm in love with the idea of exploring the Oregon coast. For listeners who are inspired to travel there without the RV experience, where would you suggest they stay or what to do?

Brad:

That's a great question. There's a couple places I'd recommend. For the Oregon coast, I think when you go is very important. The Oregon coast is a summertime destination. I mentioned the fog, and I mentioned how green everything is. Well, that's because for much of the year, it's socked in with rain and fog and can be a little miserable. So, July and August is the most important time to go to the Oregon coast. If you're not camping, there's a couple places I'd recommend. One is Cannon Beach, which is about an hour and a half from Portland. So, if anyone's flying in the Portland, Cannon Beach is one of those super quaint beach towns. Lots of shops, restaurants, art galleries, places to stay. And of course, as the name implies, it’s on the beach.

The other nice thing about Cannon Beach, it's conveniently located between two great state parks. Just about seven miles north is Ecola State Park, which has fantastic hiking through the rainforest. And about seven miles south is Oswald West State Park, which also has great hiking. So, Cannon Beach has lots of places to stay and easy access. The other place I'd recommend is a town called Yachats. And I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. It's Y A C H A T S. Again, it's a town it's on the Central Coast, lots of places to stay quaint, little town restaurants, and it's very close to the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area, where their motto is “Where the Forest meets the Sea.” Okay. But it's very pretty there. You can go down the tide pools on the ocean and then hike into the rainforest and be among giant spruce trees. So, those would be my top two choices for people who are not camping. And just one last thing I'd recommend is, I've noticed that these state parks, they had cabins and they had yurts. So, if you don't have an RV, if you're not into tent camping, you can still explore these state parks with relative comfort, if you just take your pillows and your blankets.

Mary:

Yeah. That sounds amazing too, best of both worlds, or you can experience it without having to rough it in the tent or bring along an RV. So that's exciting to hear. And Cannon Beach sounds like my kind of place.

Brad:

Cannon Beach is great. We stayed there on our first trip up the coast with our dog, and we had just a little motel lodge type place on the south end of town and right across the street was the beach. And it was very lively at night and people were having bonfires and there were people out with their guitars. And at the sunset, everybody gathered and was watching the sunset, which is much later because it's further north up there, but Cannon Beach is a great spot.

Mary:

That sounds beautiful. Thank you so much. And finally, Brad Wright, thank you so much for being with us today and sharing your story. And thank you to our listeners for being with us. If you're planning a trip, be sure to connect with a AAA travel advisor. Check out aaa.com/travel or visit your local branch. And if you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe. I'm Mary Herendeen. Thank you for traveling with AAA.

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