[A/S] Trip Report, Spring Break 2002

[Charlie/Betty Burke <cbburke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

Well the boss decided this year her spring break was going to be an
Oregon coast adventure. So with no advance reservations we took off from
Boise to Astoria, OR.
This was the first opportunity for the newly assembled rig to run
together. Little Bit, our 75 22' Argosy, the new 2002 GMC Sierra 2500HD
8.l Liter/Allison transmission and the Equal-i-zer hitch.
Little Bit has not had a long use so we held our breath as the original
refer, furnace and water heater ran, as it turns out, with very little
trouble for 8 days. The eternal problem of a leaking relief valve next
to the water regulator was fixed with a 1/2" flare cap. The furnace and
water heater pilots had to be relit a couple of times??? Since I burped
the refer last year it has continued to run like a champ.
New truck turned out to be a towing monster. With less than 2500 miles
and it's first oil change done we hit the road. Cruise control in this
thing holds speed no mater what. Up hill or down, steep or flat what you
set is what you get. So we went 70 mph most of the way. Tow/Haul mode
makes a noticeable difference in downgrades holding speed. One thing we
had not bargained for was a 40 mile snow storm in the Blue mountains of
NE Oregon. So, a little 4 wheel drive and we went on. All very stable.
Must have been the hitch. Absolutely fell in love with the new CIPA
replacement tow mirrors. http://www.cipamirrors.com/towing.htm These
things are huge, 10" each way with 4.25 extension on each side..
Arrived at Fort Stephans, NW of Astoria, OR. No reservation, no problem
the state park had lots of room with electric/water sites for $16.05. We
spent the next couple of days touring Astoria, Fort Stephans, and Fort
Clatsop.
Astoria was founded in 1811 as a fur trading/fishing town. It is now a
tourist/fishing town. Lots of fun stuff to see and do.
Fort Stephans was a coastal fort guarding the mouth of the Columbia
river. It was established during the Civil War and closed after WWII. It
has the questionable distinction of being the only mainland installation
shelled by the Japanese during WWII. Army command being what it was they
were not allowed to shoot back??
Fort Clatsop was Merriweather and Lewis's winter over location at the
end of their trek to the Pacific. The Park Service has built a replica
and done a great job.
After a couple of days in the area we took a day to drive down the coast
to find a second location. Found a nice spot at Netarts Bay west of
Tillamook. Nice marina on the bay with lots of beach for walking. Came
back the next day to find our reservation had been given away 2 hours
after we left. Two days of bad Karma and good touristing. Saw the
Tillamook Cheese factory, the huge aviation museum and did lots of beach
walking.
Made the last move down to Beverly Beach SP above Newport, OR. Still
lots of room. All of the State Parks we visited had available spaces.
Spent a couple of days touring Newport including the Oregon Coast
Aquarium, several light houses up and down the coast. Spent one day deep
sea fishing. Although it is the "off" season we had not problem limiting
out bottom fishing for sea bass. So five hours and 22 fish later we
packed in for the day. After a day of recovery we headed back to Boise.
Arrived in the early evening to a 60 degree plus day.
Truck started out a little tight getting 8.9 mpg towing in the
mountains. On the way back it had loosened up to 9.8 mpg. No oil
consumption or unusual noises.
Towing through the snow and down the always windy Columbia Gorge proved
no problem for the Equal-i-zer. Lots of twisty turnies along the coast
went nicely. It towed rock steady all the way.

Charlie