Hello from Oregon

suza · 06-01-2013, 02:50 PM

We are proud new owners of a 2014 Cougar 5th-wheel 279RKSWE living on the beautiful southern Oregon coast, the perfect venue for RVs.

In the past we have been only casual RVers, inheriting a 1996 Nash 23ft TT. I hated the floor plan. Galley kitchen, terrible bed, shower/tub resembling a packing crate . . . the list goes on. Once inside, you had to stay seated or you were in the way. Not the best camping experience. I'm amazed that they still make trailers with this floor plan

, but they do.

My husband and I are recently retired and getting the itch to do some traveling. We love the outdoors, so DH said, "find an RV you like, just make sure it's a 5th-wheel and not too big" Of course he had a plan since this also required a new tow vehicle. Hard to tow a 5th-wheel with a Ford Expedition

Long story short, I fell in love with the kitchen in the 279RK. The sacrifice was having only one swivel rocker, but I'm happy on the sofa, as long as I have lots of room to cook. And, I love the big rear window in the kitchen.

We had to wait a while to bring our baby home (boy, was that hard), since it was a week before the dealer could install the hitch in our new PU. Yes, hubby has his first-ever, brand-new PU and he's so happy

Its a Silver 2013 Ford F-350 Super Duty, Powerstroke, 4wd, longbed, crew cab. Also a good thing, because we have a ranch and were in desperate need of a decent "farm PU".

I have had fun, the past couple of weeks, outfitting the RV. We spent Memorial Day weekend at our private campground with a few family members, getting to know our Cougar before taking her on a trip. Next week we are spending a couple of days at Loon Lake Campground (up the coast) dry camping, then celebrating our anniversary the following week at lovely Powers Park nearby - with water & power hook-ups. This should give us a chance to work out any bugs before venturing too far from home.

Looking forward to sharing ideas and adventures with everyone on the forum.

Ray Huff (retired milk truck driver)
Susan Huff (retired school business manager)
Myrtle Point, OR

GaryWT · 06-01-2013, 03:03 PM

Welcome and congrats. Hope you have lots of fun.

Jca3 · 06-01-2013, 03:58 PM

We are heading to Oregon coast in 4 days. Can't wait because it is an awesome place to RV. I grew up on the coast, but we only get there for 3 weeks of the year now. We retire in 3 years so are looking for our home base over there.
Enjoy your new "retirement" home as I call ours.

kimanderson98642 · 06-01-2013, 04:13 PM

Congrats on the new setup and you are right about great area to RV. Were heading down the Oregon coast in a couple of weeks To hit the State Parks Down to the Redwoods and then back up I-5. I know you will enjoy the new Cougar and he will love the new truck. Happy Camping.

suza · 06-02-2013, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimanderson98642

Congrats on the new setup and you are right about great area to RV. Were heading down the Oregon coast in a couple of weeks To hit the State Parks Down to the Redwoods and then back up I-5. I know you will enjoy the new Cougar and he will love the new truck. Happy Camping.

Thanks, Kim and Carol. Hope you enjoy the Oregon coast and I'm envious of you going to the Redwoods. I love them - I grew up in Felton, CA, in the middle of a redwood forest

Let me know of any good parks in the coast redwoods. Lots of great hiking there. I'd like to make that trip and it's not too far for us.

Susan Huff
(I need to create a signature)

Jca3 · 06-02-2013, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimanderson98642

Congrats on the new setup and you are right about great area to RV. Were heading down the Oregon coast in a couple of weeks To hit the State Parks Down to the Redwoods and then back up I-5. I know you will enjoy the new Cougar and he will love the new truck. Happy Camping.

Ha we will be doing the same. Love the area.

kimanderson98642 · 06-02-2013, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suza

Thanks, Kim and Carol. Hope you enjoy the Oregon coast and I'm envious of you going to the Redwoods. I love them - I grew up in Felton, CA, in the middle of a redwood forest

Let me know of any good parks in the coast redwoods. Lots of great hiking there. I'd like to make that trip and it's not too far for us.

Susan Huff
(I need to create a signature)

We definitely will be looking around, We are staying at the Crescent City KOA even though I'm not a big KOA fan it seems to be the best there.
Kim

BeaverRZR · 06-02-2013, 09:53 AM

We have frequented Loon Lake over the years and even taught my oldest son to fish there. My wifes Grandparents live up on the mountain behind the elk reserve and we really enjoy the area. Especially the Winchester Bay sand dunes

Enjoy your new trailer!

suza · 06-02-2013, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeaverRZR

We have frequented Loon Lake over the years and even taught my oldest son to fish there. My wifes Grandparents live up on the mountain behind the elk reserve and we really enjoy the area. Especially the Winchester Bay sand dunes

Enjoy your new trailer!

Our DIL works at the Loon Lake Campground (BLM, not the resort) and we've never been there. Can you believe that? Looking forward to our first trip

suza · 06-02-2013, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeaverRZR

We have frequented Loon Lake over the years and even taught my oldest son to fish there. My wifes Grandparents live up on the mountain behind the elk reserve and we really enjoy the area. Especially the Winchester Bay sand dunes

Enjoy your new trailer!

Oh, BTW: Did you dry camp? How long did your tanks hold out? We have a generator.

BeaverRZR · 06-02-2013, 10:05 AM

actually, we have never stayed there lol. We usually camp in Winchester to ride the dunes and then would drive up to the lake and fish

suza · 06-02-2013, 10:45 AM

We stayed at the Winchester Bay RV Park once. It was nice. I'll report back on the Loon Lake site.

dandjh1958 · 06-02-2013, 05:12 PM

My husband has told me we won't spend another freezing cold summer in the Redwoods! My grandson was in heaven with the dewy mornings and cool evenings so we could have wonderful fires but my hubby was trying to get some riding time in and the difference between the coastal cities (in the 50's) and inland cities (100+) was hard for him to take.
Last year we spend August in Florence and again, it was a lot cooler at the coast than inland.
You just gotta love the Oregon coast for it's wonderful, ever changing weather.

Enjoy your rig- you'll be nice and warm (or cool and dry) as needed!!

Happy camping!!

suza · 06-02-2013, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dandjh1958

My husband has told me we won't spend another freezing cold summer in the Redwoods! My grandson was in heaven with the dewy mornings and cool evenings so we could have wonderful fires but my hubby was trying to get some riding time in and the difference between the coastal cities (in the 50's) and inland cities (100+) was hard for him to take.
Last year we spend August in Florence and again, it was a lot cooler at the coast than inland.
You just gotta love the Oregon coast for it's wonderful, ever changing weather.

Enjoy your rig- you'll be nice and warm (or cool and dry) as needed!!

Happy camping!!

Coincidentally, we just returned from Coos Bay buying a used kayak we found on Craig's List (for my husband). It's an 11' Aquafusion Breeze. Looks like a big banana! He's excited

I'm going to use my counsin's 11' Pelican until I can decide what I want. It is such a struggle to get out of a Sit-in that I'm considering a Sit-on kayak. We will mainly be using them in lakes/ponds, and some in our "quiet" Coquille River and Myrtle Creek (which borders our property). Any opinions on Sit-ons? My hip is wearing out so I get pretty stoved up sitting any length of time. Don't know if will be able to get out of a sit-in (gracefully) much longer

I love the coast, but then I've always lived somewhere on the west coast. What I don't like about the Oregon coast is the wind. We live far enough inland that we are mostly out of the marine influence, an ocassional bit of morning fog, but not so far inland that it gets unbearably hot

dandjh1958 · 06-03-2013, 07:19 AM

I have polio so my hips are shot also. I got the hobie peddle drive kayak which is a sit on. I can get in and out of it without getting wet (if there is a boat dock) and peddling is easier than walking. If my leg gets tired, I can also use my hands to work the peddles or I can just paddle like a normal kayak.
The only problem I have is after I spend a few hours on the water, dragging the boat back to the truck is tough. The 45 lb kayak on wheels that felt like a feather getting to the water now feels like a 300 pound dead body I'm dragging back up the boat ramp!
I'm thinking I need to con my hubby into pulling it back for me.... or just get into better shape!

Andymon · 06-03-2013, 07:35 AM

Welcome from a fellow Oregonian (Medford). We are new to rv life and love to go to the coast when we can.

richarde · 06-03-2013, 12:07 PM

Hi, we are going to be visiting the Oregon coast in July and August. We are signed on as camp hosts at W. Tugman and Nehalem Bay SP's. Can't wait to leave the already hot Sacramento valley and enjoy your Oregon coast weather and hospitality.

suza · 06-03-2013, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richarde

Hi, we are going to be visiting the Oregon coast in July and August. We are signed on as camp hosts at W. Tugman and Nehalem Bay SP's. Can't wait to leave the already hot Sacramento valley and enjoy your Oregon coast weather and hospitality.

If we venture that far North, we'll stop in and say Hi

Teamster81 · 06-03-2013, 04:40 PM

Hello from Oregon also,
Also retired truck driver also have Ford Expedition, and my wife works for the local middle school. I retired from Yellow Freight 8 years ago and when my wife grumbled about the possibility of me lounging around the house to much I took a job as the head custodian at her school. We enjoy working around each other a lot, but I don't think she always appreciates my sharing stories of our home life with everyone there.

I just joined forum today after reading posts most of the night, boy am I tired but also can hardly wait to pick up our new Springdale 256 on Friday. Its quite an upgrade from our tent trailer and I'm excited about things like holding tanks large enough to use more than a couple of days, DSI water heater that doesn't have a pilot light to blow out and a real awning. We are also looking to upgrade our tow vehicle if we don't spend all our money camping. Sorry about the rambling, not enough sleep I guess.

suza · 06-03-2013, 07:39 PM

I was admin secretary at our middle school before I returned to complete my degree and promotion to business manager. But, my husband stayed retired. And I plan to as well

Hope you enjoy your new Springdale. We upgraded from an inherited 1996 22H Nash. I did not realize, until we got our new 5th wheel how much fun RV'n can be. Amazing the number of new RV owners out there. Sooooooo exciting. Makes you feel like a kid again

We are taking ours out for a maiden voyage on Thursday.

Have fun!

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