Very long catch-up post

I did a terrible job of keeping up with this blog last year. Terrible. So in an attempt to get caught up, I present you now with a very long, picture-heavy post that covers some highlights of our time from May – Dec 2017. Get ready.

After Yosemite, we headed straight back to the coast as the temps in the valley were way too high. We stayed at Sunset State Beach, where we had a very unlevel site, and it was so foggy we never saw a sunset.

We visited the Glaum Egg Ranch which I found on Atlas Obscura, where you can buy eggs via a vending machine.

We went to Napa and stayed at the Napa Valley Expo, where we could walk into downtown Napa, saw hot balloons from our campsite, and drank lots of wine.

We also visited Healdsburg, where we got to meet up with our friends Denny & Veronica (RV Outlawz) not once but twice, visited the popular Russian River Brewing Company where we bought a case of the highly sought-after Pliny the Elder IPA, and also spent lots of time just driving around beautiful Sonoma county.

We headed back to the coast again to Westport-Union Landing State Beach where we had a fabulous site looking over the ocean, but absolutely no cell service.

Our friends Jack and Rose (Shell on Wheels) were staying nearby, so we met them at the nearby Pacific Star Winery where we had lots of wine and laughter, and even saw a whale swimming in the ocean.

Next we went back to one of our favorite states, Oregon. We spent a lot of time here in 2013 and wanted to revisit some of our favorite towns along the coast. We started out at Harris Beach State Park in Brookings. We wasted no time in getting the dogs onto the beach for a walk – I love how wild and rocky the Oregon coast is.

The beach always seems to bring out the crazy in our dogs. And speaking of dogs, right before we got to Oregon, we met up with our good friends Sam and Brendan (Life Among Pines), and Sam gave me this adorable mug she made of our 3 dogs. I love it so much, especially now that we’ve lost Nikki. Sam has a store on Etsy and her mugs are just the cutest things ever.

Next stop was Newport, where we stayed at the Port of Newport RV Park. The sites here are basically just a parking lot, but you have a nice view of the beautiful Yaquina Bay Bridge, and you can walk to the Rogue Brewery.

From there we went to Manzanita, which I think might be my favorite Oregon coast town of all. We stayed at Nehalem Bay State Park which has another beautiful beach. We were there for July 4th, so we rode our bikes into town and watched the local parade.

The nearby town of Rockaway Beach has a restaurant called the Old Oregon Smokehouse, which has some of the best crab cakes I’ve ever had. We had 2 at the restaurant, but also took 2 home to cook later. Delicious.

Next we went to Astoria, which we had passed by in our last trip. We stayed at Fort Stevens State Park, where you can tour the old fort and also see the remains of the shipwrecked Peter Iredale.

We stood in line for 45 minutes to get fish & chips from Bowpicker. We thought the food was just average, but the brewery where we at it (Reach Break) was fantastic!

My brother and his wife (who live in Portland) joined us for a couple days and we had a lot of fun (and beer) with them.

From Oregon we went to Ketchum, ID and joined our friends Tim & Amanda (Watsons Wander) in a fantastic boondocking spot. Over the next few days we were joined in the area by Kelly (RV Chickadee), Finding Marshall, Kevin and Kim (33 and Free), Brandon and Kerensa (RV to Freedom). Many happy hours ensued.

We were all gathering in Ketchum in anticipation of heading to Stanley to view the eclipse. Marshall had scouted the area a few days before and found the perfect boondocking spot for us with a view of the Sawtooths. Several other of our RVing friends joined us, and many more happy hours ensued.

The day of the eclipse was one I’ll not soon forget. It was SO much fun to experience such a cool natural phenomenon with so many awesome people.

After Stanley many of the same group headed back to Ketchum, and we returned to the same boondocking spot as before. This time we shared it with Brandon and Kerensa, who helped me take a cool nighttime photo of our RV.

From Idaho we headed down to Utah with Brandon and Kerensa, first to Antelope Island State Park. This is a fascinating state park, very close to Salt Lake City, but with a vast, beautiful landscape.

And also lots of bison! The dogs could watch them right from the RV window.

Next we went to Moab where we had <gasp> another happy hour gathering! However this time we had 35+ mph wind gusts, which made it very unpleasant to sit outside. We discovered that night that we can fit at least 15 people and 3 dogs into our RV.

We took a day to drive around Canyonlands National Park, and it did not disappoint.

From Utah we headed on to Colorado, and our first stop was in Cortez, to visit our good friends Clark and Lynn (Tales from the Mutiny) who have settled down there on a beautiful mini-farm after several years of RVing. We loved meeting all of their animals, including goats, chickens, and a mini horse.

After a few days Brandon and Kerensa joined us too. What an awesome place to moochdock with friends!

Clark and Lynn’s property backs up Canyon of the Ancients National Monument and we enjoyed a few hikes there amongst the beautiful topography and fascinating history.

Next up was Durango, which was a favorite of ours the first time we visited it in 2003. We timed this visit just right and the leaves were exlploding with color and the weather was perfect.

After a week or so in Duango the weather was getting progressively colder, and it was nearing the end of October. We bounced around Colorado and New Mexico for a few more days, before aiming the RV east so we could be back in Georgia in order to spend Thanksgiving with our families. All in all 2017 was by far one of our best years RVing, and also one of our most social. Which probably explains why I got so behind on blogging! Now to get caught up on 2018…..