Never Far Away from a KOA
Top Travelling Tip : Always check for national holidays when you are visiting another country to assess the impact on your journey! Unfortunately we didn’t note the significance Labor Day would have on camp site availability when heading towards Californian coast.
The link below is a short clip showing how much traffic was around on Labour day .
Blissfully unaware of how busy the towns along the 101 would become as we cruised along. It was a shock to find that all the Rv parks we had assumed would have spaces for us were full to capacity. Googling like crazy we revised the route as we went trying to identify a potential place to stay overnight.
The video was captured from the van as we travelled along on our way to Reedsport.
Down a Dark Lane
As the miles rolled by & it became a bit tricky to concentrate on the amazing scenery as we feared we would not find a suitable spot. With darkness rapidly drawing in we tentatively headed down a twisty road to somewhere called Devils Lake. All fingers crossed that we would find an overnight stop was dwindling before it got dark.
As our tired, strained eyes searched the road ahead for signs of a campsite. All of a sudden an incredibly bright yellow board announcing the presence of a KOA site appeared. What a wondrous sight! Gleefully shouting in the van the phrase ‘you’re never far away from a KOA’ we pulled in.
The kind people running the site listened to our pleas & found us a spot for the night. Waking at first light found that clearly we were not the last to seek refuge.
For as I opened the door I was greeted by a lady peering up at me from under the duvet that she was snuggled under. She was sat in the passenger seat in one of the now many trucks beside us.
Made our Escape
Following an interesting conversation about the duplicitous nature of politicians on both sides of ‘the pond’ . We wished one another a good day & set about having breakfast before getting back on the 101.
Trundling up the coast we were treated to a number of wild & beautiful sights. We camped overnight at a beautiful place called Gardiner where you could walk from the campsite to the beach.
This video was filmed when we walked down to the beach where you could see for miles. It was so clear & we had the place virtually to ourselves. We had taken some beer & sat on the sand watching the sunset.
Astoria & Its Bridge
However we were on a mission to get to Astoria before dark cross the mouth of the mighty Columbia River. It was a long drive & we had to cross the river. It was my day to drive so I got to take the van across the bridge.
It was strange to re cross the river that I had previous crossed at a different point on the earlier trip when going to the festival.
The Astoria Megler Bridge is a steel cantilever truss bridge designed by William Adair Bugge. Its is approximately 21,474 feet (4 mi or 6,545 m) and carries one lane of traffic in each direction.
It can withstand 150 mph (240 km/h) wind gusts and river water speeds of 9 mph (14 km/h). Reputedly an average of 7,100 vehicles per day cross from onside to the other.
It was on completion in 1966 the longest continuous truss bridge in the world & provided the ‘missing link’ in the USA highway system between Mexico & Canada.
Use the link below to discover more about the bridge
https://visittheoregoncoast.com/cities/astoria/activities/astoria-megler-bridge/
It was my turn to drive so I got the honour of taking Bertha across which was quite a thrill. Followers may have spotted my buddies liking for silo photos we have encountered. Not wanting to be left I have included pictures assorted bridges we have traversed.
You have been spared the lengthy video of our crossing as I was driving whereupon my mates camera battery died so only the stills survived.
Back once more in Washington State we headed for a state Park campsite which was a beautiful location beside the sea.