Seven day van adventure

I love road trips and that looks like a pretty sweet rig. Partner and I have talked about it for the last couple years. Once we get some other business settled we hope to hit the road in a similar type of setup.
 
Drawback of off the beaten path: No cell reception.

My brother has Starlink mini. Will compare/wait for Amazon Leo (?)

Dogs are STILL sleeping. The pinnacle of achievement has been attained!
 
Tillamook Cheese Factory has some really good smoked salmon. I discovered that just three years ago. Very firm, but the others there you can feel the mushiness in the package. We stopped there July 3rd and I got 4 packages, and some cheese. They give a veteran discount. Then on to Chinook.

Oregon coast and then on down 101 into the California redwoods is always a great drive. The crazies passing in an unsafe manner are everywhere. That is why there are so many head on collisions on Hwy 93 between here and Phoenix.
 
Pablo, my wife and I just got home from an Oregon coast road trip. Spent last Monday and Tuesday in Astoria. If I had known you may have been in the area, I would have loved to have met and said hi.

From there we worked our way down to Lincoln. But not before stopping at the Tillamook cheese factory for an ice cream cone. Their ice cream is so much better there, than their grocery store offerings. Stopped in Depoe Bay for a whale watching excursion, and then on down the coast.

As Pablo said, no rooms on the Oregon coast in the $100 price range. Even the 60+ year old motels are in the $140 or more, price range.
 
Tillamook Cheese Factory has some really good smoked salmon. I discovered that just three years ago. Very firm, but the others there you can feel the mushiness in the package. We stopped there July 3rd and I got 4 packages, and some cheese. They give a veteran discount. Then on to Chinook.

Oregon coast and then on down 101 into the California redwoods is always a great drive. The crazies passing in an unsafe manner are everywhere. That is why there are so many head on collisions on Hwy 93 between here and Phoenix.
Pablo, my wife and I just got home from an Oregon coast road trip. Spent last Monday and Tuesday in Astoria. If I had known you may have been in the area, I would have loved to have met and said hi.

From there we worked our way down to Lincoln. But not before stopping at the Tillamook cheese factory for an ice cream cone. Their ice cream is so much better there, than their grocery store offerings. Stopped in Depoe Bay for a whale watching excursion, and then on down the coast.

As Pablo said, no rooms on the Oregon coast in the $100 price range. Even the 60+ year old motels are in the $140 or more, price range.
We saw the old Tillamook factory in the late 1980's. Wow huge place now, big back then. Did you go to Blue Heron? Tillamook Country Smoker?

We were so near, Ft Stevens Sun, Monday, Tues! Our youngest used to live in Astoria so we know the area really well. Yeah we used to drive all the way to Lincoln for outlet mall. Completely nuts.
 
Drawback of off the beaten path: No cell reception.
Hallelujah! Isn't that just one of many reasons to get off the beaten path? Sorry, but the idea of bringing the Rat Race and all of one's home amenities to the "wilderness" just doesn't sit right with me.
 
Yes Transit 350HD AWD. Tall and extended. 3.5 Ecoboost twin turbo twin alternator and twin engine batteries

Conversion by Freedom vans
Nice setup!

I should have tried the van life in my 20's, but with my budget at the time it would be a used U-Haul or former work van. I have the skills to renovate the interior, make it comfy, and mechanically sound.

There is always the shower/toilet issue. Not a huge fan of a chemical toilet bucket but I would likely have tried some kind of makeshift shower. Lets just say there would be no black water tank, at least not for long term storage, rather a unlabeled button on the dashboard that would only be used when parked next to a sewer grate.
 
Labor Day weekend 1977, my wife and I took our first trip together. She was one month pregnant with our oldest daughter. When I stopped at Depoe Bay she was amazed. In all of her trips down that coast before she never knew it was there. If you are not paying attention, you can drive over that bridge and not even know a bridge was there, let alone one of the treasures of the Oregon coast.

My first time to Tillamook Cheese Factory was early November 1971. I had known my wife one week, but already knew she was the one. Anyway, they made cheese the old fashioned way in long tables where almost all of the work was done by hand. It was fascinating and I was saddened when they automated. There were enough of those tables you could see every phase of the process from the milk pouring in to the blocks being chopped before aging somewhere else. The resulting product ruined me for any other cheese.
 
Used to be, everywhere you went on the Oregon coast, and many other places in Oregon, there were myrtlewood bowls, plates, trays, cups, signs, etc. for sale. I guess the demand just died off. I am glad we have our pieces bought decades ago.
More southern Oregon thing but you are absolutely correct. My wife was never a fan, I always thought it was cool
 
Nice setup!

I should have tried the van life in my 20's, but with my budget at the time it would be a used U-Haul or former work van. I have the skills to renovate the interior, make it comfy, and mechanically sound.

There is always the shower/toilet issue. Not a huge fan of a chemical toilet bucket but I would likely have tried some kind of makeshift shower. Lets just say there would be no black water tank, at least not for long term storage, rather an unlabeled button on the dashboard that would only be used when parked next to a sewer grate.
There is absolutely no 💩 allowance in van. Urine only
 
There is absolutely no 💩 allowance in van. Urine only

Funny how polarizing this subject can be for RVers lol. Having my own washroom + shower was literally the first rule of my yet-to-be-purchased RV. No washroom, no purchase. I know a lot of guys are the complete opposite and use public rest rooms but I haven't used one of those (other than urinal) in over 20 years and I can't use them.

The black tank is obviously my least favourite part of my RV, but it's a 5 min task at the end of my trip. Gloves, soap, dispose of the gloves, pack up, done. It's my rv tank, and my mess, which is the difference I guess. Some good products to throw down the hatch every time after a flush and there is no stink, no clogs, no fuss, just a few mins cleanup.
 
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