Our Time Well Spent In California

Catching up.

Western Scrub Jay

Near Coarsegold, CA, we stayed at the Escapees SKP RV Park called Park of the Sierra.  We were about 25 miles south of Yosemite National Park's south gate.  

 

We liked the tiered sites with mature trees that seem to give more privacy.

The sheds here look a little bigger than the ones in Oregon, but they are all the same color and shape.

 Here are some photos of different sites.

The biggest plus was the people.  They were very friendly and went out of their way to welcome us.

They are very proud of their park and they should be.  They did all the planning and the building - roads, sites, and the center.  All well done!

 

Quite a difference between Coarsegold, CA and Sutherlin, OR.  It is certainly a lot hotter at Coarsegold.  We were looking forward to some warmer weather around 80 degrees, but it  was so hot and dry that everything crunches.  Well, except for the cats...they just wilt when we took them outside.

A lot of quails

There were birds everywhere along with lots of squirrels and other little critters.  In the park newsletter, they post a list of who sighted critters where.

During our stay, we were given a tour of the park.  During the tour, we were shown this tree inside the RV park and found it very interesting.  The Escapees put up bat houses around the park, but the most interesting  thing is what the Acorn Woodpeckers have been doing to this old tree.  They also like the sheds and the stagecoach.  Check out all the carving they did on this one limb.

They also store acorns in every little nook and cranny they can find.  If you click on the photo below, you can see the acorns stored in the cut off limb.

Even the bark has acorns stored in it.

The Acorn Woodpeckers were not wanting their photo taken. Sandy managed to get this one of a red breasted sapsucker.

Before we moved on, we decided not to signup with Park of the  Sierra due to  location and traffic.  Now if we can move the park and all the people to a better location....

Yosemite National Park

We visited Yosemite twice during our stay in Coarsegold.  We did not drive the Tioga Road which is farther north and would have turned into a long day of driving.

Come sit a while ~ Wawona Hotel

We walked through the Mariposa Grove to see the Sierra Redwoods.

Standing among the giants

California Tunnel Tree

The scenic views were breath-taking and hard to capture with a camera.  We visited during the off-season and the place was still busy.

Yosemite National Park - Valley

Traffic in Yosemite was almost as bad as being downtown.  They say this national park is one of the most visited parks.

Yosemite National Park - Valley

But, Sandy did manage to get quite a few shots with no people in it.  Timing is everything!

Yosemite National Park - Valley

Yosemite National Park - Valley

We had lunch at The Awhahnee in Yosemite Valley.  A little pricey, but Sandy loved her Waldorf Chicken Croissant.  Sitting outdoors on such a beautiful day was very relaxing.

 The Awhahnee

We had entertainment too.  This is just one of many squirrels that were running around under our chairs and tables.  Snooping for dropped food and every once in a while to look up at people to see if they would take pity on them.  One even tried to go inside except one of the staff saw him coming and scared him away.  

Got lunch?

Funny, he doesn't look like he is starving.  Oh, there were "Do Not Feed" signs up everywhere so it must be all those acorns he has been eating.

After lunch, we went to Glacier Point to see El Capitan and Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite National Park - Glacier Point

Now that's quite a view!

Yosemite National Park - Glacier Point

There was a Black and White photo of women posing on this over hanging.  Three women posing with their arms over each other's shoulders and kicking one leg into the air.  We will stick to the railed in areas...thank you.

Yosemite National Park - Glacier Point



We drove quickly from CA to AZ, spending one night on Barstow USMC base, and one night at Gila Bend AZ USAF base that is contract run.  After that we spent one week on Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson AZ to do some shopping before moving to Patagonia AZ for our winter hosting gig.


Happy Trails!

Sutherlin Oregon Timber Valley Escapees co-op

We have been busy exploring the area surrounding the Escapees (SKP) co-op in Sutherlin Oregon. 

 

The Co-op is within walking distance of Sutherlin's downtown area, and just north of thriving Roseburg Oregon with good shopping and medical facilities.    This park is another place where we can own our own long term (lifetime or until released) lot to live part time and eventually retire from our travels, and become part of a community of full-timing RVers. The waiting list here is running 3 to 4 years wait for a lot to become available to us. 

This is the spot we are renting right now. Most of the lots are the same except for different tastes in landscaping.

The lots are big.

The people here have been very friendly and helpful.

View down the street

So far, we love the location: close to the Oregon's coast and the mountains with plenty to do. It is nice to be surrounded by hills covered in green trees instead of desert sand and brush. Just two hours away and we can be back in one of the Thousand Trails parks along the coast or to the east. But, it is further away from our kids and grandkids than the co-op in Benson AZ where we are on the waiting list (6-7 year wait). 

What?! Eh?! Who?! Gobble?!

We also like all the critters. It is a regular wildlife preserve inside the park with deer, wild turkey, quail, and big jack rabbits on steroids. We were told that cougar, bobcat, bear, raccoon, and fox have also been sighted inside the RV park as well.

On our walk yesterday morning, we spotted quite a few deer hanging around the apple trees except for one deer.

He was busy munching on the greens inside someone's fenced garden.



Uh, oh! Humans!

Once we were spotted, the deer moved off towards the apple trees. This seems to be their favorite hangout.


No worries of apples rotting on the ground here!

One of the downsides is the town of Sutherlin. The bad economy leaves this town struggling a bit.   However  Roseburg is just 20 minutes drive south, and Eugene/Springfield 1 hour north for shopping and any future medical needs.  Roseburg has a large VA hospital complex for Dan.

The only major downside inside the park is the sheds. The sheds are all the same except for 3 different colors in similar tones. No bright or bold colors. No individual artistic imagination allowed and no Casitas or extra living space allowed in this park. The sheds cannot be expanded so basically they are used for storage and a few have workbenches in them. On the upside, the buy in is less here than many of the other co-ops.



 As in all the SKP co-ops there is a large community center, community activities, and a laundry facility.

There are several quilt shops and quilt shows within a radius of an hour's drive. Sutherlin actually has a small quilt shop. Sonja's Sewing Basket is more of a sewing machine and long-arm center, but she does have fabric and some supplies.



Another view down the street and the back side of this lot.

We plan to visit two more SKP co-ops in California and go back to the Benson co-op for one more comparison between the parks. We can add our names to as many park's waiting lists as we want, with a small non refundable administrative fee, and a refundable deposit should we change our minds.  All the co-ops offer the entire buy-in fee back when the lease is released by us, or upon our deaths to our estate for the kids.  

 

So after the buy in (refundable) the only cost to these co-ops is a annual fee voted upon by the membership to maintain the park, pay for roads and buildings, pay for water, sewer, garbage, cable tv etc.  Our cost would be this annual fee plus electricity used on our lot when we are present, and propane. 

 

 Annual fees are running $1,000 to $1,200 per year at both Benson and here in Sutherlin (includes water, sewer, garbage service, and cable tv).  For both this park and for Benson AZ, we can add our lot into the rental pool when we are not on site, and earn cash back split between the park and everyone in the rental pool.

 

So, for now at least, we are on two waiting lists:  Benson AZ and Sutherlin OR.  We may or may not drop one later, and could even add one more.  We do think though that when it comes time to buy the actual long term lease we will do only one  (some people have mutliple lots across the country).

 

Southward tomorrow for a two day run to Coarsegold CA.

Florence Oregon and Environs

We drove to Shore Acres State Park to see the botanical gardens left from a timber baron's home. His mansion is gone, but the formal gardens and the caretaker's house is still there.

 

We started with the ocean viewing area because we were hearing sea lions. Instead, we were awestruck by the view. We just stood there watching the waves crash against the most unusual rock forms.  

Shore Acres State Park

I know I was puzzled over this landscape. Did it happen all at once or over time from weather and sea?

One woman walked up to us and said, "Don't you sometimes feel like you have just walked into another world?"

We could only nod a yes.

But, wait! Where were the sea lions? We could hear them. Maybe in a cave or in a nook? Dan usually spots them swimming, but not this time.

Hmmm.... We followed a path along the shore...no sea lions, so we decided to go see the gardens.

We have seen trees like the one below a couple of times during our travels along the NW coast. It looks like a twisted pine tree until we get close to it.

Monkey Puzzle Tree

Then we would see the needles are leaf-like and very thick. The sign called the tree a Monkey Puzzle Tree. If I had a yard, I would love to have one of these trees for my garden.

The gardens are gorgeous! The Rangers do a great job of keeping up the formal gardens. I took a lot of photos. I don't want to overdo the photos so here's a sample of the pond, the roses, and the dahlias.

Oh, and we finally found the sea lions further down the road. They were all over the rocks and some were swimming (little black spots)...:0) They were barking so loudly that it was echoing down the coast a couple of miles away!

 

We drove into old town Florence on a weekend and stumbled upon a car show.

Our plan was to take a walk and do a little window shopping. Florence was bustling with a small Farmer's Market and a car show. We bought some fruit and Poblanos. Then we saw the small pies...okay, I had to have the small peach/blueberry pie. Such an unusual combination and yes, it was gooood! Sorry, no photos of the pie, but here are some of the peaches that might end up in another pie....

The car show was fun and interesting. I love the colors on the ones I posted here. Very eye-catching, don't you think?

Even the dogs were having fun. There were two of these gentle giants, but the other one was behind a car being petted by another admirer.

 

We walked down to the bridge at the west end of town. This is another of Conde McCullough's bridges except this is a draw bridge. The two bigger obelisks on this side have control rooms for the draw bridge.

There is so much detail in each bridge and each one is very unique. Even the under side that most travelers never see has a lot of thought put into the design. I love this cathedral looking arches.

We drove a bit eastward to view some new areas.

On Umpqua Scenic Drive along the river, we saw a couple of herds of Elk in the Wildlife Viewing fields near Reedsport. They were very close to the fence just grazing and totally ignoring all the people taking their pictures.

 

The males were in one field and the females were nearby in another field, but not close enough to see each other.

 

I'm so happy that I took along my 500mm lens and with some cropping, I got some great photos.

Smile!

The best part was watching the young bucks practice fighting. Even though, they were not fighting all that hard...no rearing or running, more "Push Me-Shove You". We could still hear their antlers banging together once in a while.

Had enough? Yea, me too. Same time tomorrow?

Next post will be from the Escapees co-op in Sutherlin Oregon, and after that we will head southbound on I5.