Vacation OREGON or How to be a Summer SNOWBIRD!

Image via Wikipedia Rogue River Oregon     Do you live in the desert and dream of cooler weather in the summer?  Maybe you need to think about being a DesertBird and fly north to Oregon to escape the hot.  I love my lifestyle that includes southern Arizona in the winters and Oregon in the summer.  I vacation year around.

Is it possible to do this affordably?
     If the snowbird lifestyle is so perfect, then surely there are retirees from Arizona or Palm Springs that claim one of those places as their residence and travel to spend the hottest part of the summer in the northwest.  The drill is very much the same as far as closing the house for several months.   The trick is finding a place in Oregon, for example, that is inexpensive.  While Arizona is a place that has catered to the inexpensive snowbird lifestyle for many years, I am finding that doing this inexpensively in Oregon is a little harder.
     There are a lot of extended stay hotels in the area.  Out here in Hillsboro where we live the always on the move technology sector comes and goes frequently. BizStay had quite a list for "business" rentals that might work for a person that wanted to spend the summer in the area.  Under a heading for furnished I found the Towne Place Suites located across the street from where we live.  By searching for extended stay motels on google you will find everything from a Howard Johnsons at the airport for around $50 a night to very expensive residence hotels.  You can take your pick.
     I found an RV Park on the east side of Portland that welcomes Park Models.  Portland Fairview RV Park is one of the few in the Portland Metro area that welcomes these small homes. If you were to own one of the small park model doll houses you could park it here and winterize it when you went back to your house in the Southwest. Rent at this park is about $450 a month.  This is a very affordable way to own two homes.
     If you like to fish or hunt, the Ontario Oregon area will make you happy.  Independent motel owners are anxious to serve their seasonal clients. There is even a Pheasant Valley Hunting Ranch outside Vale just west of Ontario.  Vale is home to the Bates Motel.  This old motel was owned by friends of our many years ago.  They got a lot of ribbing because the name connection to the horror movie.  I see it is still in operation after all these years.  I am sure weekly rent is very inexpensive.
     Along the southern Oregon coast you will find a small community named Gold Beach. The seaside village is located on the Rogue River of Zane Grey fame.  Here you will find that small town feel plus great fishing in the river and on the ocean. The Rogue also has a mail boat that travels up and down the wilderness river in the summer.  If you so desire you can stay in a resort up the river for a night or two. Fly fishing is heavenly I hear! The Pacific Ocean waters  lurks in the 40 degree range and the air always has a chill to it.  That can be a welcome relief from the heat of summer.

The Patio at McKenzie River Bridge

     There is a little RV park on the McKenzie River  east of Eugene called The Patio. It has a Blue River address. The location is just mystical.  The park is very old and was build during the depression I think.  Old patios and small storage areas give the place a feel all it's own.  When we stayed there the spaces were small but they may have upgraded it lately.  It is worth checking into.

On the upscale side!
     There are several very desirable resort locations here in Oregon.  Along the Columbia River, Hood River is home to the wind surfing community and has that trendy resort feel. Rentals are plentiful but finding the affordable one may be a trick. I would suggest that you look in a neighboring community for a rental and then explore the area from there.
     In southern Oregon, Ashland is home to a Shakespearean Festival each summer.  Rentals provide locals with a steady source of income. Ashland is just east of the Oregon Coast highway where Gold Beach is located. Ashland can be hot in the summer and the coast is not.
     In the very center of the state the Bend area is the crown jewel of them all. Surrounding communities include Redmond, Prineville, Sisters and Madris. This region is the outdoor vacationer's dream.  Golfing, hiking, lake fishing, skiing, white water rafting and even mountain climbing draws people from around the world.  Again, rentals are easy to find. Look in RV parks for park model rentals.  You may find something more affordable there. Golfing, renting or eating in Bend is expensive by my standards.  But for a short stay it is wonderful.  Resorts like Black Butte Ranch, Sunriver, Eagle Crest and Seventh Mountain Inn are only a few of the choices.  Check Central Oregon resorts on google or write to the Bend Chamber of Commerce for more information.
     There is an RV Resort east of Portland in Welches called Mt. Hood RV Resort that has vacation cottages available.  Mt. Hood is so spectacular up close and personal and looms over this location.  If you love the outdoors this may be a place you would want to spend part of your summer.  If you are a fisherman this is a wonderful place to be.  Just be aware that many of the streams are catch and release because of migrating salmon.
     The last place I want to talk about is the McKenzie River area east of Eugene.  We have stayed over night in the cabins at the McKenzie River Bridge before they were renovated.  If the new cabins capture any of the charm of the old river's edge cabins, you are in for a treat.  When we stayed there we did not have TV, radio or wi-fi.  We were left alone with our thoughts and a deck of cards.  Now I am sure they have all the good stuff and the sound of that beautiful river too.  The Tokatee Golf Course is very close by.  Not only is it a beautiful course but it offers breath taking views of the backside of the Three Sisters Mountains.  The covered bridges, fishing, hiking and whitewater rafting are just bonuses.
     There are lots of rentals in the area but be careful to check the comments on them.  Some are nothing but dumps.

My Neighborhood! 
     Right here in my neighborhood of Orenco Station in Hillsboro the homes are built with a rental in the rear.  They are called "mother-in-law" apartments and include a kitchen, living area, bedroom and bath.  If you check with a rental agency here in Hillsboro like Rental Homes Plus they can help you get a lead on a place you can call your own.  We are selling our condo in this neighborhood because we are aging and need to live on one level.  I love this location because is it close to restaurants, neighborhood gourmet grocery and a short walk to mass transit.  I am thinking that if I were going to vacation every summer here in the Portland Metro area, I would look at buying instead of renting.  I think it might be more cost effective.  Prices are at rock bottom right now.  (sigh!)

Conclusion
      We don't hear much about Desert SnowBirds traveling north in the summer.  I know a few that bring a motor home but making one place summer destination every year is uncommon.  It is just a thought and I wanted you to think about the possibilities.

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Related articles

• Cowboy town - prineville, oregon (travelpod.com)
• Possible Bigfoot Sighting in Central Oregon (robertlindsay.wordpress.com)
• Oregon fishing report 5/6/2011 (theguidesforecast.wordpress.com)
• Lane County, Western Oregon - Western Oregon, USA (bootsnall.com)

10 Links for Family Friendly Seaside, Oregon Activities

Note:  Be sure to click on the images for a full screen view.  See also 10 images of the Oregon Coast on my Hubpage link.

Seaside, Oregon: Camera Buffs find perfect light for every shot!

We just returned from a quick two day get away to Seaside, Oregon.  We own a timeshare with Wyndham Worldmark and were able to score a bonus time get away.  People in the Portland Metro area are accustomed to doing this type of thing.  The coast is only 40 minutes door to door.  We are retired so we can go any day of the week.  Portlanders just wait for a perfect day and scurry to family friendly Seaside year around to enjoy a day in the sun.  The waters of the Pacific Ocean keep temperatures very moderate both winter and summer.  It is warm when it is cold on the east side of the mountains in the winter.  The reverse is true in the hotter times of the year.

The essence of Seaside, Oregon...
kid friendly restaurants!

Why Seaside you ask?  Well, this small community is a family friendly place...the most family friendly location I have ever been to.  We have been coming here since our children were small.  Let me give you an example.  We walked down the street to a restaurant called Dundee Bar and Grill yesterday morning and were greeted at the front door with a sign issued by the state of Oregon.  Minors Allowed...talk about your basic kid friendly eating establishment.  I don't believe I had ever seen this sign before.  When we walked in we were greeted by a bank of booths with TV screens hanging over each table.  Why?  The goal here, we were told by the manager, is to allow parents to eat even with small children by keeping the little wigglers entertained for an extra 20 or so minutes.  Sponge Bob will do that for you, he said.

But if you are a retired person and don't want wigglers next to you, a no minors allowed section greets you and a bartender with serve you a cold beer from a very large selection of beers on tap. It seems almost impossible but this restaurant has figured out how to keep every age group and life style happy.

So Seaside has the total package for children of all ages.  I loved shopping at boutiques for clothes.  The streets are filled with senior citizens enjoying the Seaside atmosphere. Parents can ride bumper cars with children, play at the arcade, rent wheels for the beach, visit the aquarium or simply sit on the beach and enjoy the wonders of that beautiful Pacific Ocean. Kite flying is possible everyday of the year and kite shops sell every type of kite imaginable. The list goes on and on.  There is even a carousel inside a small shopping mall.  The souvenir shops do not over shadow all the other business yet they are available for those that want to take home a trinket or two.

Links for Best of Seaside area:

1. Restaurant:  Dundee Bar and Grill  Prices are right and families are welcome.
2. Timeshare:  Worldmark by Wyndham
3. New Inn:  Inn at the Prom by Seaside Lodging
4. Drive:  North to Gearheart and Fort Clatsop National Memorial
5. Shopping:  Seaside and Cannon Beach
6. Iconic image:  Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach 
7. Small Boutique in Seaside:  B Boutiques (beautiful clothes you won't see at Macy's)
8. Golf Course:  Gearhart Golf Links (this authentic links style golf course has been located just off the beach in Gearhart since 1892)
9. Kites:  Above All Kites
10. Wheels:  Wheel Fun Rentals
11. (an added thought!)  Romancing the Home located at the Gearhart exit.  This small business features an eclectic mixture of decorating objects both very old and very new.  I scored a West Elm decorative pot for $19.00.  It was the only thing I purchased on this get away.

More information is available through sites put up for the Chamber of Commence and tourism websites for the State of Oregon.  I think this location just might be a dream come true for grandparents and families traveling to the state.  Keep it in mind!

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Independent (Mom/Pop) Motels on the Oregon Coast

Newport Bay, Oregon

     Mom/Pop motels have been on my mind.  I had not even thought about that mid-century way of travel for years. Back in the day when a two laned Route 66 wound across the southern part of our country the motel was not a luxury in any sense of the word.  Rooms were small and children slept on the floor or in a roll away bed.  The car might have been parked in a small garage or carport next to the room and there was not TV or even a radio.  But you would find them just in the nick of time before the whole family collapsed in a heap beside the road.  The sign would say "Cabin's" and a big vacancy sign would tell you that you had survived another day.  Ah, the road trips of old!  Old Route 66 is mostly gone now.  There are a few stretches of the road that are still in use but the freeway that replaced it has killed any businesses that existed back in the early days.
     Independent (Mom/Pop) hotels/motels are usually very affordable.  For those of us that want to travel in luxury but don't want to pay the big price they can be the answer.  I have never regretting the adventure.
     Here in the northwest we had our wonderful Highway 30 and there were cabins nestled in small valleys or tiny towns with one cafe.  Most of those small places are gone.  Highway 30 has been replace by I-84 and access to small towns is invisible.  But, if you are interested in the experiencing the motels that were new in the 1950's or 1960's, you can still do that.  Oregon coast Highway 101 is still has only 2 lanes most of the way down the Oregon coast.  As a result these small motels have managed to survive.
    Last summer when we were in Newport, Oregon for a family gathering, my husband and I explored this jewel on the Oregon Coast.  Our walk took us to a very old hotel named for the beach it overlooked.  The Sylvia Beach Hotel is a refuge for readers.  The hotel features rooms decorated to suit the taste of a particular author.  Mark Twain and Agathe Christie rooms are available.  It is the perfect place to stay if you are a reader.  If you aren't a reader,  stay there anyway.  I don't think you will regret it.  The Sylvia is much older than that 1950's midcentury type of motel but in Oregon these very old hotels are not that unusual.

Sylvia Beach Hotel
image by Barbara

This is truly a hotel for book lovers. There are no tv's, radios, or telephones in the rooms and no wi-fi.  It is a quiet place on most days.  Except for the glorious storms. Then the wind howls, the building shakes, and the rain pounds down. Some days it's warm and sunny and the sky is bright blue. Some days there's morning fog. Some days the wind makes you stay inside and read! Some days are rainbow days, the weather just can't decide. The ocean is always present. (The hotel is on a 45 foot bluff right above the surf.) You move into the rhythm of the sea. Perhaps that's why time seems to slow way down, almost to a standstill.

      During high season motels fill up very quickly on the Oregon coast.  Driving down the coast searching for a motel can be risky at best.  If you are one of those people that love the adventure of just driving until you are tired, you can take a chance.  But if you do, you are probably going to be left with fewer choices.  So the trick is not to be stuck in a filthy, bedbug infested room.  In the old days we would ask to see the room.  Today I would do exactly the same thing.  Why do I think that if you demand to see the room before you actually exchange money, the owner will show you the cleanest unit they have.
      Up and down the coast independent motels and hotels abound.  They are rated at * or ** and are very affordable.  By going to Oregon Coast Motels you will find a list of independently owed businesses that might meet your needs.  The one that caught my eye was called Ocean Cove Inn located in Yachats Village. Yachats is about halfway between Newport and Florence. Rates are very reasonable and the reviews seem to be very good.
      The central Oregon coast is known for it number of beach access points and charming villages set on the coastline. On the Pacific Ocean in the United States beach access is a rare thing.  But Oregon has set aside it's beaches for the public so everyone owns the beaches and access to those beaches can not denied.
      So, if you are the adventurous type, travel until you are tired, find a place with a vacancy, ask to see the room first and check in or not.  If you aren't the adventurous type, go to independent motels on your google search and find out all you can before you check in.  I personally would prefer a very small motel because I like to get to know my host/hostess.  Usually people running these kinds of businesses are willing to go the extra mile to make you comfortable.  I alway carry my own pillows when I travel.  Bedspreads are thrown on the floor and I make sure the sheets are covering the blanket.  I find that a motel that gives me the creeps is not a good thing.  By doing the basic things to make myself feel comfortable I sleep better and have a wonderful time.

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Astoria, Oregon, New York Times Travel Section and me!

The Astor Column, Astoria, Oregon Image via WikipediaNote:  If you like the article please click on the share button at the bottom of the post.  It helps me a lot.  Thank you.


I love the willing suspension of reality...that emotional place that we visit when we stand on ground so historically important that it's mere existence speaks to the beginning of our country.  Believe it or not that is the way I feel when I vist the Oregon Coast.  If you have ever read Undaunted Courage by Steven Ambrose for example and then stood in the salt cairn in Seaside you can feel Lewis and Clark standing beside you and you know you are taking in the same air that Lewis and Clark breathed over 200 years ago.  North of that part of the coast you will find Fort Clatsop where the Lewis and Clark expedition spent the winter of 1805.  When I visit these places I can close my eyes and hear the birds in the tree tops.  I know they were there.  I love that emotional connection with history.


Yesterday I notice an article in the New York Times travel section telling about the community of Astoria, Or.  Astoria sits on the Columbia River where is finishes it journey to the Pacific Ocean. Astoria, named after Fort Astoria, is the oldest settlement west of the Rocky Mountains.  John Jacob Astor founded a profitable fur trade here during his lifetime and the name took on a life of its own.

His Columbia River trading post at Fort Astoria (established in April 1811) was the first United States community on the Pacific coast. He financed the overland Astor Expedition in 1810–12 to reach the outpost. Members of the expedition were to discover South Pass, through which hundreds of thousands settlers on the Oregon, California and Mormon trails passed through the Rocky Mountains. Wikipedia

The thing I find so fascinating about Astoria is it's appearance. When I read Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Nasland, it was Astoria that I saw in my minds eye.  The way the houses and mansions perch on the hillside and even the look of the houses makes one think they would feel more at home on Maine's coast than here in Oregon.  In fact I am sure that the fishermen, sea captains and fur traders that built their home there were holding the east coast fishing village in their minds eye.  The pictures you will find on Panaramio shows some of the beautiful old mansion left by sea captains of long ago.


Astoria, according to the New York Times, is a place to do a little sight seeing, eat a bit and maybe take in a museum or two.  The article was called Astoria, Oregon, Discovers Waterfront Chic.  Chic is very cool.  But I would suggest that you walk on a break water and see that enormous ocean rush in at high tide or get on the top of the Astor Column and try to fathom the Columbia bar where the old river joins with the Pacific Ocean.  This ferocious joining of two ungiving forces have taken many a fisherman's life.  Walk on the beach and see the wreckage of the Peter Iredale that so many generations of children have climbed on.  Then try to visualize the explorers and those that followed them seeing that place in all it's natural wonder.  Don't go home until the fog rolls in and shrouds the trees and coast in mystery.  Visit one of the light houses that dot the coast.  I invite you to the place called "suspension of reality" while reading Undaunted Courage.  You will see this place on a whole new light! 


Oh, by the way, the Oregon coast is owned by the people...access to the beach is easy and you can walk as far as the ocean will let you.  Golly, I love that place!


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Backroad to Oregon Beach Weekend Vacation...Lincoln City & Newport

Image via Wikipedia

We will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary with our family at the beach this weekend.  The Oregon coast has always been a favorite with out family.  The weather will be around 68 degrees (high) on Saturday and Sunday.  Fog might roll in and out, the water temperature stays about the same the years around...around 40 degrees Fahrenheit.   A trip to the beach here can require warm coats and hats year around.  We will go to Lincoln City where we have rented a very large house.  There will 19 of us in the house on Saturday night.  An occasion like this calls for a gathering of all our family so every grandchild and child will be with us on those days. 

We are renting the house through a business called Cottages by the Beach.  The reservations were made in the early spring because we were planning on going after July 4th.  Here in Oregon summer does not come until then and never has. Any rental for families after that holiday will fill very early. 

We will travel down the back road from Hillsboro to McMinville, Oregon taking Hwy 47 from the Cornelius turnoff.  Hwy 47 takes you through some wonderful wine country...who knows we may stop in Carlton and buy a bottle of wine or two.  In McMinville we will turn onto Hwy 99 and head west toward the beach.  We will stop at Spirit Mountain Casino for lunch and then drive over to Lincoln City and on south to Newport.  This is a beautiful drive all by itself and a round trip can easily be made in a day. 

The Pacific Ocean is not a gentle ocean.  (Tide Table for Lincoln City, Oregon). Riptides cut along the beach and the outgoing tides are extremely strong.  I have a great deal of respect for it's waters.  The unaware are caught every year by sneaker waves and rolling logs or the outgoing tide.  But, let me tell you, the draw of this beautiful place is undeniable.  We are life-long Oregonians and we have seen the ocean at it's best and worst.  But even on a stormy day people travel to it's shore just to watch!  In some places a 15+ ft waves are very unusual.  On the Oregon coast, waves that high arrive on schedule during winter storms.

There is a restaurant in Lincoln City called Mo's!  The original restaurant was opened in Newport Old Town during the 1940's and a trip to the beach is not complete unless you have stopped in to eat some of that wonderful chowder in one of their locations.  We will spend two nights in Newport before we drive up to the house and the celebration.  I am hoping that Mo's will be a lunch stop for us in Newport.  If not we can always get some of the chowder in Lincoln City.   I am including Mo's recipe for Oyster Stew.  Yaquina Bay at Newport has some of the best oyster beds found anywhere (I think).  While the oysters are not huge they are so flavorful.

Oyster Stew
One serving.
3/4 cup whole shucked raw oyster for each stew
*Place oyster in saucepan with just enough water to cover.
*Bring to boiling point and remove from heat.
*Larger oysters can be cut into bite size pieces, small oyster leave whole.
*Save broth for stew
Heat:
1 1/2 cups whole milk or Half and Half in sauce pan
1/4 cup oyster broth
Add cooked oysters
*Bring to boiling point but DO NOT boil
Ladle into a buttered bowl and ENJOY


I will posting pictures and more information on our return.  For now I have Gone Fishing!

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